Searching the Heart at Thyatira: Words for a Tolerant Church

Revelation 2:18-29

About the Sermon

Jesus writes to a church in a small industrial town called Thyatira. This town was a robust commercial center with trade guilds which included idolatry and immorality. This presented Christians with a problem: join the guilds and flourish economically or stay out and embrace poverty. The church at Thyatira was not entirely faithful, and Jesus issues some hard words.

About the Series

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a letter from Jesus Christ to a church like ours? Or, better, because no two churches or contexts are alike, how about seven letters to seven different churches? Then we’d have Jesus’ heart for his church on surround sound. We would know what he wants to change about us, and what he wants to guard. Seven such letters have been discovered, and they are found at the end of the Bible in the often-neglected book of Revelation. We need these letters: letters written to unique churches with unique challenges; letters of commendation and correction; letters concerned with the supernatural, not the superficial; every line reflecting the heart of Jesus for his churches, including ours.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a letter from Jesus Christ to a church like ours? Or, better, because no two churches or contexts are alike, how about seven letters to seven different churches? Then we’d have Jesus’ heart for his church on surround sound. We would know what he wants to change about us, and what he wants to guard. Seven such letters have been discovered, and they are found at the end of the Bible in the often-neglected book of Revelation. We need these letters: letters written to unique churches with unique challenges; letters of commendation and correction; letters concerned with the supernatural, not the superficial; every line reflecting the heart of Jesus for his churches, including ours.

Sermons in the Series