This week’s sermon introduces a new series on the book of Revelation with Pastor Jacob Michalski addressing the congregation’s mixed feelings about this challenging biblical book. Using the metaphor of hiking guideposts, he presents four principles for studying Revelation: interpretations must be understandable to first-century readers, the book has many valid interpretations requiring humility, it uses symbolic apocalyptic literature to reveal God’s plan, and it should be studied as a complete narrative. Pastor Jacob explains that Revelation tells the story of God’s ultimate victory over evil, from heavenly visions to earthly chaos to the establishment of His eternal kingdom. The sermon emphasizes that Revelation is meant to provide hope and encouragement to faithful followers of Jesus rather than instill fear.
Reflection Questions
- What stuck out in today’s message? What did you find challenging and encouraging? Did you learn anything new?
- Read Revelation 1:1–8. Who wrote Revelation? Who was it written to?
- How is God described in this passage? How is Jesus described?
- Verse 3 talks about those who read these words, hear, and keep them being blessed. How does that verse shape your reading of this book?
- What are you thinking and how are you feeling about studying Revelation? Have you studied this book before? What do you hope to learn in the summer?
- Read through the 4 guideposts we will be using to study Revelation this summer (further down the page). What stands out to you about them?
- How does knowing that Revelation is Apocalyptic Literature help your understanding of reading the book?
- How can we see the theme of hope and encouragement in this passage? What does living in that hope and encouragement look like for you this week?
Revelation Guideposts
- Any interpretation of Revelation that John could not have intended and his 1st-century readers could not understand is likely incorrect.
- Revelation is a challenging text that we will approach with humility, respecting the various interpretive traditions while focusing on its clear calls to encouragement and holiness
- The book is Apocalyptic Literature, which reveals God’s unfolding plan through symbolic and metaphorical images of reality.
- We’ll study Revelation as a complete narrative to grasp its overarching message—not to lose sight of the forest for the trees.
