Paul speaks with strong and uncertain language about sexual purity in these verses.  'It is God's will...' he begins and finishes with 'anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God'.  He is calling believers in Jesus to a holy life!  What we notice in these words, however, is that this is not simply a negative 'thou shalt not' approach, but rather he is calling us upward to a higher calling!  We notice the language of verse 4 which calls us to 'possess (live fully) in your own body in a way that it holy and honorable'.  Our sexual bodies are rooted in the story of Creation; sexual expression is designed for the context of the covenant relationship of marriage.  Whenever we take it out of that context, we cause damage to God's precious gift, to ourselves and to others!  Let us hear this word carefully together!
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The four paragraphs in our text today combine to present a singular message.  In each of them Paul clearly expresses how much he loves them and how much he wishes he could be with them.  We observe in particular that Paul loved the believers enough to really care about what they believed!  He was anxious to know whether they had fully received the Good News of Jesus and whether or not their faith was growing and becoming mature.  From this text we seek to pay attention to those in our own journey who loved us enough care what we believe about the story of Jesus - and we take time to express thanks for them.  We also look around us and ask the question: who is there in my world right now that I need to really love - to love enough to care about what they believe; to help them grow in their understanding of the Good News of Jesus!  We observe and join with Paul's closing prayer:  "May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you." 1Th 3:12 NIV
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Jesus radically redefined the idea of leadership when He spoke about the Kingdom of God: "...whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  In our chapter today Paul defends the actions of he and his team when they first visited the city of Thessalonica- they came as servants who had been entrusted with the Gospel.  We seek to observe some specific characteristics of servant leadership in the Kingdom of God in this chapter and carefully apply it to whatever sphere of Christian ministry we find ourselves in!  May our hearts be encouraged to receive this word into our lives.
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This first chapter of Paul's letter to the Thessalonians is marked by a particularly positive tone.  Paul is overjoyed and expresses great thanks because the faith of these new believers in the city has not only remained and grown in the midst of much opposition; it has in fact spread throughout the whole region of southern Europe so that people everywhere are talking about how they had 'turned to God from idols'.  We ask the question from this text: how is it that faith becomes so contagious??  Two elements seem evident from the way Paul describes the story: True Words and Consistent Actions!  We challenge ourselves therefore to intentionally listen to the True Words of the Gospel and to allow those words to shape our attitudes and actions each day! 
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