Pergamum: Satan's Throne Series

Why would Jesus plant churches in places like Ephesus or Smyrna or Pergamum? Cities devoted to worshipping pagan gods? Why bother with a city like Pergamum that is full of people too proud to think that they need Jesus? Why not build churches somewhere else? Surely there were other places, other cities that would be more open to the Gospel than these cities, amen?

I’ll tell you why. Because God loves and cares for ALL His people … especially the ones who are the most lost or in the greatest danger of losing their eternal souls. Cities like Ephesus and Smyrna and Pergamum were filled with people who were worshipping idols fashioned by the mind and hands of mortal human beings … rather than worshipping the One True Living God. Loving and worshiping a statue in a temple provided a hollow, false sense of safety and security and it broke God’s heart to see His children put their hope and their faith in a thing rather than in Him, who alone has the power to provide the safety and security that all humans seek. He longed for them to know Him and so He planted churches in the midst of the most difficult, dangerous cities and then called on the Christians in those cities to reach out to the lost souls in Ephesus and Smyrna and Pergamum. He expected these Christians to share His love in Roman cities, Roman administrative centers full of proud, emperor-worshipping, Christian-persecuting, lost souls.

Guess what? God still does that kind of thing today, amen? He still puts us where He needs us. He gives us gifts and talents so that we can share His love in specific places. Let that sink in for a moment. God has placed you where He needs you … next to family members and friends who need to see you live your faith. He has placed you next to neighbors and co-workers who need to hear of the good news of the Gospel. The next time you start to complain about where God has placed you in life, stop and think … look around … pray … and thank God that He has placed you there because He has some work for you to do and He knows that you are uniquely qualified to be His representative. That should change your perspective, don’t you think? At least I would hope so!

And that not only applies to you and me … it applies to our churches as well. I know it may not seem like it, but Canton First and Beaverdam are right where God wants us to be. Our churches are part of the front line of God’s Kingdom. It may seem tough right now but this is where God has placed us and where God has placed our churches. This is where God has equipped us and our churches to minister. He has given … and will continue to give … both us and our churches all that we will need to accomplish His mission and His purpose here in the mountains of Western North Carolina. How many of you believe that? I do. I believe with all my heart and with all my being that He will give us … and He will give our two churches … the insight, the strength, and the resources that we will need to keep sharing the Good News of His love right here in eastern Haywood county in the middle of a pandemic while our country seems to be coming apart at the seams, amen?