 Hi, this is Pastor David Rosales of Calvary Chapel of the Chino Valley, California. In our day, it seems fairly common for professing Christians to casually complain about their churches, its ministries, its leaders, and of course, its pastor. I've been in various public places and have, without any design of my own, unfortunately overheard people complaining and gossiping about their pastor and their church, and I could not help but wonder how others were viewing their loud comments and if those over hearing this kind of talk would ever be interested in visiting a church or hearing the claims of Jesus after hearing such things. After all, if the people speaking were followers of Jesus and were still so petty and mean, why would any self-respecting pagan want to go to a place that produces this kind of person? Now at this moment, there are some of you who are angry enough to stop listening so you can post on Facebook about the so-called pastor who judged you. In other words, even when convicted, you will find an excuse to remain in sin because you think that this is how God designed you, thus blaming God for your sinful heart and sinful actions. I would venture to say that you attend a church that does not teach you the Bible, or that may teach you from it, but does not give you the impression that it matters much if you listen and actually obey with the Bible teaches. This is the sickness of the church and sadly it is something that seems to be the norm in many church communities today. Churches led by pastors who won't confront sin and members who won't repent from it and argue in favor of it. How sad indeed. If you're still listening, allow me to proceed a bit further by sharing a few things that we glean from 2 Thessalonians 1, verses 3 and 4, that should encourage you today to grow in your faith in Jesus and your daily walk with Him. In these verses, the apostle Paul told the church that he was bound to thank God always for them. Think about that for a minute. Paul was obligated to give thanks for these believers. In a time when pastors are disrespected for their work, these people touched Paul so deeply that he was obligated to give God thanks for them. What was it about them that prompted such a prayer of thankfulness? The church was under reflection and persecution and instead of caving in to the pressures they had remained strong in their opposition to it and had not yielded to the temptation to reject Jesus and the gospel. Instead of their faith wilting under pressure, it was growing exceedingly outgrowing all boundaries. Instead of hiding the light of the gospel into a basket, they were living the gospel out in the open and in spite of the growing and often painful opposition, they were spiritually maturing. This was an answer to his prayer that he had prayed in the first epistle where he had told them that he prayed night and day that they might be able to see them in order to perfect what was lacking in their faith. At that time, their faith was lacking, but now it was ever-increasing and he was truly blessed. He also was obligated to thank God for their love, for Jesus, one another, and for society at large. Instead of becoming hostile towards the world and fearful of it, they actually saw the needs of the society that they lived in and desired to somehow teach them so that they too could be set free from such fear and torment. The fact is, they understood that love is the true mark of the believer, not simply what the believer is opposed to. There are numerous churches that are being fed teachings that actually make the people angry at the world and afraid of what it is doing and the result is a lack of love for those who are lost. The people in the world are viewed as threats and enemies and anger replaces love for them and hopelessness takes a place of faith and the hope that God could reach them. In the case of the Thessalonians, the hostility that they as a church endured did not divide them, but instead had drawn them together even closer and the band of community in Jesus was actually strengthened. When one of them suffered as a church, they suffered along with them and as a result, their love for one another continued to increase. This faith and love was accompanied by patience, a patience that was being demonstrated in the midst of such afflictions and persecution. When Paul spoke of their patience, he was not speaking of an attitude of meek submissiveness, the kind of attitude that simply puts up with things and never responds. He was speaking of patience that was heroic, the kind that courageously endures to the end and holds fast to what is true. He rejoiced and thanked God for them because in spite of the organized persecution against them, they were enduring. They held fast to what was true and what was right. They did this because their faith was grounded in God and it was in God that they hoped. He rejoiced because their faith and love was being demonstrated by their patience. His concern had been soothed by the continuance and fruit of the Spirit because faith, love and patience was being exhibited in the face of prolonged and aggressive hate towards them. This provoked Paul to pray a prayer of thanks as his heart was overcome with relief and gratitude. They had so blessed him that he told them that he boasted of them among the churches of God. In other words, he held them up as an example of what the grace of God can produce in the lives of those who are truly believers. In essence, he was saying you are an example of what a genuine church fellowship should be. Is this something that your pastor can say of you? Is your pastor obligated to pray a prayer of thanks because you are in the church and you are such a blessing that he simply has to pray this prayer of thankfulness? If not, perhaps it would be a good thing for you to seek the Lord to help you to become what the Lord has designed you to be. Many years ago, I told my own pastor, Chuck Smith, that it was my desire to remove pressure from him and that I never wanted to be the one who put pressure on him. I wanted him to know that I was there to be of help to him because I believed that God was using him to reach the world and was blessed that God had used him to teach and reach a lost hippie boy like I had been. My opening words were direct and by some standards may have appeared a bit harsh, but the question remains, is it not time for us to become the kind of people that others are actually blessed to be around? This is Pastor David Rosales of Calvary Chapel of the Chino Valley, California.