Today we unpack the reality of the battle between light and darkness. Through the letter to the church in Pergamum we discover the significance of our lives, choices and daily behaviours that can help open or close the door to darkness or light. We ultimately discover the significance of the era we are in as we witness a tremendous transition from an earth cloaked in darkness to an earth bathed in light.

Continuing in Revelation 2 with the letter to Smyrna, a church experiencing pressure and persecution, Mark reminds us that we can faithfully walk in the way of Christ even in times of great pressure. With the promise of His presence we are transformed, through pressure, to carriers of His renewal.

This week Sarah continues our series on Revelation and explores the letter to the Ephesians. This is a potent and important letter that speaks to us in this moment and helps explain why God has us personally and collectively in a crucible of sorts. We discover that in the next season of the Church our doing will come out of our being.

Our current invitation, highlighted through Mark’s exploration of Revelation, is to heed the challenges of this time of transition in partnership with Jesus. Aligning our will with His, to see the Church thrive and the Kingdom of Heaven extended on earth.

Through the opening of the book of Revelation, Jesus is revealed as both imminent and transcendent. Mark reminds us that as we recognise Jesus in this tension, we see Him in His fullness, both as one who judges and one who saves – one who brings heaven down to earth.

Beginning a new sub-series, Mark establishes a context from which we can begin to understand the book of Revelation and the invitation it offers to see reality anew through Jesus.

The tension of living a spiritual perspective in a human reality is real. Whilst we 'believe' in Jesus, his death, resurrection and rule, it can be hard to know how to live it out, now. By looking at the book of Ephesians, this message lifts the lid on the unseen reality and shows us how to practically put one foot in front of the other in the every-day realities of life.

Examining the beginning of Ephesians 2, Mark identifies that as Jesus ascended so did we, abandoning self-focus and stepping into the freedom of self-forgetfulness for God’s glory.

As we celebrate Pentecost in a context like we’ve not experienced before, we are reminded that Spirit comes to give life and make holy, that which has been disrupted, destroyed and formless.

Acts 1 tells of Jesus’ ascension. In His ascension, Jesus reveals not only His full identity and mission but, by extension, both our true identity and mission is established.