Letters To 7 Churches?

Q: What are the "Letters To 7 Churches." I heard someone preaching about them on the radio the other day and was not familiar with them. The guy on the radio said they're in the Bible?

A: John, the author of the book of Revelation (the last book in the Christian Bible) included in that book letters to seven different churches that were all located in what was then known as the province of Asia. They were in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. These were simply cities in that province and the letters were simply addressing the Christian church located in each city.

The significance of the letters - or perhaps their relevance in our modern day culture - is that each church displayed a certain set of behaviors. Some were godly and some were not. Each letter addressed the strength of the church to which it was written. But each letter also addressed the weakness of the church to which each particular letter was written.

If you read the letters (Revelation 2 & 3) you'll see that the nature and character of those church congregations was very common to what we might find in American churches today. So the challenge is then to look at my own church and see what it has in common with any or all of those seven (7) churches. Would Jesus have any different perspective or point to make with my church than He did with those churches? Definitely not!

The letters to those seven churches back then were meant to motivate those churches to make changes. They're there for us to read today for exactly the same reason. We should read them and be motivated to make changes!