The Model Church
Laurel D. Buckingham · Tidal Church Shediac · October 25, 2026
Laurel D. Buckingham looks at 1 Thessalonians 1 and Paul's example to show what makes a model church: a life-directing mission, a method that connects with the culture, an unchanging gospel message, and the grit to keep pressing on through hardship.
More from Laurel D. Buckingham
Topics: Purpose, Mission & Outreach, Discipleship
Transcript
[0:00] Well, it's a great privilege, really and truly, for me to be here this morning, and the truth is to be anywhere. Because at my stage in life, I don't know of anybody that's on the preaching circuit at this age, and I just don't know how to be thankful enough, and I've got more to be thankful for than I could ever say, but I'm just thankful for a lot of things, and I know that I'm taking advantage of the situation. I'm an opportunist, and I've got a daughter who's 57 years old, has two jobs, two kids, and she will be graduating with her PhD from the University of Toronto, one of the toughest events, and so this is not proper for me to be expressing my pride here in front of you, but I'm very thankful for all that.
[1:04] She's a psychologist, and she's helped me a lot. I need all the help I can get, so I look to her for some advice, but I've got a message this morning that is on my heart for many reasons, but my goal in preaching has been for a long, long time, is to just try to help us all in the journey of life, and when I say that, I just read a great definition of God's grace. I think I mentioned here earlier one time. God's grace is just simply God's help, and so any help that we get spiritually is just God's grace, and you know there's over a hundred verses that talk about God's help, and then there's a thousand verses or more that has synonyms for help that speak of God's help, and so God wants to help us, and God wants to help us collectively. God wants to help us individually, and I believe that if we can hear what God is saying to us today, and it really is God speaking to us because it's his word that is speaking, we read about Paul, and this guy Paul, I just have the greatest admiration for him and respect for him because of what he went through.
[2:34] We've been hearing about that in Philippians, and what he accomplished, it is really phenomenal that any human being could be like Paul was, but what a powerful example because he says in Philippians chapter 3 verse 14, I press on. Now he was saying that in jail. He was saying that in some of the worst circumstances, and he had plenty of them before and after that that he kept pressing on. Now when Paul said, I press on, that's exactly what he did. He did what he said he was going to do, and there's something great about being able to trust people who do what they're saying they're going to do, and Paul was all about helping people in their journey, and not to be helping people, it's really not to be helping ourselves because really the more we seek to help others, the more we're helping ourselves.
[3:43] Really that's how it works. Given it shall be given unto you. Press down, shaking together, running over. So Paul talks about in 1 Thessalonians the model church, the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians, and he uses that term, you were a model, and he's bragging on this church, and he's talking about what it took for them to become this great church. Now if we're going to have a model church, we've got to have model people because that's what makes up for a model church, and Paul said, and it's almost surprising he would say this, be followers of me, imitators of me. Boy, that's quite odd. Some people would say that's arrogant for who does it think he is to ask people to be an imitator of him, but he said and of Jesus Christ because Paul knew himself that he was seeking to be a full follower of Jesus. So he could say without apology, be an imitator of me, and then when those people were model people they were able to develop this model church, and we're going to get into how it was that this church in Thessalonica became such a model church, but in that first chapter there's a few words that I want to point out as we look into the beginning of the second verse.
[5:10] He said, we continually remember you before our God, and Father, your work takes work, and there's a wonderful bunch of people here that work, and I think of your pastor, nobody could be more encouraging and more respectful than he has been, and so this is a big factor. I mean, there's no way in the world. People are looking for the silver bullet to help the church be everything that the church should be. Well, I'll tell you what the silver bullet is. It's us, each individual, as we seek to be everything that God would have us to be, and then he said your labor prompted by love. Oh, isn't it wonderful being in that atmosphere where you see people loving one another, encouraging one another, helping one another, and then he said your endurance.
[6:05] They persevered. They did not give up, and that is a key, key factor in seeing the church be everything that God intended for his church to be. Endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, and then he said you didn't speak simply with words, but with power, with the Holy Spirit, with deep conviction. I'll tell you, in this day, with all the headwinds, if we're going to see the church go forward, if we're going to go forward, it takes deep conviction, real conviction, really believing that this is important, and that will help us to plow through some of the obstacles, and then he said you became imitators of us.
