Unfortunately i did forget to press record until after my dramatic scene setting opener!! Doh. You join me halfway through Revelation 1:1-10.

I’ll add it here in text, but the mp3 is here.

hope you enjoy my introduction to The Revelation… Click Here

Here is my powerpoint to accompany it! - Revelation Intro Powerpoint

Scene Setting

Imagine yourself in a church, around 93AD, in Ephesus modern day Turkey. It has been a hard time. Persecution started under Nero in 65, intensified in 67 under Vespasian, Jerusalem had been destroyed  in 70. Peter and Paul have been crucified, Timothy murdered.

These Caesars had all declared themselves such things as son of god; divine-human mediator; saviour of the world; on coins were the words: salvation is found only in Caesar, and no other name but Augustus.

In 92 under Domitian things got worse - 40000 christians killed that year. He ordered everyone to worship him as Lord and God (Dominus et Deus), He has declare his Empire as the eternal empire and himself as the everlasting king. This was particularly focussed in Asia as the centre of emperor worship.

Temples are being built all over the place for a place to worship the emperor (there is the ruin of the temple to Domitian in Ephesus today). All citizens and subjects had to go to a temple built in his honour, take a pinch of incense, throw it in the fire of the altar and say Caesar Kyrios “Caesar is lord”. Domitian did not care what else people believed as long as they did this “little act of worship” – it was the glue that held the empire together.

There were lots of other God’s and lots of other temples, but as long as you included Caesar is Lord, you were ok. But we know that Caesar is not Lord and God, not saviour of the world, to take that pinch of salt was to deny jesus. John the disciple (the last of the disciples) was one of those who had suffered the consequences, in his 90’s he was not good sport for the lions, and the Romans were a little worried of the effect of killing him, so they sent him off to the prison island of Patmos for hard labour

But John has written them a letter

And it starts like this: Rev 1:1-11

ht Rhoda

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It is i think a really important message for us, a definite prophetic sense of the jounrey God has us on, and the on-going need to continue to press into him, and take ground.

That makes it all the more annoying that something very bizarre went on with the recording again. I really have no idea what is going on! help?!

I think you can get a sense of what Dan is saying, even though it drops out occassionally.

dan-smith-28th-august

Here are a couple of photos: