LifeGroup Notes

INTRO

What one thing most resonated with or challenged you from the message this Sunday?

When was a time that you had to make a difficult compromise? How did you feel about it afterwards?

READ
Read Revelation 2:12-17
12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword. 13 “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. 15So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. 17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

According to the Jesus, where does the church in Pergamum live? What do you think this means?

For what does the Lord commend the church of Pergamum?

For what does the Jesus rebuke the church of Pergamum?

What does the Lord exhort the church of Pergamum to do?

What promise does the Lord make to those who heed His command and do not compromise?

DIG DEEPER
Read HJohn 17
6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Why do you think Jesus made His prayer to the Father in the hearing distance of His disciples?

What are the requests Jesus makes on behalf of His disciples?

BIG IDEA
We dare not tamper with the Word of God, shaping it so as to make it conformable to our lives and thereby allow us to live comfortably in this ungodly world. On the contrary, we must allow our lives to be shaped by the Word of God and brought into conformity with it.

PERSONAL REFLECTION

As we engage the world around us, we need to make sure that we are influencing the world with the kingdom’s values, not embracing the world’s values. What are some examples from your life where you have seen both these dynamics at play.

Jesus calls the church to repent, which has the meaning of turning around or having one’s mind transformed with new thinking. Looking at the church in Pergamum, how do you need to “repent” in your thoughts or actions this week?