The Mirror of Forgotten Love

Focus Statement

Jesus’ first word to the Church isn’t condemnation

it’s a call to remember.

When love fades, faith becomes maintenance.

Christ invites us not to work harder,

but to come home to the love we had at first.

Point of Relation

There was a time I walked away from the Church.

I’d seen too many people praise Jesus on Sunday

and wound others the rest of the week.

I didn’t stop believing in God;

I just couldn’t find Him in the people who claimed Him.

For years I searched elsewhere,

until one night in 2004, sitting alone and feeling worthless,

Christ found me. Not in a church—

just there. In my driveway.

And I remembered what it was like

to love Christ first.

Things to Consider

Friends, we’re beginning this new series that pairs with our Revelation study

because this part of Scripture is rarely talked about,

yet its letters speak powerfully to the global Church—

not just us here.

Every church, every believer, faces that moment when passion becomes pattern….

when things run dry.

When faith turns familiar,

and love becomes something we remember

instead of something we feel.

The church in Ephesus had reached that point.

They hadn’t fallen away—they’d just drifted.

And into that drift, Jesus speaks.

What Scripture Says

In Revelation 2, Christ walks among the lampstands—

his churches—

still present, still watching.

He begins with grace:

“I know your works, your toil, your patient endurance.”

He sees their faithfulness,

their perseverance,

their stand for truth.

But then, a pause.

“Yet I have this against you:

you have abandoned the love you had at first.”

It’s not an accusation; it’s a lament.

Jesus isn’t scolding a wayward church—

he’s grieving a relationship gone cold.

The word repent doesn’t mean “feel bad.”

It means “turn back.” To do a U-Turn.

Remember where you started.

Return to what first moved you.

In John 15, Jesus said,

“As the Father has loved me,

so I have loved you;

abide in my love.”

That’s what Ephesus had forgotten.

The goal was never to earn love through work,

but to work out of love.

When affection fades, devotion becomes duty.

When love leads, faith becomes life again.

What This Means for You

Friends, this isn’t about shame or feeling bad.

It’s about remembering. Maybe you’ve felt that drift —

where faith still functions but doesn’t quite feel alive.

Even I have seasons of feeling that way.

The good news is,

Jesus doesn’t wait for you to find your way back.

He comes to find you.

The same love that met me in a driveway

is ready to meet you wherever you’ve gone dim—

and relight the flame.

What This Means for Us

As a church, we can have sound doctrine, active ministries, and full calendars—

and still forget the love that made it all worth doing.

Jesus doesn’t call us out to condemn us; he calls us back to himself.

The mirror of Ephesus isn’t meant to shame or guilt—

it’s meant to remind us who we are:

beloved, called, and capable of burning bright again.

Let’s remember. Let’s return. Let’s love first. Amen? Amen.

Written by Rev. Todd R. Lattig with the assistance of ChatGPT (OpenAI).