This week’s lesson shows us the church from a different angle. Revelation 7 gives us a vision of the “church triumphant,” worshiping God in heaven once their earthly work is done.
Formations 05.29.2022: Lavish Liturgy
May 22, 2022 by
Think about how John describes worship in Revelation 4–5. The worshipers wear special clothing. They play musical instruments. They burn incense, symbolic of the prayers of the saints.
Formations 07.04.2021: Peace?
June 27, 2021 by
Zechariah sees a vision of four riders. Unlike Revelation’s “four horsemen of the apocalypse,” these riders work on God’s behalf, riding to and fro to patrol the face of the earth.
Formations 11.24.2019: The Other Side of Sorrow
November 17, 2019 by
How could we not conclude a unit on life after death with a vision of heavenly bliss? In Revelation 7, John describes a great multitude gathered around God’s throne.
Connections 05.26.2019: Seeing and Being Seen
May 19, 2019 by
Darkness can be frightening because it can keep us from seeing things that are there. That’s why if we get up in the middle of the night and don’t turn on a light, we might stub a toe on a piece of furniture.
Connections 05.19.2019: “The Second Death”
May 12, 2019 by
This passage offers some of the most hopeful promises in the Bible. In the first part, death is overcome! In the second part, God rebuilds Jerusalem as a place of hope and strength and newness.
Connections 05.12.2019: There’s Someplace Like Home
May 5, 2019 by
I was sitting at a table with other ministers. We were at a workshop, and the leader had asked us to discuss issues we were struggling to come to terms with.
Connections 05.05.2019: Every Creature, and All that Is in Them
April 28, 2019 by
The vivid descriptions in the book of Revelation are both beautiful and haunting. Centuries of biblical scholars and interpreters have taken a stab at explaining the meanings behind John’s visions.
Connections 04.28.2019: Living in the Center
April 21, 2019 by
This Sunday we’ll study the final lesson in a unit entitled “Easter at the Center.” The unit title reflects two truths, one simple and one profound.
Connections 11.25.2018: Because Christ Reigns
November 18, 2018 by
As you probably know, we had an election back on November 6. As of this writing, they’re still counting votes here in Georgia and in several other states. As the process stretches on, one can detect a touch of holiday rancor in the air.
Connections 11.27.2016: Alphabet Power
November 20, 2016 by
If you want to know a language, it’s pretty helpful to learn the alphabet. It really helps things go more smoothly. I don’t remember learning the English alphabet. It’s unlikely that I was born knowing it, although I don’t remember a time when I couldn’t and didn’t read.
Formations 11.20.2016: God Wins
November 13, 2016 by
For all of its troubling images of evil and destruction, Revelation ends with triumph and joy. In heaven, the victory of God is proclaimed. The heavenly multitude anticipates the downfall of Rome—its greed, its oppression, and its war-mongering—and the Lamb of God prepares for his wedding banquet.
Connections 11.20.2016: The Perfect City
November 13, 2016 by
When I read about John’s vision of the new and perfect city, or about Ezekiel’s similar vision in chapter 47, I picture the settings from books like C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, or J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring.
Formations 11.13.2016: Sing in Time
November 6, 2016 by
When I walk into a new sanctuary, I find a pew, pull out the hymnal, and look through it. I see if anyone’s names have been embossed on the lower right corner. I check to see how the church decided to phrase the words on the bookplate dedicating its use to the Lord’s worship.
Connections 11.13.2016: It’s All About the Presence
November 6, 2016 by
On the day before Mother’s Day in 2004, my Good Wife and I purchased a slate sign about the size of an automobile license plate from a vendor at the Charleston (SC) City Market. We had two lines of text inscribed on it.
Formations 11.06.2016: What Is God Worth?
October 30, 2016 by
Waste is all a matter of what something—or someone, or Someone—is worth. And worth, as you’ve probably heard somewhere along the way, is the basis of our English word “worship.” When we worship God, we’re expressing how much we think God is worth.
Connections 11.06.2016: Brand New
October 30, 2016 by
Our first daughter, Samantha, turned twelve yesterday. Twelve years ago yesterday, at 8:37am, my husband John and I were overcome with awe at the sight of the eight-pound child who had spent thirty-eight weeks inside my body.
Formations 10.30.2016: Start Again
October 23, 2016 by
Harvey Thomas Young, a musician from Austin, Texas, wrote a song called “Start Again.” First a poem written on the back of a postcard to his brother in jail, his manager saw it and requested he set the poem to music.
Formations 02.15.2015: A New Creation
February 8, 2015 by
The apocalyptic outlook of today’s passage may be challenging for modern readers. Apocalyptic is a mindset prevalent in some circles of early Judaism and Christianity. It is not quite the same thing as prophecy.
Uniform 03.23.2014: One of the Flock
March 16, 2014 by
I must confess that the book of Revelation intimidates me. I can read about the flood in Genesis, Egypt’s ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea in Exodus, the dry bones in Ezekiel, and the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels without feeling overwhelmed by God’s mysterious power.