Counter Culture - Love Your People (1 Thess 2:17-3:5, Eric Fridge)

<p>Most of us have hundreds of online connections but only a handful of people we would truly call in a crisis. The Apostle Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, shows us what it looks like to love people deeply rather than widely. His grief over being separated from a church he had known for only a few weeks reveals that love is not about how long you have known someone. It is about how present you are when you are with them. Paul faced real spiritual opposition in his efforts to reconnect, yet he refused to let distance become indifference. He even sent his closest ministry partner, Timothy, to stand in the gap when he could not go himself. The greatest reward of deep relationship is not a larger network. It is knowing that the people you love were strengthened because you showed up for them.</p>