We always thank God for all of you when we mention you in our prayers.

for the gospel we brought did not come to you in words only, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction. Indeed, you know what kind of people we proved to be while we were with you, acting on your behalf.

As a result, you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

For people keep telling us what kind of welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve a living and true God

and to wait for his Son whom he raised from the dead to come back from heaven. This Jesus is the one who rescues us from the coming wrath.

For you yourselves know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a waste of time.

For our appeal to you does not spring from deceit, impure motives, or trickery.

even though as apostles of the Messiah we might have made such demands. Instead, we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother tenderly caring for her own children.

We cared so deeply for you that we were determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but our very lives. That is how dear you were to us.

Here is another reason why we constantly give thanks to God: When you received God's word, which you heard from us, you did not accept it as the word of humans but for what it really is the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.

For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Judea that are in union with the Messiah Jesus. You suffered the same persecutions from the people of your own country as they did from those Jews

Brothers, although we have been separated from you for a little while in person but not in heart we eagerly desire to see you again face to face.

After all, who is our hope, joy, or reason for rejoicing in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming? It is you, isn't it?

and send Timothy, our brother who works with us for God in the gospel of the Messiah, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,

so that no one would be shaken by these persecutions, for which you are aware that we were destined.

For now we can go on living, as long as you continue to stand firm in the Lord.

How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we have in God's presence because of you?

Now may our God and Father and our Lord Jesus provide a way for us to visit you.

May the Lord greatly increase your love for each other and for all people, just as we love you.

For it is God's will that you be sanctified: You must abstain from sexual immorality.

For God did not call us to be impure, but to be holy.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus God will bring those who have died with him.

For we declare to you what the Lord has told us to say: We who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have died.

for you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to darkness.

For people who go to sleep, go to sleep at night; and people who get drunk, get drunk at night.

For God has not destined us to receive wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,

who died for us in order that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.

Brothers, we ask you to show your appreciation for those who work among you, set an example for you in the Lord, and instruct you.

Make sure that no one pays back evil for evil. Instead, always pursue what is good for each other and for everyone else.

In everything be thankful, because this is God's will for you in the Messiah Jesus.

Do not put out the Spirit's fire.

Brothers, pray for us.