THE EXALTED LORD OF THE LOCAL CHURCH (1 OF 8)
by Drew Hunter
Scripture: Revelation 1:9-20
This content is part of a series.
The Exalted Lord of the Local Church (1 of 8)
Series: Seven Challenges Facing Every Church
Drew Hunter
Revelation 1: 9-20
In Revelation 2 and 3, we see Jesus sending messages to these churches. This is like a check-in on the health of the early churches. What happened to them after a generation passed? What would Jesus say to them? Revelation 2-3 shows us.
And here's what we find: We hear Jesus' message to seven different churches. And we learn that they faced great challenges.
- They were tempted to have right doctrine in their heads, but lose love in their hearts.
- They were tempted to stop following Jesus because the majority culture rejected them.
- They were tempted to give up out of fear of being thrown in prison for being Christians.
- They were tempted to not make a big deal out of false teaching about Jesus.
- They were tempted to be complacent about their obedience to Jesus.
- They were tempted to think that their affluent lifestyle was equivalent to godliness.
- They were tempted to be halfhearted about following Jesus.
And so Jesus sent a message to these churches.
He has words for them. He has a vision for how he wants Christians to live and think and love. And he has a vision for what local churches should care about and be committed to. And so he sends a letter to the churches to encourage them where they need encouragement, and correct them where they need to be corrected.
And we need this same encouragement and correction today. The challenges that the first churches face are still the challenges that we face today.
So, over the next several weeks, we're going to look at the messages that Jesus sent to his churches. There are seven of them across Revelation 2 and 3. But before we look at these, we are going to start where Jesus starts: In chapter 1, verses 9-20.
This is the first thing Jesus wants his churches to know. This is what he wants his people to know. Before they listen to a word he says to the ...
Series: Seven Challenges Facing Every Church
Drew Hunter
Revelation 1: 9-20
In Revelation 2 and 3, we see Jesus sending messages to these churches. This is like a check-in on the health of the early churches. What happened to them after a generation passed? What would Jesus say to them? Revelation 2-3 shows us.
And here's what we find: We hear Jesus' message to seven different churches. And we learn that they faced great challenges.
- They were tempted to have right doctrine in their heads, but lose love in their hearts.
- They were tempted to stop following Jesus because the majority culture rejected them.
- They were tempted to give up out of fear of being thrown in prison for being Christians.
- They were tempted to not make a big deal out of false teaching about Jesus.
- They were tempted to be complacent about their obedience to Jesus.
- They were tempted to think that their affluent lifestyle was equivalent to godliness.
- They were tempted to be halfhearted about following Jesus.
And so Jesus sent a message to these churches.
He has words for them. He has a vision for how he wants Christians to live and think and love. And he has a vision for what local churches should care about and be committed to. And so he sends a letter to the churches to encourage them where they need encouragement, and correct them where they need to be corrected.
And we need this same encouragement and correction today. The challenges that the first churches face are still the challenges that we face today.
So, over the next several weeks, we're going to look at the messages that Jesus sent to his churches. There are seven of them across Revelation 2 and 3. But before we look at these, we are going to start where Jesus starts: In chapter 1, verses 9-20.
This is the first thing Jesus wants his churches to know. This is what he wants his people to know. Before they listen to a word he says to the ...
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