Ready to be focused
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Announcements:
Announcements:
Good morning. Welcome to TRC. Hey, just a couple of quick announcements:
If you’re new here, Connect Cards are a great way to let us know that. You can fill out as much information as you’re comfortable with and place it in the white box in the back. And if you do, we have a cool gift for you! I’ll also send you a hand-written note thanking you for spending time with us.
Connect Cards are also a great way to let us know about your prayer requests or if you’d like to take some “next steps” in your faith journey.
Also, be sure to follow us on Facebook and IG. It’s a great way to see what’s going on here at our church. And for FB, you’ll also be able to find the live-stream to our service in case you’re not able to make it on Sunday morning.
Btw, FB-live is a great place to direct people to who might be interested in visiting TRC. Hey, let’s be real. Visiting a new church can be intimidating. FB live is an easy way for people to check us out in a comfortable way!
When you came in, you probably received a bulletin. On it, there is a place to take notes, check out our vision, mission, and values, and see all of the mid-week gatherings we have here at TRC.
Just to draw your attention to two quick things:
Men’s Life Group is meeting for breakfast, this Sat. at 9am, at the Chick-Fil-A here in Glastonbury. It’s an awesome time for men to hang out and grow together. If you’re planning on coming, please be sure to register on our website (riverchurchct.com) under the “Events” page. Helps us order the right amount of food!
Here in Glastonbury, every Wednesday in July at 7pm, right out here at Riverfront Park, there is live music and many people in town gather here to hang out. We’ve always enjoyed getting a group from church to sit together. So, if you’re looking for something fun to do in the community, come join us on Wednesday night! And typically, the band is pretty good!
Finally, we don’t take an tithe and offering during service, however, your giving does go to support the mission God has given our church. Your generosity helps pay the rent, so we can meet it awesome spaces like this. It helps us to afford things like church t-shirts that we can wear at Serve Sunday like we did last week. It helps us to support missionaries like our friend Kyrie, who will be leaving to do work in Croatia later on this month (be praying for her!). But more than everything, giving is an act of worship - and we want to be a church that worships God (the One is our provider) with our finances.
That being said, I want to let you know as a church family, giving has been significantly down lately, while our expenses remain the same (or increase - rent being the primary expense). So, if you call TRC your home church, I want to encourage you to be faithful in your giving. It makes a difference! And God loves a cheerful giver.
So, if you’d like to give today, you can drop your offering in the white box in the back. You can also give online through our give page.
And please, be praying for God’s provision. Again, we’ve had two low months totaling close to the equivalent of two months rent. Which is important because with our Summer move from the school to here, we pay the school in arrears but the community center asks for payment in advance. Meaning we have a double payment in front of us.
So, please be praying:
Pray for God’s provision.
Pray for God to direct you on how to give. Maybe God is asking you to step out in faith and give sacrifically - a little more than you usually give and trust Him with your money.
Maybe you’ve never given before and you don’t know how much to give. Pray about that amount and then obey by faith what you hear. If you need a figure to help, some use a 10% number. My family uses something close to that, but I don’t believe you need to necessary give that percentage. The important thing is giving in faith and obedience.
Amen? Let’s pray for the offering and the sermon.
Intro:
Intro:
If you have your BIble/app, turn to .
Hey! Real quick. Thanks to everyone who came to Serve Sunday. It was an awesome day serving our community. Being a light and a blessing to our neighbors. Encouraging almost 200 people to “finish the race.” Really, something we are called to do spiritually as Christians! So, thank you!
Speaking of running, some of you know I’ve taken up the ridiculous goal of running a marathon. Yes, that’s 26.2 miles. My race is in October, so I’ve begun training for it now. Yesterday, I did 12 miles - and it was brutal. Extremely hot and humid.
But, one thing that makes runs like that bearable is running with a group. Not only do they push you and encourage you, but usually someone has a good story to tell. A good story will get your mind off of the fact that you’re running in 85 degrees with 95% humidity.
One of the ladies in my group recently got back from a European trip. She was talking about all the cool places she went and did. How it was an all-expenses paid trip. A once-in-a-lifetime type thing!
In one of her stories, she talked about being in Italy, surrounded by beautiful scenery. She was taken back by the view. However, she noticed a few younger girls who were more obsessed with posting on their Instagram. Instead of admiring the beauty surrounding them, they were concerned about how beautiful they looked in their IG story. Apparently, they spent hours posing, taking photos, examining the way they looked, and retaking photos until their post was perfect. And my friend commented on how crazy it was to be distracted by social media and miss the beauty all around.
And it made me think about my life. Our church. Our culture. We live in a world filled with a million distractions. All too often we get distracted and miss the things that really matter.
And while I truly believe our world has more distractions than ever, I think distraction has always been a human problem. At the very least, it’s been a problem from the first century.
As we begin chapter 3, continuing through Revelation, in our series titled Ready, we come to Jesus’ letter to the church at Sardis. And guess what… one thing we’re going to discover is they were a church plagued with distractions. Look at verse 1. Jesus says...
“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
“ ‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
Church runs on Holy Spirit power. It’s like gas. Cars run on gas. Gas helps it to go. Cars don’t run on water. Water ruins engines. That’s like church without the Holy Spirit. In the spiritual, you’re hydrolocked.
Exegesis:
Exegesis:
I’m the One who knows how this works (v. 1a).
I’m the One who knows how this works (v. 1a).
As He introduces Himself to the church at Sardis, Jesus says, “When it comes to church-stuff, I’m the One who knows how it’s supposed to work!”
Jesus says He is the One who holds the “seven spirits.” Likely, a phrase describing the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ perfect relationship with the third person of the Trinity. This is relevant because the church runs on Holy Spirit power, amen?
Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He told his disciples...
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Basically, “You need to wait for the Holy Spirit, because He’s going to give you the power to accomplish the mission I’m giving you, the church.” If the church is going to accomplish anything of eternal value, we need the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is like the gas in a car. Gas is the power that allows your car to move. Without it you’re not going anywhere. In the same way, the church needs the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish God’s work in the world.
And God’s also given the church leadership. Those who could lead the church according to God’s will, to accomplish God’s purposes. The apostle Paul taught the Ephesians ...
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
Eph 4:
And if you remember from Revelation chapter 1, the “seven stars” were symbolic of some form of church leadership, either spiritually or humanely - like a pastor.
So, when Jesus says He’s the One who has “the seven spirits and seven stars,” He’s letting us know He’s the One knows how the church is supposed to work. He intimately knows the church’s power source (the Holy Spirit) and He holds the church’s leadership in His hand (He’s in charge of the leaders).
Why does Jesus introduce Himself this way? Well, look what He goes onto say...
“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
“ ‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.
You’re distracted by things that don’t matter (v. 1b-2).
You’re distracted by things that don’t matter (v. 1b-2).
You know what Jesus is telling them? He’s saying, “You’re a bunch of teenage girls obsessed with Instagram.” The One who knows how the church is supposed to work, writes to Sardis saying, “I know everything you’re doing and none of it is working.”
Notice how He doesn’t say anything “good” about what they’re doing. Rather, He says, “You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” Ouch!
Rather, He says, “You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” Ouch!
Now, there’s nothing wrong with having a good reputation. Generally speaking, I think Christians should have a good reputation! I think we should be seen as good citizens. We should be known as the most loving people. The most forgiving. The most honest. The hardest workers.
As Jesus put it...
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
We should stand out in a world full of darkness. And the reason we should have this reputation is because of our identity in Christ. We “are the light of the world” because Jesus said...
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
However, that’s not what Sardis’ reputation was built on. They had a reputation built on man’s approval, not God’s. Isn’t it interesting that there is no mention of persecution or opposition that this church is facing - something uncommon to the other churches we’ve read about so far in .
How was this possible? Because this church had compromised the truth of the gospel and their identity in Christ, all for a reputation built on man’s approval. They probably DID a lot of wonderful things, but they weren’t doing it for Jesus. They did it for their OWN reputation. Therefore, Jesus says, “You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.”
Even though their community applauded them, Jesus tells them none of those things matter. He didn’t care about anything they were doing - even if they were well-intentioned good works. And look at the words Jesus uses to describe what they are doing: They thought they were alive, but they were dead.
Now check this out: Jesus said of Himself…
and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
Jesus told Sardis they thought they were alive, but were dead. On the other hand, Jesus identifies Himself as, “I was dead, but I’m alive!” This church was the very opposite of Jesus! Nothing they did had anything to do with Jesus.
Furthermore, let me mention a possible cultural reference. One of the pagan gods the people worshiped in Sardis was named Cybele. She was thought to have the power of bringing the dead to life. Why do I mention this? Because when Sardis heard Jesus’ words, I believe they would’ve heard two things:
They were the very opposite of Jesus - the One who was dead but now alive.
1)
But also, their works couldn’t even live up to the pagan gods. Even the pagan gods were thought to have the ability of producing works filled with life. Yes, Sardis couldn’t. Everything they did was DEAD.
Sardis
I think there’s an opportunity for us to examine ourselves. What do our lives reflect? What’s important to our church? Are we doing what Jesus wants us to do or are we distracted by things that don’t matter?
Furthermore, could what we were doing “for Jesus” even live up to pagan expectations? Are non-Christians more generous and giving with their resources to things they believe in, than the church? Do sports fans worship their favorite teams with more passion than we worship the Lord God Almighty? I think these are hard questions we need to ask ourselves because , as we’ll see, it’s easy to get distracted! It’s easy to show up to church twice a month, drop a $20 in the box in the back, and think we are okay. We may even have a reputation with our friends as being “the Christian.” But would Jesus look at us and say, “Nothing you’re doing matters. I didn’t ask you to focus on any of that!”
Jesus also told Sardis, “I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.” This is interesting. At face value, I read this and it makes me worry about doing everything perfect. Like, if I don’t serve God perfectly (in a complete way), then God is going to view me as “dead,” even though I think I’m alive in Christ! But I don’t believe that’s the sense of the passage. I think it’s more like this...
Sometimes, we can do good things in life, maybe even things that line up with biblical values, but they can still be incomplete - and it has nothing to do with perfectionism. It has to do with the Spirit of God. Are the things we’re doing things that Jesus wants us to do? And are we doing things with the Spirit’s power or in own natural strength?
Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
God accomplishes things through the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet, it appears Sardis was doing good works that were incomplete because they were missing the Holy Spirit. It’d be sorta like a story Chris told me this past week.
He was telling me a story about his dad and mixing paint. How there was a time when an auto shop forgot to put a chemical in the paint that allows the paint to dry. They prep and painted an entire car with that incomplete paint. They did all the work and it probably looked beautiful. Except for the fact that the paint never dried! Why? Because the paint was missing an important element. Even though they did all the work, and it looked nice, it wasn’t done the right way and was of no value. They had to strip the car and do it all over again.
Sometimes, our works can be incomplete because they are missing the Holy Spirit. That’s what was happening in Sardis. They were doing great things, but none of it mattered to Jesus.
Thankfully, there was still time! Say, “There’s still time.” Even though Sardis was distracted by things that didn’t matter, God is patient and full of grace. He desires for us to be right with Him! He wanted Sardis to get right and focus on the things that matter. Whether you realize it or not, God’s cheering for us! He’s for us! That’s why He says, “Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die.”
God has a mission and purpose for His church! He has good works planned for us since the beginning of time. We just need to get rid of the distractions and focus on what the Spirit of God is saying and do those things by faith and in the Spirit’s power!
If the Spirit is convicting you of something you’re doing (or distracted by) right now, something that Jesus possibly views as dead (even if your friends think it’s great!), there’s still time. Wake up and strengthen what remains!
But what the heck does that mean? I think the next part will help clarify that...
Rev 3
Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.
Pay attention to what you already have (v. 3-4).
Pay attention to what you already have (v. 3-4).
Pay attention to what you already have (v. 3-4).
Pay attention to what you already have (v. 3-4).
You know what “Wake up and strength what remains” means? It means to pay attention to something you already have! You know what they already had: Jesus!
The original language indicates that what they “received and heard” was the gospel. It was the Word of God heard by teaching and received by faith. And the language also implies obedience. Jesus is telling them to repent (to turn away from the distractions in their life) and hold onto the gospel. That’s all they needed!
And Jesus gave them a real life example to prove HIs point. Although the majority of the Sardis church was compromised and about to die, there was still a godly remnant that was focused on Jesus. They had not “soiled their garments” (they hadn’t compromised) and walked with Jesus because they were worthy. They were Christians who embraced their identity in Christ - who makes them worthy. They were the Christians who heard and received the gospel and held onto it! They were sinners who placed their faith in Jesus, who died on the Cross for them. They were people transformed by the resurrection power of the Spirit - and that was enough for them. And when they were taught to “love God and love people”… that’s what they focused on!
They heard the gospel and they kept it. They focused on it. It was enough for their life! And God saw their faith and said, “They are worthy!”
So, Jesus points to them and says, “Be like them!”
And Jesus is telling us the same today. Are you distracted by the things of the world? Because it’s easy to be distracted. It was easy for Sardis and it’s easy for us. We can even be distracted by good things: jobs, money, comfort, reputation. But if those things aren’t what Jesus wants for us, then they are worthless. Therefore, we need to focus on Jesus and make sure we’re living the abundant life He’s calling us to! The hard part is being humble and willing to examine ourselves to make sure we’re not deceiving ourselves into thinking we’re alive, but are actually dead!
And how do we prevent that? By waking up. By being “aware.” By being willing to hear what God is saying and obey it. By being humble enough to know there is still rebellion inside of us that makes us want to wander away from God. Be aware of that. Then, when we hear God’s word, pay attention, and apply it to our life. Because if we don’t, we’ll be distracted by things of no real value and downfall is right around the corner. This message would’ve hit home with Sardis!
You see, Sardis was built on this huge steep mountain. At one time, they were seen as a strong military outpost that was impenetrable. But twice, the armies of Sardis were distracted in battle, not focusing on the things that mattered, and the enemy snuck up the mountain, opened the gates, and defeated Sardis. That’s likely why Jesus says, “wake up, [or] I will come like a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come against you.” They would’ve been like, “Oh… I see what you did there. That really happened to us before...”
As the church, we need to be willing to see our sin, see our compromise, acknowledge our distractions, repent, and focus on Jesus.
And here’s their reward. If we’re willing to hold onto Jesus, He says...
The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
Be a winner (v. 5-6).
Be a winner (v. 5-6).
He promises something Sardis rarely experienced: victory. The picture here with the “white garments,” and the “confession before the Father and angels,” is a picture of victory. Those willing to focus on Jesus, - to conquer by faith - would have the reputation that really mattered. The reputation of belonging to Jesus - the victorious One - and be acknowledged by Jesus Himself to the Father and all of heaven. That would’ve been appealing to the citizens of Sardis. Even though they were a city of reputation, they didn’t know much about actual victory experience. But this is what Jesus is promising His church if they were turn away from the distraction and fix their eyes on Him. Victory!
Maybe you can relate to Sardis. Maybe you feel like no matter what you do, you lose. Then maybe you need to ask yourself, “Am I distracted?” Because maybe you’re focusing on things that Jesus doesn’t care about. If you want victory, fix your eyes on the victorious One - King Jesus.
Response:
Response:
This morning, as we close, I want to ask all of us to “hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Listening to the still, small voice of the Spirit can be really difficult in our day. There are distractions all around us. Even as I was writing this sermon, there was the constant urge to check Facebook or take a break to watch another episode of Stranger Things 3. Distractions are everywhere!
And distractions can be even be “good things.” So, let me summarize it this way. If we find ourselves prioritizing things in our life that Jesus didn’t ask us to prioritize, we might be distracted. If we find ourselves achieving things, accomplishing life goals, in our own natural strength, we might be distracted. That’s not to say God doesn’t use our natural abilities. He gave us those abilities. It’s to say that as His church, it’s our responsibility to fix our eyes on Jesus, make Him the priority, and let Him guide and direct our path. If we make decisions without Jesus, we might be distracted.
As I call the worship team up, I want to give us an opportunity to respond to the Spirit. If you find yourself distracted and are ready to get right, but wondering what to do, let me give you a helpful verse...
No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
Do you know what that verse is saying? It’s saying what Jesus said to Sardis… Jesus said, “remember, then, what you recieved and heard. Keep it, and repent.” Remember the gospel, turn away from your distractions, and focus on Jesus.
It can’t be that easy! Yes it can. Following Jesus comes down to simply walking with Jesus. What do we do when we walk with someone? You agree to walk next to them and you pay attention to them. That’s all Jesus is asking from His church. To receive the gospel and focus on Him. Even if we get distracted. Acknowledge it, and turn away from it, and focus on the one you’re walking with.
Maybe you’re here today and you’re not a follower of Jesus. Maybe you thought you were or maybe you though that by just living a “good life,” you’d be good with God and go to heaven. But your realize that’s not true. Jesus makes it clear, you can do a whole bunch of things, have a “good person” reputation in the community, and still be DEAD.
What should you do? Well, really the same thing Jesus is asking His church to do. Turn away from your distracted life and focus on Jesus. Ask Him for forgiveness for your sin and then put your faith in Jesus. Believe that He died on the cross for your sins and rose from the grave three days later. If you do that, Jesus promises you will pass from death to life. Your sins will be forgiven and you will one day be with Him forever.
If you feel the need to do that today, don’t wait. We’re not promised tomorrow. It can come upon us like a thief in the night. Get rid of the distractions and be ready to focus on Jesus. Let’s pray.