Thessalonian Faith is the personal ministry of Tim Hensler. The mission and focus of Thessalonian Faith is to help people grow in their knowledge of, relationship in, and service with the Lord Jesus Christ by proclaiming and explaining God’s word and equipping saints for the work of ministry.
Thessalonian Faith is based on the following Biblical model, foundation, and principles.
Biblical Model
The church in Thessalonica is well worth emulating by any ministry. It was founded by the apostle Paul (Acts 17:1–9) who also wrote two encouraging and instructive letters to them (1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians). In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul pointed out that they:
- Welcomed the message, 1:6
- Imitated the Lord, 1:6
- Imitated good Christian leaders, 1:6
- Had the joy of the Holy Spirit, 1:6
- Became a model to other believers, 1:7
- Turned from idols, 1:9
- Turned to God, 1:9
- Served God, 1:9
- Were waiting for Jesus’ second coming, 1:10
- Were rescued from the coming wrath, 1:10
- Suffered persecution, 3:3
- Had faith and love, 3:6
- Stood firm in the Lord, 3:8
*This list is from The Bible Made Simple: Tough Questions Clear Answers (Mark Water, AMG, 2002.)
Biblical Foundation
| “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17) | “And the things that you have heard me say among many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be qualified to teach others as well.” (2 Timothy 2:2) |
Biblical Principles
| Conviction | Vision | Process |
|---|---|---|
| “And we continually thank God because, when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as the true word of God—the word which is now at work in you who believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13) | “As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. For not only did the message of the Lord ring out from you to Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone out to every place, so that we have no need to say anything more.” (1 Thessalonians 1:7–8) | “So they read from the Book of the Law of God, explaining it and giving insight, so that the people could understand what was being read.” (Nehemiah 8:8) |
| Knowledge of Jesus | Relationship in Jesus | Service with Jesus |
|---|---|---|
| “to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:12–13) | “I am not asking on behalf of them alone, but also on behalf of those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:20–21) | “All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:18–20) |
Bible translations used on this website
- Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations on this website are taken from the The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible (BSB). This text of God’s Word has been dedicated to the public domain as of April 30, 2023.
- Scripture quotations marked ESV have been taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
- Scripture quotations marked FFG have been taken from The Four-Fold Gospel, McGarvey, John William, and Philip Y. Pendleton. Cincinnati, OH: The Standard Publishing Company, 1914. Public Domain,
- Scripture quotations marked LSB are taken from the Legacy Standard Bible® (LSB®), Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.
- Scripture quotations marked MSV (My Study Version) is my own translation, based on and modified for clarity from the Literal Standard Version Bible (LSV), Copyright 2022, Covenant Press. The original work is by Biblica and is available for free at biblica.com and open.bible (and also https://www.logos.com/product/252062/literal-standard-version). Permission to modify and use the LSV for this project is granted by a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike CC BY SA [4.0] license.
- Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188, USA. All rights reserved.
- Scripture quotations marked WCA come from Word Come Alive , an extended translation of the New Testament: www.wordcomealive.net Copyright (C) Martin Manser 2016-2024 https://martinmanser.co.uk/. Used by permission. (Words in italics are not translated from the original Greek text. They have been added to explain and at times apply the text, much as a preacher does on a Sunday or notes do at the foot of the page in a study Bible. These additions are integrated with the text itself, and are in italics, so readers can see what has been explained, changed or added.)
Thessalonian Faith 