Advent: The Call To Holiness
Sermons on the Second Readings
Anytime we center on First Thessalonians in our devotional reading or in a study group or read a passage from it in worship or hear a sermon preached on it, we're dealing with the earliest of all the New Testament's witness. First Thessalonians, written by Paul in the early 50s C.E. to this congregation in Macedonia, of which he was the founder, pre-dates all the rest of the New Testament writings. It may be the reason that such a text has been chosen by our Common Lectionary for the first Sunday of Advent. The primacy of Thessalonians matches well with our worship today.