Set the Example
By Rev. Heidi L. Barham | October 18, 2026
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Read 1 Thessalonians 1:1 – 10 (NIV)
Our New Testament comes from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Thessalonica, which was still a fairly new church, having been established only two or three years earlier.
According to scholars, this letter is believed to have been written around A.D. 51 to help strengthen their faith and assure the Thessalonians that Christ would return… someday… and to help alleviate any confusion surrounding their loved ones who had died before Christ’s return.
It was also an opportunity for Paul to affirm the Thessalonians for holding onto their faith even as they faced persecution… and for the example they were setting for others.
As we consider this passage today, we can find encouragement to live our lives in such a way that… like the Church at Thessalonica, we can be held up as an example for the ways in which we demonstrate our faith… even during difficult times.
And so, our prayer… both individually and collectively, as a community of faith… ought to be, “Lord, help me/us SET THE EXAMPLE that others may follow.”
Now, St. Francis of Assisi has been credited with saying, “Preach the Gospel at all times and, when necessary, use words.” Although scholars do not believe he actually said that… the sentiment is still powerful.
The closest idea that they can find in his writings comes from his Rule 1221 that states friars should preach by their deeds. (source: What St. Francis of Assisi Didn’t Actually Say | National Catholic Register)
At the core of either saying is that our lives ought to serve as what I once heard referred to as an “audio-visual witness.” In short, what that means is that our lives… the things we say and the things we do… serve as an audio-visual witness of the good news of Christ.
People should be able to see the Gospel as well as hear it based on our words and our actions.
Living our lives as an audio-visual witness equates to engaging in a perpetual show and tell about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
It means keeping in mind the old adage that our lives may be the only Bible some people will ever read.
In our text for this morning, Paul commended the Thessalonians for how they lived their lives, writing, “We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul went on to applaud them for not only seeing the example that Paul, Timothy and Silas had set for them… but also following in their footsteps… taking what they learned so they could in turn SET THE EXAMPLE for other believers… all while enduring hardships and persecution for their faith.
The Thessalonians were in essence those audio-visual witnesses… showing others how to let their faith in Jesus Christ sustain them, even in the midst of challenging circumstances… all while telling them the good news about a risen, living and loving Savior.
Let me suggest that what the Thessalonians were doing was engaging in something that is actually evangelism. Now, contrary to popular belief… evangelism is not a dirty word… it is a really good thing that unfortunately can be done very badly…
And if we have not had many experiences of seeing evangelism done right… it can feel safer not to do it all. But I need to let you in on a little secret… the antidote for “bad” evangelism is not “no” evangelism.
On the contrary, as the church, we need to gain a better understanding of what evangelism is… and just as importantly, what it is not.
Evangelism is not standing on street corners, handing out gospel tracts, and trying to scare people into heaven using images of hellfire and brimstone.
It is also not about going door-to-door trying to get strangers to listen to a scripted speech about why they ought to come and join Ledgewood Christian Church… although, if you ask me, they really should.
And while some denominations and faith traditions have employed these methods with some degree of success… they are not the true meaning of evangelism. These are just some of the ways in which people have chosen to engage in evangelism.
But have no fear… I will not leave you in suspense about the actual definition of evangelism… in its simplest of terms… evangelism means sharing the good news about Jesus… spreading the gospel message that Jesus is the Son of God who gave His life as a sacrifice for our sins… opening the door for us to have eternal life.
The challenge comes when folks spend so much time and effort getting bogged down with “how” to do evangelism… that they never get around to doing any actual evangelism.
But let me assure you… it is not rocket science.
At its core, evangelism is all about sharing our story… our faith story… telling someone else about how good God is and what God has done in our lives.
Now before you tell me how you can’t possibly do that… let me ask you a couple of quick questions.
How many of you went somewhere or talked to someone on the phone two Fridays ago and were fearful about engaging in a conversation about the Browns beating the Steelers? Or shied away from bragging about the Guardians this week who are doing their best to actually make it into the World Series?
Not a sports fan… doesn’t apply to you… that’s okay.
How many of you, if you drove past Circle K at the corner of 87 and 306 and saw that gas was down to $2.99 would be afraid to tell someone about the great deal they could get on gas?
Not a driver… not relevant to you… no worries.
How many of you, if you heard Manga Manga was running a buy one, get one free special on pizzas would be terrified of telling someone… especially a total stranger… about the BOGO special for fear of being rejected.
It all sounds a little ridiculous, doesn’t it? Why should we be afraid to talk about sports or a great deal on gas or even free pizza?
The short answer is that we shouldn’t be afraid… and I would venture a guess that most of us aren’t afraid to talk about those things… even with complete strangers.
And yet, when it comes to sharing the good news about the victory we have in Jesus… which, I might add, is even better than the Browns beating the Steelers for the next 20 matchups to come… we clam up.
When we have the opportunity to talk about the One who gives us the strength to keep running this race called life and fills us up at no cost to us… which is far less than $2.99 a gallon… we suddenly get tongue tied and develop a chronic case of lockjaw.
