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Jesus at the Center
First Love
Message Notes
Revelation 2:1-7 (NIV)
1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
LIGHT (BRIGHT, SHINY)
Revelation is a very bright book, beginning to end.
The light does two things: it shows what is good and therefore to be celebrated in the light; it exposes what is sinful in the healing warmth of the light. The light reveals and heals.
Eugene Peterson, Reversed Thunder
There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
Revelation 22:5
LIGHT (LESS WEIGHT)
What happens when a church can be faithful in its activity, correct in its theology, resilient in its endurance, and yet slowly lose its love?
Busyness is not a substitute for devotion. When a church loses its personal, vibrant love for Jesus, it risks missing the entire point.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:30
LOVE
We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:14–16
