Dear Ephesus | The Distracted Church // THE 7 CHURCHES OF REVELATION

Music Music Music Music It's good to be in church everybody. Any Christians brought your Bibles? I love asking every Sunday because I want to encourage you. You need God's Word. If you have your Bible, let's go to the book of Revelation. Pastor, where is Revelation? Go to the back. Go to the back, all the way to the back. We are starting a new series entitled Dear Church, The Seven Churches of Revelation. And it's going to be a seven-week study in the book of Revelation, specifically on chapters two and three. And we're going to take a look at these seven letters written to seven churches, each dictated by Jesus himself personally. And each of these letters contains something very practical, something very powerful, also something very personal from Jesus that he wants to communicate to the church. I believe he wants to communicate to our church and to us as well. And so the title of today's message, which is the first church, is Dear Ephesus, and I put there The Distracted Church. Dear Ephesus, The Distracted Church. Let's take a moment to pray. Lord, we just open up our hearts, our minds, and our ears to hear from your Word today. May the good seeds from your Word land in fertile soil in each one of our hearts, and may those seeds give fruit and flourish.

Speak to our hearts, we ask. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. So the book of Revelation is an interesting book in the Bible. By the way, the Bible is not one book. It is a composition of 66 books, Revelation of which is the last one in the New Testament. And it starts off with a promise. So before we go to chapter two, which is the letter to Ephesus, I want you to read with me Revelation chapter one, verse one. Revelation chapter one, verse one. It says, Who did God send the angel to? To John. Who testifies to everything he saw, that is, the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. So let me mention a few things. The book of Revelation was given its name because it is the revelation of Jesus Christ. This is the testimony of Jesus as it was given to who? The Apostle John. This book is also known as the Apocalypse. Those of us who have Spanish Bibles, it says Apocalipsis, which is sometimes some feel like it's a scary word. All that word, all Apocalypse means is the unveiling, the revelation of, the unveiling of. And so we discover here that John the Apostle, he's been exiled to an island. Anybody know the island's name? Patmos, Patmos, it's the island of Patmos. At the time, the reason that John was exiled in Patmos is because at this time, 90 A.D., the Christians were living under extreme persecution under the Roman Empire, specifically the Emperor Domitian wanted to be worshiped as God. He was commanding everybody to worship him, the Emperor, as God,

to which John and many Christians of the day said, no, hey, we get it, you're the Emperor, we accept that you're the Emperor, but you're not God, and we will not worship someone who is not our God. And so this is why John is exiled, almost imprisoned on the island of Patmos, and they're clear on who they will worship and not worship. So John, on the island of Patmos, is there when he receives a revelation from God about some important things, including what will soon take place. The book of Revelation is a very prophetic book, and a lot of it points to things to come. Now, it's also a book that has incredible promises. As you read through the whole book of Revelation, you will find within it many wonderful promises. I want to start with a big promise, Revelation 1, verse 3. Blessed is the one, pause, what is the word there? Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, in other words, this book, Revelation. And blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. Can I just say, this is an amazing promise, because God wants something for you and for me. And it says if you read these words aloud, this word aloud, if you hear this, you're gonna be blessed. So can I just tell you something off today, from the beginning? You're gonna be blessed today, amen? Because you are hearing and we are together reading the word of God, in this case, the book of Revelation. I believe that you are here and you will be blessed. Now, it says at the end of verse three there,

it says because the time is near. What is that referring to? This statement is referring to the ultimate fulfillment of the promise of God that was given to Adam and Eve back in Genesis chapter three, in the garden. The moment that sin was introduced into the world. Remember that the remedy for sin was given at that moment, speaking specifically of the promised one who would come. The one that one day would come to defeat all sin, to defeat the enemy and to defeat all evil. So what this book is pointing to is the moment when Jesus, once and for all, finally and forever, will rid this world of sin and evil and injustice and everything else that it brings with it, including disease, infirmity, jealousy, envy, anxiety, greed, fear, hatred. Every evil, every injustice will be put to death. Satan and his demons will be decisively defeated and we who belong to Christ, by the way, this is all part of the message of the gospel, right? We who belong to Christ, we will reign with Jesus forever and we will live forever in his presence, in the perfection of the promise that God gave us all the way back in Genesis, which was his intention from the beginning. We who are in Christ will live in that perfection, in the presence of God, everything God intended. And so, Vertical Church, please hear me today. I wanna give you a little reminder and it's a simple four words, here it is.