[7:00] They saw a great example in Paul, and he made no, he didn't put that down, and then he talked about in the seventh verse, and so you became a model to all believers. What a wonderful thing for Paul to be able to say this church is doing so well, and he gave the reasons why it was, and why the people were doing so well, that they're a model. And man, wouldn't it be great, and maybe it already is happening here, that this church is a model of what can happen in a site church throughout the Atlantic region to inspire other people to believe, and to stick with it, and to persevere, and to work hard, and to love, and to do all the things there that Paul said. And then he talked about you became a model, and then he said that they were talked about everywhere because of what was going on, and that's what happens when God is really working. People won't talk about it.
[8:06] Now, what helped this church? What was the reason? Why did this church become such a powerful, strong church that could be so highly commended? Now, all these factors I don't think we can take lightly, factors. See, what I want this message to be, if it could be everything that I would like to see it be, and I believe that God wants for us, is it would help us to see how the church can thrive and be at its best, but it also can help each one of us as individuals to see how we can thrive and be at our best, and to be able to conquer in all the difficulties that life brings. Life brings its difficulties to everybody, and Paul had probably more difficulties and obstacles and heartbreaks and setbacks and problems than anybody in this room will ever have, but he continued to persevere, and that was a major key fact. So here's what my hope would be, that this message would be helpful not only for the church, but it would be helpful for all of us in all of our circumstances, in our business, in our family life, in our work life, whatever it may be, and I think if we apply the principles that Paul shared, and they're principles that are eternal, that will affect everything in a positive way forever, if we apply these principles, we will see God's best for our individual lives, and as a pastor, that's always been my utmost desire that people would experience the best they can experience and reach their full potential and be at their
[10:07] best in every situation and circumstance. So why did this church then become such a great church? Well, we read the beginning back in Acts chapter 16 and verse 10, and Paul, it says, saw a vision and he got ready at once to leave to go to Macedonia where this church started, where it was located. Paul had a mission to Macedonia. Now, the first thing I want us to think about is a life directing mission. Now, hear me please.
[10:54] When we have a mission that we feel strong about, we have a mission that we have deep conviction about, we have a mission that is urgent, we have a mission that is important, we have a mission that cannot be compromised, that kind of a mission will keep us headed in the right direction. Those words have been chosen very carefully, a life directing mission, a mission that will keep us on track, that will keep us from compromising, that will keep us from getting distracted, and let me tell you this, it's almost impossible to stop a man who has a mission, a person who has a mission that really matters.
[11:49] If the mission matters, that kind of a person is unstoppable. Don't you think that's the kind of person that God wants you and I to be in all of our circumstances and all of our challenges of life? He had a mission that really mattered. You know, as I said, at this stage of life, it isn't even sensible that I'm on this earth. There's nobody on my mother's side or my father's side. No male has ever lived as long as I've lived. Amen, God's got a plan. But one of the things that energizes me is this, and I think this could be a help to every one of us throughout our entire lives.
[12:37] Life is not about pleasure. I think we get really messed up when we start going down that road. Life is about purpose. And when we have a purpose that we feel great about, and we know it's God's purpose, and God's got a purpose for every one of us, when it's God's purpose, and we're seeing it fulfilled, which to some degree I'm seeing it fulfilled, maybe not to the degree I'd like to see it fulfilled, but to a great degree, when we're seeing that purpose fulfilled, then, my friends, that's our pleasure. Does it make sense to you? It just looks like you're paying attention or that's our pleasure.
[13:29] So I'll tell you what, there's nobody in this room that is getting any more pleasure in life than I'm getting because of seeing the purpose fulfilled for God's glory. And I'm telling you, that's where it's at. And so Paul had that kind of a purpose, a mission that really mattered. There is more failure because of lack of mission than there is because of lack of talent. A lot of people think it's all to do with talent. It's to do more with purpose than it is to do it. Thank God for the talent. Oh, I don't want to minimize the talent of all you guys up here singing and playing, but it's more about purpose than it is about talent.
