Introduction
True conversion involves turning from idols to serve the living and true God.
The Thessalonian believers turned from the idols of their culture.
The Thessalonians believers trusted in God and in the Lord Jesus.
This conversion involved a great deal of suffering.
The Thessalonians’ conversion was so remarkable that they became an example to everyone.
True conversion in our day also involves turning away from the idols of our culture and trusting in God alone.
God is the living God, and in the gospel he offers us deliverance from judgment.
To trust in God requires turning away from the idols of our culture which are neither living nor true.
Though it is costly to serve God, he gives us the joy of his Spirit to sustain us.
Conclusion
6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,