Here we are in December and it is time to celebrate Christmas! In the coming weeks, we’re going to look at why Christmas is good news for everyone. And today we start by talking about the way Christmas relates to one of the big questions of history and of our lives: Is there a God? Jesus’ arrival settled that question for all time. There is indeed a God of the Universe, all-powerful and glorious. Why is that good news for us?  We’ll take a look this morning at the impact of this reality on everyone’s life.

Have you ever looked back at some pictures of yourself from years ago and wondered what you were thinking?  You may even remember that you thought you really looked good. But now, with fresh eyes and a good deal of distance from that moment, you have a very different opinion of your appearance. For this last church in Revelation, Jesus tells the church at Laodicea that what they think of themselves is untrue. They think they are looking good, but Jesus actually tells them they are disgusting and to be pitied. As harsh as this message is to this church, it may have more application to the church today than any other message we’ve discussed so far.

With our state banning plastic bags, you may have found yourself in this situation over the past few months.  Since we’re so used to having grocery bags to carry all of our purchases, sometimes we forget that we’re not getting them anymore. That leads to an awkward attempt to carry as many loose groceries as possible into the house, which creates another problem… opening the door!  With no hands left, you have to decide what to put down so you can find your keys and get the door open. The closed door stops all progress of getting your food into the house until you find a way to get it open. Jesus uses this picture to describe a spiritual reality. He opens and closes doors for us. When God makes the way clear, we need to be ready to step into the opportunity He gives. And when He closes a door, we shouldn’t waste our time trying to pry it open. These words to the church in Philadelphia are words of encouragement and motivation. May they be the same to us today!

Today, we hear a lot of talk about being ‘Woke’. That one word has been used as either a challenge or a derogatory label for people. Depending on what you think are the best answers for our country, you can think that being called ‘woke’ is a compliment or a curse. But long before it became a code word for some social or political ideology, Jesus came with a message to the church in Sardis, telling them to ‘Wake up.’ Do we know what a sleeping church looks like? What does Jesus mean when He says this to the church and what would that look like today? We may be surprised at what how this church is described because it seems far away from what our idea of ‘sleeping’ would be. So let’s hear from Jesus for the church at Sardis and see if there are any messages we need for our lives

If you have children, have they ever continually resisted advice you give them, but then when someone else gives them that same advice, they enthusiastically embrace it? This is one of many challenges in raising kids! Parents are pretty alert to the voices who have influence in their children’s lives.  That’s because they know that the choices their kids make are greatly impacted by who they listen to. For the church at Thyatira, they were listening to the wrong person. Jesus says they should know better and warns them to stop. In fact, He says that He will deal with the one leading them astray and purify His church. With so many voices trying to steer our lives today, it may be just the moment to be reminded that our true leader is Jesus and we need to check with Him so that we don’t embrace advice He would reject.

These days, it is probably hard to imagine getting lost while driving to some new location. We use technology that tells us each turn to make and when to make it. We even get to see a map with a symbol showing us where we are and how we’re moving. But before smart phones, it was pretty easy to get lost if you were on the road.  Consulting a map could help, but it wasn’t always a guarantee that you knew where you were going.  Spiritually, we can get lost too.  The Spirit could be a continuous guide like our smart phone, but many believers drift away from His direction. And before you know it, we’ve lost our way. We’re going to look at Jesus’ message to the church at Pergamum and notice that we can fall prey to the same forces that pulled this church off the path. What do we do when we find ourselves here?  Jesus has that answer too!

We’ve come a long way from the days of traveling with a map that unfolds, which has made it harder and harder to get lost.  The hopeless feeling of being lost is one that is much harder to come by due to the abundance of GPS apps.  By looking at a popular parable given to us by Jesus, The Prodigal Son, we will explore God’s desire to draw all people unto Himself and the response we give as a result of God’s deliverance of those we feel don’t deserve it.

When you kicked off this year, you may have made some resolutions.  They probably didn’t include any aspiration to suffer. We just don’t like the hardship or pain, and we look to escape as quickly as possible.  But Jesus talks to the church at Smyrna and tells them that He sees their suffering.  He goes on to tell them that they will suffer more and in greater measure. But instead of apologizing for this coming persecution, the Lord talks to them about the perspective they have and need to hold onto in suffering. And then He calls them to faithfulness in it.  In the end, Jesus has a purpose for what they are about to endure, and He promises that He sees them and that they will receive a reward for holding fast to faith as life gets very hard. These words will be a great challenge to us as we allow the Spirit to sort through our lives and the hardships we’re enduring.

Sometimes as you’re doing things online, you come across one of those videos where a service member who has been overseas surprises their family by coming home and showing up unexpectedly. If you’re given to emotion (and even if you are not), you can’t help but be overwhelmed with how much it means to the family to be reunited. When you love someone, you want to be near them. Plenty of people today think that God either doesn’t exist, or that, if He does, He stays far away from us. But nothing in Scripture presents God as someone who stays distant. Instead, He is close to us and holding us.  As Revelation opens, Jesus has some words that still ring in the ears of the church. He holds us and speaks to us, meaning He knows what is happening in our lives, it matters to Him, and He has direction to give us for our good.

Sometimes when you’re watching a movie or a TV show, you see and actor and kind of recognize him or her, but you can’t quite remember where you’ve seen them before. In our world today, we whip out our phones and look up their name and their career so that we can connect the dots. It’s good to get an answer to the question “Who is that?” even if it’s for something as trivial as just not having to keep wondering.  But the question of “Who is Jesus” is more than just a mental exercise or an answer to some trivia question.  Your answer to that question is the defining decision of your life.  The Apostle John knew Jesus as his friend on earth for about three years.  But then John meets Jesus in heaven and is overwhelmed with who Jesus really is.  Let’s pray that as we read about John’s experience that we see Jesus afresh and that this vision changes our lives too!