In this first letter to the Thessalonian church, Paul is addressing a relatively new church of believers, having only been established two to three years earlier. These believers were remote from the epicenter of the Christian faith, and they were doing the best they could with the knowledge they had. In addition, they were also being persecuted for their faith. Paul wrote this letter to encourage and to strengthen the Thessalonian Christians in their faith. And, as with the message in the rest of the Bible, this letter is timeless for all of us. We may not be struggling with the same issues as this early church, but we all face struggles and need encouragement from time to time. Sometimes we are the encouragers and sometimes we are the ones needing encouragement. In either case, God and His strength are at the center of it all.