[14:20] And as a church, and when I was pastoring, I had this mission statement for myself that came back to bite me over and over again because I realized there's something more we could do, and it went something like, we must use every available. Now, the word must, that gave a sense of urgency, gave a sense of importance. We must use every available means, at every available time, and every available place to reach, every available person for Christ. Everything we are and everything we do is for that purpose because Jesus came to seek and to save those who are lost. And because of that conviction, that importance, that mission that was actionable, it helped us to keep heading in the right direction.
[15:07] And if it was, well, it would come back to bite us because we realize there's something more that we need to be doing. So he had a life-directing mission. He had a life-engaging method. Now, we read about that in the 17th chapter, and it says, as Paul's custom was, he went into the synagogue to teach. Now, I'll tell you what, Paul was smart because he had already made a crowd to go into the synagogue, the Jewish people, and talk to them about Jesus. Would that work today? Would that work for me as a pastor, to say, I'm just going to go to different cities and go into the synagogue?
[15:57] That would work in today's world. So what's the principle? I hope we can get this. The principle is we have to find out what works best in the culture in which we are living. Now, it isn't about going along with the culture. It's not about compromising with the culture. But here's what it is about. It is about connecting with the culture and finding whatever it is that speaks the language of the culture of the day. And that's the reason. And I've seen a lot of change in the 87 years I've been on this earth. And I'm telling you, when I think back, well, I won't get into it, but I'm all for the old hymns. This is just one example.
[16:49] I like the words of those old hymns are fantastic. But singing those old hymns today, that is out of sync. I think it's good to sing them once in a while, but I'm just saying for the young people and the young families and the people we're really trying to reach, that doesn't connect. We have to have the music that connects with the culture. Now, this would be a good place to say amen. Whether you agree or not. But you know, in my ministry, I do consultations with churches and try to help them to go on to the next level. And I often invited churches that have been dying for years.
[17:34] And part of the reason they've been dying for the years, they think if they did what they did 50 years ago, that could bring them alive. That just caused them to die all the faster. And so we need to be so concerned about what God has called the church to be and to do. We're willing to change in order to reach the people we need to reach. And some of the churches that, and I don't want to be bashing other churches here, but the truth of matter is there are churches that are dying all over the place. And they're using the same old, same old, same old methods. I think it was Calvary who said something like this.
[18:23] Nothing fails today like the successes of yesterday. Now we've always heard nothing succeeds like success. But what was he really saying? He's saying the things that we tried to do that were successful 50 years ago are the very things that could cause defeat today, because it no longer works in our culture. And so as God's people who want to see his church march forward and we want to have the greatest impact that we can possibly have as a testimony individually and collectively, we will want to make whatever changes that are necessary in order to see the church be all that God meant for his church to be, which is alive and connecting with the people we need to be reaching.
[19:20] So I'm going to put it this way. He who resists change is the architect of decay. I was going to say, put that in your pipe and smoke it. But maybe that's not a big thing to do. Whatever it takes to get your attention, you understand. But you know something? The churches that I try to help some of them have gone, have bled to death almost because of maintaining the old ways of doing everything. But there is an upside. There is hope. And this is the hope.
[20:07] If 1955 ever rolls around again, they will be ready. That's about the way it goes. You all with me? I know you are. So he had a life-engaging method. And listen, if the method is working, if the method is bringing results like we see here in front of us today, then we know that it's engaging people. And I have to say, and probably shouldn't be getting into this, but I'm here early to see all the people who are working so hard in this place. They're engaged. Why?
[20:53] Because they have a purpose. They have a calling to see God's church be what God wants his church to be, of model church. But then we go on and we see where this church was made great in Thessalonica because of a life -changing message. Now, I'm telling you, this is important. Look at the third verse. He said, Paul said, explaining and proving. Now, here he is in the synagogue. This is really something. This blows me away, kind of. It blows my mind. Explaining and proving that Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead.
