Hope in Death!

For Thursday, November 17, 2022:

1 Thessalonians 4:13 NLT: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.”

We know Paul as an Apostle and itinerant evangelist. We should also consider him a prophet. Jesus spoke directly to Paul, giving him not only proper theology but also information about the future. And now, Paul has been shown that it’s time to share some of this information with the church in Thessalonica.

It’s a good question that everyone has: “What happens when we die?” (Your Bible may say that some went to sleep, but that’s a euphemism for dying.) The point is that Paul wanted the church to have hope. We all have been given hope! Death is not the end for believers, and the church needed to replace worry about the life after this life with confidence.

We’ll dig in to what happens tomorrow. Hint: Jesus rose from the dead!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406