Jesus' return is imminent. Jesus' return is imminent. He's coming, we know that and we believe he's coming soon. And the Bible says clearly it's getting closer. Nobody knows the day or the hour. The Bible says, the reference that it gives is he will come like a thief. And a thief doesn't call you to let you know when he's coming. And this is the reference that we get. And by the way, this is good news because when he does come, when he does return, he will come to restore all things and to bring everything right. We're talking about Jesus, who by the way, in Revelation 1, verse eight, describes himself in Revelation 1, verse eight. And he says, I am the Alpha and the Omega. By the way, that's a reference to the Greek alphabet, which is beginning and end, beginning and end, A to Z. I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. So we need to be clear on who is speaking. We need to be clear on whose word this is. And I love how this book begins with a promise. Even before we get to what is to come, which by the way, is a lot of the book of Revelation. It speaks of things that will come. But even before we get to things to come, this book begins with seven letters

written to seven churches, each one of these letters dictated personally by Jesus to the Apostle John. And the reason he's sending these letters, why is he sending these letters? Somebody ask me why, ask me why. He's sending these letters because Jesus wants his church to be prepared for his return. Jesus wants his church to be ready for when he comes back. He wants his church to have their lamps full of oil, if you catch the reference there. He wants us to be ready and he wants us to be right. Now, these letters are written to specific churches, seven specific churches in seven specific cities at a real moment in time and history. They are also prophetic in nature, which means we can still receive and learn from these letters today. And I believe he's still speaking through his word to us today. Now, the interesting thing as we go to each letter in the book of Revelation to these churches is that they follow a bit of a pattern. Now, all the letters aren't exactly the same, but there's a pattern. And here's one of the patterns you're gonna find. I'll give you this line. Jesus encourages the church, that's good news. In the letters, Jesus takes a moment to encourage the church.

He says things like, hey, here's what I love about what you're doing. Here's what I think you're doing really, really well. How many can use some encouragement sometimes in life, right? I love that about Jesus. But also as we read the letters, we see that in addition to Jesus encouraging the church, here's another line, Jesus also challenges the church. He challenges the church. He'll say things like, I love this, I love that, you're doing this great, but there's one thing that needs attention. But if I could really capture your heart on this one area where you're missing it. But if we could really get everything right, if we could fix something, this is what it would be. And by the way, that's what a good coach does in life. That's what a good mentor does in life. We all need people in our life that are willing to speak the truth to help us by affirming what we're doing well, but also being willing to challenge us, amen? We all need people in our life who are willing to point out the... spinach in our teeth. And I love that about God's word is that he affirms us and he blesses us, but he also challenges us as we see in these letters to the churches in Revelation.

I love in my life opening the door to the Lord because that's what he does through his word. He affirms me, but then he also challenges me. So week by week, we're gonna learn from these seven churches. Now, here's how John introduces these letters in Revelation. Let's go to Revelation 1 verse nine. We're gonna jump to verse nine for time's sake. And here's how he introduces it. John writes, I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus was on the island of Patmos, there it is, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord's day, I was in the spirit and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet. By the way, when you're in the spirit, you're connecting to the Lord. You're connecting to the Holy Spirit, right? And he gets a vision, he hears something, which said, write on a scroll what you see, because God's gonna give him a vision, and send it to the seven churches. Send it to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. And among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe, reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool,

as white as snow, and his eyes were like a blazing fire. His feet were like bronze, glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand, he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun, shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet, as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me, and said, do not be afraid, I am the first and the last. I am the living one. I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever. And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now, and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and of the seven golden lampstands, is this, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, referring to the pastors, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. So this is how John starts it off. This leads us now to the beginning of chapter two, which if you're in your Bibles, you'll probably see there, to the church in Ephesus. So now let's go to Revelation chapter two, verse one. To the angel of the church in Ephesus, this is a way of saying to the pastor, to the leader, to the one shepherding the congregation, the flock. To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write, these are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, and walks among

the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, pause, pause, pause. If Jesus came up to you right now and tapped you on the shoulder and said, I know your deeds, I know what you've done. What's the first thought you and I get? They go, wait a second, hold up, what deeds do you know? And if we understand that Jesus is God, what does that mean? Is he knows, he knows all the deeds you deed. Are you with me? So you and I might think, okay, here it comes. Like, hold tight, here comes the whip. But no, I know your deeds, your hard work, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people that you have tested, those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered, and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. That's a good, isn't that a good thing to understand that when God sees us and he knows our deeds, he's not just there to clobber us on the head? He's not just there to whip us? Is that good news? I mean, think about it, think about, I mean, think about you, right? If you were able to go up to somebody and be like, I know your deeds, right? You might be thinking, well, I know what you've done wrong,

