Remember, Repent, Return: Rekindling Our First Love
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1. "The Oreo method has been helpful both in leadership and in marriage. And as we look today in the book of Revelation, what we see is the letters to the seven churches actually follow this same plan. They follow an Oreo-like plan because the way Jesus begins each one of these letters to the churches is he says, I know you. And then he begins to say the things that the church is doing correctly. He compliments them. And then it shifts. In our passage today, verse 4. And then he says, but this I have against you. That's the bad part." [02:02] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. So the problem is, they've abandoned their first love. And the solution is to remember, to repent, and to return. To remember, to repent, and to return. So I want to look at this passage through the lens of those three instructions." [02:46] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "This work of remembering is very important in the body of Christ. We are called as the people of God to remember all that God has done in our lives. And if you read the Old Testament, you know that God's people get in an awful lot of trouble when they lose trust in God. They lose track of the works of God. In fact, so much so that he tells them to build memorials, to stack rocks, to remind themselves of what God has done." [05:01] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "Remembering is crucial because here's what we learn from the church in Ephesus. You can do many things right and miss the most important thing. Think about that. You can do many things right. If you look at verses two and three, what Jesus says to the church in Ephesus is, you have patient endurance. You're not growing weary. You root out false teachers. In fact, you hate the Nicolaitans and he does too. We don't know who the Nicolaitans are. They're false teachers." [06:23] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "Isn't it easy to get the external right and have the motivation wrong? It's very hard not to just work hard and do the works and forget about the motivations of our hearts. That's what remembering is about. Remembering is getting to the root of the why. Why we do what we do. Paul said it like this in 1 Corinthians 13. He said, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love, I'm a noisy gong and a clanging cymbal." [07:03] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
6. "The Greek word metanoia, we often hear it taught that it means to turn around, but it really means to change our minds. It's a change of understanding. And in this repentance, we are being reminded that love is that important. Do you see what I mean? We can do the right things, but this repentance is about saying, if we do it for the wrong reasons, it becomes wrong. And so we repent, we return to the Lord. And in that repentance, we fling ourselves on the mercy of Jesus Christ at the cross." [08:20] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
7. "You and I understand love because of the cross. We gain the gift of love by Jesus' sacrifice. There's a prayer in the prayer book that says, blessed savior, you stretched out your arms of love on the hardwood of the cross, that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace. And then the second part of the prayer says this, clothe us with your love, that we reaching forth our hands in love may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you." [09:03] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
8. "We understand that it is important. And yet what Jesus is saying to the church in Ephesus is without it, he's closing the operation down. That's important for us to hear. You see, we're called to understand and to love one another. And when we hear that they've abandoned the love they had at first, the question may arise in our minds, is he talking about the love of God, the relationship with Christ, the love of God, and for what? God? Or is he talking about the way the church in Ephesus served their neighbors? We don't know the answer, but I would say both are inextricably linked together." [09:45] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
9. "Remember back to when you were first a Christian, when you first came alive in Christ, when you first knew the glory of salvation. How did you share? How often did you talk about Jesus? How did you give? How did you serve? What we're being told to do is to go back to that place, to remember it, and then do those works. In fact, the doing of those works is important to the life and ministry of the church. It's not that we should not do it, but it should be motivated by love." [11:55] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
10. "Love that is remembered is love that stays strong. Let me remind you of that. Love that is remembered is love that stays strong. So may we remember. God's love for us and may we be strong as we serve others. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." [13:33] (23 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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2. "Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. So the problem is, they've abandoned their first love. And the solution is to remember, to repent, and to return. To remember, to repent, and to return. So I want to look at this passage through the lens of those three instructions." [02:46] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "This work of remembering is very important in the body of Christ. We are called as the people of God to remember all that God has done in our lives. And if you read the Old Testament, you know that God's people get in an awful lot of trouble when they lose trust in God. They lose track of the works of God. In fact, so much so that he tells them to build memorials, to stack rocks, to remind themselves of what God has done." [05:01] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "Remembering is crucial because here's what we learn from the church in Ephesus. You can do many things right and miss the most important thing. Think about that. You can do many things right. If you look at verses two and three, what Jesus says to the church in Ephesus is, you have patient endurance. You're not growing weary. You root out false teachers. In fact, you hate the Nicolaitans and he does too. We don't know who the Nicolaitans are. They're false teachers." [06:23] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "Isn't it easy to get the external right and have the motivation wrong? It's very hard not to just work hard and do the works and forget about the motivations of our hearts. That's what remembering is about. Remembering is getting to the root of the why. Why we do what we do. Paul said it like this in 1 Corinthians 13. He said, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love, I'm a noisy gong and a clanging cymbal." [07:03] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
6. "The Greek word metanoia, we often hear it taught that it means to turn around, but it really means to change our minds. It's a change of understanding. And in this repentance, we are being reminded that love is that important. Do you see what I mean? We can do the right things, but this repentance is about saying, if we do it for the wrong reasons, it becomes wrong. And so we repent, we return to the Lord. And in that repentance, we fling ourselves on the mercy of Jesus Christ at the cross." [08:20] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
7. "You and I understand love because of the cross. We gain the gift of love by Jesus' sacrifice. There's a prayer in the prayer book that says, blessed savior, you stretched out your arms of love on the hardwood of the cross, that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace. And then the second part of the prayer says this, clothe us with your love, that we reaching forth our hands in love may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you." [09:03] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
8. "We understand that it is important. And yet what Jesus is saying to the church in Ephesus is without it, he's closing the operation down. That's important for us to hear. You see, we're called to understand and to love one another. And when we hear that they've abandoned the love they had at first, the question may arise in our minds, is he talking about the love of God, the relationship with Christ, the love of God, and for what? God? Or is he talking about the way the church in Ephesus served their neighbors? We don't know the answer, but I would say both are inextricably linked together." [09:45] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
9. "Remember back to when you were first a Christian, when you first came alive in Christ, when you first knew the glory of salvation. How did you share? How often did you talk about Jesus? How did you give? How did you serve? What we're being told to do is to go back to that place, to remember it, and then do those works. In fact, the doing of those works is important to the life and ministry of the church. It's not that we should not do it, but it should be motivated by love." [11:55] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
10. "Love that is remembered is love that stays strong. Let me remind you of that. Love that is remembered is love that stays strong. So may we remember. God's love for us and may we be strong as we serve others. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." [13:33] (23 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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