Seven Words for Seven Churches

SESSION ELEVEN Seven Words for Seven Churches SESSION SUMMARY This session traces some of the key themes found in the letters to the seven churches in Asia Minor, beginning with God s call for His people to repent. Many of the churches had lost their way and needed to turn away from their sin and back to Christ. Part of that repentance meant turning their focus from their sins back to Jesus and keeping their eyes on Him no matter what situation they faced. Finally, we will see that God calls His people to reengage in His mission of continuing to take the gospel to others as His ministers of reconciliation. SCRIPTURE Revelation 2:1-7; 3:1-6 106 Leader Guide / Session 11

THE POINT God calls us to repent of sin, refocus our attention on Jesus, and reengage in His mission. INTRO/STARTER 5-10 MINUTES Option 1 It s easy to feel persecuted for our faith today. Sometimes the courts don t go the way we want. Sometimes our faith conflicts with what our culture values. And sometimes, we face even more direct persecution physical, emotional, or legal because of our love for Jesus. What are some ways you have experienced persecution for your faith or how have you seen others persecuted? It is tempting to give in and let our culture have its way to avoid persecution. There are times when it is easier to stay seated instead of taking an unpopular stand against a sin rampant in our culture. There are times when it is easier to avoid conversations about our faith rather than defend it to our peers around the lockers or to a teacher in the classroom. It s not like we can make a difference anyway, right? How will it help if we are persecuted for taking an unpopular stand for Christ? So we back down. We remain silent. Or worse, we compromise our faith. In His letters to the seven churches in the Book of Revelation, Jesus told the saints in Asia Minor (and us by extension) that regardless of their circumstances, they should take a stand for Him, knowing He is on the throne. Nothing could stand between Him and them, but they had to trust Him. Their obedience mattered for them and for others. So does ours. Option 2 Place a piece of lined paper on each student s seat. On a white board or large piece of poster board at the front of the room, write out the question: What is love? Allow students two minutes to write out examples of love they see in their lives each day. Then, give them one minute to write out a definition of love, based on those examples. Then ask: What do you think it truly means to love others as you love yourself? Explain that Jesus said the greatest commandments were to love God and love others (Mark 12:30-31). Sometimes, with all that s going on in our world and all of the different opinions floating around about life and what love really is it s easy for us to get lost in the shuffle and to lose sight of the One we are called to love above all others. Love came to us in Jesus, when we deserved it least of all (Rom. 5:8). How can you keep your heart and mind focused on Jesus this week? The Gospel Project for Students 107

HIS STORY 15-20 MINUTES THE POINT God calls us to repent of sin, refocus our attention on Jesus, and reengage in His mission. CHARACTERS John: brother to James the Elder; one of the original twelve disciples; author of Gospel of John, 1, 2, and 3 John; and Revelation PLOT Jesus is the glorious, divine, sovereign Son of God. In light of that, we must continually repent of our sin and look to Him, knowing our mission in this life is to glorify God and join Him in His mission of redeeming all things even if that comes with a cost. 108 Leader Guide / Session 11

TIMELINE THE SEVEN CHURCHES GOD CALLS HIS PEOPLE TO REPENT OF SIN God s warning to His people Jesus called on His people to repent in five of the seven letters to the churches with only Smyrna and Philadelphia being exempt (Rev. 2:8-11; 3:7-13). In His letter to the church in Ephesus, Jesus encouraged the church to repent of loving their deeds more than loving Jesus Himself. THE LAMB ON THE THRONE Jesus is worthy of all praise and honor. 1 To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. (Rev. 2:1-7) JESUS RETURNS Jesus will fulfill His promise and make all things new. Before calling on the Ephesians to repent, Jesus first recognized a few things the church was doing well, as He did in every other letter except the one to Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22). Jesus complimented the Ephesians for their right theology, defense of the faith, and moral behavior. Even though the church had to repent of a serious sin, we can still learn a few lessons from what they did well. Holding right theology. Right theology or a biblical view of God is what ultimately separates Christianity from all other belief systems (like Islam and Buddhism). It also separates Christianity from what may appear to be Christianity (and may even claim to be) but is not, such as Mormonism and the Jehovah s Witnesses. For the Ephesians, right theology separated their orthodox Christianity from the false Christians known as the Nicolaitans. Not much is known about the Nicolaitans, other than some early Christian sources linking them to sexual sin and eating meat sacrificed to idols. The Nicolaitans seem to have claimed to follow Christ, but abused God s grace. Their works were not from faith, but from their own desire to indulge in sin. Jesus commended the Ephesians for standing against such false teaching, because it misrepresents the gospel and ultimately changes the evangelistic message of Christianity. The Gospel Project for Students 109