I love how Jesus, in this letter, he starts off saying, I know your deeds. You and I worry he might be there to bash us, but he says, no, no, no, can I, Jesus says, I know your deeds, and let me encourage you right now. Hey, hey. You're getting this right. This is what you're doing. This, I love this. I love that. And can I encourage you here today, if you've received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are part of his church. And you can receive a word of encouragement whenever you go to him, whenever you go to his word. Why? Because your sin has been forgiven. If you have received Jesus, your sins have been forgiven. Can I get an amen? You have been loved perfectly and eternally. You have been saved. You belong to Jesus. He's not just here to remind you and me, here's what you're doing wrong. He's here to say, hey, hey, hey, you're my child. I love you. I'm proud of you. I love what you're doing right. This is good news.

It's good news, by the way, that when we repent of our sins, sincerely, genuinely, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins. That's a beautiful thing. And he doesn't, he's not there to point them out or remind us, oh, look, or keep remembering. He forgets them. He forgets them. But then he'll challenge you where you've been off track. And I love that about the word because if you look at verse four, now here's the challenge. Revelation two, verse four. Here's the challenge. I'm proud of all these things, yet I hold this against you. You have forsaken the love you had at first. You've lost the first love. What does Jesus say? He says, remember how far you have fallen. Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor. You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Okay, we don't have time to unpack this comment about the Nicolaitans. However, I think it's important to understand that the Nicolaitans were a branch of believers who were mixing into their beliefs

and into their denomination, if you will. They were mixing all kinds of worldly practices, specifically sexual immorality. Almost tolerating and accepting it, kind of saying like, hey, you can be good with God and living in sexual immorality. To which we say no, the Bible does not say that or teach that, we're very clear. It's very similar to how nowadays we're seeing some Christian denominations embracing sexual immorality as something okay for Christians, whether it's identity disorders, whether it's issues of homosexuality or same-sex interactions or just sexual immorality. And so he says, hey, but I'm glad that you're not sticking to what these people do. You're holding against these things as well. So Jesus is saying here, hey, I love that you've worked hard. I love that you've persevered. I'm so proud of you for that, but you need to understand this. If there's one thing I hold against you, church at Ephesus, if there's one thing, it's that you've forgotten what? Your first love. You've forgotten your first love. You've abandoned the love you had at first. And so John continues in verse seven, Revelation two, verse seven, whoever has ears,

let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. We learned about that tree in this curriculum called Freedom here. That's a tree of life that we see in Genesis as well. So here it is. We're talking about the church of Ephesus today. And if we had to use one word to describe the church of Ephesus, I've already exposed it in the title today, I would say it's the word distracted. So here's the line. The church in Ephesus was a distracted church. Say it with me, distracted. The church at Ephesus was a distracted church. Notice that Jesus describes the church once again by saying, I love these things about you, Ephesus. I love that you're on mission. I love that you work hard. I love that you serve with passion. I love that you're not tolerating wicked people or wicked practices, and that you're calling out false doctrines and people that say that they're speaking truth, but they're not speaking the truth. I love that. I love that. You're on mission.

You're active. You're engaged. I love it. Yet, this one thing I hold against you, Ephesus, you've forsaken your first love. Now, what does Jesus mean by you have forsaken your first love? Let me give you a little illustration. I'm gonna give you, I'm gonna give a marriage illustration. I thought, later I'll give one that's not a marriage illustration, because I know there's a lot of singles. Any singles in the house, come on. If you're single, raise your hand so other singles can see you. All right, very good. I'm gonna give a marriage example, all right? I know there's a lot of happily married people. Can I get an amen? Yeah? There may be some unhappily married people. Don't raise your hand. But I'm gonna give you an example here. And if you're married, if you've been married for some time, you understand that the way you correctly spell marriage is W-O-R-K. Can I get an amen? Ask me why.

