1 Thessalonians 2:9-20

Beloved brothers and sisters, surely you remember how hard we labored among you. We worked night and day so that we would not become a burden to you while we preached the wonderful gospel of God. With God as our witness you saw how we lived among you—in holiness, in godly relationships, and without fault. And you know how affectionately we treated each one of you, like a loving father cares for his own children. We comforted and encouraged you and challenged you to adopt a lifestyle worthy of God, who invites you into his kingdom and glory. This is why we continually thank God for your lives, because you received our message wholeheartedly. You embraced it not as the fabrication of men but as the word of God. And the word continues to be an energizing force in you who believe. My dear brothers and sisters, the same thing happened to you as happened to God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you received the same kind of mistreatment from your fellow countrymen as they did from theirs, the Jews who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets and ran us out of town. They are offending God and hostile to everyone else by hindering us from speaking to the unbelievers so that they might be saved. By so doing they are constantly filling up to the brim the measure of their guilt, and punishment has come upon them at last! Beloved friends, we may have been torn away from you physically for a season, but never in our hearts. For we have had intense longings and have endeavored to come and see in your faces the reflection of this great love. We miss you badly, and I personally wanted to come to you, trying again and again, but our adversary, Satan, blocked our way. For what will be our confident hope, our exhilarating joy, or our wonderful trophy that we will boast in before our Lord Jesus at his appearing? It is you! Yes, you are our glorious pride and joy!