{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Church is Messy","title":"Dear Church: The Church in Philadelphia","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2569,"description":"So far in this series, we’ve looked at the unexpected messages to four churches in modern-day Turkey.\nUNEXPECTED MESSAGE:\n• It’s better to have no church than an unloving church.\n• It’s better to let a church suffer than to prevent it. \n• It’s possible for a church to stand up for Jesus while standing against Jesus.    \n• It’s possible for a church to wrongly value staying together over staying faithful.  \n• It’s possible for everyone but Jesus to be convinced that a church is alive and well.\n• A church may be strongest when it's weak.\n\nMessage Scripture Passage:\nRevelation 3:7-13\nSeries Thesis:\nKNOWING the truth doesn’t change anything. SUBMITTING to the truth changes everything.\nTopics Discussed Today:\n00:00 Intro\n01:53 Additional discussion from last episode on Sardis: how do we know if our church is alive?\n04:31 God is committed to making us more like Jesus. What are the signs of the Spirit in us?\n09:36 Is it good for churches to have non-believers among them?\n12:50 Responding to these letters individually and collectively. \n14:14 Engaging in serving others individually and collectively.\n18:11 Pastoral moment on not just knowing the truth but also submitting to it.\n20:14 Rick's experience of gaining social standing in the community and the challenges it brought in his own life.\n23:38 What do we do when our own perspectives get in the way of success in following Jesus?\n28:22 Looking at love, purpose, and unity as key themes in Jesus's seven letters.\n30:22 Testing of character and gaining clarity on our spiritual health is a gift of Jesus.\n34:51 Jesus' description of himself in letter to Philadelphia, he claims to be God but then also talks about \"his God\". How do we understand these ideas?\n39:31 Our goal is for people to say, \"Look at what God did in and through this church.\"","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/eGW0GjLFQWz3qpPjio-ji_5x5MOSNJlW79nf4VSHKIM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzI4Mzk3LzE2ODMw/MzYzMDItYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}