The Thessalonians saw in Paul the living embodiment of what he was preaching, and that intensified the impact of his message. How could it be otherwise? But here is the lovely thing about it: Paul never meant to be impressive to them; he wanted only to get close to them. That love is what made the impression because the human love they felt in Paul made real the divine love preached by Paul. Here then is our take-away from 1 Thess 1–2: The divine power with which we preach to people is inseparable