Ask me why. Because if you don't work at your marriage, your marriage won't work. Now, how many times does this happen in marriages? Not my marriage. Probably not yours either. People out there. How many times does this happen? One person in the marriage says, hey, we need to talk. The other person says, OK, let's talk. What do you want to talk about? And the first person says, yeah, I feel like we're not as close as we used to be. We're not as close as we should be. And the other person says, OK, what do you mean by that? The first person says, well, I feel like we're disconnected. Like, we're together, but we're not. Like, we're, you know, like, we're, yeah, we live in the same house, but I feel like our hearts are not connected. And usually, that other person is kind of caught completely off guard. Kind of like, I don't understand. So the first person says, well, I feel like we've been drifting apart. I feel like we've been kind of disconnected and disconnecting in our hearts. And so the second person starts reasoning, well, you know, I guess I've been working really hard. You've been working really hard.

We've been working on these goals. And, you know, I know we haven't been able to have as much quality time together as we usually have in the last week, maybe even months. Exactly, the first person says. That's exactly what I'm talking about. I feel like we've been drifting apart. And I think we need to be intentional and come back together, right? Marriages, am I speaking truth here? Am I speaking? Yeah, this happens, right? Not in my marriage, because I'm a pastor. And pastors, we're like angels. We float. Now, sometimes in, let's say, in more difficult cases, in more difficult cases, you may have heard a story like this. One person says, hey, we need to talk. The other person says, OK, let's talk. And that person says, I don't love you anymore. I lost my love for you. And then the second person says, what do you mean? And the first person says, yeah, I've come to understand that I'm done. I'm done with us. I'm done with you. And the second person's like, when did this happen? Tell me when. What day, what situation, what caused this? And this happens in marriages, where one person gets

to a point where they're just like, I'm done. And then the other person, completely taken by surprise, is like, when did this happen? Can you tell me the point? Can you tell me the day, the time, when you decided this was done? When did we drift apart? And often, what happens is that neither one can truly identify a specific day, or a specific moment, or a specific thing. It's because naturally, over time, without intentionality, lives drift, just naturally, without intentionally drawing close, or intentionally seeking proximity, intentionally working at it. Just the natural thing is like, when you're at the beach, and you don't look back at the shore, and the waves are just pushing you farther away, and you're just drifting. What ends up happening is two people dealing with the consequences of a fractured relationship, or a failed marriage. Neither of them know exactly when it happened, or how it happened. All they know is that drift happened. And usually, one of them is taken by complete surprise. And so, pay attention. Jesus is saying to the church, this is what's going to happen to you if you don't pay attention to our relationship. You're drifting.

You've lost the first love. If you're not careful, and willing to go deep, and be intentional, and get back the love you had at first with me, there's going to be some consequences. Things that were given to you might be taken away. It's interesting that he says, I'll take away the lampstand. There's a lot in there. So the challenge for people like us, and I will say, the challenge for a church like ours is that we're a church who's always on mission. We're a church that likes to work hard and serve. We're a church that are active. I mean, we do five services. I mean, we have teams that are active throughout the week. We have people serving. And we're constantly serving, which is a great thing. However, however, sometimes it's easier for us to do work for God than it is for us to actually be with God, and love God. And that's where the danger is here. That's where the danger is here. This is where I tell parents all the time. This is where I tell parents, especially fathers, when I meet, we'll have men's groups. I say, be so careful that you're working so hard to provide for your family, that you're sacrificing being with your family. So your kids grow up, and they've been provided for, but they feel completely disconnected from who dad is.

And we can't justify. it being disconnected from them for saying I'm providing. I'm not saying don't provide. What I'm saying is at the cost of what? So this is a challenge. And by the way, I'm preaching this to myself because sometimes as a pastor, I have to be specifically aware of this because if I'm not careful, the church can become an idol in my life. Leading and serving can become an idol in my life. So here's some good advice. If you're taking notes, here it is. Be careful that you're not too busy working for God while not working at being with God. Don't let your hustle for God replace your relationship with God because we can easily get so consumed by the work or by the service that we forget the Lord of the work. And so God's heart is not so interested in your performance as it is in your presence with him. Don't trade intimacy for activity. So just like it's easy to take the person you're married with for granted. I'm working all day. You're working all day. We're doing all this. We're really busy, but are we spending time living life together? Are we expressing love to each other?

