{SEVEN CHURCHES} #1

 The Lord Who Speaks_ 

Revelation 1:9-20 

We don’t tend to get many letters these days. We get emails, text messages, WhatsApp and other electronic messages, but rarely a handwritten, pen-and-paper letter.  
I tend to save any good ones I get... notes from when Leah was little. Letters that encourage or bless me. 
I’ll keep them in my bedside drawer or tucked into books on our shelves. Then I get to read them again and feel loved and blessed by their words... 

 
[Discussion starter]  
Tell the group about a significant letter you have received and why it meant so much to you. 

 

Revelation 2-3 records seven letters written by Jesus to seven churches. 
It must have been a thrill for an early church congregation to receive a letter from the apostles Paul, Peter, or James... but here were letters from Jesus himself. And we all get to read everyone else’s mail! 
The letters were sent, not just to one church, but to all seven churches, and then to every church for over two thousand years. Each letter closes with a call for all the churches to hear what the Spirit is saying. 

The letters were composed by Jesus but were written down by the apostle John. He was an old man by this time, sent into exile to the prison island of Patmos. The Roman emperor Domitian sent John there because of John’s leadership role in the early Christian community. The pagan emperor hoped John would die there in obscurity, but God had other plans. While on the island, John was given an astonishing vision of God’s final victory over evil and sin. It all began with a majestic vision of Jesus in his glory... 

 
[Read Revelation 1:9-20] 

 

In verse 9, even though John was in exile, what did he still have in common with those he was writing to? 

 
What does John sense first, and what is he told to do (verses 10-11)? 

 
What does John see when he turns around (verse 12) and what is the meaning of what he sees (verse 20)? 

 
John then sees Jesus among the lampstands.  
List the description of Jesus’ appearance (verses 13-16) and explain what each descriptive phrase suggests to you about Jesus. 

 

 

 

When we think of Jesus, this isn’t the way we usually picture him. 
What is different about your normal portrait of him? 

 
Given the familiarity John had with Jesus. 
He responds in a certain way (verse 17). 
What does this tell you about who Jesus is? 

What does this suggest to you about how we will respond to Jesus when we see him some day? 

 

In verses 17-18, what does Jesus do and say to John? 

 
Why should that take away John’s (and our) fear? 

 

Jesus begins to explain the meaning of what John sees (verse 20). 
The stars are the “angels” of the churches. These could be literal angelic beings who watch over churches, or Jesus could be using the word angel in the sense of a messenger and referring to a human leader. 
Explain which you think is the best interpretation and why. 

 

How does it make you feel to realise that Jesus watches so closely over his churches and walks among them? 

 

What do you want Jesus to notice and affirm in your church and in your life? 

What would you rather he didn’t see?