The Seven Churches of Revelation

To the Church in Laodicea

February 14, 2021 • Kevin Kleiman

In this sermon, Pastor Kevin examines the final letter from Jesus in the book of Revelation, the letter to the Laodiceans. This letter contains the harshest rebuke of any of the seven letters. Jesus makes clear that the Christians in this region (that see themselves as rich and privileged) are, in actuality, poor and wretch. The symptom is lukewarmness, a variation of Christianity that, quite frankly, is repulsive to Jesus. The cause of this problem is a lack of true love for Jesus, fueled by a lack of communion with Jesus. The cure is personal communion time with Jesus. In this message, Pastor Kevin exhorts us to consider what our time with Jesus has been like? Ask yourself, "Have I spent time seeking Him, seeking to know him deeper?" If no, know that Jesus gracious invites you to return to him, and in so doing, because Christ is our Great Physician, the dangers of the disease of lukewarmness fade away as our souls burn brightly in the presence of our King.

To the Church at Philadelphia

February 7, 2021 • Kenneth Ortiz

In this sermon, Pastor Kenny examines the sixth letter from Jesus in the book of Revelation. In this letter Jesus praises the church of Philadelphia for their faithfulness and Jesus makes several promises to them. He promises to open the door of the family of God, and no one can shut the door. Jesus promises to protect the believers, to vindicate the believers, and strengthen the believers. Jesus reminds us that when we feel like we don’t measure up, we can remind ourselves that we are the ones that he loves! Jesus loves us, and he demonstrated that love at the cross. This sermon closes with an illustration from the movie "Toy Story" that illustrates the truth that Jesus owns us and he promises to write his own name upon us.

To the Church at Sardis

January 31, 2021

In this sermon, Pastor Ryan examines the church at Sardis in Revelation 3. The church was once vibrant and faithful and missional, and developed a strong reputation. However, Jesus sends a message to the church to warn them that they are dead, even though they have a reputation of being "alive." The church at Sardis still had some faithful people, but the church largely had lost its faithfulness and fidelity to the gospel. Jesus tells them that if they do not wake up, he will come to them like a "thief in the night." This is a cautionary tale for us, and with it comes an exhortation for all believers to remain faithful to Christ.

To the Church at Thyatira

January 24, 2021 • David Mathis

In this sermon, Pastor David Mathis examines Jesus' message to the church at Thyatira. Jesus praises elements of the church and rebukes their tolerance of sin. In this letter to the church, Christ makes clear that he is patient toward them. But his patience toward them is not indefinitely. He will, in time, exact fitting justice, and Christ's justice is never gratuitous and never overdone. Christ's letter to the church culminates with Christ himself reminding them that he is the greatest possible thing that he could promise to his church. Jesus will give us himself. We will see him face to face. We will be his, and he will be ours. Our final reward is to be with our Lord.

To the Church at Pergamum

January 17, 2021 • Mike Schumann

In this sermon, Mike Schumann examines Jesus' message to the church at Pergamum. Jesus rebukes the church, telling them that their trajectory as a church is similar to that of the Israelites in the Old Testament that were enticed by Balak and held to the teaching of Balaam. The Israelites could not be cursed, but they could be enticed to sin by eating foods sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise, Christians must be aware of these same temptations that exist in our contemporary context. This is a story that plays itself out over and over again throughout human history. Jesus exhorts that church at Pergamum to be wise and to avoid falling into this same pitfall—and this exhortation applies to us today.

To the Church at Smyrna

January 10, 2021

In this sermon, Pastor Mike Polley examines Jesus' message to the church in Smyrna and gives us application for our modern church context. Jesus message to us: Be faithful, even unto death.

To the Church at Ephesus

January 3, 2021 • Jonathan Parnell

In this sermon, Pastor Jonathan introduces the Book of Revelation and kicks off our series on the seven letters to the seven churches. As we examine these letters, we learn that it matters to Jesus a great deal what happens in the local church. He takes an interest; he leans in; and he watches and tracks and keeps up with what’s going on, and he has thoughts about local churches.

Cities Church