New Series- Message in a Bottle

 

Message in a Bottle

Revelation begins with letters to 7 churches, and although the book was written in 95AD, the words could have been written to most churches today.  What messages are waiting for us in this ancient book?  What issues did the early churches struggle with that are far to familiar to us today?

 

July 13- Revelation 2:1-5 “Lost That Loving Feeling”

When you start dating you talk on the phones for hours, can’t wait to spend every waking moment together, and then you get married and it changes.  Where did the spark go?

 

July 20- VBS Sunday

 

July 27- Go Out Go Deep Sunday

 

August 3- Revelation 2:8-11 “Buckle Your Seatbelt”

Few people want to experience hard times, much less know they are coming.  If we are honest though we realized that at some point all of life will not be rainbows and unicorns.  Smyrna’s letter is their pep talk to get them ready for some rough waters ahead.

 

August 10- Ken Hoogstra Guest Preacher

 

August 17- Revelation 3:7-13 “Stand By Me”

Some people don’t seem to ever get a break.  Rain falls on their parade, they miss the bus, and never get picked for the team.  Jesus speaks to the church in Philadelphia, an underdog, to remind them that He will give them the strength they need to make it through the challenges that lie ahead.

 

August 24- Revelation 2:12-17, Revelation 3:1-6 “It’s What’s Inside that Counts”

2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that we are a new creation in Jesus, that our old life is gone, and that we are a new person.  If only it was quite so cut and dry.  Often we struggle to fight temptations and fully follow Jesus in all that we do.  Sometimes things are not as they seem.  Jesus reminds us that our faith in God does not rely on outward appearances, but on the heart work that goes into our faith.  Are we focused and driven by the appearance of being a Christian, or living a transformed life?

 

August 31- Laodicea- Revelation 3:14-22 “Is it Hot in Here?”

Like any relationship it’s easy to start off on fire, so excited to spend every waking moment together, but then quickly things cool off, and it’s not that you don’t like each other, you are just lukewarm.  If we are not careful, in the stress of life our faith can become lukewarm, motions that we just go through, songs we sing emotionlessly.