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Ready For His Return
Are you truly ready for Christ's return, or just going through the motions? In this message, I walk through Jesus' letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, using them as a personal coaching session for every believer. If Jesus looked at your life right now, what would he commend, and what would he call out?
Related Sermons
Small Group Guide
Small Group Discussion Guide
"Ready for His Return" — Pastor Chris Hufton
1. SERMON RECAP
Pastor Chris Hufton walked the congregation through Jesus's letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, using them as a coaching tool to help believers examine their own spiritual readiness. He highlighted the dangers of lovelessness, compromise, spiritual deadness, and lukewarmness, while pointing to the rewards promised to those who remain faithful. He challenged the church to stop operating on spiritual autopilot and instead pursue a living, active, and honest relationship with God.
2. KEY SCRIPTURE
Revelation 2:4-5 (NLT) "But I have this complaint against you. You don't love me or each other as you did at first. Look how far you have fallen. Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don't repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches."
3. ICE BREAKER
Think back to when you first came to faith or first got seriously involved in church. What is one thing you did back then in your walk with God that you no longer do today?
4. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Pastor Chris described the church at Ephesus as the "loveless church" — a congregation so focused on identifying false teachers that their love for God and for one another had grown cold. Where do you think the line is between healthy discernment and a cynicism that erodes love? Have you ever seen that shift happen in yourself or in a community you have been part of?
2. The church at Sardis had a reputation for being alive but was actually spiritually dead. Pastor Chris asked the group to consider what in their own lives might look active on the outside but feels hollow on the inside. What routines in your spiritual life have become habits of appearance rather than genuine connection with God?
3. Pastor Chris pointed to the church at Laodicea as the only one that received no compliment from Jesus — a church that was comfortable, self-sufficient, and lukewarm. He referenced Deuteronomy 8, which warns that prosperity can cause people to forget God just as easily as hardship can. In what areas of your life do you think comfort or success has made it easier to coast spiritually?
4. The church at Smyrna was told suffering was coming and was given no promise that it would be avoided — only a promise of the crown of life if they remained faithful. Pastor Chris asked whether people could maintain their faith in God even if a difficult situation did not resolve the way they hoped. How do you personally hold on to trust in God when circumstances do not change the way you prayed they would?
5. Pastor Chris noted that Jesus said seven times across these letters, "Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit." What do you think it practically looks like to create enough quiet and space in your daily life to actually hear what the Spirit is saying to you? What is the biggest obstacle to that in your current season of life?
6. Across all seven letters, Jesus used the phrase "I know all the things you do." Pastor Chris reflected on the fact that God searches out not just our actions but our thoughts and intentions. How does it change the way you approach your daily decisions when you genuinely hold onto the truth that God sees your motives, not just your behavior?
5. APPLICATION CHALLENGE
This week, choose one of the seven churches from Revelation 2 and 3 that you most personally identified with during this sermon. Read that specific letter again slowly on your own, then write down two honest answers: one thing Jesus would commend in your life right now, and one specific area where He would bring a correction. Bring what you wrote to a trusted friend, spouse, or small group member and share it with them before next week.
6. PRAYER POINTS
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Pray that God would reveal any area of spiritual deadness or lukewarmness in each group member's life, and that He would give them a genuine hunger to fan that flame back into life.
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Pray for the grace to hold onto faith in God's goodness even in circumstances that are painful, unresolved, or deeply disappointing — that faithfulness would not be conditional on outcomes.
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Pray that this church community would grow in genuine love for one another — not a polished or performative love, but one that notices people, pursues them, and reflects the love that God first showed us.
7. MEMORY VERSE
2 Timothy 1:6 (NLT) "This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you."
Daily Devotional
When Love Goes Cold
1 John 4:18 — "Such love has no fear. Perfect love expels all fear, and if we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment. And this shows that we have not fully experienced His perfect love. We love each other because He first loved us."
