The Thessalonian church was persecuted by three kinds of people: 1) it was very offensive to the Romans to listen that "Jesus is Lord". 2) it was very offensive to families and co-workers to abandon their false gods so the church was ostracized from their families or from their jobs. They faced a social pressure by their families and an economic pressure from their jobs. 3) the Jews were against them and used the Romans to persecute them, as in Acts 17:5.
Paul was eager to know how these new church was facing persecution, so he sent Timothy to know the situation. He received the good news that they were enduring persecution and he became very glad to listen to it.
It is very interesting to see how powerful is the message, the good news that "Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God that came to redeem us" because it was necessary the Lord's power to endure what the Thessalonian church was facing. It was also necessary strong ties among the church members to support one another; including people who lost financial support. Today, we abandon the church for little things showing the fragility of our faith.
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