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In God’s upside-down economy, weakness isn’t what we think it is. Small is often seen as weak, however, throughout scripture, God enshrines His care over the weaker and marginalized. In our culture small means weak, but in the Lord’s context – in our weakness, He is made strong! Furthermore, in God’s upside-down economy God wants us to be completely, wholly dependent on Him. The beauty of a small church or movement is that that you have an opportunity to be part of the work, not just watch the work. Philadelphia had nothing to hold onto EXCEPT FOR GOD, and God tells them to hold fast. Listen in to find out more about Philadelphia, the benefit of being small, and 3 ways to let go and hold fast to Him.

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Join us as we look at Thyatira, the fourth church spoken to in Revelation. As we look into scripture it helps to understand the context of the city and the culture at that time to understand the message and its meaning to them, and to us. Jesus has words of praise and challenge for this body of believers – they are doing several important things well, however, they had practices that were real issues and offensive to God. The overwhelmingly pagan society they lived in both set them apart and also tempted them to diminish their obedience to the Lord. We are all faced daily with covetousness and many vices, yet with the help of the Holy Spirit we are to overcome as Jesus did.

The church at Pergamum was living in an impressive city in the Roman world, full of idols and altars to gods, a center of spirituality and learning. This church faced heavy persecution for following the one true God, idols were so common, and honoring them was so ingrained and expected (to avoid angering the false gods) that to deviate came at a heavy cost. Jesus demands our respect beyond all others and God doesn’t tolerate compromise, He demands obedience – you can’t live a double life. What is it that we worship? What idols do we have in our life that take the place of God? Repentance is the way out of judgment and there is a promised reward to the one who overcomes.

In the passages we are considering in this series (Revelation chapters 2 & 3) God weighs in on the churches and gives an account of them. They, like us, could read His words to John, learn lessons, and be encouraged by the admonition of the Lord to each of the churches, not just their own. This week we look at the church at Smyrna; God does not offer a rebuke like He does to the others – Smyrna is called out for doing it right and the reward they can look forward to however, listen in to find out what else He has to say to them.

Week 1 in our series about the seven churches of Revelation. A vision is knowing the world will be different if you are successful. As we read about the seven churches of Revelation and the vision John saw, remember God’s vision for the Church is to see how life is good in eternity – because we have overcome the world. What are we overcoming? What does it mean to overcome? What is the deal with the church at Ephesus and what have they lost? How does hate impact us and our witness? Consider all these questions and more as we look to learn from what was spoken to the church at Ephesus.