Paul encountered opposition in almost every city where he preached the gospel of Jesus Christ…especially in Thessalonica. Yet in every city Paul’s preaching planted hope: a hope centered on Jesus crucified and risen. Wherever Paul planted hope, we see churches grow and lives change. We should never see opposition simply as a sign that we’re planting gospel hope in the wrong way or in the wrong place. Jesus told us there would be opposition. Wherever the Holy Spirit is planting hope through us and in us, he promises that he is also growing holiness.
We often think about Jesus’ work in individual lives, but Jesus himself emphasized God’s redeeming work through the church. The New Testament writers called the church Christ’s bride and his body. This week we look at what it means that Jesus bought the church with his own blood, and we’ll do that through the lenses of church as Christ’s treasure, church with Christ’s task, and church in Christ’s timeline.