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2 Thessalonians Reading Schedule & Discussion Questions

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2 Thessalonians Reading Schedule & Discussion Questions Union Lake Baptist Church Adult Sunday School Rembrandt van Rijn, c.1657 2 Thessalonians Reading Schedule & Discussion Questions 1st Semester (8 Weeks) ULBC Sunday School Page 2 Week 1: (Monday, September 11th to Saturday, September 16th) A. Homework: Read 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4 B. Questions: 1. What do we know about Timothy? See Acts 16:1; 1 Timothy 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:5-6; Philippians 2:19-22 2. What do we know about Silvanus (aka Silas)? 2 Corinthians 1:19 3. Paul lists Silvanus and Timothy as members of his team. Why might he list them in the opening of his letter to the Thessalonian church? Consider 1 Thessalonians 1:1 & 2:7b-12 4. List some things we know about the Thessalonians from 1 Thessalonians 1: 5-10? ULBC Sunday School Page 3 Week 1 (Continued) 5. For what reasons are Paul, Silvanus and Timothy thankful to God for the Thessalonians? 6. What is it about the Thessalonians that they proudly report to other churches? ULBC Sunday School Page 4 Notes: ULBC Sunday School Page 5 Week 2 (Monday, September 18th – Saturday, September 23rd) A. Homework: Read 2 Thessalonians 1:5-12 B. Questions: 1. Go back and read v4. a. What was the situation in Thessalonica? b. In light of your answer, why do you suppose Paul opens this text with God’s judgment being right? In other words, what need did the Thessalonians have to read v5? 2. How will God exercise His justice (v6)? Contemplate your answer. How does this coming reality impact you? 3. What is the shocking manner in which this judgment will take place? Can you think of any other passages of Scripture that speak about this time? ULBC Sunday School Page 6 Week 2 (Continued) 4. From our text, how would you answer someone who asked you, “How can I avoid being one of the people who are destroyed when Jesus returns?” 5. What will be the response of believers at the return of Jesus? 6. Notice that Paul twice refers to the Thessalonian believers being “worthy.” a. Worthy of what? Compare vv5 & 11. b. What is the evidence (or fruit) in the Thessalonians lives that demonstrate they will be counted worthy? ULBC Sunday School Page 7 Notes: ULBC Sunday School Page 8 Week 3 (Monday, September 25th – Saturday, September 30th) A. Homework: Read 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5 B. Questions 1. In Chapter 1, Paul mentioned unbelievers bringing persecution and suffering to the Thessalonians. In this text, Paul is concerned with them troubling the church in another way. What is it? 2. How would it be “unsettling” or “alarming” if a believer had been told that Jesus had already returned and they somehow missed it? 3. How could the Thessalonians know for sure that Jesus had not yet returned? Limit you answer to what you see in this 2:1-5. ULBC Sunday School Page 9 Week 3 (Continued) 4. When the “man of lawlessness” comes and boasts of being worthy of worship, should the church fear that He could thwart God’s plan (i.e., prevent God’s coming judgment)? Again limit your answer by what you see in our text. 5. A common problem in the apostolic age was that false teachers came to churches once the apostles and their teams left. Discuss the care seen in Paul’s words here. What similarities do you see in this text when compared with Colossians 2:1-5 & Philippians 1:27-28a. ULBC Sunday School Page 10 Notes: ULBC Sunday School Page 11 Week 4 (Monday, October 2nd – Saturday, October 7th) A. Homework: Read 2 Thessalonians 2:6-12 B. Questions 1. The preceding verses (vv3-4) speak of “the man of lawlessness” being revealed before Jesus will return. According to v6, why has the man of lawlessness not yet been revealed? 2. Verses 6 & 7 both refer to the restraining (holding back) of the man of lawlessness. What is the key difference between how these two verses describe it? 3. How is it possible that the man of lawlessness is not yet revealed, while his evil influence is already present? What might that evil influence look like (consider the whole passage)? ULBC Sunday School Page 12 Week 4 (Continued) 4. This text describes the coming of the man of lawlessness and the great harm he will cause. Why do you suppose v8 interrupts this description with Jesus’ defeat of him? 5. From the text, explain why those who are perishing will be condemned. 