Defending the faith. When our theology is right, we will recognize the false teachings that sneak into the church and be prepared and motivated to defend the faith. We should have a defense for our faith ready to share with anyone who asks (1 Pet. 3:15) and that defense is anchored in rich, biblically sound theology. We cannot be silent when the gospel is attacked, but we can t speak if we don t know what we believe. Living rightly. Good morals are certainly worth having the Bible is not a moral rule book, but it does show us the difference between godliness and sin. For example, the Ten Commandments are a set of moral standards that were designed to show God s character and what it looks like for us to live more like Him than the world they were not intended to save us. The Ephesians were not immoral people overall, and Jesus commended them for living godly lives that overflowed into the lives of those around them. Despite having right theology, standing for the gospel, and living in a godly way, the Ephesians were not able to escape sin. They needed to repent, and as the text tells us, they were not alone. The Ephesians had lost their first love that passion for Jesus that once burned bright in their hearts and minds (Eph. 1:15). They were going through the motions, doing good deeds and living moral lives, but doing so apart from worship. Works without worship is not Christianity it is godless moralism. And Jesus warned them to repent turn away from the sin of forgetting His love and grace or else they would show themselves undeserving of His lampstand. A lampstand symbolized being a light to the world as representatives of the one true Light the resurrected Christ. When have you realized you were just going through the motions rather than worshiping out of love for Jesus? (p. 72, PSG) GOD CALLS HIS PEOPLE TO REFOCUS ON JESUS Again, to repent is to turn away from sin and refocus our eyes on Jesus. We cannot look at sin and look at Jesus at the same time. It s not enough to look away from sin; as important as that is, we also need to look toward Jesus. 1 And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. ² Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. 4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name 110 Leader Guide / Session 11

out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (Rev. 3:1-6) Jesus mentioned the one who conquers in each letter to the churches. In the case of Sardis, He commanded them to repent of their sleepy faith and then promised that if they did, they would conquer and be dressed in white clothes in the end. The white clothes picture purity. But what does He mean by conquering? When Jesus commands something in Scripture, it is usually based on what He has already done. When He tells us to obey God, it is because He has perfectly obeyed God first. When He tells us not to hate others, it is because He perfectly loves, without a hint of hate in His heart. So, when He told the churches to conquer, it should immediately lead us to understand what Jesus has already conquered. What is it that He has conquered? Answer: Jesus has conquered sin and death (1 Cor. 15:55-57). Because of Jesus conquering sin and death, those of us who are united to Him have conquered sin and death as well. Sin can annoy us and even harm us, but it cannot conquer us. Death can shake us to our core, but it cannot keep us six-feet under. Jesus resurrection guarantees that we will be resurrected in victory too. In the end, the churches in Revelation are not different from us. They stumble and fall. They let sin have a battle or two (or three). But if we truly love and trust in Christ, we will repent and turn back to Him. We will join in on the last day as conquerors image-bearers of God under the gracious reign of the King of kings. GOD CALLS HIS PEOPLE TO ENGAGE IN MISSION Just as we cannot repent of our sin without also refocusing on Jesus, we cannot refocus on Jesus without also reengaging in His mission. We see this calling early in the letter to the church at Sardis. This church was rebuked for having the appearance of life but had failed to remain attentive in following Christ. After calling attention to their flawed reputation, Jesus said this to the church: 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. (Rev. 3:2) The church in Sardis had taken their eyes off of Jesus, and as a result they had disengaged from His mission. But He was not done with them. They still had work to do if they repented and refocused on Him. While Sardis rested on reputation, other churches had taken their eyes off of Jesus in other ways but with the same failure to complete the mission Jesus had given them. While doing good works, believing right things, and even rebuking false teachers, they were forgetting their first love and becoming uselessly lukewarm in their faith. They had forgotten their identity who they are in Christ and by extension how they should live for Him. The Gospel Project for Students 111

