Monday, August 18, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
The Church At Sardis
Revelation Chapter 3:1-6
1"To the angel[a] of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits[b]of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. 4Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. 6He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Jesus doesn't take long to get to the point with the church at Sardis. He judges them quickly: they are dead. Unfortunately, they have a reputation for being alive. Why is that unfortunate? Think of it this way: You're new in town, and you are looking for a church. You ask around and you hear about a church that's supposed to be pretty cool. You go, and the music is good, the preaching is sound- all in all, things seem good. But after a while you realize that the church isn't doing anything. It turns out, the church had been alive in the past, but at some point...it just stopped. But of course, now you have been there for awhile, it's comfortable, it's a pain to look around for another church, and before you know it, you're dead too. If only the reputation had matched the reality.
The church at Sardis still had their good reputation, but Jesus isn't fooled. He tells them what they are and isn't mincing words. But how did they get that way? Why did they die?
According to historical records, Sardis was once one of the greatest cities in the world. it was on a hill, it was an acropolis. It was almost impregnable. However, two times in their history — and before the time Revelation was written — the city was conquered. How? They didn't keep watch. They thought they were secure, and left themselves vulnerable to attack. Basically, they were living in luxury and security, and didn't believe they could be captured.
In chapter 3, verse 2, the NIV says "Wake up!". In the Greek (yeah, I know, but it's important) the idea is to keep watching/be vigilant/be watchful. The city of Sardis had a problem watching out for its enemies; the church at Sardis had the same problem.The fact that Sardis was conquered twice in part because they were not watchful would probably have been known by the people of that time, making that warning even more poignant.
I think there is a good lesson to be learned from the church at Sardis. Frankly, I think the names of many local churches today could be substituted for "Sardis" and what Jesus said about them would apply. Beyond our churches, we can look in our own hearts and see if how Jesus describes Sardis is how He would describe us.
Next time we'll look at the commands Jesus gave Sardis and how they apply to our churches and ourselves.
1"To the angel[a] of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits[b]of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. 4Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. 6He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Jesus doesn't take long to get to the point with the church at Sardis. He judges them quickly: they are dead. Unfortunately, they have a reputation for being alive. Why is that unfortunate? Think of it this way: You're new in town, and you are looking for a church. You ask around and you hear about a church that's supposed to be pretty cool. You go, and the music is good, the preaching is sound- all in all, things seem good. But after a while you realize that the church isn't doing anything. It turns out, the church had been alive in the past, but at some point...it just stopped. But of course, now you have been there for awhile, it's comfortable, it's a pain to look around for another church, and before you know it, you're dead too. If only the reputation had matched the reality.
The church at Sardis still had their good reputation, but Jesus isn't fooled. He tells them what they are and isn't mincing words. But how did they get that way? Why did they die?
According to historical records, Sardis was once one of the greatest cities in the world. it was on a hill, it was an acropolis. It was almost impregnable. However, two times in their history — and before the time Revelation was written — the city was conquered. How? They didn't keep watch. They thought they were secure, and left themselves vulnerable to attack. Basically, they were living in luxury and security, and didn't believe they could be captured.
In chapter 3, verse 2, the NIV says "Wake up!". In the Greek (yeah, I know, but it's important) the idea is to keep watching/be vigilant/be watchful. The city of Sardis had a problem watching out for its enemies; the church at Sardis had the same problem.The fact that Sardis was conquered twice in part because they were not watchful would probably have been known by the people of that time, making that warning even more poignant.
I think there is a good lesson to be learned from the church at Sardis. Frankly, I think the names of many local churches today could be substituted for "Sardis" and what Jesus said about them would apply. Beyond our churches, we can look in our own hearts and see if how Jesus describes Sardis is how He would describe us.
Next time we'll look at the commands Jesus gave Sardis and how they apply to our churches and ourselves.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Sometimes I listen
You know, it seems like lots of time is spent by pastors trying to figure out how to get people to listen to and remember their sermons. Alliteration, mnemonics, acrostics, topical preaching, expositional preaching... everyone has their own style. I don't know that one is better than the other, and there is nothing really wrong with any of them.
I've heard all of them over the years, and you know what? I can't really remember too many of them. It's not that I haven't learned anything, it's just that I can't remember what the 3rd of 5 "P"'s was on a particular Sunday, or what the second "O" in D.O.OF.U.S. was. Okay, I made that one up. Anyway, I can't think of too many sermons that I can go back to and remember the passage and the application.
There is at least one, however.
It has to be around 15 years ago, but I still remember this one. Like most messages, it's probably been preached a million times by a million pastors. It's about the Church in Sardis, and it's found in Revelation chapter 3. My next few posts will be going over this, and I look forward to any feedback anyone may have.
I've heard all of them over the years, and you know what? I can't really remember too many of them. It's not that I haven't learned anything, it's just that I can't remember what the 3rd of 5 "P"'s was on a particular Sunday, or what the second "O" in D.O.OF.U.S. was. Okay, I made that one up. Anyway, I can't think of too many sermons that I can go back to and remember the passage and the application.
There is at least one, however.
It has to be around 15 years ago, but I still remember this one. Like most messages, it's probably been preached a million times by a million pastors. It's about the Church in Sardis, and it's found in Revelation chapter 3. My next few posts will be going over this, and I look forward to any feedback anyone may have.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Bay-what?
The Olympics start today. Looking forward to watching gymnastics with Abbey, but other than that... not really interested. One thing — and I know it's trivial and stupid — that is bugging me is that the name of the city where the Olympics are being held I, and everyone I know or have heard, pronounce "Bay-zhing". Now, all of a sudden, a lot of the talking heads are pronouncing it "Bay-jing". According to Webster's, both are correct, but I can't help but think some of this is just people trying to sound "cool".Maybe I'm just jealous because I can't think of a cool way to pronounce "Gibsonton".
Monday, August 4, 2008
How Does He Stay So Humle?
I was trying to go to Jason's blog today and accidentally typed his name (with a space) in the search field instead of the address bar. Guess what? The first 10 references have to do with our very own Jason! Not some other wannabe or poser, but the "real deal". I'm sure Jason is used to people wanting to be as tall, kind, handsome and talented as he is, but now he will have to deal with people wanting to be as famous as him too!Can You Hear The Crickets?
So far, there has been no interest from anyone in buying our house. The Realtors haven't even been snooping by. Just the sound of the crickets. We are not discouraged (too much). We know this is a process, and God can make it happen suddenly and unexpectedly if He wants to. What we see as a lack of activity is really irrelevant in terms of what God may be doing. Our prayer is that if it is God's will that we sell the house — and we believe it is — that it will happen in His time, and that we will be faithful in doing the things He wants us to do.Care to join us in that?
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