Sermon: "The First and the Last" by Randy Roberts 
Part 2: Letters from the Edge of Eternity

Prayer: Timothy Gillespie

Pastoral Welcome: Timothy Gillespie

Baptism: Leslie T. Yonemoto - William Loveless
Darley Rae Magno - Rob Mohr

Child Dedication: Nathaniel Keith Menes, Ephrem Kawa Pimentel, Kyle Sebastian Trujillo, Isabelle Sophia Weiss - Randy Roberts and, Sandy Roberts

Children’s Feature: Jackie Bishop

Scripture Reading: Revelation 1:12–13, 17–19, TNIV Jonathan and Megan Evans

Note: Baptisms and child dedications are in the extras section of the DVD

INTRODUCTION TO THE SERMON

Many have argued that Jesus is the central figure in human history.  It is an assertion with which I strongly agree.  But let’s make that assertion more personal by saying that Jesus is not only the central figure in human history, he’s also the central figure in the church.  It seems trite to say that, doesn’t it?  Allow me, then, to unpack what I mean.

In Revelation 1 – before he proceeds to write the messages to the seven churches (chapters 2 and 3) – John describes his vision of the resurrected, ascended, glorified Christ.  The order in which these two sections of Revelation appear is important for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that Jesus comes first.  Or, otherwise stated, we have to first understand (insofar as that is possible) and know the Jesus of the church if we expect the church to reflect Jesus accurately.

Let me state it in a different way:  the kind of church we are will depend specially on the kind of being we understand Jesus to be.  It becomes vital, then, for us to understand Jesus in a biblically sound and authentic way.  After all, flowing out of that understanding will come all that we do in the life of the church:  worship, study, service, community and all the rest.

So, I ask, Who is your Jesus?  Who is the Jesus of our church?  Jesus is understood in a plethora of ways today.  How do you understand him?  How does our church understand him?  Actually, the more important questions to ask are, How did John understand him?  View him?  Experience him?

In the passage we study today, John shows us his vision of Christ.  Might it be a life-changing passage for us.

May Jesus guide you.

Randy Roberts
Senior Pastor

P.S.  Once more, here is the outline for our series…

 Letters from the Edge of Eternity

September 11                   The Word from the Throne                                                Revelation 1:1–8

September 18                   The First and the Last                                                         Revelation 1:9–20

September 25                   Ephesus:  Falling in Love All Over Again                            Revelation 2:1–7

 October 2                       “Smyrna:  Persecuted and Poverty-Stricken …but Rich!”     Revelation 2:8–11

October 9                       “Pergamum:  Steadfast but in Peril”                                      Revelation 2:12–17

October 16                     “Thyatira:  In League with Jezebel”                                      Revelation 2:18–29

October 23                      “Sardis:  The Living Dead”                                                  Revelation 3:1–6

October 30                     “Philadelphia:  Kept in the Crisis”                                        Revelation 3:7–13

November 6                   “Laodicea:  Half-hearted and Oblivious”                               Revelation 3:14–22

November 13                 “In the Throne Room of God”                                             Revelation 4:1–11

November 20                “The Lion and the Lamb”                                                    Revelation 5:1–14

 
MEDITATIONS

As I studied the life of Christ, one impression about Jesus struck me more forcefully than any other. We have tamed him. The Jesus I learned about as a child was sweet and inoffensive, the kind of person whose lap you’d want to climb on. Mister Rogers with a beard. Indeed, Jesus did have qualities of gentleness and compassion that attracted little children. Mister Rogers, however, he assuredly was not. Not even the Romans would have crucified Mister Rogers. – Philip Yancey

 I think Jesus is a scary subject.  God you can make into anything you want.  But confronted with [Jesus] you have to say, “I believe that or I don’t.”  It’s very powerful. – Actress Patricia Heaton

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