Devotions in the Deep End

This is the second half of my journey through the letter to Sardis. After the urgent call comes a call to be restored, not removed.

This episode begins our exploration of Jesus' letter to the church in Sardis - a church that attracts no commendation, but instead an urgent call to action.

The last short exploration of this particular church - the promises the Lord makes to a remnant who remains true.

In order to make each episode a little shorter I am creating a handful of double episodes, just while the 'seven churches' are the subject matter. The two episodes on each church will come out at the same time.

This is the first look at what Jesus says to the church in Thyatira - the presence of something he calls 'Jezebel' will be particularly explored here.

This is a church in a complex setting, going through some rather complex things - there's good, and there's terrible things going on in their midst. There's a lot for us to consider in our modern church setting, much to learn from this ancient church for our time.

This is the second letter out of seven churches addressed in Revelation. It's a church with a lot going on outside of them, but no rebuke to be found within.

The next stage of our Revelation journey calls us to consider the stories of 7 key churches. For some, this can be seen as a complete picture of the whole church - either over time or in its many expressions at any current time. However, it is also of vital importance to remember that these are real churches and real disciples being addressed in their time too.

Ephesus comes with the benefit of around 40 years of documented church life in the New Testament, so there is lots to explore in this particular letter.

This section introduces us to a powerful and victorious image of Jesus. In this episode Cam takes some time to explore these and what they might mean. Each part of Jesus' presentation in Chapter 1 is mentioned again in Chapters 2&3 so taking the time to understand them a little now is an important start to the Revelation series. The clear deity of Christ is also shown to us here among a number of key theological elements that we all should know, and his relationship to the suffering church is shown to us a little here too.

These are the opening statements of the book of Revelation, and already there is wonderful depth to explore!

It's the beginning of a new season with a new book of the New Testament to explore. This is an introduction to Revelation -considering the author, the setting, the time and the four major viewpoints that have helped us interpret this book over the years. My aim in this series will be to be as generous as I can to all the views while sticking to orthodoxy. I hope it's a useful journey for you!