Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact [email protected].
J.T. Thornton: Uncomfortable (1 Thessalonians 4:1-12)
J.T. Thornton, lead pastor and elder of Trinity Baptist Church in Sweetwater, sought to encourage his hearers to seek “authentic growth” more than comfort. He likened the tension of discomfort to a stretched rubber band. In response to such tension, we tend to let go or snap, he contended.
Thornton exhorted his listeners to forego the status quo and to “remain in the tension of growth.” He directed attention to Paul’s first letter to the Christians in Thessalonica, where Paul exhorted his readers to grow in their faith. To grow, they must not become complacent or comfortable.
Thornton then walked his hearers through Paul’s instruction on how to live a God-pleasing life, framing it with the question: “Who is God calling me to become?” The process of becoming who God calls us to be “is not an easy process, but it’s a good one,” he said.
This sermon was delivered during the morning worship service Jan. 9, 2021, at Trinity Baptist Church in Sweetwater.
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