Welcome to part two with Professor Dale Sturm, first and second Thessalonians.

I feel like sometimes it's pretty easy to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ

of Latter-day Saints sitting in the chapel, but then we got to go to work and then we're

out on the freeway and then we're out facing difficulty, facing opposition.

Keep coming back because that's where we get our strength.

Elder Maxwell would quote this idea that the cross comes before the crown and tomorrow

is a Monday morning that with all of the glories of the gospel, we also have to deal with the fact

that tomorrow's Monday and we got to be faithful tomorrow in the ordinary things in the persistence

of regular stuff. It's easy to be a faithful Latter-day Saints sitting in the chapel hearing a

wonderful talk or conference time hearing the soaring language of an apostle, but tomorrow's a

Monday morning and we got to go to work and we got to deal with neighbors and traffic and then

sometimes the affliction of Christianity is just found in the ordinariness of the day-to-day that

it just keeps coming, the relentless regularity of life. The relentless regularity, I like that.

It reminds me of chapter 3, verse 12, the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward

another and toward all men. That sounds like a day-to-day useful verse. Dale, let's keep going here.

What does Paul have to say in this first letter? Chapter 4 is where we do get some doctrinal things.

So having noted that you are in the covenant, Thessalonians, and we love you. You're an example

to everyone. You're doing great. He now says, but I want to invite you to even be better,

to continue on this path. Don't just sit where you are. So in first one, furthermore than we

besiege you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus that as you have received of us, how you

ought to walk into please God, so you would abound more and more. This is the end part, but not just

in place. This is an invitation to growth. So he introduces a very significant doctrinal idea.

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