What a great turnout we hat last Sunday even with the rain!  And there was not even any food!  That tells me you all want to be there.  I hope you’ll come back next week.  I enjoyed sharing with you the things I learned about Joshua.  Too bad I forgot to hit the record button before I went up front.  I don’t know if God was humbling me since I thought it was good or sparing me the disappointment of hearing what it was really like.  Linda encouraged us to study our Bibles with expectation.  We welcomed at least one new visitor.  That makes for a great day!

This week I’m going to take another detour from talking about the deliverers who picture Jesus in the Old Testament.  I was reading this morning in Revelation 2:1-7.  Jesus is speaking to the church at Ephesus.  He has several good things to say about it, but then one bad thing that cancels out all the rest.

I bet if we went to that church, we would think it was a pretty good one.  They believed in pure doctrine and wouldn’t tolerate false teachers.  Its members worked hard and kept their faith in the face of persecution.  If it were here today, it would probably have a good preacher who stayed true to the Bible and lots of ministry opportunities.

But Jesus didn’t seem to think so.  For all the good things, He had one thing against them, and it was so serious that He would not allow them to remain a church unless they repented.  They left their first love.  He says, “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.” (2:5)  All of those things that Jesus Himself said were good about that church didn’t matter, because they forgot the reason for their existence, to be the bride of Christ.

It doesn’t matter how big we grow.  It doesn’t matter how nice our building looks.  It doesn’t matter how many good things we do.  It doesn’t matter if we are doing good things that no one else is doing.  It only matters if He is our first love and everything we do is motivated by that love.  He did say, “”If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)  Notice that the love comes first.  When we do what we do out of love, we are not just a good church, we’re a great church!  Come and let’s take a closer look at the Ephesian church and what Jesus had to say to it.