- Reflect & remember how the gospel has impacted your own life (v. 1).
- Know that God has entrusted you with the gospel message (v. 4). There is expectation that you share it. You are capable of sharing it.
- The gospel is able to stand on its own (v. 5). There is no need for us to change or update it.
- The gospel makes God glorious. Not you (v. 6).
- As you share the gospel, don’t attempt to force conversions. That’s the Holy Spirit’s job (v. 7).
- The gospel is best shared within the context of shared lives (v. 8). Invest yourself in other people.
- Live a life that builds gospel integrity (v. 9, 10). When our lives don’t mirror the gospel and God’s Word, we loose our credibility as we share.
- Sharing the gospel is personal (v. 12). Show people you genuinely care.
- Use the Bible (v. 13) It changes lives. Let God work.
- Rejoice when the gospel is received (v. 13). I have witnessed more applause for the service of the church florist than the repentance of a hardened sinner. This strikes me as inappropriate.
2 For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. 2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. 3 For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. 5 For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. 6 Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. 7 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. 11 For you know how, like a father with his children, 12 we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Th 2:1–13.