When I moved to Somerset I might have had dreams of moving from a city to the country, blissful country views from our new house, and the peace and quiet of the countryside. Little did I know that the manse there would be on a busy main road looking out onto a junction to a dual carriageway! And in addition, not far behind the house was the Parish Church with it’s bell tower. So much for a peaceful rural life!

The Bells

But, actually, it became a delight to hear the bells of the church ring out. And it wasn’t only in the village I lived in, but also in the villages where I would visit folk who came to the church. I particularly loved one nearby ‘chocolate box’ English Village with its cricket field, village green, thatched houses, Parish Church and church school – it was so quintessentially English that it was almost a filmset – and hearing the church bells ring as I passed through just sealed the deal.

But here is the point: you couldn’t miss the Church bells! They rang out beautifully (most of the time), and you would not only hear them in the village but also from the fields around. Of course, they were put there to help the labourers and farmers know the time and, more importantly, to call people to the church. And so they were meant to be heard, to be attractive, to call people in.

Its not about the Bells …

I was reading in 1 Thessalonians this morning. And here, Paul talking about the Thessalonian believers, is what he said: “The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia – your faith in God has become known everywhere.” (1 Thess 1:8). It was a beautiful thing to say about the Thessalonian believers – they ‘rang out’ for Jesus and everyone heard, not only in Thessalonica but even in the regions and territories beyond!

Now, the thing to notice is that it wasn’t that they were preaching through a megaphone or were broadcasting on local TV (or their equivalent). We read in v5-6 that the gospel came with “deep conviction”, God worked in them in “with power, with the Holy Spirit”, that they “became imitators of us [Paul and his fellow workers] and of the Lord” – there was deep impact on their everyday lives that rang out of Jesus. We go on to read that they responded to severe suffering [because of persecution] with joy given by the Holy Spirit (v6) – they weren’t bowed by opposition, but were so full of joy in the Lord that it couldn’t quench their passion for God. Their lives were radically transformed by Jesus, so much so that the report about them was that “you turned from idols to serve the living and true God” (v9). And in v7 we read that “they became a model to all believers” – they passionately lived out Jesus without shame because of their love for Him. And this was hugely powerful – how could it not be? Here were people for whom Jesus was everything, and like Peter and John in Acts 4:20, they would have said “As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard”.

! It’s about us

The amazing thing about these Thessalonian believers was that the reality of Jesus in their lives rang out so clearly that it called everyone to Jesus! Those who weren’t believers in the area saw them and so saw Jesus. Non believers beyond the area came to hear about them by word of mouth and so heard of Jesus from other non-believers! And believers in other churches far away heard of them and so were challenged by their love for the Lord and encouraged in their own boldness for the Lord (3:6-9). And even today we read of them and we too are encouraged.

But, as I read of these Thessalonian believers, its not that I should simply be encouraged by their ability, rather like watching the cyclists who came into Cheltenham on the Tour of Britain recently and thinking ‘I wish I could ride a bike that well’. The point is that they were not an example of people we might aspire to but never be, nor exceptional people that we applaud from the side-lines, but that they were all that people who respond to the wonder of the gospel ought to be.

So, we too are those whose lives should ring out to all around about Jesus. People should look at us and see Jesus. People should talk about us to their friends, not because we are weird but because the reality of dynamic, vibrant, deeply impacting new life is daily seen in us – the gospel worked out in us in “power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction” (v5).

Cambray rings out

As a church we have spent the summer months looking at the ‘Little people’ of the Bible, seeking to reveal all that we can be in Christ and all we can be used for in Christ. We are now looking at the church in Corinth and all that was stopping them ‘ringing out’ for Jesus. Our passion is that God would encourage us individually and corporately. That individually we would catch the vision for what God can do through us, weak though we may feel, if we step out in boldly in our walk in Christ and our lives lived for Jesus, through the power of His Spirit which is at work in us. And that corporately we would challenge the attitudes, hearts and practices that silence the witness for Jesus through the body of Jesus in CBC.

The Thessalonians are such an encouragement for us – we, like they, can ‘ring’ loudly for Jesus as we live courageous, joyful, transformed lives in the heart of the town and as God scatters us to our homes and workplaces. And in Cheltenham and its surrounding towns and villages, just as in Macedonia and Achaia, people could talk about the work that God is doing amongst us.

Please join us in praying that God would do this work in our lives and in this church.