1Thessalonians  ◦   Chapter 1

1 From God's Ambassadors — Paul, Silas and Timothy, to the people in Thessalonica who have taken the Remedy and have hearts united with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you!

2 We are so thankful for each of you, that every time we speak with God we tell him of our gratitude.3 We continually recount to our Father God your application of the Remedy: because you trust him, your ministry is motivated by love, and your perseverance is inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

4 We know that God loves you and has chosen you as his children — our siblings — in his rebuilt family.5 We know this, because when you partook of the Remedy we brought, your acceptance of it was accompanied by the life-transforming power of the Holy Spirit who renewed your hearts. You remember how we modeled Christlike living when we were with you.6 You changed to be like us: living in harmony with God’s methods — living like the Lord lived. You embraced this message, and — despite the pain that comes with transformation — rejoiced in the healing brought by the Holy Spirit.7 And you became an example to all those who partake of the Remedy in Macedonia and Achaia.8 For the effectiveness of the Lord's Remedy and your confidence in it became known not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but everywhere we have gone, people talk about how you have been renewed. We haven't even had to tell people!9 Instead, they tell us how loving you are, how graciously you treat others, how you rejected pagan gods and embraced the God of love,10 and how you long to meet his Son Jesus (who rose from the dead) when he returns from heaven and rescues us from an otherwise inevitable doom.