[21:43] This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ. Amazing. Amazing. I just read something last night that comes to mind right now. I wasn't planning to say this. Maybe I shouldn't be saying this. But Peter Cartwright was a great evangelist back in the late 1800s. I'm not sure of the timing, but just swept the country with his preaching and revival meeting, building churches and so on. And somebody informed him, and I forget the president's name right now. As I say, I wasn't planning to say that such and such a president was going to be present for that particular service. And they said, so you be careful what you say.
[22:30] He got up and he said, I just want to say, and he called the president by name, has not received Jesus Christ as Savior. He's on his way to hell. Well, the president came to him afterwards and said, if I had men like you, I could conquer anything to have people with that kind of conviction. Well, I'm not saying that's the way to do it. And I don't get that from what I just said. It was just kind of interesting to me. So a life changing, changing message. Oh, thank God for the message. Amen. The power of the message and what it does to bring transformation.
[23:17] Somebody accused Billy Graham, the great evangelist, maybe the greatest evangelist who has ever lived. They said, he has set preaching back 100 years. And Billy Graham never responded to criticism. But he said, that really wasn't my intention to set it back 100 years. He said, I want to set it back 2000 years. And I'm telling you, the message that change brought about change in people's lives and transformation in people's lives 2000 years ago is the same message that brings transformation today. And people will say, you know, we've got to modernize the message. We've got to make the message relevant. And they keep the same old methods. They got it backwards.
[24:05] And that's the reason so many churches are dying, that message can never change because it is a truth that will set us free and change our life and make it everything that God meant for it to be. I could use hundreds of different illustrations here, but this one seems to stand out to me as much or more than most. A great evangelist on the Billy Graham team of evangelists by name of Joe Blinco at a conference I was at told about his upbringing in abject poverty. Didn't have enough clothes to wear enough food to eat. Lived in a shack.
[24:53] Everything was so dirty and dilapidated. And how awful it was. And he said, my mother, yes, my mother came home from a revival meeting one night and she was singing to the top of her voice when the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. And she kept singing and singing it and singing it and singing it and singing it and singing it. But made the point yet singing it. And he said, until my father said, well, for Pete's sakes, would somebody call the roll? Well, by and by, he said, my father went to that revival meeting and he came home singing when the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.
[25:40] And then he said, when he was transformed, our whole household was transformed. He said, we all received Christ. He said, even the dilapidated dirty house looked better. But then he said, it started to get better and things begin to change and we have food to eat, clothes to wear, and a nicer home to live in because of the transformation that Jesus can bring as we put our trust and faith in him and know what it is to be a child of God. So this message, my friend, can never be compromised. That's where the difficulty comes why so many churches are not seeing God work the way God wants to work and the way God could work. Now, what I'm about to say, I'm watching that clock back there.
[26:35] Surely that's not correct. Did you speed that up, Nathan, somehow or another? Life-building muscle. Now listen, if you get what I'm talking about now, about life-building muscle, that is what's going to make everything else we've already talked about really work. That's what's going to make the mission really successful. That's what's going to make the methods effective and productive. That's what's going to make the message come alive.
[27:21] But unless we understand what it means to have life-building muscle, it is not going to have the same impact or very little impact. Now what do I mean by that? That is spiritual muscle. This just shocks the life out of me when I read about this in regard to Paul. We read in the fifth verse, but the Jews were jealous and they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace and formed a mob and started a riot in the city and they're afraid that Paul might get killed so they rushed him out of the city. Now here's the crazy thing about Paul. Was that going to stop him?
[28:07] Was that going to cause him to give up? Was that going to cause him to be filled with fear? I'm going to lose my life if I continue to preach this message. Is this message not really working and have all kinds of doubts and so on? Look in the tenth verse. This is shocking what happened. It says, as soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea and on arriving there, just not too far away, he went into the synagogue and he preached what he preached before. He didn't give up. He had a spirit of perseverance. You know, you mentioned about pastoring and I've heard all kinds of things that because of the complexity of pastoring, it is one of the toughest jobs in the world.
