Fall ’26 Sermon Series

Enduring to the end

The Book of Revelation

The Original Readers

“How are we going to make it?”

Rome was impossibly powerful. Emperor Domitian was unbearably cruel. In Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) in the 90s AD, the expectations were clear: pledge your allegiance to the Roman gods (including the “divine” emperor!) or face the consequences.

Locally, those consequences often started with social ostracization. Businesses faced economic pressure once their owners’ allegiance to Christ became known. But under Domitian, outright violence against Christians picked up to a degree that exceeded even what had been done under Nero a few decades before.

For Christians trying to eke out a life in Asia Minor at the time, trying to raise children under extreme pressure, trying to be good neighbors when neighbors might turn you in – there must have been moments when all hope seemed lost! When it seemed that the upstart Christian minority would inevitably be swallowed up by the might of Rome.

It’s to these Christians in particular that the Book of Revelation is originally addressed.

Our Church Family

Meanwhile, as I recently reflected with our Life Group and Growth Group leaders on those early recipients of Revelation, these North Sub leaders shared with me ways in which their group members (you all!) are experiencing severe pressures as well. Health challenges, financial crises, crushing work expectations, family dysfunction, mental illness, complexities of elder care: there are indeed many situations in which members of our church family are asking the same question the recipients of Revelation were asking: “How are we going to make it?”

But the message of Revelation is that we can “make it,” because God will ensure that we make it.

Where We Left Off

Some of you may remember that we started to preach the book of Revelation in spring 2022. We preached the first 5 chapters, and then right when we were about to get to the bowls, the scrolls, the trumpets, and the beasts, we pressed pause and said, “To be continued!”

Now the time has come to roll up our sleeves and work our way through this critically important final book of the Bible, starting with a review of chapters 1-5 this Sunday and then preaching chapters 6-22 from September through Christmas.

What Revelation Is Not

We’re going to find that (contrary to popular misconceptions) the book of Revelation is not:

• Impossibly confusing and impractical

• Raw material for generating prophecy charts

• Fuel for paranoia as we read the news

But rather it is:

• A prophetic letter to real people who were encouraged by its message

• Saturated with identifiable images from the Old Testament

• Meant to fuel hopeful endurance as we navigate the very real challenges of our lives

Our Hope

As such, our hope in this series is that this book will give us practical help as we encourage each other to “endure to the end” – to hold on until king Jesus returns and wipes away all our pain. Many of us are praying this over you this Fall!

How to Engage

Especially if you’ve started attending our church since 2022, you may find value in reviewing our sermons covering Revelation 1-5.

• Revelation 1:1-8 | “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” | Tim Higgins

• Revelation 1:9-20 | “Vision of the Glorified Christ” | Dr. Te-Li Lau

• Revelation 2:1-7 | “The Love You Had At First” | Tim Higgins

• Revelation 2:8-11 | “Be Faithful to the Point of Death” | Tim Higgins

• Revelation 2:12-17 | “Where Satan Lives” | Tim Higgins

• Revelation 2:18-29 | “Hold On Until I Come” | Josh Loomis

• Revelation 3:1-6 | “Be Alert” | Tim Higgins

• Revelation 3:7-13 | “Hold On To What You Have” | Tim Higgins

• Revelation 3:14-22 | “I Wish That You Were Cold or Hot” | Tim Higgins

• Revelation 4:1-5:14 | “Before the Throne” | Dr. Te-Li Lau

In addition:

You may also want to join a Life Group, as most Life Groups will be discussing the sermon texts after they are preached.

You can always text in questions to (224) 300-0596, and the pastors will answer them in service or in an email to the church.

Since some of these scripture portions are on the longer side, consider slowly reading the scripture text each week in advance of the sermon to maximize what you get from the preaching of the Word.

Resources Consulted

The Bible Project’s two-part visual overview of Revelation is immensely helpful for understanding how this letter holds together.

Pastor Richard and I are primarily using the following written resources in our preparation:

(Technical Commentaries)

• Beale

• Fanning

(Theological Works)

• Gorman

• Bauckham

(Devotional Commentaries)

• Akin

• NT Wright

(Study Bibles)

• Intro to Revelation in the Literary Study Bible

Preaching Schedule

Our preaching schedule will take us right through Advent, which means that we will be preaching on Christ’s return during the season in the church calendar in which we focus on waiting for Christ’s return.

• September 6 | Revelation 1-5

• September 13 | Revelation 6

• September 20 | Revelation 7

• September 27 | Revelation 8-9

• October 4 | Revelation 10-11

• October 11 | Revelation 12

• October 18 | Revelation 13

• October 25 | Revelation 14

• November 1 | Revelation 15-16

• November 8 | Revelation 17

• November 15 | Revelation 18:1-19:10

• November 22 | Revelation 19:11-21

• November 29 | Revelation 20

• December 6 | Revelation 21:1-8

• December 13 | Revelation 21:9-22:5

• December 20 | Revelation Revelation 22:6-21

Let’s let the Holy Spirit produce endurance in us using the book of Revelation.

- Tim Higgins