Because if not, the relationship's gonna suffer something. So what Jesus does in this letter to the church at Ephesus is that he confronts and challenges the church in this specific area. He's very clear in helping them understand that they are a distracted church. Everybody say distracted. Distract, when we're distracted, we're consumed with distraction, which means we're not focused maybe on what we need to be focused on because we're distracted with some other things. And so it's interesting to me that Jesus actually provides them the remedy. Let me give you the remedy because it's right in the text. Here it is. I'll give you the line. The remedy for distraction is two words, remembrance and repentance. Say them with me. Remembrance and repentance. The first thing that Jesus says in Revelation 2, verse five, he says, I want you to remember how far you've fallen. He says, hey, church, Ephesus, you're distracted. Now here's my remedy. Remember how far you've fallen. Remember where you've come from. Remember where I took you out of. Remember when we first got started. Remember when we first connected.

Remember what our relationship was like when you realized that you were a sinner and you needed forgiveness and you needed salvation, and my grace showered you. And my forgiveness showered you, and I saved you, and I embraced you, and I loved you. Remember that. Remember the first love. Remember. Remember it. For those of you, say maybe, well, Pastor Birch, I don't understand that first example because I'm not married. I think it's easy to understand, but it happens in friendships as well. Have you ever met somebody, and the first time you met them, maybe the second time hanging out, you said, man, I found a friend for life. God, we just hit it off. Like, man, there's so many, we have so many things in common. Anybody met somebody like that? Man, and just meet and connect. And that relationship, that friendship, it's like, man, like my brother from another mother, right? And you connect, and at the beginning, you're connected, you're connecting every week, you're talking, you're hanging out, you're doing things together, right?

Because that's the normal progression. But over time, like any relationship, over time, as you're thinking right now, you could probably think of some friends like that that were so close, and all of a sudden, you haven't spoken to them for a couple years. Because time happens and drift happens. It wasn't on purpose, it wasn't intentional, it's just that you were busy, and he was busy, or she was busy, and all of a sudden, you're both busy, and the relationship is not thriving. Are you following me? Jesus is saying to the church, I want you to remember what it was like when you and I first became friends. When you first met me. I want you to remember where you were, who you were, and what your life was like. Remember when you were living without peace, but now, you have peace in your heart that surpasses all understanding. Remember when you were constantly carrying guilt and shame, and you felt lonely, but now, you feel forgiven, and you're part of a spiritual family, and you're filled with the Holy Spirit. Remember, remember how you were living without direction or purpose in life, but now, you've got purpose, and you have calling. Remember how you used to tell everybody about Jesus? Remember what, remember how you used to invite

somebody new to church every other week, because you were so on fire, and connected, and passionate in that first love? Remember when you were constantly in the Word, and you were hearing from God every day, and you were worshiping genuinely and sincerely, because you talked a lot with God in prayer? Remember what it was like when we first connected, Jesus says. Jesus is telling us to remember. Why? Because we're so prone to forget. And that's why remembrance is a discipline. Here's a good line. In our relationship with God, drift happens by default, but staying connected requires intentionality. Staying connected requires focus. Attention, time, care, discipline. That's, a big word for that is intentionality. Remember the height from which you've fallen. So here's, let me give you two important questions that you and I can ask yourself in order to remember. Here's a good question. Number one, have I become so busy with life that I have little to no time for the giver of life? Especially if you're a Christian. Now, another way to phrase this, maybe if you're not a Christian, is this. If you're honest with yourself. Have I become so busy living life

that I've never taken adequate time to consider who is the giver of life? Am I so full that I've never considered who Jesus is and what his word says? The profound claims that he made. Because let me tell you something today. If Jesus, if the claims that he made are true, they have incredible, long-lasting, and eternal implications that affect each and every one of us. But you and I have to make one decision about Jesus. Is he cuckoo or is he God? There's no, either he is or he's not. That's why it's important to understand what do you believe in? Have you become so busy and distracted in life that you haven't taken the time to truly consider what Jesus said? What did Jesus say? Let me give you a few examples. John 14, verse six. Jesus answered, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Nobody gets to Papa. Nobody gets to heaven except through me. Have you taken the time to consider what Jesus says in John 10, verse nine? Yes, I am the gate, Jesus says. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. Or consider what it says in Acts chapter four, verse 11.

