Following Jesus Son of God …

Message: “First Love—Remember & Repent!”
Message Text: Revelation 2:1-7

Ephesus … Some kind of city. Some kind of church.

• What a resume this church had! By any human measurement or observation, right up to the time of John’s writing now in Revelation, this appears to be a good, strong church. In fact, if you were to move to Ephesus around AD 90 and were looking for a new church home, you would be thrilled to find this church.
• Their commitment to faithfulness and duty was reflected in the words of Christ himself. They worked hard and patiently endured. They exposed fake church leaders, endured suffering and hardship for Jesus’ sake and did not grow weary in well-doing.
• Some kind of town! Some kind of church! Wow!

Except … they weren’t.

• They were seriously flawed. So flawed, in fact, that they were in danger of losing their gospel witness. Why? They had forgotten what was most important.

Message: “First Love—Remember & Repent!”
Message Text: Revelation 2:1-7

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• Programming Note: I come to a place in our text where I ask–What is John going to see when he turns? And then I say something like … Not this … I am referring to an 8 1/2 X 11 printout I have of Warner Sallman’s “Head of Christ.” This is the very popular depiction that you have probably seen many times. I compare “that Jesus” … which was conceived in the mind of Warner Sallman in 1924 to our Lord “who is and who was and who is to come.” 🙂

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Message: “The Jesus Christ God Wants Us to Know!”
Message Text: Revelation 1:1-20

AUDIO: The Jesus Christ God Wants Us to Know!

The Jesus Christ that God wants us to know … 

What does Jesus look like now in heaven? And … what does it matter? And … Do you know that God gives us a very clear picture in Revelation of Jesus Christ?

We don’t have to guess …

• (Revelation 1:12–18 ESV) ¹² Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. ¹⁴ The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, ¹⁵ his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. ¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

Unfortunately many dismiss this as merely figurative and symbolic, but can we discuss this for a minute? 1) Isn’t this the description that God chose to put in his holy word? And, 2) Isn’t this the most lengthy and detailed description we have of Christ in the entire Bible? And, 3) Isn’t this description found in the very book of the Bible which proclaims its stated purpose at the very beginning to be “the revelation of Jesus Christ”?

Also, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, was very emphatic with the Apostle John. He was to write down everything he saw. This is what he wrote because this is what he saw because this is how Jesus Christ chose to reveal himself. How could we dismiss this very intentional revealing of Jesus Christ himself as merely symbolic or representative?

But we do. Many prefer the “Head of Christ” picture by Warner Sallman which originated in 1924 and then attained great popularity after it was colorized and promoted from 1940 on. Sallman’s work is Jesus to, I don’t think I would be exaggerating to say, millions. And don’t tell them otherwise.

But here in Revelation we don’t have the “pretty Jesus” that some have called Sallman’s painting which originated less than a century ago from his “mind’s eye.”

• “Suddenly there appeared to my mind’s eye a picture of the Christ just as if it were on my drawing board,” he later recalled. Sallman got up and produced a charcoal sketch that he called “The Son of Man.” [http://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/12/arts/the-man-who-rendered-jesus-for-the-age-of-duplication.html]

What we have in Revelation is the mind of God and the portrait that he chose to set before us in the context of this carefully chosen mission that he set out for the Apostle John. “Write down what you see and send it to the churches.”

Message: “The Jesus Christ God Wants You to Know!”
Message Text: Revelation 1:1-20

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• Many over the years have spent their time and energy trying to identify the anti-christ. These people override God’s purpose with their own agenda, and the results are a foolish mixture of the weird and the heretical.
• The revelation of Jesus Christ. This is so relevant to our times, as it has been outstandingly relevant for every generation of humans who have ever walked the planet.
• We do not need to know who the anti-christ is, but we do need to know who the Christ is. I will repeat that. We do not need to know who the anti-christ is, but we do need to know who the Christ is.
• Not the palatable Christ of your imagination or the compromised Christ of your pragmatic, sensible religion or the Christ for whom you have somehow generously found the time to carve out a small niche in your crowded, busy life. Not the Christ that keeps you in good standing in the community. Not the man upstairs. Not the abridged, edited version of some liberal theologian or college professor. And certainly not the image represented by some picture on the wall.
• We need to know the revealed Christ, the One who is coming with the clouds, the Christ of glory, the Lamb who was slain and who will one day peal the seals away from the scroll of God’s terrible judgments and wrath.
• No one other Christ will do. Revelation is all about revelation. The revealing of Jesus Christ, glorified and coming again.

Message: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ!”
Message Text: Revelation 1:1-3

• Do you ever wonder at times if we, as in God’s people, or at least those who profess to know God, ever listen to him?

