Sermon Application Questions:

1. How does good news about someone’s growth in Christ help encourage you in the midst of distress and affliction? How is it unselfish for you to rejoice in that good news? How does that good news help lift you above your problems and even reinvigorate your faith and service? 1 Thess. 3:6-8
2. What are some of the blessings for which you can thank God? 1 Thess. 3:9, 5:16-18.
3. What is the difference between thanking God for his blessings and thanking God for his goodness? (Psalm 136:1-26)
4. If God works all things out in conformity to his purposes, what is the point of praying? (Eph. 1:11; Col. 4:2)
5. How should what Jesus prayed in Matthew 6:5-15 shape how we pray?
6. What is presently lacking in your faith? What additional room for growth is there in your life? How does the presence of mature and godly Christians help foster it?