Jesus is the stone that you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. Salvation is found in no one else. Not the Virgin Mary, not Buddha, not Muhammad, not any other saint, not yourself, not nature. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. Jesus. You and I cannot avoid Jesus. We cannot ignore Jesus. We have to consider if we believe in him or not. It's your choice. Jesus made very bold and radical statements, and either he is crazy, or he is who he says he is. Romans 3.23 says, for everyone has sinned. We all fall short of God's glorious standard. Pause, who has sinned? Yeah, who does everyone include? Yeah, me, you. Romans 6.23, for the wages of sin is death. Pause, who has sinned? Everyone, so all of us, what we deserve, the pay we deserve, the wage we deserve is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord. First John 1.9, but if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. I need that.

Romans 10.13, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord, Jesus will be saved. And so here's my challenge to you today, and I'm talking to two groups of people. Group one, if you've experienced personally the saving grace of Jesus, you've received him as your savior and your Lord in your life, when is the last time that you stopped to thank him genuinely and truly for who he is and what he's done in your life? When is the last time that you stopped to listen for his voice, that you've paused life to say, Holy Spirit, minister and speak to my heart? I think 21 days of prayer is a great opportunity if it's been a while, to say I wanna get reconnected, I wanna reignite that fire that's been growing a little dim lately. Now to the second group, if you have never received Jesus as your savior and haven't personally experienced the saving grace of Jesus, I will ask you this, when is the last time you personally and purposefully took time to consider the overwhelming and long-lasting implications of the message and the words and the claims that Jesus made? Because they deserve a response, it's either yes or no, I receive him or I don't. And let me tell you, if the Bible's true, here's a sobering reality, let me give you this line, you can get everything else right,

but if you miss Jesus, you miss everything. You can get everything else right, you can have everything else in this world that has to offer, but if you miss Jesus, you miss everything. If your life is full of everything, but you don't have Jesus, your life is empty. Be careful not to win at everything else, only to lose at the one thing that truly matters. And so Jesus writes to the church of Ephesus, dear church, dear Ephesus, I love your hard work. It could sound like this, dear vertical, I love your hard work. I love how you do five services on Sundays. I love that you do some in Spanish and some in English. Dear vertical, I love how you have over 600 people serving actively on the impact team, contributing. I love, vertical church, how you serve. I love your perseverance. I love that you refused to quit even during the pandemic and kept streaming services every week. I love your perseverance. I love how you keep running and building my kingdom. I love how you started in the home, in a house in Cooper City, and then you went into bigger spaces years after years, and now you've purchased nine acres that you're gonna build my kingdom in Sunrise, Florida. I love that, vertical church. I love that you don't tolerate wickedness,

that you don't conform to the ways of this world. I love that you preach the truth. I love that the gospel is preached every Sunday. I love that you haven't fallen for false doctrines and you've persevered. I love that, vertical church. Stay strong, stay on that path, yet I hold against you this one thing. Could that be the message? You've forsaken your first love. A good second question we can ask ourselves is this one. Am I willing to listen to everybody else's voice, but not the voice of God? Do I take time to listen to everybody else? Do I take time to consult AI? Do I take time to ask everybody, not even people, artificial people, but not actually take time to listen to what God says? Have you ever found yourself talking to someone and you can tell that they're distracted, not listening to you? Like you're talking to them and you can tell like they're looking the other direction. And then you finish, you ask a question, they're like, oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I wasn't listening. Can you say that again? And you're like, you're so distracted, that's annoying. Could it be that this is how Jesus feels with us? That he's talking to us and we're just distracted? And we're just like, come again, Jesus?

Can you repeat that? Sometimes when we are distracted, we easily tune out the voice of the person speaking to us. This is so easy to do. Let me give you a list of verses. Revelation one, verse three. It says, blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it because the time is near. And again, amen. Deuteronomy six, verse three. Listen closely, Israel. Listen closely, vertical, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you. Jeremiah seven, verse 26. But my people have not listened to me or even tried to hear. They have been stubborn and sinful, even worse than their ancestors. May that not be what the Lord says about us. When is the last time you intentionally took time to listen for God to speak? There's so many voices competing for your attention and my attention. Let us not become distracted. So what's the remedy that Jesus gives us for distraction? Remember, but then also repentance. When Jesus says, you've forsaken your first love,

