On Sunday we started a new teaching series looking at the first five chapters of Revelation. Some I know, are a bit disappointed that we're not going further - as most of what is technically referred to as, 'the weird stuff', only starts at chapter six.
But a good overview of the whole book is important for understanding the first few chapters. One of the challenges of understanding Revelation is that there is a lot of symbolism and imagery that we are not familiar with - and unless we know how it applied to the Christians John was writing to in AD 90, we won't be able to properly apply his words to 2017.
If you're looking for a clear but short overview then look no further than the guys over at www.jointhebibleproject.com Head over there in a few minutes and have a look at some of the great resources they have on offer. Below are their two intro videos to the book of Revelation.
As well as Sunday mornings there will also be home group notes - and your home groups may throw up some interesting questions.
Showing posts with label Revelation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Revelation. Show all posts
Tuesday, 9 May 2017
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
Don't get bogged down in the detail
This coming Sunday we are going to complete our E100 journey through the Bible by taking a quick look at the whole of the book of Revelation. Although to many modern day readers large parts of this book are difficult to understand and confusing to apply it is a great mistake to get bogged down in the images that John creates.
When we get bogged down and try to unravel the mysteries of the beast, the dragon, the tribulation, the rapture, the millennium, the European community and barcodes we surely miss the whole point. Surely one key focus of this book is worship - worship that is rightly focused on God.
All the songs that we will sing on Sunday will be firmly based in the key themes of the book of Revelation, so that even if you have not read Revelation before, and even before we come to explore the book together (briefly) we will have already started to respond to the God that we encounter there.
One song that we will be singing will be new to most of us. It is called 'You alone are worthy' by Al Gordon, Luke Hellebronth and Hanif Williams. You might want to listen to it a few times ahead of Sunday.
We may also sing Chris Tomlin's 'I will rise'. If you need to remind yourself how that one goes click here to go to a previous post.
When we get bogged down and try to unravel the mysteries of the beast, the dragon, the tribulation, the rapture, the millennium, the European community and barcodes we surely miss the whole point. Surely one key focus of this book is worship - worship that is rightly focused on God.
All the songs that we will sing on Sunday will be firmly based in the key themes of the book of Revelation, so that even if you have not read Revelation before, and even before we come to explore the book together (briefly) we will have already started to respond to the God that we encounter there.
One song that we will be singing will be new to most of us. It is called 'You alone are worthy' by Al Gordon, Luke Hellebronth and Hanif Williams. You might want to listen to it a few times ahead of Sunday.
We may also sing Chris Tomlin's 'I will rise'. If you need to remind yourself how that one goes click here to go to a previous post.
Monday, 19 May 2008
The Mystery is Revealed
Do you like a good mystery? Whether it is an Agatha Christie, CSI or an old fashioned jigsaw puzzle - many people like solving puzzles. Our trip through Ephesians brings us this week to 3:1-13, in which Paul talks about a mystery. In the New Testament a mystery is not something we struggle to work out or find out or solve. A mystery is something that is only known because it has been revealed by God.
If we were left to our own devices to come up with our own religion, without any previous knowledge of the Bible, how many people would come up with the concept of grace? I would hazard a guess at none. The idea that there is nothing we can do to make God love us more and there is nothing we can do to make God love us less... The idea that God would give all He had because of His love for us - even when we were His enemies... And here in Ephesians one of the consequences of that grace is that previous enemies - Jew and Gentile - are now heirs together, members together and sharers together - they are 'one in Christ'. In Galatians Paul tells us that existing hierarchies no longer apply: Jew/Gentile, male/female, slave/free.
But this is an understanding that we come to through the revelation of God. God's Word is the Bible, and therefore if we are seeking to live as a disciple of Jesus we need to be reading the Bible because God's ways are so different to the world's ways. You won't pick up God's values on Eastenders or in The Sun. You'll find them in the Bible.
If we were left to our own devices to come up with our own religion, without any previous knowledge of the Bible, how many people would come up with the concept of grace? I would hazard a guess at none. The idea that there is nothing we can do to make God love us more and there is nothing we can do to make God love us less... The idea that God would give all He had because of His love for us - even when we were His enemies... And here in Ephesians one of the consequences of that grace is that previous enemies - Jew and Gentile - are now heirs together, members together and sharers together - they are 'one in Christ'. In Galatians Paul tells us that existing hierarchies no longer apply: Jew/Gentile, male/female, slave/free.
But this is an understanding that we come to through the revelation of God. God's Word is the Bible, and therefore if we are seeking to live as a disciple of Jesus we need to be reading the Bible because God's ways are so different to the world's ways. You won't pick up God's values on Eastenders or in The Sun. You'll find them in the Bible.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)