In this episode of the Beyond Sunday podcast, Pastor Robby and Pastor James begin by introducing a new sermon series on the seven churches in Revelation. They explain that the series comes after a church trip to the sites of those churches and that the first message focused on Ephesus.

They give background on Ephesus as a wealthy port city that was deeply tied to Roman polytheism and the worship of Artemis. They say the gospel challenged both the city’s religious life and the economy connected to idol-making, and they note that Revelation’s letters were written to specific churches and situations.

The main focus of the discussion is Jesus’ message to the church in Ephesus: they were commended for hard work, patience, and refusing false teaching, but they had lost their first love. Robby and James describe this as a church that had bec ...