The text for Pastor John's message this morning is found in Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 1.

Now I'd invite you to turn in your Bible or the Bible in the few in front of you to 1st Thessalonians chapter

1 and follow along as I read the first 10 verses.

That's 1st Thessalonians 1 verses 1 through 10. Paul,

Sylvanus and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace to you and peace.

We give thanks to God always for you all,

constantly mentioning you in our prayers,

remembering before our God and Father your work of faith

and labor of love and steadfastness of hope

in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know brethren be loved by God that he has

chosen you, for our gospel came to you not only in word but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.

You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake and you became imitators of us and of the Lord for you receive the word

in much affliction with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in AKEa.

For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Akaia, but your faith in God has gone

forth everywhere so that we need not say anything.

For they themselves report concerning us what a welcome we had among you and how you turn to God from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead, Jesus,

who delivers us from the wrath to come.

It seems fitting that at the end of the series on hope, the final fruit of hope that we talk about is endurance, because that's what will have to be true of you if you are to carry on

with the implications of what we've said. The text is verse 3, 1st Thessalonians 1, and the particular phrase in verse 3 is that little

phrase at the end, the endurance of hope. I take that to mean that hope produces

endurance or that endurance is the fruit of hope. The reason I take it to mean that is

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