Jesus call for the churches in Revelation to repent and turn back to Him is grounded in loving God and loving others. We love God with our entire lives, worshiping Him alone, and keeping our eyes fixed on His glory and goodness. We love others with our entire lives, pouring ourselves out like Jesus did on the cross and sacrificing our own desires and intentions to see people reconciled to God. That is our identity. That is our mission. Bride of Christ (p. 74, PSG) The church is described as the bride of Christ, faithfully waiting for the day when Christ will return and heaven and earth will be one. Made up of all believers from all tongues and nations, the church is the bride that Christ redeemed. The picture of a bride also speaks to the permanence of Christ s relationship with the church, for marriage was intended by God to be a lasting covenant between a man and a woman (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:5). CHRIST CONNECTION God cares about the purity of His church because the church is the bride Jesus died for. The church experiences renewal through remembering who Jesus is and through continuing to fulfill the mission He has given us. 112 Leader Guide / Session 11

YOUR STORY 10-15 MINUTES GROUP QUESTIONS God s Story has always been designed to connect with your story. It is because of His Story that our stories make sense, have meaning, and carry on into eternity. Use the questions below to help think through how His Story connects with your own. Like the churches in Revelation, how do we move away from our love for Christ at times? As students think of answers, be sure to point out that often times moving away from affection for Christ takes place gradually, not all at once. Why do you think we are slow to repent when this happens? Answers will vary. How does focusing on who Jesus is and what He has done help you fight off sin? Knowing our identity in Christ the fact that we are adopted sons and daughters of God and coheirs with Christ should equip us to go to war with remaining sin in our hearts. What are some ways you are able to focus on Jesus throughout the day and keep your mind on Him instead of temptations to sin? Answers will vary. HIS STORY God s Story of Redemption, through His Son, Jesus Christ. YOUR STORY Where your story meets His. The Gospel Project for Students 113

YOUR MISSION 10-15 MINUTES HEAD Theology feels academic and unrelated to everyday life to many people. But theology simply means words about God; it is how we understand who God is and how we live in light of who He is. We are all theologians, because we all believe something about God. And because those beliefs indirectly or directly drive how we live in relationship with God and others for better or worse theology is practical. What are some ways theology affects our daily living? Our beliefs influence our decisions, so having biblical and sound theology will lead to making better daily decisions. How would you explain to someone that we cannot defend our faith if we don t know what we believe (theology)? Answers will vary. HEART The condition of our hearts is important to Jesus. The church in Sardis was told to repent of spiritual laziness (Rev. 3:1-6). People perceived them as alive, but they were actually dead. Jesus knew their hearts they were not taking their faith seriously. The Laodiceans were told that their faith was lukewarm (Rev. 3:14-22). It was neither cold (useful in many ways) nor hot (useful in many other ways), but was right in between (which was not useful at all). Jesus told them to be one or the other, but not lukewarm. Their zeal for Christ was dull. Have you ever felt dead in your faith? What should we do if we ever feel this way? We should pray and ask God for forgiveness and grace to repent. Then, we should spend time in His Word reading it, praying it, allowing our souls to be fed by it, and believing it. Have you ever felt lukewarm in your faith? What should we do if we ever feel this way? The best starting place is prayer, asking God to increase our love and affection for Jesus and to open our eyes to Him so that we might clearly see His glory. HANDS We are here on earth as ambassadors ministers of reconciliation building relationships with others as we share the gospel. One day God will redeem this world and the new heavens and new earth will be our eternal home (Rev. 21-22). We will no longer plead with the world to turn to Jesus, rather we will be part of a world filled with those who have turned to Him. We are ambassadors of that world, telling people about the God who wants to make them new creations now, so they can spend eternity in God s coming new creation. How does our identity in Christ cause us to stand apart from our culture as we live and look differently from those around us? Answers will vary. How does thinking about our eternal home motivate you to share Christ with others today? Answers will vary. 114 Leader Guide / Session 11

ADDITIONAL INFO LEADER PACK For this session, refer students to pack item #9, which contains a map of the churches addressed in the Book of Revelation. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Check out the following additional resources: Leader Training Videos One Conversations Midweek Studies (to access your Midweek Study, go to lifeway.com/tgpsum18rev) Circular Timeline Poster App (for both leader and student) Additional suggestions for specific groups are available at GospelProject.com/AdditionalResources And for free online training on how to lead a group visit MinistryGrid.com/web/TheGospelProject The Gospel Project for Students 115