Living in the Last Days: A Study of Paul’s Letter to the Thessalonians. Feeling overwhelmed by life right now? You’re not alone. When everything feels uncertain, we often worry about what’s next. But what if it’s possible to regain perspective and live with purpose? Are living in the last days? How do we live in the Last Days? How do we make a difference in uncertain times. Let’s dig into Paul’s letters to the Church at Thessalonica and learn to live by faith, stand firm, make a difference, and face the future with courage instead of fear.
Living in the Last Days On Mission – 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12
Are we living in the last days? Yes. And every day we are one day closer to Jesus’ return. So how do we live in the last days? We live on mission. We live to share the Gospel boldly with a dependence on God, purely with the right motives, and relationally investing in people.
DISCUSSION/REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
- What is something that has you very motivated right now? Why?
- How do you react when you know you’re running out of time? Are you stressed? Are you unfazed?
- Who shared the Gospel with you?
- READ: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12.
Spend some time SOAPing this passage. You can either spend time SOAPing individually and documenting for a several minutes and then spend time sharing with each -OR- SOAP in real time with each other. Either way make as many observations as you can.
OBSERVATIONS: What are the things that stand out to you about this passage? How would you summarize this passage in one sentence? What does this passage tell me about who God is? What does this passage tell me about who I am?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how bold are you with your faith?
- What does it look like for you right now to share the Gospel with boldness as you depend on God? Where is God calling you to share your faith, even if it costs you?
- When might you be tempted to care more about pleasing people than pleasing God?
- Who do I know who needs to know Jesus and hear the Gospel?
- If you don’t know anyone, how can you start searching and building relationships?
- READ: 1 Thessalonians 2:8. What does this verse look like practically? And, how could you live this verse out right now?
- Doug talked about the WHY that motivates our serving others and seeking to reach others with the Gospel. For you, as a follower of Jesus and part of Live Oak, why is your WHY? For where you serve, how you invite, how you invest in others and in the mission? What is your why?
- What else stood out from this week’s sermon?
APPLICATION:
What is your big takeaway from this passage and this week’s sermon? Be specific.
NEXT STEPS:
Everyone has a next step to apply what we’ve learned. What’s your next step? Be specific.
MEMORY VERSE: *Challenge yourself or your group to commit this verse to memory:
1 Thessalonians 2:8 “So we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.”
PRAYER: Encourage your group to pray this prayer often in 2026 & use to close your group time.
A 2026 Prayer for MORE: Ephesians 3:14-21 “Heavenly Father, Help me to engage with you MORE. Work in me to make me MORE like you. Use me to help MORE people know you. Make my story about your glory! Amen.”
Scripture References:
1 Thessalonians 2:1-12; Matthew 24:10-14; 1 Timothy 4:1; Matthew 24:9-10; Acts 16:1-17:9