6. Extra Credit: Who/what is restraining the man of lawlessness? This has frustrated many interpreters. Different answers have been put forward. Commentator John Stott summarized 3 possibilities1: (1) the power of the Holy Spirit and the church, (2) Paul and the preaching of the gospel and (3) Rome and the power of the state. Pick one of these (or suggest your own) and provide a couple arguments based on the text for your choice. 1 Stott, John R. W., The Bible Speaks Today: The Message of 1 & 2 Thessalonians @ 169-170 ULBC Sunday School Page 13 Notes: ULBC Sunday School Page 14 Week 5 (Monday, October 9th – Saturday, October 14th) A. Homework: Read 2 Thessalonians 2:13-16 B. Questions 1. How was it determined that the Thessalonians would be saved? See vv13 & 14. 2. How were the Thessalonians saved? Verse 13 provides two concepts that Paul couples together as the means of their salvation. What are they? How do you think these concepts are related to one another? 3. What was the purpose of their salvation? In light of your answer, is it possible that the Thessalonian believers could have missed Jesus’ return? Why or why not? ULBC Sunday School Page 15 Week 5 (Continued) 4. Paul mentions the teaching that he “passed on” to the church when he was there (v15). With what other teaching is this contrasted with (Hint: read earlier in the chapter)? Why does Paul make this contrast? 5. In the end, what will encourage the Thessalonians to trust Paul’s words and not believe false teaching? ULBC Sunday School Page 16 Notes: ULBC Sunday School Page 17 Week 6 (Monday, October 16th – Saturday, October 21st) A. Homework: Read 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 B. Questions 1. What is the major shift in focus in vv1-2? a. What specific prayer requests does Paul list? b. What does this tell you about what Paul thinks about himself (and his team)? c. What does this tell you about what Paul thinks about the Thessalonians? 2. Why do you think Paul adds the phrase “just as it was with you” at the end of v1? (Hint: Look back at the end of 1 Thessalonians Chapter 1 to help you answer) ULBC Sunday School Page 18 Week 6 (Continued) 3. Verses 1 & 2 are Paul’s request for prayer from the Thessalonians. Verse 3 shifts back to the Thessalonians and what the Lord will do for them. Why do you think Paul makes that shift? (Hint: To help you, think about the context: i.e., what concerns have Paul been addressing in the earlier chapters?) 4. In v4 Paul expresses confidence in the Thessalonians’ gospel work (i.e., good works). Take a few minutes and identify other places in the letter that their works are mentioned and list them below: ULBC Sunday School Page 19 Notes: ULBC Sunday School Page 20 Week 7 (Monday, October 23rd – Saturday, October 28th) A. Homework: Read 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 B. Questions 1. How important is it that the Thessalonians “keep away” from those who are idle? Use the text to support your answer. (Hint: How does the tone of 3:1 differ from that of 2:2:16-17) 2. How are lazy people similar to (1) persecutions and trials (1:3b) and (2) the false report that the Thessalonians had missed the return of the Lord (2:1-2)? In other words, what is the negative impact on believers that each of these people/things might bring? (Hint: what other concept does Paul couple with such people being “idle” – see vv6, 11. Compare that with 2:2) ULBC Sunday School Page 21 Week 7 (Continued) 3. What was Paul’s (and his companions’) example? a. How many different ways did he say example? b. What was the purpose of their example? c. What did he mean by “we…have the right to such help”? 4. Notice the idle people are believers (vv6, 15). What is Paul’s apparent hope for them? a. Other than avoiding them, how are the Thessalonians to interact with them? Use the text to support your answer. b. Believers are to be busy about gospel work in light of the Lord’s return. How does v10 illustrate this point? ULBC Sunday School Page 22 Notes: ULBC Sunday School Page 23 Week 8 (Monday, October 30th – Saturday, November 4th) A. Homework: Read 2 Thessalonians 3:16-18 B. Questions 1. In light of what you have learned, what kind of “peace” (v16) does Paul wish the Thessalonians? Explain the source of that peace. 2. What is the significance of the Lord being with the Thessalonians? a. In answering this, compare the Thessalonians’ trials with the Lord being with Joseph in Genesis 39 and the Lord promising to be with Jacob in Genesis 46:3-4. b. How might Paul have encouraged the Thessalonians using Jesus’ promises in Matthew 28:18-20 and John 16:32-33? ULBC Sunday School Page 24 Week 8 (Continued) 3. Why does Paul talk about the authenticity of this letter in v17 (i.e., that it was genuinely from Paul)? What was mentioned earlier in the book which would cause him to make this statement? 4.
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