Sermon on Revelation 2:1-7, for the 2nd Sunday of Easter, "Easter Letters: Ephesus--Eat of the Tree of Life!"
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia! Dear saints in Christ, the joyful celebration of Easter only just begun last week! It continues for the next several Sunday’s of Easter, leading up to the day of Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection. For these seven weeks of Easter until Pentecost, I’m going to preach a sermon series created by myself and Pastor Hazel from Trinity Lutheran Church on Oahu. Our series is titled: “Easter Letters” and each week will focus on one of the seven letters to the churches in Asia, in the book of Revelation. Today’s epistle from Revelation 1 provides the preface to each of those letters. We call them “Easter Letters” for several reasons: because the Risen and Ascended Lord Jesus speaks these letters to His church; because they speak to the eternal hope of Christian joy, because they speak of living faithfully in the present day challenges of this world, and finally becaus...