Bible Study: February 18, 2026

Prayer

Since last week, has God answered any of our prayers? Let us know! Or, share something great that's happened in the last week. Then, let’s focus on our present prayer requests: What's on your mind or heart that we can pray for concerning you or someone you love?

Praise

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Great is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father;

There is no shadow of turning with thee.

Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;

As thou hast been, thou forever wilt be.

Great is thy faithfulness, Great is thy faithfulness,

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed thy hand hast provided;

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Blessings all mine and ten thousand beside.

Passage – 1 Thessalonians 1

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. ² We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly ³ remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, ⁵ because our message of the Gospel came to you not in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. ⁶ And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy from the Holy Spirit, ⁷ so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. ⁸ For the word of the Lord has sounded [and echoed] forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. ⁹ For they report about us what kind of welcome we had among you and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God ¹⁰ and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

Ponder

1.  What warms your heart from the song or passage above—and why?

2. In verses 2, Paul is thankful (along with the others who are writing) for the faith that the Thessalonian church has, and writes to them to tell them so. So tonight, we’re going to do the same. I want you to think of someone (or a couple or a group!) who is not here this evening and send them a 21^st century letter right now: a short text.  Tell that person (or that couple or that group) how thankful you are for them, and, how you pray for them (or will start to pray for them). When it seems that everyone in our small group is done, you can also have the chance to share your 'letter' with us or keep your message personal. No pressure. But either way, let’s get thankful!

3.  Paul says here in verse eight that the faith of these Christians in this church has sounded “an echo.” In short, their testimony has gone viral. If City Centre Church’s story went viral, what do you think that people would say about our congregation in the Surrey area: and why do you think so?

4. Paul loves to talk about how people can imitate each other as they imitate Christ (v.6). What is something that you could imitate about the person you just wrote to as they imitate Christ and cause an echo in your life? You don’t have to share the person’s name, just their impact!

5. Paul mentions in verse four that the Gospel came to the church “not only with words but with a [life-changing] power.” When the Gospel came into your life, what first changed in you? It may be small. It may be big. But what was one of the first things you noticed that changed?  

6. We had the chance to start with a song, as usual for our group at this time. But this passage also speaks about how the church’s message "sounded forth" (or “rang out”). If your faith had a soundtrack that rang out, what do you think your song be? Bonus points if there are lines of the song that you can remember that you can also tell us!

Purposeful Prayer

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