Read in the book
Five-day reading plan
Participant guide
Work through the book's own Reflect & Discuss questions for this week's chapters. The last question in each set is personal — no one should be required to answer it.
From Chapter 6 — Jesus’ Messages to the Seven Churches
- Read the letter to Smyrna (2:8–11) and the letter to Laodicea (3:14–22) side by side. What does each church have, and what does each lack? What does Jesus offer each?
- Which of the seven does your walk with Christ most resemble right now, and why?
- Two churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia, receive no rebuke — both were suffering or weak. What does that tell you about how Jesus measures faithfulness?
- Each letter ends with a promise to the one who overcomes. Which of the seven promises most stirs your hope, and why that one?
- (Personal; feel free to pass.) Ephesus had left its first love while still working hard. Has there been a season when that was you? What did it take to notice?
Facilitator plan · about 60 minutes
- Open (5 min). Open in prayer, then read this week's key Scripture aloud together.
- Read (10 min). Let the passage speak first: what did people notice in the five-day readings?
- Discuss (35 min). Walk the participant-guide questions in order, letting everyone share who wants to. Where sincere believers differ, say so, and keep the group's eyes on Christ.
- Close (10 min). Commit together to each chapter's This Week step, and pray for one another.