SERIES: DEAR CHURCH Sermon Title: The Agony of Victory Revelation 2:8-11

Many of us grew up with the Wild World of Sports tagline: “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” Many can still see the poor ski jumper with his terrible fall.
Today, I want to address THE AGONY OF VICTORY!

We continue our sub-series DEAR CHURCH with our third installment and the letter to the church in Smyrna.
We could summarize the church in Ephesus as: Having the right

but the wrong

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.
Smyrna was a leading port city in Asia Minor by the end of the first century.
It was often called the

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or

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of Asia because of its beauty.
It boasted the first temple to the goddess of Roma as well as a temple for Caesar Tiberius.
The city’s name comes from the word-

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.

I. JESUS KNOWS

. v.8
What does Hebrews 4:15 tell us?

II. JESUS KNOWS

SUFFERING v.9
Jesus says: “I know!” It is encouraging to remember that Jesus knows of every trial we face.
What did Jesus ask Saul/Paul as he traveled to Damascus? “Why are you persecuting

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?”
What does I Peter 4:12-13 say about suffering?
What percentage of the world lives on $2 per day or less? __25%

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III. JESUS KNOWS THE

OF THEIR SUFFERING v.10
What is the most repeated command in Scripture?

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Death is the worst that Domitian can do but for the Christian death is also victory.

IV. JESUS KNOWS THE

OF THEIR SUFFERING v.10
What name comes from the phrase “crown of life?”

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Who was Polycarp and how did he die?