2. Let’s Read
a) 1 Cor 1:2-10;
b) Phil 1: 1-11;
c) Col 1:2-14;
d) 1 Thes 1: 1- 3;
e) 2 Thes 1: 1-4;
f) Gal 1:1-7
3. 1 Cor 1:1-10 We give thanks for the Gift from
God in our brothers and sisters life
• 4) I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God
which is given you by Jesus Christ;
• (5) That in every thing ye are enriched by him,
in all utterance, and in all knowledge;
• (6) Even as the testimony of Christ was
confirmed in you:
• (7) So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting
for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
4. Phil 1: 1-11
We pray for our brothers and sisters out of LOVE.
(3) I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
(4) Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
(5) For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;
(6) Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work
in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
(7) Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have
you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence
and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.
(8) For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the
bowels of Jesus Christ.
(9) And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and
more in knowledge and in all judgment;
(10) That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere
and without offence till the day of Christ;
(11) Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ,
unto the glory and praise of God.
5. Col 1:2-14 We can still pray for others even when
we don’t know each other
• (9) For this cause we also, since the day we
heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to
desire that ye might be filled with the
knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual
understanding;
• (10) That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto
all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work,
and increasing in the knowledge of God;
• (11) Strengthened with all might, according to
his glorious power, unto all patience and
longsuffering with joyfulness;
6. 1 Thes 1: 1- 3
We praise and thankful for God because of His work in
our brother and sister life
(1) Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of
the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the
Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto 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,
and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord
Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
(4) Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.
7. 2 Thes 1: 1-4;
We thank God for patience and faith in difficult time
(3) We are bound to thank God always for you,
brethren, as it is meet, because that your
faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of
every one of you all toward each other
aboundeth;
(4) So that we ourselves glory in you in the
churches of God for your patience and faith in
all your persecutions and tribulations that ye
endure:
8. Gal 1:1-7 Correcting and helping each other
growing in the truth
(3) Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and
from our Lord Jesus Christ,
(4) Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver
us from this present evil world, according to the will of
God and our Father:
(5) To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
(6) I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that
called you into the grace of Christ unto another
gospel:
(7) Which is not another; but there be some that
trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
9. How we Pray and Give Thanks
• We give thanks for the Gift from God in our brothers
and sisters life
• We pray for our brothers and sisters out of LOVE of
Christ
• We praise and thankful for God because of His
marvelous work in our brothers and sisters life
• We can still pray for one another even when we don’t
know each other (see Paul’s pattern of prayer)
• We thank God for patience and faith in difficult time
• Correcting and helping each other growing in the
truth
Hinweis der Redaktion
Good evening, tonight we will learn together about prayer and thanks giving, reading from some passages in the bible especially from the opening Paul’s letters.
We hope that after we study these passages, this will help us when we pray for each other tonight. Learning from the pattern of prayer of Paul will help us to deepen our pattern of prayer for each other.
Let us start…
Can I ask 3 person from Australia to read for us the passages a-c
And then 3 persons from Indonesia to read the passages d-f
Anyone voluntarily?
1. We give thanks for the Gift of God in our brothers and sisters life
Paul thank God for the Corinthians believer. Paul is thankful that God has richly blessed the Corinthians with speech, knowledge, and spiritual gifts.
This is the prayer of Paul for the Corinthians.
The church of Corinthians enriched with all the gifts from God. They are so rich spiritual blessings but they have understand that the blessings is a grace from God not from their own.
How do we give thanks to the Lord for other believers? We can also see the potential of our brothers and sisters, the strength and the spiritual gift that we see in them. We are grateful for their presence, their faith, their example of life, their perseverance, their sacrifice, and so many other. We can see faith in their life. We know their struggles, their problem sometime when they share, and we are grateful that they are stand firm in the Lord even in the difficult situation. And they can be our example too to live our faithful life for Christ.
2. We pray for our brothers and sisters because of LOVE.
We can see here the love in Paul’s heart toward the church of the Philippians. Paul joyful thanksgiving grow because of his readers response to gospel. It brings joy, hope and love in Paul’s heart in the midst of his suffering because of his imprisonment. So can learn here that to bring our brother and sister in prayer with thanksgiving can flourish joyful in our heart.
DO we have love in our heart toward one another? The basis of our prayer for our fellow believers is love to one another. Love is the essence of our prayer. Without love, it is difficult for us to raise our prayer request fro our friends or fellow Christian. So, love is the key for us to givethanks and pray for each other.
3. We still pray even when we don’t know each other
Epapras is the one who founded the church of Collosians. Paul had never met the Colossians, but he faithfully pray for them. Paul’s pattern of prayer for the church can be our pattern too to pray for each other. First we pray that our sisters and brothers can understand God’s will in their life, (2) we pray that they will grow in spiritual wisdom and understanding about Christ, (3) we pray that they will be fruitful in their life (4) Strengthened by God (5) have patience and perseverance to endure difficulties (6) in the midst of every circumstances they can still have joy and thankful to God. So we can pray for our brother and sister in this prayer pattern, specially when we don’t know to pray for each other.
Thessalonica was the capital and largest city of the province of Maccedonia. It is one of the wealthiest and most flourishing trade center in Roma empire. Pagan religion and cultural influence challenge the faith of the young Christian of Thessalonica.
But the Thessalonians had stood firm when they were persecuted. Paul gives thanks to God for the work of their faith, love and hope in the midst of the suffering, they become a model for all the believers in the 2 province of Macedonia and Acchaia.
We can also praise God and thankful for God’s work in our brother and sister life, how they continue to work in faith, labour of love for Christ and patience in God’s service. May be in medical field that our brothers and sisters still continue to live out their faith, love and hope in Christ in the midst of the worl who does not recognize God in their life.
Paul’s began his most of his letters with thanks giving and joy because of the faith of the church in God. God is the source of strength for us in facing troubles and difficulties. Knowing that God is still in control and He will protect, that will give us patience and faith to endure our suffering. Knowing that He will not forsake us or forget us, and believe in His timing will help us to grow in patience and endurance during difficult time.
This is different approach of the opening of Paul’s letter. Paul strongly denounce the perversion of the Gospel in the church directly in the opening of his letter. In the letter of Galatians, Paul after the greeting in his letter, Paul rebukes the church. The church have the problem of abandoning the true gospel and so quickly move to another gospel taught by false teachers.
This also teach us that we have to be aware of some teaching that pervert the Gospel of Christ.
So here also we learn that Paul also rebuke the church when they are wrong. So, as the body of Christ we also need to remind each other about the truth and God’s word. When our brother and sister making a wrong decision or follow a false teaching then we have a responsibility to give advice or to help them to return to the Lord.
All God’s blessings : the gifts of speech, the gift of knowledge, all the spiritual gifts
We can express our gratitude to God every time for our community, family, sisters and brothers in Christ, our health, the fellowship, the friendship, etc
We can pray for the spiritual growth of one another,
We can pray that our brothers and sisters will grow stronger in faith to the Lord (fruitful, increasing in knowledge of Christ)
It makes us stronger in “the turbulence times”
Encourage one another
It develops patience and faith in our life