Click Here – 1 Thessalonians 1:1.
The first verse of any of the epistles (letters to churches or individuals from Paul or one of the other apostles), tells us a lot about the book. First, the letter is not only from Paul, but also from His helpers Timothy and Silas. Both were part of the missionary journey with Paul that first brought the Gospel to the city of Thessalonica (see Acts 17 1-14).
Thessalonica was the capital city of the province of Macedonia in today’s northern Greece. At the time it was the largest city in Greece. Paul established the church in that city, but was driven out after the Jews of the city became jealous of the crowd of followers he was pulling away from them. They started a riot and drove Paul and his group out of the city. But the church was already established, and it would continue to grow.
Paul’s standard greeting to the churches was “Grace to you and Peace.” This greeting incorporates part of the Greek greeting (the Greek word for ‘greetings’ looks much like the word for ‘grace’) as well as the standard Hebrew greeting of Shalom, or peace. Paul shows that the letter, like the Gospel, is for both the Jews and the non-Jews!