Prepare your heart for the Sermon by looking through these suggestions that will assist you in making the most of our time together hearing God's Word.

You will find suggestions for thinking more critically through the passage, meditating more intently on the text, and prayerfully seeking wisdom to deepen your understanding of the passage to be preached this Sunday.

Carefully Think

• Read 1 Thessalonians 1-5, trying to read the entire book in one setting. Focus on the letter's theme, "grow in what you know”.
• After reviewing the entire context of the letter, read the passage for this Sunday, 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22.
• What is the emphasis of the commands in 5:19-22? Is there a single focus?
• What does it mean to "quench" something? Hint: Looking at the dictionary, what would fit the context the best?
• What "prophetic utterances" is Paul referring to?
• What is the "everything" that Paul is commanding them to examine carefully?
• What is the relationship of the clauses "hold fast…" and "abstain from…” as it pertains to the clause “examine everything…"?

Prayerfully Meditate

• How can we as limited, fallen, created beings actually "quench" the Spirit of God, who is all-powerful? What is Paul referring to?
• Why would the Thessalonians be despising "prophecies"?
• If the Thessalonians are solid believers, as Paul has attested to, why must they be commanded to examine carefully all things? What is the lust of the heart that would tempt them to not do good and to do evil?
• What would be the reason Paul is including a command to not partake in evil to these believers?
• What overall exhortation is Paul focused on with ending his list of commands this way?
• All of these commands are plural, meaning they are not just to an individual but the whole church, what is the implication for the body? (see 1 Thess 5:14-15)