{"id":11986,"date":"2025-11-09T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T16:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loah.org\/marsd\/?post_type=ctc_sermon&#038;p=11986"},"modified":"2025-11-10T14:43:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T20:43:15","slug":"one-more-thing","status":"publish","type":"ctc_sermon","link":"https:\/\/loah.org\/marsd\/sermons\/one-more-thing\/","title":{"rendered":"One More Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In our busy lives, it\u2019s easy to get caught up in activity\u2014checking boxes, meeting expectations, and keeping things moving\u2014without pausing to ask, <em>Why am I doing this?<\/em> In the book of Revelation, Jesus speaks to the church in Ephesus, a faithful and hardworking community that was at risk of losing its first love. Though they were diligent, persevering, and committed to truth, their passion and devotion had begun to fade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Service alone isn\u2019t enough; our hearts must remain fully engaged in love for God and others.  Whether you\u2019re a long-time believer or just beginning your journey, these words are a timely reminder to keep our hearts burning with the passion that first drew us to Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/em>Revelation 2:1<em> <strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don\u2019t 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.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/em>Revelation 2:2-3<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>But I have this complaint against you. You don\u2019t love me or each other as you did at first!<strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/strong><\/em>Revelation 2:4<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/em>John 15:12<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place\u2014unless you repent.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/em>Revelation 2:5<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/em>Revelation 2:7<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In our busy lives, it\u2019s easy to get caught up in activity\u2014checking boxes, meeting expectations, and keeping things moving\u2014without pausing to ask, Why am I doing this? In the book of Revelation, Jesus speaks to the church in Ephesus, a faithful and hardworking community that was at risk of losing its first love. Though they were diligent, persevering, and committed to truth, their passion and devotion had begun to fade. Service alone isn\u2019t enough; our hearts must remain fully engaged [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"ctc_sermon_topic":[],"ctc_sermon_book":[],"ctc_sermon_series":[],"ctc_sermon_speaker":[83],"ctc_sermon_tag":[],"class_list":["post-11986","ctc_sermon","type-ctc_sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","ctc_sermon_speaker-tommy-sprinkle","ctfw-has-image"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loah.org\/marsd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/11986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loah.org\/marsd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loah.org\/marsd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ctc_sermon"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loah.org\/marsd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loah.org\/marsd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11986"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/loah.org\/marsd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/11986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11992,"href":"https:\/\/loah.org\/marsd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/11986\/revisions\/11992"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loah.org\/marsd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loah.org\/marsd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loah.org\/marsd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_topic?post=11986"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_book","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loah.org\/marsd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_book?post=11986"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loah.org\/marsd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_series?post=11986"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_speaker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loah.org\/marsd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_speaker?post=11986"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loah.org\/marsd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_tag?post=11986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}