Ever since the ascension of Jesus and his promised return in glory, the church has looked and longed and waited, grown tired of waiting, cried out for answers, invented scenarios of Jesus’ return (complete with dates) renewed spiritual vigor through fasting and prayer, grown weary again, thrilled at moments of the Spirit’s moving and revitalizing power, only to settle a while longer, surrounded by the world’s sinister darkness. But always awaiting the ever-approaching dawn.

Thessalonians 5:1-11

1 Thess. 5:1-3 – the certainty ____________________

1 Thess. 5: 4-7 – the plight ________________________

1 Thess. 5: 8-11 – the joy __________________________