In the letter to the church in Sardis in Revelation 3:1-6, Jesus had a surprise announcement for the church and promised a surprise visit if things did not change for the better. The announcement was that, in spite of appearances of vitality, the church was really quite dead, which would have fallen as a huge surprise to the church itself and to everyone who knew the church’s great reputation. Jesus had called the church in Ephesus to remember its earlier works, but Jesus called the church in Sardis to remember something even more foundational: how they received and heard the gospel. His call to them forces us to ask ourselves how we are hearing it today.
Ringing in our ears from the book of Judges is the cry for a king, so we are not surprised to find that the...
In the middle of writing about his sufferings for the church, Paul explained that the message he preached was a mystery hidden for generations...
In Matthew 21:1-10, we read about what is traditionally called the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, which set the stage for the events that rapidly...