In Revelation 2:1-7, we read the letter to the church in Ephesus, a cosmopolitan port city where intellectual and religious currents were always trying to divert the faith of the Christians. Jesus commended the Ephesian Christians for standing firm for the faith in such a difficult environment but called them back to something essential they had forgotten – love. Although truth and love are equally important, they are often difficult to keep together in practice. Like the Ephesians, we need to make sure we maintain faith in the truth and practice love for God, for each other, and for our neighbor.
Although we work for the growth of the kingdom, it grows mysteriously in ways that we cannot understand or control.
Following up on last week’s sermon about the who, where, and what of Jesus’ birth, we turn to Hebrews 2:14-18 to learn more about...
The church in Thessalonica not only followed worthy examples but also became one itself.