October 26, 2025
Greetings and blessings to all of you. Rev. 2:4-5 states, “but I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen…repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” You might say, ‘what is Jesus talking about and how does this apply to me?’ This was stated in the 1st century to the church at Ephesus; however, it appears that many believers today have become numb and calloused to the evils around us and some of us are being tempted to retreat inward and become isolated from other believers. As the evil in this world increases, God wants the Body of Christ to be the salt and light; to reveal the often-hidden battles between good and evil and the battle between light and darkness. Moral relativism is the norm in our society; we have to come against that. They say “it is true…if it is true for you”. But the Bible tells us that there are moral absolutes independent of what we think is right. The Bible teaches us there is absolute right and wrong. Biblical truth is being suppressed or silenced because we do not want to offend anyone. We should not be offensive just to be offensive, but we should not be afraid to speak the truth of God when the need arises. It has been said, “the gospel that offends no one is not the gospel of the Bible.” The church of Ephesus lost their love of God. Like a first love… The thrill is gone… so say the soul singer BB King. Why? Maybe in their “busyness “on behalf of the church and the community their love for God and each other faded. Maybe their relationship proved the adage, “familiarity breeds contempt” -taking the Almighty for granted. Could it be, like us, praying, serving, speaking out against wickedness, oppression, poverty, sin, rebellion, adultery, homosexuality, fornication, abortion and all those respectable sins; that we have grown weary and feel defeated? Like Elijah when he fought the god of the false prophets, Baal. Elijah said, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your alters, and killed every one of your prophets, I am the only one left and now they are trying to kill me, too.” When we come together, we should do everything possible to maintain a reverent attitude. We should realize that God is in our presence. Let’s go back to Reverence and Order in "the Church".
With the Love of Christ
First Lady Vivian C. Currie
Pastor ALC