We get something pretty unique in a study of Revelation. We get the central idea and God’s stated purpose within the first three verses.

The first three words of Revelation are: The apocalypse of Jesus Christ. Apocalypse meaning the revealing, unfolding, uncovering of Jesus Christ, not the meaning we usually attach to it. However, that meaning comes along as Jesus Christ is revealed and is seen as the One worthy to break the seals on the scroll that brings devastating judgment–aka apocalypse–on the this world.

Here is another starter point: So many people trying to identify the anti-Christ. But if we are paying attention to the words of God himself, he is telling us that this revelation is a revelation indeed. The revealing of the glorified Christ. Maybe we should make sure we know who the Christ is before we are too concerned about the anti-christ.

So much in this ending chapter of the story and drama of this world. Going from a study in Genesis to a study in Revelation seemed to me when the thought first floated through my consciousness a wild idea. But now … wow! I see God’s perfect timing.

Genesis: Here is how it all began.

Revelation: Here is how it will all end.

I can hardly wait!

Message: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ!”

Message Text: Revelation 1:1-3

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SUNDAY AM

GENESIS MESSAGE 19 / SEASON FINALE
Abram–The Blessing and Danger of Faith!
Genesis 12 

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SUNDAY PM

The Life Blessed by God / Psalm 34:8, 1:1 & Selected

Abram, later named Abraham by God …

… was a man of faith.

… was a friend of God.

… believed the LORD.

One day, about four hundred years or so after God had destroyed the entire world with a great flood, the same God of glory approached Abram, a Bedouin herdsman living in Mesopotamia, and a descendant of Shem, one of the three sons of Noah who rode out the storm on the ark, with an unbelievable promise that he, the LORD, would bring this man to a place of prominence and greatness in the world, and not just before his contemporaries, but that through this promise or covenant, his life, Abram’s life, the Bedouin herdsman, would have a blessing effect on all the families of the earth throughout the history of the earth.

So who was this man the LORD spoke to that day? He was a man who believed God. If there is one word, or phrase, by which we could identify Abram from the very beginning, it would be this. Abraham believed God.

The Apostle Paul writes to the Romans: For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God … ”

And later in Romans …  “In hope [Abraham] believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told …”

And to the Galatians Paul wrote: Just as Abraham “believed God …”

Abraham, a man of faith and a friend of God. He believed God. Truly, actually believed God, as in his belief led to obedience.

GENESIS MESSAGE 19 / Genesis 12

SEASON FINALE: Abram–The Blessing and Danger of Faith

• PDF GENESIS MESSAGE 19 – SEASON FINALE-Abram-The Blessing and Danger of Faith : Genesis 12 : ffc : dave scott : : 082816 AM : STUDY SHEET ONE
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SUNDAY AM

GENESIS MESSAGE 18 – The Sin at Babel / Genesis 11:1-9

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SUNDAY PM

A Royal Welcome into the Kingdom / 2 Peter 2:1-11 

Life can be very complicated, but often our complication is a result of and an excuse for our sin. Look at how “complicated” things became in Genesis 3. God says, “Don’t eat from that tree.” Not complicated. At least not until we discuss what God really meant.

The background research for a Genesis study can be overwhelming. For instance, this week we have the “Table of the Nations”, how they were actually dispersed, the division of the earth at the time of Peleg … Questions such as, “Was there really one language at the time, or did it mean that they had a lingua franca, a universal trade language?”

Genesis is in one way chock full of very complicated issues.

BUT ON THE OTHER HAND … many of them break down as simply as the first “complication” that Adam and Eve encountered when they were deceived by the serpent.

Today’s message concerning the dispersion of the nations at the time of Babel is an excellent example. We can research Ancient Near East culture until our eyeballs roll across the floor, but the issue is that the people gathered and came up with their own plan and ditched God’s plan.

As humans, we have a history of this. See STUDY SHEET TWO for reference.

God had saved humanity again and blessed them again and commanded them again to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. And they said “Thanks, but no thanks” we are going to settle down right here. If we pull together, we can do great things.

Complicated? No. Rebellious, stiff-necked and stupid? Yes.

As did Adam and Eve, they doubted God’s plan for their lives and chose another direction.

Message Title: The Sin at Babel!

Message Text: Genesis 11:1-9

• PDF GENESIS MESSAGE 18 – The Sin of Babel : Genesis 10-11 : ffc : dave scott : 082116 AM : STUDY SHEET ONE
• PDF GENESIS MESSAGE 18 – The Sin of Babel : Genesis 10-11 : ffc : dave scott : 082116 AM : STUDY SHEET TWO VERTICAL TABLE