Redeemer Fellowship Johnson County

Jesus' letter to the suffering church in Smyrna is a comforting call to perseverance. Jesus calls them not to be afraid and to be faithful as he reminds them who he is, what he has done, and how he sees them. This word to endure to the end is timely and relevant to us in a world full of anxiety about the future.

In the second and third chapters of Revelation, Jesus pens letters to seven churches. In the first letter, to the Ephesians, he praises their deeds, discernment, and endurance, but he has one thing against them; they have abandoned their first love. Good works, sound doctrine, and gospel centrality are all essential components of the Christian life, but our love for God and for others is central and sufficient. Jesus challenges the church to remember, repent, and resume the works they did at first. Christianity is not just a list of things to do or doctrines to believe, but a person to love. To the one who continues in this love, Jesus promises fruit from the tree of life - the renewal of the promise of Eden, the redemption of all of our brokenness, and the fullness of all of our longings.

The resurrection of Jesus a display of the power of God that stands as a promise from God to the people of God. It is a promise that enables perseverance, reorients our perspective, and secures for us a certain future. In other words, in Christ's resurrection we have an assurance of our own.

In your longing for a King where have you run? What kind of King are you looking for?

We have a real and true King who has come in unexpected ways. A King who came to shake up the World in real ways.

From the beginning of time a true King was to reign on the throne of our hearts. Yet since Genesis 3, in the rebellion of man, we have longed for that true King to rule our heart and in our longing for a true King we have made attempts at fashioning clones of a true King. Unfortunately, we have failed in all of our attempts.

The King you long for, desire, and are seeking is Jesus. This King was promised to you and fulfilled in Jesus. In the promises and fulfillment of King Jesus I want you to know three things about this unexpected King: King Jesus came in peace, came in power, and came to be persecuted.