Revelation 2:1-7 - Speaker: James Lockwood - We are beginning a new series through Revelation chapters 2 and 3. In these chapters, we find a collection of letters from Jesus Himself to seven historic churches scattered across Asia Minor. About sixty years after Jesus ascended into heaven—after His church was birthed at Pentecost and had begun to grow—Jesus speaks again and gives His assessment of the health, faithfulness, and dangers facing His church. But these messages are not meant only for those original seven congregations. These letters were written to them, and they were written for us. Every single letter ends with the same phrase: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” And that refrain matters, especially when we consider that these seven churches were not the only churches in the region at the time. Why were only seven churches addressed? Because, these seven churches summarize the kinds of situations and needs Christ’s people have always faced. We find a clue of this in how the Book of Revelation repeatedly uses the number seven to represent completeness and fullness. In other words, in these letters we hear a comprehensive word from Christ...one intended not just for the first century, but for every church and every follower of Jesus all the way to today. So as we begin this series, we are invited to lean in, to listen carefully, and to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.