First Love- Junior High Lesson #1

1. Read thru text ()

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 2

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:

‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;

and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.

‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.

‘Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’

2.

2. Cultural Background:

The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:

‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;

Ephesus. Most important city of the Roman province of Asia, located on the western shore of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Ephesus was built on a natural harbor whose waves, according to the Roman writer Pliny the Elder, “used to wash up to the temple of Diana.” Ephesus was described by Strabo, an early Greek geographer, as the largest commercial center west of the Taurus mountains. It was also well known as the “guardian” of the temple of Artemis or, as the Romans called her, Diana ().

and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.

‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

Christianity’s threat to that pagan temple and to the commerce it produced for the makers of idols almost cost the apostle Paul his life (, , ).

‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.

‘Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’

Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Ephesus. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 709). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

~ Jesus says that He is ever aware of what they are going through as a church, so they are definitely not alone or abandoned

3. What they did right: (Jesus says that He is ever aware of what they are going through as a church, so they are definitely not alone or abandoned)

a. They Toiled (worked hard for the sake of the Gospel)

b. They Persevered (They hung in there and didn’t tire of continuing the work)

c. They are Not Tolerating Evil Men in the church (they are fighting for the purity of holiness in the church)

d. They Exercised Discernment and Discovered False Teachers in the church (They are showing maturity enough to be able to pick out the subtle differences between right and wrong in someone’s teaching and they took a stand to protect the purity of right doctrine)

3. What they did wrong: (Jesus’ severe warning toward them and the danger of not repenting of this wrong)

a. “You have lost your first love” What does this mean? What does He mean by “FIRST” love? (wait for answer)

~ First in time? No, first in priority! “You’ve done all of these things right but your heart is actually far from me”.

(wait for answer)

[Question] “Is it possible to fight so hard for what is right, and to work hard for the sake of the Lord, and be patient and hang in there during tough times for the gospel and yet still have a heart distant from the Lord personally?” “YES!”

> In fact, take a look at what the Lord Himself says in

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 7

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’

“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

Let’s look at an example in scripture that perfectly describes this: Turn to -

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 10

Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.

She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.

But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.”

But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things;

but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

CONCLUSION & MAJOR POINT: WE ARE ALWAYS A CHILD OF GOD BEFORE WE ARE A WORKER FOR GOD.

God wants a real relationship with us. He wants to walk along intimately side by side with us in a way where our hearts are knit together with His, where we fall deeply in love with our Creator. With regards to judging a person, the Bible states that while mankind looks upon the outward appearance, God’s looks upon the (heart).

You guys are the awesome age where, if you haven’t already, you are making the transition from operating on the faith of your awesome parents, to making it your own, with your own motivation to get to know the Lord, with your own motivation to develop your relationship with Him. To make it your own faith!

To start this year off, we want more than anything for you to go on a PERSONAL journey, a personal walk with the Lord, to spend personal time one on one with Him. To read his Word on your own and to wear out your Bible pages and begin the on-going conversation with Him praying through out the week, walking with Him, talking with Him and letting Him take over your heart.

If you haven’t already done that, we’re going to give you some tools and ways to help you do that this year and we’re going to talk with you to see how that’s going.

(ILL)- Story about a boy loving God-

Let’s pray about it...