Thanksgiving for Response to the Gospel

1:2 We thank God always for all of you as we mention you constantly4 in our prayers, 1:3 because we recall5 in the presence of our God and Father6 your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope7 in our Lord Jesus Christ. 1:4 We know,8 brothers and sisters9 loved by God, that he has chosen you,10 1:5 in that11 our gospel did not come to you merely in words,12 but in power and in the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction (surely you recall the character we displayed when we came among you to help you).13

1:6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, when you received14 the message with joy that comes from the Holy Spirit, despite great affliction. 1:7 As a result you became an example15 to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 1:8 For from you the message of the Lord16 has echoed forth not just in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place reports of your faith in God have spread,17 so that we do not need to say anything. 1:9 For people everywhere18 report how you welcomed us19 and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God 1:10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.20