[28:56] And when I was at one stage way back in the early days of being here in Moncton, I was feeling sorry for myself. Things were not well, going well. And I was about as low as you could go. I don't even want to think about it. But I sat down and I read the entire book of Nehemiah, all in one sitting. When I saw what Nehemiah went through, he had enemies wanting to kill him from the outside. He had his own people wanting to stab him in the back. And in spite of whatever opposition he had because of the vision that God had given him, he said this, and I don't know how he said it, but I think I have an idea.
[29:50] He said, we will arise and we will build. He wasn't going to be compromised by any difficulty setbacks and opposition that he had to face. After I read all of that, I took a look in the mirror and I said, you weak, whining wimp. Get with it. Stand up. Straighten up. Go forward. There's something to be conquered for the glory of God. And I'm telling you, this was the kind of person as we see Paul was. You know the people who fail are the people who are not willing to do. The people who succeed, maybe put it this way, better way to put it.
[30:42] The people who succeed are not willing to do the things that failures are not willing to do. The people who succeed do the things. I'll get it straight after a while. Has none do with age now. Don't get that in your head. And so the people who succeed, they will, they're willing to do the things that failures are not willing to do. They persevere. They stay by the stuff no matter how things are going. Every summer I preach at the Irving chapel up here in in Baktush and the Irving family is usually there. And this summer I preached about the importance of perseverance, the importance of grit.
[31:29] It was Angela Duckworth who wrote the great book on grit. And I've read that entire book and it was just an illustration. It was just full of illustrations of people who had grit and they didn't give up. And how the grit trumps everything else, intelligence. It trumps education. It trumps personality. It trumps everything. Grit is so important. And so after the service was over, everybody left except the Irving family. I was talking to JD and his sons and wife and daughter. And he looked at me with a set jaw. He said, grit, 98%.
[32:15] And I don't think he's far from the truth. If we don't have that spirit of perseverance and grit, none of the other things are going to be all they could be. The missions, the mission, the methods, the message. None of it is going to have the same effect. But when it is complemented by people who have the kind of grit that God's people had in the Old Testament, New Testament, and throughout history, then my friends, the Church of Jesus Christ can thrive and be alive and go forward like never before. In spite of whatever difficulties and all these things, Paul pressed on with the mission.
[33:02] Paul pressed on with the methods. Paul pressed on against the opposition. We had spiritual muscle. So let's hear this. When we are betrayed, what do we do? We press on. When we are hurt, what do we do? When we press on. When we're discouraged, what do we do? We press on. When we're misunderstood, which we will be, What do we do? We press on! When we're hated, we press on! We press on! We press on!
[33:48] Abraham Lincoln, probably the greatest president who ever lived, one of the Union generals during the Civil War sent him a telegram. And the Union general just simply said in that telegram, I think the war can be won. Can you believe I just forgot the punch line?
[34:35] I've written it down. I have some notes in the back of my Bible in case I have a brain cramp. Now, these brain cramps are nothing new. Please hear that now. I've had them all my life. One time, 45 years ago, I was introducing my sister-in-law, and I couldn't remember her name. So, the brain cramps happened to the best of us, and this is just important. Now, see, there's a positive thing that can come from this. This will help you to remember better the fact that I had a brain cramp, and I want you to remember it, you see. Maybe I'm doing this on purpose. He said this, I believe the war can be won if the matter is pressed.
[35:26] And Lincoln sent back a telegram saying, let the matter be pressed. And I'm saying to us, as God's people, let's press on. Let the matter be pressed. We are in a greater warfare than any war ever in history, a war against Satan and the attacks of the devil to destroy people, and we're here to build people up and be the model Christians that will make for the model church that will help the church to reach its full potential and be the church that God wants His church to be. Father in Heaven, how we thank You today for the power of Your Word, how we thank You for the direction that You have given us.
[36:25] And I pray, dear God, that this might stay clear as crystal to all of us, people who are willing to be dependent upon, people who will not give up, people who will persevere. And no matter how many failures that any of us may have experienced, we're thankful that failure plus failure plus failure plus failure will equal success if we don't make failing the last chapter. And I just pray, dear God, that for anybody who has failed, help them to realize that You are ready and willing and want to forgive, and help them to get back up on their feet and press on for Your glory.
[37:12] In Jesus' name, amen.