BACK TO THE BASICS: The Crushing Mentorship Program - 8 Weeks

Hosting Site: Zoom Online Live Meetings - Compatible ToAll Cellular Devices, Laptops & iPads

Start Date: Monday – August 28, 2023

End Date: Monday – October 16, 2023

Time: 7 Pm CST - 8:30 Pm CST

Reflection Points: Jesus calls the Ephesian Christians to repent because they have stopped loving as they had initially. They are still very busy, observes Jesus: “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting” (Revelation 2:2–3, NLT). Despite all their labor and patient suffering, Jesus recognizes that they have lost their initial zeal and abandoned their first love.

Reflection Points: The “first works” mentioned in Revelation 2:5 correspond directly with their “first love.” Their “hard work” and “patient endurance” are commendable; but as time passed, they had become more motivated by a sense of duty than passionate love for God as demonstrated in compassionate service to others. The Ephesians stopped performing “first works” because they had lost their “first love.”

Reflection Points: Jesus told the Ephesians how to keep their first love alive. First, He said we must remember, which literally means “to remember and respond” in the original Greek language. We ought to continually call to mind the things we have lost, abandoned, or neglected (Psalm 119:55). Next, we repent. We respond to our memories by changing our minds about sin, confessing our sins to the Lord, and returning to Him, our First Love (I John 1:9). Third, we return; we do the first works. For believers, the “first works” are to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).

We regain the lost ground “from where we have fallen” by stoking the fire of our devotion and nurturing our relationship with the Lord. We spend time in God’s presence, worshiping, praying, and letting His Word go deep into our hearts. Wisdom instructs, “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart” (Proverbs 3:3). As we abide in Jesus Christ, we will bear the fruit of obedient service (John 15:4–8). With His love burning bright in us, we naturally demonstrate compassionate love for our brothers and sisters (I John 4:10–12). Only through His power and grace working in us can we continue to do the first works “which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Philippians 2:13).