#LoveLetters: From Jesus to the Seven Churches – Blog Series

Revelation 1-3: Introduction

If Jesus were to write you a letter, what would He say to you?

I am sure that each of us can find a few of our attributes in at least one of the seven letters Jesus has written to His Bride, the church, in the book of Revelation.

Chapter 1 of Revelation discusses the revelation of Jesus Christ Himself, and all of the things that will come to pass in the end times and upon His return. Chapter 1 also tells us that everything written in this book has been written by the Holy Spirit through God’s servant John, whom Jesus loved dearly. Jesus wanted all who read this book to know that He is the central character and focal point of everything written. Everything points back to Him. He is the voice of triumph. He is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead; who loved us and washed our sins with His own blood. And He has come to claim the redeemed in the book of Revelation once and for all.

I love how Jesus begins a book with such profound apocalyptic imagery and biblical prophecy by writing letters to each of the seven churches beginning in Chapter 2. It truly demonstrates how much He loves His church. He addresses each church one-by-one, exhorting and encouraging them to be faithful – because the time is near. I wanted to provide a brief overview of the seven churches and what Jesus said to each of them. Much of what I have written here has been derived from a combination of my Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) study notes, lecture notes, my answers to the discussion questions, and personal time spent in the Bible this week and last week. It was such an amazing study for me, and one that I think will benefit the church – so I wanted to share some of the main ideas with you!

I will be dividing this study into four parts, and each church has been named based on the context of the passages:

In Part 1, I will cover letters 1-2 that Jesus wrote to the Church of Ephesus (The Loveless Church) and the Church of Smyrna (The Persecuted Church).

In Part 2, I will cover letters 3-4 that Jesus wrote to the Church of Pergamos (The Idol-Worshipping Church) and the Church of Thyatira (The Spiritually Deceived Church).

In Part 3, I will cover letters 5-7 that Jesus wrote to the Church of Sardis (The Dying Church), the Church of Philadelphia (The Persevering Church), and the Church of Laodiciea (The Lukewarm Church).

In Part 4, I will conclude the study with any final thoughts and takeaways.

I will post each part every Monday for the next four weeks. If you happen to miss a week, I encourage you to go back and read the previous post before moving on to the next.

What I would like for you to do prior to next Monday’s post: Please take some time during the week to open your Bible and read the letters that Jesus wrote to the seven churches in Revelation 1-3 on your own. Take notes on what you notice as it relates to Jesus Christ’s language and delivery to each church. Take note of any patterns or differences in approach; anything that seems interesting or stands out to you, and anything that may apply to your current relationship with Christ (verses, scripture references). We will discuss some of these things during the blog series!

There is important information contained in each of these letters, and they are very applicable to the church today. As you read, I encourage you to do so with a heightened sense of awareness so that you can identify which of these churches best describe your current relationship with Christ – as this will be mentioned in Part 4 of the study.

I am looking forward to sharing more of what God has laid upon my heart. Be blessed, and I will chat with you next Monday! 🙂

With God’s Love,

Porsche

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