The Suffering Church Of Smyrna

We are still in triple digit temperatures with no measurable rain in sight, but the triple digits are lower than they have been and for a shorter part of the day.  So we came to FBC this morning with gratitude for air conditioning and fellowship and the freedom to worship our sovereign God.  We began with congregational praise, followed by the welcome by Daniel McGinty.  After the welcome, the choir, orchestra and all our talented accompanists presented a stirring rendition of "Behold Our God", followed by more congregational singing, before Pastor Wes took us into Revelation 2:8-11 to study the letter written by John while he was in exile on Patmos to the church at Smyrna.  Smyrna was a beautiful and impressive city and a great place to live-----if you were willing to acknowledge the emperor as Lord.  You didn't even really have to believe it, just pay lip service to the custom, but the Christ-followers in the church at Smyrna refused to acknowledge any one but Jesus as Lord and they paid the price for their refusal, financially, personally, loss of jobs, friends, status and even health and life.  Yet, Jesus assured them through John's letter that He saw their suffering, He knew it intimately and shared in it and promised an end to it eventually with great rewards in Heaven.  Pastor Wes had much more to say about this suffering church and what we can learn from it to apply to our lives as Christians when we find ourselves out of favor with the world we live in because of our stance for Jesus and you can see it in the Live-stream which is well worth your time.......