Psalm 90:1-8 / I Thessalonians 5:1-11

We finish our readings in I Thessalonians this Sunday, the last Sunday of the season of Pentecost for this year. Next Sunday, November 26, is Reign of Christ (or Christ the King), the final Sunday of the Christian year. A new year begins with First Advent on December 3.

Our reading is I Thessalonians 5:1-11.

This reading follows directly on last Sunday’s reading, I Thessalonians 4:13-18. It is good to re-read this, then read on through I Thessalonians 5:11. Notice that both passages end with the exhortation, “Therefore, encourage one another…”. Do you find these words encouraging?

Paul links our own mortality (I Thessalonians 4:13-18) with the end of history in I Thessalonians 5:1-11. How do you feel when you read about these things?

For Paul, faith is the foundation of a hopeful relationship with the future, even with death and the end of history. Do you find, in your faith, a sense of hope about where your life is going, and where the world is going?

How can such faith and hope equip you, not to hide from the world, but to embrace it as God’s gift? How can such faith and hope sustain you through the living of your own days?