And when we are given the chance to offer someone the Living Water and the Bread of Life that offers the assurance that we will never hunger or thirst again… unlike what happens when we eat pizza, even if it is free… we suddenly become mute lest someone think we are some kind of oddball or Jesus freak.
Can we agree that there is something inherently wrong with that picture?
Let’s look at it from a slightly different perspective.
If you found the cure for cancer but kept it to yourself and allowed others to die in pain and agony… would you think that was sinful?
If you had a pantry that was so full of non-perishable items and a freezer so full of produce that you were throwing food away but gave nothing to your neighbor who was starving to death or did not put anything in the bin in the narthex… would you think that was sinful?
If you had a bank balance that would make Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Oprah Winfrey look like paupers but gave absolutely nothing to help the homeless or anyone else in need… would you think that was sinful?
If you discovered the secret to world peace but kept quiet and allowed wars to continue to be fought and allowed lives to be lost… around the world or even closer to home in our schools and on our streets… would you think that was sinful?
Maybe it feels like the word sinful is too strong to describe the withholding of healing, wholeness and unity from the people around us… would it sound better to categorically declare that it is absolutely dead wrong?
Well, isn’t that exactly what it is when we don’t share the good news about Jesus, our Savior, our Deliverer, our Healer, our Provider and our Peace?
It is sinful… it is absolutely dead wrong.
And it is undeniably contrary to God’s word.
Matthew 28:19 – 20 is commonly referred to as the Great Commission. And it is in these verses that we find these words of Jesus:
In other words, go and tell everybody everything about Jesus. Or as Eugene Peterson puts it in the Message Paraphrase:Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
We are called to go… to go and tell the story about Jesus and everything He has done. To live out our faith in such a way that we SET THE EXAMPLE for others that they should want to emulate.Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.
And how exactly are we supposed to live out our faith?
Jesus said it fairly succinctly in Mark 12:28 – 31 when one of the scribes asked Him, “Which commandment is the first of all?”
According to the Scriptures:
In other words, we are called to live out our faith through our love of God, our love for others and even our love for self.Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Our love of God, love for others and love of self…
The Message Paraphrase says it like this, “…so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.” And it goes on to say, “Love others as well as you love yourself.”
In essence, we ought to love God with every ounce of our being… with all the passion we have for football, for shopping, for eating, for exercising, for helping the homeless, for visiting the sick and the shut-in… with all the passion we have for all those other things… whether they are frivolous or important beyond measure… that is the absolute minimum level of passion we ought to have for loving God.
Now, in addition to loving the Lord with all our passion… we are called to love the Lord our God with our prayer.
Prayer is defined most basically as a conversation between us and God… which means it is a dialogue… and what better way to demonstrate our love for someone we are engaged in dialogue with than to actually LISTEN to what they are saying to us?
Prayer is more than coming to God with a laundry list of things we want Him to fix in our relationships, our finances or on our jobs… or presenting God with our Christmas wish list.
Loving God in our prayer means that we spend time offering words of adoration and thanksgiving to God… not merely asking for forgiveness for the stuff we did even when we knew we shouldn’t be doing it.
Loving God in our prayer means that our dialogue with Him is filled with words of love and admiration, honor and respect, glory and praise.
Now, the Scriptures also suggest we are called to love God with our intelligence… which is synonymous with our mind. Regardless of how high our IQ may be… we are not now nor will we ever be smarter than God. Smarter than a fifth grader… perhaps… but smarter than God? Not possible.
However, loving God with our intelligence does mean understanding that our ability to think and to reason and to be rational is all a gift from God. And we love God and honor God by using our intelligence for good… for building up the kingdom of God and the people of God.
And lastly, we are called to love God with all our energy… in other words, we are to love God with our strength.
And that means that we give God our first and our best… not simply what’s left.
This means that instead of getting up and doing everything else that needs to be done and then coming to God at the end of the day when we are exhausted and have nothing left to give… we ought to be giving God our focused attention at the top of the day when we are freshest and can hear best from Him.
But how often do we find ourselves running on fumes with no energy left to do anything, much less show love to God or anyone else?
Still, the Scriptures tell us, “…love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.” And, “Love others as well as you love yourself.”
Now there is a huge presumption found in this second command… because in order to love others AS WELL AS we love ourselves… we actually do have to love ourselves. And to the degree that we love ourselves… that is how we are called to show love to others.
And that is the example that the Thessalonians set all those centuries ago… their love of God was clearly demonstrated in their love for others which was a reflection of their love for themselves… it was made evident through their “labor prompted by love.”
It is that kind of love that is revealed when we show kindness and compassion to those who are hungry or hurting or those who feel helpless and hopeless.
It is that kind of love which is cultivated in us when we are intentional about spending time in the presence of the Lord… through our time of prayer and study.
It is that kind of love that comes from surrendering our lives to the Lord… as we do all that we can to SET THE EXAMPLE for others to see… that they, too, might be drawn to Jesus…
So, today, if you are willing to be used by God… to SET THE EXAMPLE by dedicating your life in service to God and the people of God… then I want to invite you to stand now and join singing our Hymn of Discipleship: Take My Life (vs 1, 4, 5) #609 Back