On Wednesday I talked about the church at Ephesus — a church that was sharp, discerning, and doctrinally sound, but had lost something essential. Jesus looked at everything they were doing right and still said, my complaint is that you no longer love me or each other like you did before. That hit me hard when I was preparing. You can be theologically correct and spiritually cold at the same time. I know what that feels like in my own life — going through the motions, keeping my guard up, letting cynicism quietly crowd out compassion. Perfect love casts out fear, but it also casts out coldness. Ask yourself today: where has my love grown quiet? Where have I stopped reaching toward people the way I once did? Let that question sit with you honestly.
Lord, I don't want to be right about everything and warm toward no one. Rekindle in me the love I had at the beginning — for You and for the people around me. Let Your perfect love push out every bit of fear and coldness that has crept in.
Faithful When It Is Hard
Romans 8:38-39 — "I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love, neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today, nor our worries for tomorrow. Not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love, no power in the sky above or in the earth below. Indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."
On Wednesday I talked about the church at Smyrna — Jesus told them plainly, you are about to suffer. He did not promise them a way around it. He promised them a way through it. I have had moments in my own life where I had to stop and ask myself honestly: if this does not change, if this does not heal, if this loss does not get restored, will I still trust You? That is not a faithless question. That is the question faith requires. The believers I read about in Secret Believer sat in prison praying, Lord, give me the attitude of Christ. Not, Lord, get me out. Faithfulness under pressure is not about pretending things are fine. It is about holding on to the truth that nothing — not suffering, not loss, not death itself — can cut you off from His love.
Lord, I want my faith to be the kind that holds on even when things are hard and unclear. Remind me today that You have not left, that nothing can separate me from Your love, and that endurance in You is never wasted.
A Little Yeast Goes a Long Way
1 Corinthians 5:6-7 — "Don't you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are."
On Wednesday I walked through the compromising church at Pergamum. The people there were not dramatically falling away — they were just tolerating things they should not have been. A little here, a little there, and before long the whole batch is affected. I said that before I look at anyone else's compromise, I need to search my own heart first. That is still true today. The question is not always what is obviously wrong. Sometimes it is the slow drift — the attitude I have let linger, the habit I have stopped examining, the thing I have told myself is fine because everyone else seems fine with it. What we allow in moderation, others around us will take into excess. That is a serious responsibility, and it starts with me being honest before God about what I have been tolerating in my own life.
Lord, search me honestly today. Show me where I have drifted and called it acceptable. I do not want small compromises to quietly shape who I am becoming. Help me to hold the line with grace, starting with myself.
Wake Up Before the Light Goes Out
Ephesians 5:14 — "Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light."
On Wednesday I talked about the church at Sardis — a church with a reputation for being alive that was actually dead. That one kept me up at night, honestly, because it is so easy to look active and be completely hollow inside. I know because I have been there. Going through the motions, saying the right things, showing up in the right places, but not once genuinely engaging my spirit with God. The rebuke Jesus gives is blunt: wake up. What is left is almost gone. But notice He still says almost. There is still something to work with. That is grace. If you are reading this and you know your spiritual life has grown cold and routine, this is your wake-up call. Do not wait for a dramatic moment. Fan the flame today. Do something intentional and different to connect with God, because you were made to be alive in Him, not just present near Him.
Lord, I do not want to coast. I do not want to look alive on the outside while my spirit is quietly going quiet on the inside. Wake me up today, and give me the hunger to seek You with everything I have.
Do Not Forget Who Gave You This
Deuteronomy 8:17-18 — "You may say to yourself, 'I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.' Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath."
On Wednesday I finished with the church at Laodicea — the only church that received no encouragement at all. They were comfortable, self-sufficient, and completely unaware of how far they had drifted. I am rich, they said. I have everything I want. I do not need a thing. And Jesus said, you do not even know how lost you are. I have had moments where God has had to remind me plainly that my sharpness, my ability to figure things out, my success — none of that originated with me. He gives us the power to gain wealth. He gives us the mind to solve problems. He gives us the strength to endure. Gratitude is not just a nice feeling. It is a posture of remembrance that keeps us tethered to the truth of who God actually is in our lives. Do not let blessing become the thing that crowds Him out.
Lord, thank You for every good thing in my life. I do not want abundance to make me forget You or lack to make me resent You. Keep me tethered to the truth that every good thing I have comes from Your hand.