After Jesus writes letters to His churches, He invites John to view God’s throne in heaven. The worship of God around His throne anchors everything else that must take place in the rest of the book of Revelation. The worship of God changes us by helping us know no matter what happens in this life, God reigns from His throne and holds ultimate power over any and all hostile human authorities.

Our church sponsors the Hazel family, missionaries to Namibia, Africa. Today we heard from them about taking the gospel to an unreached people group.

The Church at Laodicea took their eyes off Jesus, and He had a harsh rebuke of them due to their seeming self-sufficiency. We have to fight against that same sin today and in this message, Jesus provides the answer and counsels His Church how to return to fellowship with Him.

The Church at Philadelphia is in a strategic location for God to utilize for His purposes, and while they are small, they are faithful to Jesus and earn not only His respect, but the most promises made to any of the churches in Asia Minor.

The Lord allows us to experience special, "mountain-top" spiritual experiences in which we see God with a unique clarity and purity. Unfortunately, our flesh is sinful and we often find ourselves in places of spiritual descent. In this message we identify our own fallen nature and discuss ways that we can prepare and equip ourselves to guard against seasons of spiritual decline.

Christmas is about hope! Our lives are often missing that crucial element because of the devastating effects of sin. Thankfully, God sent hope into the world in the form of a baby and the world has never been the same! We can have hope by placing our faith in the baby of Bethlehem who grew up to die on the cross for our sins and now reigns as King of the Universe in heaven.

Jesus writes to a church that has every appearance of being alive, but in truth is spiritually dead. It’s a harsh judgment, but it comes with hope- if they are willing to listen to Jesus, He can bring them out of their grave and once again give them Spirit-filled life!

The Church in Thyatira faced a false teacher in their presence and a group of faithful Christians who had not been willing to stand up to her. Jesus writes to them to deal with the sinful behavior on both fronts. But there is good news for those who hold on and are victorious- Jesus wins and we will reign with Him eternally!

The Church at Pergamum faced intense pressure to embrace the pagan practices of the surrounding culture. While they stood their ground in one season, they get a letter from Jesus in a season where some in the church had bowed to the pressure of embracing pagan practices. Jesus’ letter is a challenge to repent and to embrace His power to provide for them and pronounce them innocent.

This week we explore two churches facing similar situations but with very different results. Jesus shows Himself to be the God who brings life from death and the God who prunes evil from within His Church to purify her.