Bible Chapel of Shawnee  
December 29th, 2019

Rhetorical theme: Love of the brethren
 
Logical theme: The love of the brethren is a primary occupation of the believer.
 
Outline

1. Introduction
    
    1. Interesting time of year
        
        1. Reflect on what has happened
        2. Look forward to what is to come
        3. You hear a lot about resolutions
            
            1. Things to start
            2. Things to stop
            3. Things to keep doing
    2. If you're having trouble thinking of things to work on this new year…there's one thing we as Christians can always have on our list: loving the brethren.
        
        1. If we're not doing it, we should certainly start
        2. If we're avoiding it, we should certainly stop.
        3. If we're doing it, we should certainly grow in it.
    3. Thessalonians are a wonderful example of love
        
        1. In 1 Thess. Paul praises them for their love
        2. Broadly known throughout the Macedonian region
        3. Yet, Paul encourages them to excel still more in love 
[Read 1 Thess. 4:9-12]
 5. Love of the brethren is **learned** but **living**. (4:9-10)
    
      
    2. Learned (v9)
        
        1. Taught by God, not men
        2. Go a little beyond this passage to understand details
            
            1. How are we taught?
                
                1. 1 John 2:27 anointing in us teaches us
                2. John 14:26 the Helper teaches all things
            2. Why not from men?
                
                1. He is the example: 1 John 3:16 we know love by Christ's sacrifice
                2. He gave us the commandment: 1 John 3:23 love one another
                3. He is the source: 1 John 4:7-8 love is from God
                4. Can we learn from other men?
                    
                    1. Men can show God's love but it is just that: God's love
                    2. There is no "building onto" God's love and expanding it, we either reflect it or not
                    3. A student can exceed the skill of his master in almost any earthly skill. But the student of God's love can never do this, never exceed God's love.
    3. Living (v10)
        
        1. Though taught, never accomplished
        
        _[Illustration: many analogies to more tangible skills. How many college graduates do you know with a specific degree who were set for their career for life? Probably no one. It's understood that an education (college, trade school, on-the-job training) is just the beginning. So it is with love, the essential skill of the believer.]_
        
        3. Excel still more in two ways
            
            1. Quantitative growth (love more often, love more people)
            2. Qualitative (love better)
        
        _[Illustration: human growth. Much of our growth at first is adding skills. When we first come out, we learn to breath air. Then we drink, see, smile, laugh, crawl, walk, talk, etc. Our quantity of skills grows. As we mature, we continue to grow, but now more in quality than quantity. We learn to speak more eloquently or think more logically or cook more deliciously.]_
        
      
    
    _[Illustration: Like talents--both natural and nurtured. Lionel Messi, perhaps the best, most naturally-gifted soccer player to ever play. No one could teach him some of the things he can do. Yet, he recently explained in an interview how he has learned to improve his freekick success by careful study of goalkeeper's movements.]_
     7. Love of the brethren is **private** but **public**. (4:11-12)
    
      
    2. Private in its ambitions (v11)
        
        1. Lead a quiet life
            
            1. Quiet - not silent, but calm, peaceful, ordered, see Acts 11:18
            2. _[Illustration: Ever taken a moment to contemplate modern-day city services? Trash pickup, sewer, water, gas, electricity, etc… They quietly hum along--necessary, essential, important, foundational to the efficiencies of modern living. We don't notice them because they work so well: quietly, organized, efficient, well-run, ordered. Their quiet functioning frees us to do so much that would be impossible if we were concern with hauling water, removing our trash, etc, etc. So, a quiet life for the believer frees us to serve and love others and so is one of the pillars of a smoothly functioning lifestyle that enables loving the brethren.]_
        2. Mind your own business
            
            1. Obvious one, but repeated often--must be a needed message!
            2. Other references
                
                1. 1 Peter 4:15, 2 Thess. 3:11, 1 Tim. 5:13
                2. Prov. 25:17 - the most blunt!
        3. Work with your own hands
            
            1. Consistently Paul's own example
            2. Frees you to:
                
                1. Provide for others yourself as you are not be a burden to the assembly
                2. This, in turn, frees the assembly to provide for the truly needy
            3. 2 Thess. 3:10-12 is very clear
                
                1. Problems are
                    
                    1. Unwillingness to work
                    2. Undisciplined lifestyle
                    3. Being busybodies
                2. Problems are _not_
                    
                    1. Those who we support to free them for full time gospel work
                    2. Those who we support because they cannot work
      
    
    _Transition: if the private foundation of a believer's life is solid, the fruit can be manifested publicly in his ability to generously love others._
    
      
    6. Public in its fruit (v12)
        
        1. Proper behavior toward outsiders (unbelievers)
            
            1. Well-ordered lives are good testimonies
            2. Loving communities are rare
            3. Perhaps, if we've grown up in Christian, well-ordered homes, we don't realize the profound impact seeing one can have￼_[Illustration: article about Mormon mommy-blogger reader. These are just blogs which surely don't portray the full breadth of what a real Mormon home is like, just like any other social-media. But they show the power of attraction that a well-ordered, peaceful, restful life can have on someone today when this is so far from the norm.]_
        2. Not be in need: we have the freedom to be a provider instead of a consumer, contributing to the love expressed by a church and not just consuming it
          
        
    7. Observations
        
        1. Two seem obvious, one less so
            
            1. Quiet life: our culture emphasizes/rewards hectic lives--more convicting
            2. Mind your own business: though there are downsides to it, our culture is very private and individualistic, seems pretty obvious to us, as a result
            3. Work with your own hands: our culture rewards hard work and generally punishes laziness
            4. We have some godly values instilled in our culture, some weaknesses too
        2. No pattern prescribed
            
            1. No schedule given (10 minutes rest and 50 minutes work per hour, two trips a year, etc)
            2. Each person's gifting, calling, personality, strengths and weaknesses are different
            3. Right application
                
                1. Personal conviction
                2. Encouragement to others (help them lead restful lives)
            4. Bad application: "because his schedule would overwhelm me, it must overwhelm him too"
              
            
8. Conclusion
    
    1. The new year is a natural time to take stock of things in our lives
        
        1. Reflect on where we started
        2. Consider where we are now
        3. Examine where we are going
    2. As we do so, let's especially consider how we love the brethren
        
        1. Look to be taught by God
        2. Remember that our love is a living thing--it should grow in quantity and quality
        3. Resolve to make our ambition to strengthen our private habits
        4. Watch for the public fruit that God brings
               

Why I can't stop reading Mormon housewife blogs
 
I'm a young, feminist atheist who can't bake a cupcake. Why am I addicted to the shiny, happy lives of these women?  
…  
So why, exactly, are these blogs so fascinating to women like us -- secular, childless women who may have never so much as baked a cupcake, let alone reupholstered our own ottomans with thrifted fabric and vintage grosgrain ribbon?  
…  
Well, to use a word that makes me cringe, these blogs are weirdly "uplifting." To read Mormon lifestyle blogs is to peer into a strange and fascinating world where the most fraught issues of modern living -- marriage and child rearing -- appear completely unproblematic. This seems practically subversive to someone like me, weaned on an endless media parade of fretful stories about "work-life balance" and soaring divorce rates and the perils of marrying too young/too old/too whatever. And don't even get me started on the Mommy Blogs, which make parenthood seem like a vale of judgment and anxiety, full of words like "guilt" and "chaos" and "BPA-free" and "episiotomy." Read enough of these, and you'll be ready to remove your own ovaries with a butter knife.