Four Letter Words: WORK 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

Four Letter Words: WORK
2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

Introduction

There are some four-letter words that should not come out of our mouths and there are other four-letter words that we should be talking about. Maybe we don’t because these words make us uncomfortable or we don’t know what to say about them, but that doesn’t mean we should hide from them and the conversations they produce! Words like fear, rest, work, and hope are sometimes misunderstood because the world has redefined them. Let’s explore what the Bible says about these four-letter words together so we can stop avoiding them and start proclaiming what is good and true in our lives and in our world.

Four Letter Words:

April 9 – HOPE – 1 Corinthians 15:1-20

April 16 – WORK – 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

April 23 – FEAR – Psalm 46:1-3

April 30 – OBEY – John 14:15-31

May 7 – HELL – 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9

May 14 – REST – Matthew 11:28-30

⁹ You have six days each week for your ordinary work,

 ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God.

Exodus 20:9-10a

1. We are by God to work.

The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.

Genesis 2:15

Notes:

2. We are given from God of how to work.

Noah – The Man Who Built an Ark
Moses – The Leader of the Exodus
Ruth – The Moabite Woman Who Followed God
Joseph – The Dreamer Turned Ruler
Nehemiah – The Rebuilder of Jerusalem
Paul – The Apostle of Jesus Christ

Notes:

3. We are told by God why we work.

Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty!

Proverbs 14:23

Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.

Proverbs 13:4

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

Colossians 3:23

Notes:

4. We are shown by God the of work.

Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.

Proverbs 16:3

If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.

Ephesians 4:28

Notes:

5. We are given the by God about work.

The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.

Proverbs 12:24 (ESV)

¹⁷ And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.

¹⁸ It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains

¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”

Genesis 3:17-19

Notes:

Challenge: How is my work honoring God both in effort and in results?

It’s your sins that have you off from God.

Isaiah 59:2a

For everyone has sinned; we all fall of God’s glorious standard.

Romans 3:23

For the of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

If you openly that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

Notes: