Introduction

At the beginning of 2010, as I prayed about direction for the ministry I am responsible for with our association of churches, God kept bringing me back to Revelation 2-3, the chapters that include the messages to the seven churches. I believe it is God’s design that I spend much of this year studying these churches and what Jesus had to say to them, preparing messages and resources that can be used to equip our pastors and leaders to better understand this portion of God’s Word.

I believe that these seven churches are a biblical representation of an association of churches, with positive and negative perspectives included. Virtually all of the characteristics of each of the seven churches are noticeable in the congregations of our association. Jesus said what He said to them to help us recognize what the Lord sees in our churches and what we need to do, personally and corporately, to repent and return to Him.

As I prepared to begin this study on the messages to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3, one of the questions that kept coming to my mind is this, from an associational perspective: How long should we work with a church? Or put another way, when should we stop working with a congregation?

If we look to Jesus as the example, from what He said to each of the seven churches, He told them the truth, and gave them an opportunity to get things right with Him. He spoke clearly to them, then said to each one: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” We must be careful, then, to hear not what the world says, or what the latest trend says, but what the Spirit says to the churches. Then, we must act in trust and obedience.

As messages and materials are prepared, we will be sharing them in a variety of ways with you. One way you can see what’s available is by visiting this blog we’ve started for this study: the address is www.whatthespiritsaystothechurches.blogspot.com. We’ll also have print materials to share, and I’ll be preaching the sermons developed from these texts this year in our churches.

My prayer is that through this study we will see more clearly what it means to be a family of churches, and how God has us here on purpose so that we can partner with one another in following Jesus and reaching and making disciples of those around us who need to know Him.
Now, Lord, help us to hear clearly what the Spirit is saying to the churches, in Jesus’ name. Amen.