If you ask men in ministry what the key to their ministry is, you will probably get a whole list of things. Some may say the key is to love people. Others may say the most important thing is discipleship or mentoring. Still others might look to the power of the Holy Spirit as the basis of ministry. All of these things are important and essential to a ministry that pleases God. I think if you were to ask the apostle Paul this question, his answer would be the Word of God.In 1 Thessalonians 2, Paul is describing his ministry among the people of Thessalonika. Paul's conduct among them had been above reproach, as they had been eyewitnesses. In light of his ministry there, Paul thanks God:
"And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers" (1 Thess 2:13 ESV).
Paul thanked God because the Thessalonians had accepted and welcomed the Gospel as Paul, Silas, and Timothy had shared it with them. They did not accept as the message of good and genuine men, but by the illumination of God's Holy Spirit, they realized it was actually God's Word. Paul then remarks that it is God's Word which is at work among those believers. It was God's Word that had brought conviction and "made them wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim 3:15). It was through God's Word that God was continuing his sanctifying work in these believers. God's Word is the both the beginning point of ministry as well as the means for continuing it.
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