Sermons on Sardis:

The Comatose Congregation Series

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Jun 24, 2002

Sardis was a church that had a reputation for being alive - but Jesus saw it as dead. How can we avoid falling into the same patterns that threatened Sardis?

OPEN: I once heard about a church that was so dead, that when a member happened to die during the worship service – the paramedics actually carried out 5 people before they finally got the right one. APPLY: Have you ever seen a dead church? (I asked for a show of hands). What does a dead church ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-6

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Active, But Not Alive

Contributed by John Butler on Feb 28, 2009

Larn from Jesus’ description of the church at Sardis what makes a church a DEAD CHURCH...

Active But Not Alive I. Glad To Be Here... Praise the Lord!!! How many in here this morning are glad to be in the house of the Lord? In Psa 122:1 David said... I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. I don’t know about you, but I’m glad to be here this ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-6

Waking Up Is Hard To Do Series

Contributed by Mark Opperman on Jan 15, 2014

Life was pretty good in Sardis. The lack of opposition may have given them a sense of security and lulled them to sleep. Since the world was relatively nice to them, they may have grown comfortable in their relationship with the pagan world around them.

Waking Up Is Hard to Do Revelation 3:1-6 "To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-6

Denomination: Assembly Of God

No Place To Hang Your Hat Series

Contributed by Robert Hoos on Apr 2, 2007

This is a sermon on the church at Sardis from Revelation Ch. 3:1-6.

No Place to Hang Your Hat (Masterpiece of Hope Series) Revelation 3:1-6 [Sardis] We cannot rely on what we’ve done; so keep doing Chapel Service of Plainfield Christian Church Rob Hoos Introduction to Revelation Good evening. How are you all doing this evening? Before we get started into this ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-6

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Choose Authenticity Series

Contributed by Clif Mckinley on Feb 6, 2015

Message 5 or 7 in a series about the practical things we can learn from the 7 church in Revelation

Revelation Week 5 "Choose Authenticity" WELCOME: Everyone Guests Online REVIEW: We are in wk 5 of a series called Revelation. I know most people think “End of The World” “Dooms Day” when they hear The Book of Revelation, but in the first chapters of this book we have ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-3

Denomination: *other

19. The Kingdom Parables – The Fifth – The Hidden Treasure – Part 3 Of 4 Series

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Nov 14, 2025

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure and its true meaning have been considered in the past two messages. Today we examine the church at Sardis and see how strategic that is to the Protestant Reformation. Sardis means “escaping” and that applied to the Reformation.

19. The Kingdom Parables – The Fifth – The Hidden Treasure – Part 3 of 4 This study continues. We expand on some of the previous material and then open up a study on the church that matches the fifth parable. There is a challenge in looking at that Revelation church. [H]. EXPANDING THE ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:36-44, Matthew 25:31-34, Matthew 25:41, Malachi 4:2, Romans 11:25-27, Revelation 3:1, Revelation 3:2, Revelation 3:3, Revelation 3:4, Revelation 3:5, Revelation 3:6  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Revelation 3:1-6 Series

Contributed by Zak Saenz on Jun 18, 2025

Revelation 3:1-6

Revelation 3:1-6 To the Church in Sardis “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. As mentioned previously the seven spirits many think is the Holy Spirit but being seven tends to complicate this idea. The seven ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-6

Denomination: Bible Church

The Church Of Sardis: A Fellowship Taken Off Life Support (Revelation 3:1-6)

Contributed by Donald Whitchard on Jan 1, 2024

The church at Sardis received not words of commendation from the Lord Jesus Christ, but instead, rebuke and condemnation as well a warning to wake up and strengthen what remains of its effectiveness, testimony, and purpose. Does this describe the church you attend?

The fifth church mentioned in Revelation 2-3 was located in the city of Sardis, fifty miles east of Smyrna and thirty miles southeast of Thyatira. Like the other churches, it was located in western Asia Minor, now known as the nation of Turkey. Sardis was on the major commercial and trade ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 1:11-15, Isaiah 11:2-5, Matthew 15:8-9, Mark 7:6, Titus 1:16, Revelation 3:1-6  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

The Churches Of Revelation - The Corrupt Church And The Dead Church

Contributed by Rev. Matthew Parker on Oct 27, 2019

This is a sermon about the corrupt church of Thyatira and the dead church of Sardis, in a series about the churches of the Book of Revelation.

CATM Sermon - October 27, 2019 - The Churches of Revelation - Thyatira and Sardis So far we have looked at 3 of the 7 churches in the book of Revelation. We’ve seen a pattern in the way Jesus communicates to the churches. That pattern is that Jesus begins with gratitude and even praise to the ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 2:1-28, Revelation 3:1-6

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Present Need For Reformation Series

Contributed by Freddy Fritz on Sep 15, 2017

Jesus' message to the church in Sardis in Revelation 3:1-6 teaches us about our present need for reformation.

Scripture On October 31, 1517, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther posted Ninety-Five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. That might seem strange to us, but it was the normal manner of conducting scholarly debate in Luther’s day, as evidenced by his preface to Ninety-Five ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-6

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Jesus Says: Awaken!

Contributed by Andrew Zoll on Mar 4, 2017

Jesus' charge to the church today is, in many cases, the same as it was to Sardis in AD 95/96: Wake up, Church!

Thank you for sending me to the preaching and teaching convention this week at OCC. -Needed it spiritually, emotionally, mentally, professionally. I bought some of the recordings, which will be back on the media shelf in the library. I got DVDs of what I thought were the three best sermons that ...read more

Denomination: Christian Church

What Kind Of A Church Are We?

Contributed by Joel Pankow on Aug 28, 2019

Jesus Rebukes the church at Sardis for being too active. How can that be? We see in the sermon.

9.1.19 Revelation 3:1-6 To the messenger of the church in Sardis write: The one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says this: I know your works. You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what is left, which is about to die, for I ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-6

Denomination: Lutheran

The Comfortable Church Series

Contributed by Dr. Jerry N. Watts on Sep 3, 2011

The church at Sardis had become arrogant and thus comfortable with their ’church.’ The result was compacency, apathy, and death. This should be a warning for churches today.

The Comfortable Church Revelation 3:1-6 * Having read about this church and preached this text many times, I have labored over the proper name for this church. Terms like dead, decaying, or dying, as well as confused, contented, or cozy, were tops on my list. However, comfortable is the ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-6

Denomination: Baptist

Fighting Against Becoming Complacent

Contributed by Jerry Cosper on Sep 14, 2021

I'm going to use Jesus' letter to the church at Sardis today to help us to become vigilant against becoming complacent.

Today I want to talk about complacency. Complacency is defined as a feeling of pleasure or security many times while being unaware of any danger. I'm going to use Jesus' letter to the church at Sardis today to help us to become vigilant against becoming complacent. Our focal passage of ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-6, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

Denomination: Baptist

Glimpses Into Revelation--A Church Awakening Series

Contributed by Marilyn Murphree on Jul 7, 2004

The churches at Thyatira and Sardis awakening us to the effects of compromise in our Christian lives and the results of just "going through the motions" in our worship.

Iliff and Saltillo UM Church July 11, 2004 “Revelation--A Church Awakening” Rev. 2:18-29 3:1-6 INTRODUCTION: We hear a lot about church growth and church renewal these days. Two of the seven churches that John wrote to needed to make some adjustments in ...read more

Denomination: Methodist