to forsake means to neglect or leave behind, which is why Jesus says, I'm calling you not just to remember, but I'm also calling you to repent, which means to change direction and turn back. Everybody say turn back. Let me give you this line, repentance. Jesus calls us to change direction and turn back to him. Because, why? Because so often we're going in a certain direction, which is the wrong direction, because we're distracted. And we haven't been making the time to be with God, to hear from God. So what must we do? Repentance, the biblical word for repentance in the original scriptures is the word metanoia, which means a change of thinking, a new way of thinking, a change of mind, renewing of the mind, which leads to a new direction. So I'm turning from what I was doing, I'm repenting and turning back to God. If you know Jesus, you need to remember and do what you did at first, when you first met him and connected with him. If you don't know Jesus, you need to do what you've never done and repent. Repent of your ways and your sins. Either way, remembering or repenting or both, this is a win for us spiritually. That's why it says in Revelation 2 verse 5, it says in Revelation 2 verse 5,

repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. And to that I say, Lord, please don't remove from me anything you want for me. I will not get distracted. I will seek you and I will put you as a priority, as we said today, in the center of my life. Jesus is saying, be careful because there will be consequences if you do not remember and repent. But if you do repent, look what Acts chapter 3, verse 19 says. Repent then and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, that times, here it is, of refreshing may come from the Lord. Doesn't refreshing sound like something good? Refreshing? Sometimes I think we are slow to repent because we think, okay, wait, God's waiting for me to repent so he can clobber me. God's waiting for me to repent of his sins and confess them to him so he can take out the whip and punish me for them. To which the answer is, no. He wants you to repent so he can take the weight and the pain of the sin off of you. That's what you understand when you finally come to the feet of Jesus, when you repent of your sins and turn to him. He's not asking us to repent of our sins so he can shame us. He wants us to repent of our sins so he can cover us. That's grace. That's mercy. That's unconditional love. So here's my cry to you today as your pastor. Return to your first love.

Return to your first love. Return. Return. For some of you, you get it because you remember. You know where you were when Jesus found you. You know how you were when you first met. You have an idea because you experienced it, and you can remember and get back to that. But for others of you, you have no idea, and you're thinking to yourself, Pastor Virg, how can I return to someone not only I didn't love, but I never knew? The Bible says, look what the Bible says in 1 John 4, 1 John 4, verse 19. We love because he first loved us. Why do we love? Because he first loved us. You see, even if you have never spent a single moment of your life to this point to consider God, if you would consider him and open up your heart to him today, you could return to your first love. Why is it your first love? It's because he first loved you. He first loved you. He's the one who created you. He's the one who shaped you. He's the one who formed you. He's the one who breathed breath of life into your lungs. God loves you with indescribable love beyond any other love you could ever imagine or encounter in your life. He knows you better than you know yourself. He knows you better than anyone else knows you, and he loves you. And so, even though you may have never even thought about God, if you open up your heart to him today, a whole new life can begin for you. You can return to your first love.

And so, I ask you today, what is the Holy Spirit speaking to you today? What is the Holy Spirit speaking to you today? Would you be willing to lean into God and listen for him more? Would you be willing to take time in your life intentionally to not just serve God or do things for him, but actually be with him? Listen to him. I want to pray two prayers. The first one is for all of us, and the second one is for anybody who says, I need to open up my heart to Jesus today and receive him and repent, receive. So bow your head, close your eyes. First prayer. Lord, I thank you for the opportunity to be in your house and to read your word. We read the verse that says that we are blessed when we read these words and hear these words from this book. And so, thank you for blessing us with that today. I pray, Lord, that we would be receptive to this message, that we would be honest with you and with ourselves in that maybe it's been some time that we've spent time with you. Maybe there's been a bit of a drift in our relationship with you and you are calling us to remember. Lord, today we remember where you called us from, where you saved us from, where you met us. We remember that first love when we first connected with you, Lord. But also, Lord, you call us to repent, and so we repent, we turn back to you. We turn away from our sins, we turn away from the things that don't please you, and we turn back to you in repentance, understanding that your arms are open and your grace and your mercy are available every day. Thank you for the reminder you gave the church at Ephesus here in Revelation chapter 2, but also thank you for the reminder you give us here at Vertical Church today to not forsake or abandon our first love with you.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen.