When Faith Went Viral – 1 Thessalonians 1 | Video Devotion with Dave Miers
Jul 21, 2026 24467
[Watch this week’s video devotion with Dave Miers]
A car smashed through a fish-and-chip shop in Brisbane. A local bloke named Daniel McConnell jumped out of bed and chased the guy down the street wearing nothing but his jocks.
The Today Show interviewed him. And it was hilarious. Afterwards, EVERYONE was sharing the video.
The story went viral. Not because Daniel planned it. But it was real, raw, and everyone fell in love with an everyday hero.
Viral videos work because people can’t help but share the story with others.
In 1 Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul tells the story of a group of new Christians whose faith story went viral!
Look at chapter 1 verse 8,
“For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.” (ESV)
Their conversion story spread. Their faith went viral. And Paul tells us exactly what converting to Christianity looked like.
Three steps. Turn. Serve. Wait.
Step 1: Turn
Check out 1 Thessalonians 1:9
“For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” (ESV)
They turned away from idols.
Idolatry doesn’t just mean bowing to statues. It means looking for hope and happiness, significance and security, in the wrong places. Idolatry is also turning good things into ultimate things.
Our culture bows to the idols of sex, money, and power. But they can’t really deliver on their promises.
The call of the gospel in the first century and today is to turn away from false gods.
It was viral news when people heard that the Christians in Thessalonica had turned away from idols.
Not only did they TURN from idols, but they turned to something, or someone.
Step 2: Serve
They started serving the living and true God. Actively. Not just stopping something, but replacing it with something better.
Tim Keller observed this about the early church:
“The early church was strikingly different from the culture around it in this way. The pagan society was stingy with its money and promiscuous with its body. A pagan gave nobody their money and practically gave everybody their body. And the Christians came along and gave practically nobody their body and they gave practically everybody their money.”
Jon Tyson reflects beautifully on that contrast. He says,
“We need to be a people marked by financial generosity and sexual faithfulness. Instead of being driven by sex, money, and power, we must be driven by faithfulness, generosity, and servanthood.”
That’s what the Thessalonians embodied. That’s conversion. That’s what it looks like to turn and serve.
Step 3: Wait
The section concludes in verse 10 with these words,
“And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” (ESV)
They waited. They waited for Jesus. And here’s why that matters.
Because of our sin and idolatry, we deserve God’s wrath. We all do. This is just. This is right.
But Jesus comes along. The only one without sin. He lives the life we failed to live. He goes to the cross and drinks the cup of wrath on our behalf. He dies the death we deserve.
The Good News Is…
Three days later, he rose from the dead, having defeated sin, Satan, and death.
Jesus has delivered us from the wrath of God. The judgment we deserve has already fallen on him at the cross, and for those whose faith is in Jesus – God’s judgment won’t fall on us again.
And so
Step 1: We TURN from idols
Step 2: We SERVE the living and true God
Step 3: We WAIT for Jesus.
Waiting for Jesus means life is now all about Jesus! He is our God, he is our Saviour, and we seek to now live for him who died and rose again for us, longing for his return.
When the Thessalonians met Jesus, the story of their conversion went viral!
May the story of our faith in Jesus go viral as people see the change in our lives and consider what it means for them to follow Jesus, too.
Reflection
Of the three steps—Turn, Serve, Wait—which one do you need to lean into most right now?
Rev. Dave Miers
President, Good News Unlimited