A. Praise of the church. 1:1-4 V.1-2 From - To - From I. It is almost the same introduction as in 1.Thessalonians 1:1. II. It was Paul and Silas (Silvanus) that had established the Church and Timothy was sent to them later to bring them further in the Lord. III. 1 and 2 Thessalonians are the only epistles of Paul without any further explanations about himself or his workers in the intro. (Also Hebrews has no intro) IV. Grace is the Greek way of saluting and Peace is the Hebrew way of saluting. V.3 a) Exceedingly Growth - I. Paul begins the letter with thanksgiving and prayer. II. Paul thanked God for the Thessalonians faith and love but not for their hope. Their hope was not abounding but on shaky ground, in due to their lack of understanding the Day of the Lord. III. This is the first thanksgiving out of two. 2:13 IV. Grow exceedingly - A. (Gr.huperauxano) Means to increase above (ordinary degree). B. Among all the churches that Paul began, the faith of the church of Thessalonica grew an extra ordinary growth. C. Sadly this is the only place the word “huperauxano” occurs in N.T. V. Their love abounded to each other, it wasn’ t the “huperauxano” the increase above ordinary degree. 1.Cor.13:13 VI. In the first epistle to the Thessalonains they had been exhorted by Paul to abound in love, 1.Thess.3:12; 4:9-10. they did abound. VII. They had acted on the exhortation to put on the breastplate of faith and love. They had failed in some aspect to follow up on the taking on the helmet of hope and suffered, this is one of the purposes Paul writes the epistle. 1.Thess.5:8 VIII. “ Grow exceedingly” can be referring to a tree growing, abounding to a river flowing. V.4 b) Endurance through Growth - I. Perseverance in Persecution. Heb.12:1-2 II. They had patience because of the testing of their faith. Jam.1:2-4, 12 III. Patience is: A. Based upon our hope. Rom.8:25 B. Developed by the Scriptures. Rom.15:4 C. Needed to receive the promise. Heb.10:36 D. Strengthened as we look unto Jesus. Heb.12:1-3