Timothy Bring Good News

You don ever wait for news about somebody wey you love? You go dey look di road, again and again? Na so Paul be, for di city of Corinth, as e dey watch for one young man to come back.

Only few months before, Paul and Silas come Thessalonica, one busy port city for northern Greece. Dem talk about Jesus for di synagogue, and plenty people believe, Jews and Greeks, and many leading women. But some other people vex. Crowd gather. Dem drag one believer wey dem dey call Jason go meet di city rulers. So di new Christians send Paul and Silas away inside di darkness of night. Paul get to leave one baby church, wey never reach even few weeks, to face trouble without am. E continue im journey, go Berea, then Athens. And e no fit stop to think about dem.

For im letter, Paul confess how e hard am. When we no fit bear am again, e write, we see say e good make dem leave us for Athens alone. E try more than once to go back by imself, but something block am. So e send Timothy instead. Timothy dey young, but Paul call am our brother, and God fellow worker. Im work na to strengthen dem, to encourage dem for dem faith, so dat di troubles wey dem dey face no go shake anybody. Paul don warn dem, when e dey with dem, say hard times go come. And dem don come. Paul biggest fear simple. Maybe di pressure don too much for dem. Maybe dem don give up, and all im work don waste.

Then Timothy come back. By now Paul don move go Corinth. And Timothy news good. E pass good. Di Thessalonians still dey trust Jesus. Dem still dey love one another. Dem remember Paul with kindness, and dem dey long to see am, as e too dey long to see dem. Paul write like person wey big load just comot from im chest. Inside all our distress and trouble, una faith don comfort us about una. And then e talk one beautiful thing. Because now we dey live, if una stand firm for di Lord. E be like say dem faithfulness give am back im breath.

Wetin we fit talk to thank God enough for una, Paul ask, for all di joy wey we dey feel because of una? Night and day we dey pray, very hard, make we see una again, and complete wetin still remain for una faith. Then e turn im letter to prayer. Make God imself, our Father, and our Lord Jesus, open way for us to come meet una. Make di Lord make una increase and overflow with love, for each other and for everybody, as we dey love una. And make e strengthen una hearts, so dat una go dey without blame and holy before God, when our Lord Jesus come with all im holy ones.

Luke, for di book of Acts, call di city officials of Thessalonica one strange title, politarchs, wey mean rulers of di citizens. Before before, readers dey wonder whether Luke use di correct word. Then people find old writings on top stone from Thessalonica and other towns for Macedonia wey use exactly dat title. One of dem, from one old arch for di city wey dem dey call di Vardar Gate, dey di British Museum now.

Timothy bring good news. You go find am for First Thessalonians chapter three, and di story of how di church start for Acts chapter seventeen. One friend wey dey worry, one faithful young messenger, and one church wey no give up. So see one question wey you go carry dey go. Who you fit encourage dis week, so dat e go continue to stand firm?