WOLFL-03
130312AM
When filled by God’s Spirit, we are BOLD. How’s your BOLDNESS TODAY? These turbulent times are given to us by God to test if we are willing to rely ON HIM INSTEAD OF OURSELVES. This lesson I’m teaching to NextGeneration students today is a CHALLENGE for them to WALK IN THE SPIRIT! The lesson is: Three Secrets of a Powerful Life (Revelation 2:1 & Acts 19). The saints at Ephesus were heirs to the Apostle Paul’s longest and most powerful ministry.
He stayed here longer than any other city, and when he left, he passed the pastoring of the church down to his spiritual son, Timothy, and sent back not one, but three letters (Ephesians, 1 Timothy, and 2 Timothy) to continue to instruct the Ephesians in the faith.
This is where Jesus’ mother, Mary, lived and died.
It was from Ephesus that John was arrested by Domitian and exiled to Patmos.
Notable Christian leaders such as Apollo, Tychicus, Pricilla and Aquila, and others all ministered here, and Timothy pastored the church here until he was martyred by a mob for preaching Christ.
And at its largest, the church at Ephesus numbered 50,000 people.
The saints of Ephesus overcame the same pressures facing us as believers today: a pleasure-seeking culture, a mind-assaulting media, and a materialism-dominated way of life.
For forty years, Ephesus had stood as a beacon of Christ in one of the darkest places in the Roman Empire.
And this is Jesus’ most powerful church.
Ephesus: Jesus’ Most Successful Church
The first of the seven churches Jesus writes to is Ephesus, the largest church, and most successful.
No church received more commendations than Ephesus.
The church at Ephesus was in top spiritual condition, optimal health except for a spiritual heart problem.
And when Jesus warns them to repent, He says to return to the works they did at the beginning. That’s where we get to see what loving Jesus most looks like.