CONNECT: How can you develop your daily time with God in anticipation of that future when there will be no barriers between us?

WARM-UP  Questions

1. What have been some highlights of this year for you? What have been some low points?

READ Revelation 22:12-13

1. What does it mean to you that Jesus is coming soon? What do you think Jesus means when he says, ‘My reward is with me’? 
2. What is Jesus saying about by using, ‘I am the Alpha and Omega’? (Hint: Revelation 1:8; 21:1–7)
3. How can Jesus’ imminent return inform the way you live?

READ Revelation 22:14-15

1. V.14 is the last of seven blessings pronounced on people in Revelation. Who are these blessings for? (See: Revelation 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14)
2. What city and what tree of life are being referred to here? (City: Revelation 21; Tree of life: Genesis 2:9; 3:22, 24; Revelation 2:7; 22:2, 14, 19)
3. Why are the ‘dogs’ outside of the city? What defines these people? 
4. How can this promise of justice inform the way you share the gospel with and disciple others?

 READ Revelation 22:16-19

1. Whose voices do we hear in this passage? What do each of them add to the message?
2. What are the consequences for adding or taking away from the book? Why is it so dangerous to add or take away from things God has said?
3. How should these passages inform the way we look at the Bible as a whole?

 READ Revelation 22:20-21

1. Many of the first readers of Revelation were desperate for Jesus to return because of the persecution they faced for following him. How do you feel when you read the prayer ‘Come Lord Jesus!’?
2. What images come to mind for you when people talk about the ‘end’? How do they compare with the images in Revelation?
3. Who is at the centre of the story of Revelation and the picture we are given of eternity? 

APPLY This Week: Who can you share the good news of Jesus’ return with in 2019 and how can you help them to grow closer to Him?

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Sermons

• ‘Living in light of what’s to come’ by Michael Stead
• ‘The Next Attraction’ by Phillip Jensen
• ‘A City to Call Home’ by Justin Chapman
• ‘Revelation 22:12-21’ by Mark Yule

Other Helpful Articles and Courses

• ‘10 News Stories that Gripped the World in 2018’ by Melina Glusac
• ‘Christians who won’t take no for an answer – touched by God or ‘white saviour’ complex’ by Robert Burton Bradley
• ‘On the Death of John Allen Chau’ by Tim Challies
• ‘10 Lessons I learned from preaching Revelation’ by Sam Storms
• ‘What the Church Can and Should Bring to the #MeToo Movement’ by Whitney Woolard
• ‘5 Reasons you need the Westminster Shorter Catechism’ by Andrew Conway
• ‘Big Questions about Big Data: Facebook, Cambridge Analytica and Wider Questions for Christians’ by David Green

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