Week 3

 

Messy Church

 

We are indeed wonderfully and marvelously made by God. 

Just as our fingerprints, our voices, and even our retinas are unique, so each one of us is a one-of-a-kind combination of talents and abilities; interests and dispositions; wants and expectations; and strengths and weaknesses.

Furthermore, when we gather together to worship God we also carry along  with us our own private mix of hopes, triumphs, and joys, burdens, pain, and sin.

All of this together is filtered by our own distinct understanding of Scriptures and our personal conception of who God is.  As we meet God in worship, He always has some special kernel of truth there just for us to encounter and be blessed by—something that we can relate to in our lives at that moment:  a Scripture, a prayer, music, a song or maybe something in the morning message that is especially fitting and speaks to our hearts.

In God’s great wisdom and provision He utilizes several key strands that He weaves together into the individual tapestry of our lives.  One thread is His love that never fails us, even though we fail Him repeatedly.  God expressed that love so eloquently through Jesus.  Another is His benevolence—His always wanting what’s best for us.  He nurtures and encourages us to grow and mature, sometimes in spite of ourselves.  Through the course of time he may lead, prod, challenge, discipline, admonish or even shake us up—all with our eternal best interest and well being in mind.

These threads are wrapped around and intertwined with the thread of the Scriptures, the words that God himself has breathed out in order to give us life.  If only our ears would listen and hear what God is saying to us!

 

            Mike Wagner

 

Day 1

THE CHURCH IN EPHESUS   Rev 2:1-7

 

1. In this day and age, what quality or qualities does it take to make a stand for the right thing, to not get pulled aside into the sins and wickedness of others?

 

2. How do we develop spiritual discernment?  How  can we recognize an unbiblical idea or leader when we encounter one?

 

3. How could the Ephesian church go so far in doing so many things right and yet forsake its first love?

 

4. How do we guard our selves or our church so that while we are doing all the right things we don’t lose sight of why or for whom we are doing them?

 

Day 2

THE CHURCH IN SMYRNA   Rev 2:8-11

 

1. In what ways can you be poor by worldly standards, but wealthy by heavenly standards?

 

2. What did Jesus teach us to do when someone mistreats and abuses us because we make a stand for Him?

 

3. One of Satan’s jobs is to persecute the church and he does it very well.  What spiritual qualities must you have to withstand harassment, suffering and persecution for your faith even if it might cost you your life? 

 

4. What enables us to overcome fear, fear of death, and even the second death?

 

Day 3

THE CHURCH IN PERGAMUM   Rev 2:12-17

 

1. Why is it so difficult to be a faithful, genuine Christian in America today and not just a Christian in name only?  In Nebraska or Grand Island?

 

2. What would the reaction of Jesus be if we were to compromise, water down, or “adjust” our faith and message to make it more palatable and popular with more people?  What are some examples and consequences of doing that?

 

3. A sword is mentioned at the beginning and near the end of the message to the church at Pergamum.  What sword has Jesus given us and how are we to use it?

 

Day 4

THE CHURCH IN THYATIRA   Rev 2:18-29

 

1. It’s been said that man first abhors evil, then he tolerates it and ultimately he embraces it. Why does God allow wicked influences from both outside and inside the church to test His people for a time?

 

2. How important is it for a Christian to do a constant self-examination in the light of God’s Word? How does God want us to deal with what we discover about ourselves?

 

3. Does there come a time when God’s patience runs out?

 

Day 5

THE CHURCH IN SARDIS   Rev 3:1-6

 

1. You can fool others and even yourself— but you can’t fool God.  A masquerade, a hypocrite, a phony…that is what we would call those at Sardis.  What must we watch out for so that we don’t end up like them?

 

2. What responsibilities/accountabilities do we have for one another to keep each other “honest”? To whom are we ultimately accountable?

 

Day 6

THE CHURCH IN PHILADELPHIA   Rev 3:7-13

 

1. Even though we might be “of little strength”, what can we accomplish as individuals and as a church when we are in a righteous standing with ourselves, each other, and our God and step forward in faith?

 

2. We are getting closer by the minute to the end times/last days.  In light of that, what are the benefits and blessings of our patient endurance with God?

 

3. What are the effects of our faithful walk with God on those who are not Christians?

 

Day 7

THE CHURCH IN LAODICEA   Rev 3:14-21

 

1. Is it possible to become too comfortable in our Christianity and be lulled to sleep?  How do we overcome that?

 

2. What is God’s intent and desire when He chastises someone?  How do we respond when He rebukes and disciplines us?

 

3. What is God’s ultimate, eternal desire and goal for you?  Is that your earnest desire, too?