Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  (2) We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, (3) remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, (4) knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.  (5) For our gospel did not come to you in word only,  but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. 

The letter to the Thessalonians as written by the apostle Paul. Paul went to strategically important cities on his missionary journeys and he chose Thessalonica because of its geographic location – it was an important city of Commerce in the ancient world. Paul would begin his preaching in the local synagogue where he was welcomed to speak as a visiting rabbi. After three weeks the enthusiasm of the Jewish community for the gospel was strong enough for the Jews to expel Paul from preaching further. We do not know if he continued elsewhere in the city but it appears he might have done so long enough for the threatened Jewish leaders to target his followers causing paul to leave  that  city.

In his opening words of this epistle Paul omits to identify himself as an apostle indicating he had no need to remind them of his authority; clearly the converts in Thessalonica respected and honored him. Also it is clear in the strong language used invoking God the Father and our Lord Jesus Chrise as the source of their faith which they received when the gospel was first preached to them – the power of God was manifested in them in a remarkable manner. Paul refers to them as the elect of God meaning This was not just their hope but their sure knowledge that salvation had come to them.  There was a powerful manifestation of the working of the Spirit among them not just in acceptance and living the gospel but spreading Christianity both by word and by example. Their conversion seems to have been based on a firm conviction that what was taught by Paul was real as in verse 5 where Paul writes that the gospel  did not just come to them by word only but also in power.

I often wonder what went on in those early days of the church when the word of Christ  Jesus – the gospel which turned wisdom on its head and was revolutionary in the message -spread throughout the known world in the face of persecution even to death. The gift of faith is real and transformational and in just these opening verses of Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians we see that their reaction was immediate and authentic.