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Praying Our Way to A Healthy Church – Praying 1 Thessalonians 1:5 – What A Partnership
“because our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full assurance….” (CSB’17 1 Thessalonians 1:5).
God’s good news came in: words (but more than human words), power, the Holy Spirit, and assurance. God’s speakers repeat God’s words, with God providing divine power, the Holy Spirit, and the hearer (and speaker?) have assurance or confidence. This is a different kind of “trinity” where we discover success in 1) God (in all His triune glory) 2) Who partners with a frail human speaker, 3) Then produces within the hearer something positively comforting. This is a partnership between heaven and earth, of the divine with us mere humans. What a fellowship!
Dear Partner in the gospel,
My words are empty, but yours are full. I am weak, but you are power. My spirit is profane, but you sent the Spirit holy. My confidence is falsely filled with proven doubt. But you bring to me and us assuring actions and words that defeat mere human promises, humanly profane ways, and weakening words and actions from your enemies against us. You bring us Jesus. In the name of our human yet divine Partner Jesus, thank you, Amen.
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