The Love We Had At First

The 7 ChurchesBrock Graham
Written By Olivia Zurawski

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Revelation 2:1-7 | It is a scary reality that we can be zealous for defending what is good, pure, and right and yet have left the love we had at first. The church at Ephesus is commended for their protection of purity and patient endurance, yet they are called out by Christ for their abandonment of love. This is such a big deal Jesus threatens to remove their lampstand. What does this mean? What must we learn? How do we heed what Jesus has to say to his churches through this letter? And where might we need to remember the love we had at first, repent where we have left it, and return to the things we were doing before?

Download the 7 Churches Week 02 Study Resource here.

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More from this series:

Sermons
Comfortably Lukewarm
The 7 Churches, Brock Graham
Comfortably Lukewarm
The 7 Churches, Brock Graham

Revelation 3:14-22 | Imagine if all you ever had was lukewarm water. Never a cold cup of water to drink. Never a hot shower to be refreshed. Just lukewarm all the time. In this last letter, Jesus addresses a church lukewarm in state. What exactly does it mean for this church to be lukewarm? How did they get there? What does Jesus say about it? And how in his grace does he seek to call them out of it? What a letter for us to hear and heed at the close of this series together.

Download the final week of The 7 Churches resource here.

The 7 Churches, Brock Graham
The Jesus-Pleasing, Persevering Church
The 7 Churches, Brock Graham
The Jesus-Pleasing, Persevering Church
The 7 Churches, Brock Graham

Revelation 3:7-13 | This is the most important question we can ask: "Jesus, what pleases you?"

The answer to that is everything. There is nothing more important for us personally and for us as a church than to continually ask that question.

As Jesus records a letter to the church at Philadelphia, he declares how pleased he is with this church. There is nothing in the letter in which he calls them out, just pure commendation from the Lord. So the question is, "What pleased Jesus in Philadelphia?" And then just as important, "How do we follow their lead to be a church pleasing in the sight of Jesus as well?"

Download Week 07 of The 7 Churches Weekly Resource here.

The 7 Churches, Brock Graham
The Church on Life Support
The 7 Churches, Brock Graham
The Church on Life Support
The 7 Churches, Brock Graham

Revelation 3:1-6 | Some churches look alive. They...look...alive.

And yet Jesus would look down with an autopsy and say, "You are dead."

In the letter to Sardis, it is a sobering reality to hear that a church can have the reputation of being alive and yet be dead. Now, here is the hope: in this letter, Jesus gives a spiritual CPR plan for a church on life-support and ends the letter with this beautiful picture and promise of life for his conquerors. Only Jesus can start a letter to a dead congregation and end it in such triumphal language of life.

Download Week 06 of the 7 Churches Weekly resource here.

The 7 Churches, Brock Graham
Good Works and a Bad Wolf
The 7 Churches, Brock Graham
Good Works and a Bad Wolf
The 7 Churches, Brock Graham

Where there is a great work of God happening among the people of God we must watch out for wolves seeking to attack that work. The church at Thyatira was thriving in good works to God's glory, but there was one problem, and it was a big problem. There was a wolf in their midst teaching and seducing the church into things that grieved the Lord. How did Jesus call them to handle this? How did Jesus himself say he would handle it? Let's look together at this letter and seek to grow in keeping good works while not tolerating bad wolves.

Download the 7 Churches Week 05 Study Resource here.

The 7 Churches, Brock Graham
Courage Without Compromise
The 7 Churches, Brock Graham
Courage Without Compromise
The 7 Churches, Brock Graham

Revelation 2:12-17 | It takes Spirit-given courage to hold fast to Christ in a cultural current that is often flowing strongly against the will and ways of Christ. And yet, even in the midst of that courage, it is easy for us to compromise. How do we hold courageously to Christ without compromising what we believe or how we behave? Jesus has some heavy and hope-filled words for the church at Pergamum we need to hear as well.

Download the 7 Churches Week 04 Study Resource here.

The 7 Churches, Brock Graham
No Matter the Cost
The 7 Churches, Brock Graham
No Matter the Cost
The 7 Churches, Brock Graham

Revelation 2:8-11 | Has following Christ proved to be costly in your life? Or to ask it another way: Are you prepared for following Christ to one day prove to be costly? In the Letter to the Church at Smyrna, the Lord encourages them in their costly faithfulness. Their allegiance to Christ has cost them much, and Christ warns will cost them even more in the days ahead. In this letter, we are called and equipped for the costly faithfulness following Christ demands, and we are reminded why that costly faithfulness is eternally worth it.

Download the 7 Churches Week 03 Study Resource here.

The 7 Churches, Brock Graham
The Love We Had At First
The 7 Churches, Brock Graham
The Love We Had At First
The 7 Churches, Brock Graham

Revelation 2:1-7 | It is a scary reality that we can be zealous for defending what is good, pure, and right and yet have left the love we had at first. The church at Ephesus is commended for their protection of purity and patient endurance, yet they are called out by Christ for their abandonment of love. This is such a big deal Jesus threatens to remove their lampstand. What does this mean? What must we learn? How do we heed what Jesus has to say to his churches through this letter? And where might we need to remember the love we had at first, repent where we have left it, and return to the things we were doing before?

Download the 7 Churches Week 02 Study Resource here.

The 7 Churches, Brock Graham
Jesus Is Speaking, May We Hear
The 7 Churches, Brock Graham
Jesus Is Speaking, May We Hear
The 7 Churches, Brock Graham

Revelation 1:1-20 | If Jesus walked into our service on Sunday, climbed the stairs, and took the microphone how would we listen to what he has to say? I pray that after picking our faces off the floor in worship, we would lean forward and cling to every word he had to say. The fact is, Jesus is in our midst as Lord and he is speaking to his churches. This week we will see him for the Lord he truly is and prepare our hearts for what he has to say to his churches in the seven letters that begin the book of Revelation.

P.S. Each week of this series we will put out a study resource written by a different voice in our church. This weekly resource will include 5 days worth of study material in the passage of Revelation from the week before. Download this week's resource here!

The 7 Churches, Brock Graham
Olivia Zurawski https://www.makerscc.com
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