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Preaching Series.
Starting October 5 at Christians in the Media, I’ll be preaching through Revelation 1-3 with our church for a few weeks. I’m very much looking forward to it and hoping that our church will be as confronted by the risen Jesus as I have been in my last month of preparation. Today I’ve been putting some finishing touches on talk 1, and am going to get some good hours into talk 2.
Revelation 1-3 is a great part of God’s word. I’ve found It fascinating to see how, as Jesus addresses each church he reveals himself in a way that is relevant to their particular sin/affliction/strength. If the church is stuck in false teaching - he reminds them that he has the double edged sword in his mouth. If the church is facing persecution unto death - Jesus comforts them with the reality that he died and rose again. On top of this, the promises Jesus makes to each church are related to their present situation.
Here are a few things I’ve been challenged by:
on Jesus:
My picutre of Jesus is often as crucified and risen, but not ascended and reigning.
Jesus is walking amongst the churches. He knows better than I do what’s going on.
Jesus is not afraid or unable to deal seriously with sin.
On myself:
I am too tolerant - Jesus hates sin.
Zeal and right doctrine must be accompanied with love.
False teaching must never be tolerated.
Discussion
6 comments for “Preaching Series.”
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hey Sam
I just finished a book by stott on what Jesus thinks of the churches -great read - might be profitable for your prep
Hey Shane,
What was it called?
What Christ Thinks fo the Church: An Expostition of Revelation 1-3 (Monarch Books)
I used it as devotional material but like most things he writes I could here it being preached. I thought this would make for an awesome sermon series. lots of helpful little structural stuff and turns of phrase. Gold.
Hey Sam, last night during church I was dreaming of an uber-church service… and it involved your series on revelation.
We don’t have much interaction in our meetings, and we don’t do much innovation either. I was thinking, we could combine the two and back-up the message of your sermon at the same time, by doing something interactive after your talk, relating to Jesus’ words to the churches in Rev.
Not entirely sure what this would look like. I just think it’s a good opportunity to examine where we’re at as a church, and could be really edifying to have some kind of interaction after the talk.
Sorry this is so vague. I just think we have a very separate service, like Singing.Prayer.Bible.Singing and sometimes they don’t really weave together as they could?
Hey Soph,
I’d love to hear some concrete suggestions. I don’t have a lot of say over the rest of the meeting - but If I’m convinced I’ll give some ideas a run in the pulpit and see what happens!
Hey Sam
Sorry bad timing - I went on holidays straight after I wrote that post. I still have no concrete ideas. I think i’ll keep dreaming! Hope it went well. Looking forward to listening to the MP3.