Revelation 3:1 “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.”
The next church in the series is located in the city of Sardis. From the outside, this church looks like it is doing well. In modern terms, it may have a nice building, many activities going, even have satellite campuses (interesting term in itself), training musicians, paid staff to run the sound system, and many other things. From a modern perspective, it looks successful. The parking lot is full of cars and the chairs (padded, not pews, because those are old fashioned) are full of people. All these items and more are very useful for ministry.
Something most critical is missing. At the core of the problem may be a misunderstanding of what it means to be the church, due partially from the cultural forces within and outside the church. These items above are not what make the church. The church is the people who have been baptized into the name of Christ and are growing into his likeness. A “church” can look alive on the outside but be dead on the inside. If something is no growing, it begins to die. Death eventually is the result. When a church reaches this point, something basic has been missing. The growth is in the wrong places. The rest of this short letter will describe the problem in Sardis.
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