Table Talk | September 05 & 06
Growth Group Guide
"Grit Without Love Is Trudging, Not Treasuring"
Based on Revelation 2:1-7
The Church at Ephesus
OVERVIEW
This week's sermon opened our journey through the seven churches of Revelation with a look at the church at Ephesus -- a congregation marked by remarkable perseverance and theological purity, yet one that had drifted from the most essential thing: a genuine, heartfelt love for Jesus. As Pastor Todd reminded us, grit without love is trudging, not treasuring. This guide will help your group reflect on what it means to serve God from a place of deep devotion rather than mere duty.
Key Takeaways
- Jesus commends churches that are marked by perseverance and theological purity -- continuing in obedience even when it is costly and refusing to be led astray by false teaching.
- Jesus corrects the Ephesian church for forsaking their first love -- not for lack of activity or obedience, but for allowing duty to replace devotion.
- Labor is not a substitute for love, and purity is not a substitute for passion. Jesus calls his people to both.
- The path back to first love involves three steps: remember, repent, and re-engage.
- Reward awaits those who prioritize their love for God above everything else, including their own religious accomplishments.
Opening Activity
Think of a relationship in your life -- a friendship, a marriage, a family bond -- that started with genuine excitement and warmth. What did that relationship feel like in its early days? How did you think about that person?
Hold that image in mind as you work through the discussion together.
Discussion Questions
Getting Started
Pastor Todd opened with a story about two marriages -- one driven by duty and one driven by love. The wife performed the same tasks in both marriages, but with completely different motivations. What stood out to you about that illustration? How does it connect to your own experience of following Jesus?
Before this sermon, how would you have ranked "love for God" compared to things like faithful church attendance, biblical knowledge, or serving others? Has this passage shifted how you think about that ranking at all?
going deeper
Pastor Todd pointed out that Paul had prayed for this very same church in Ephesians 3:14-19, asking that they would know the dimensions of God's love in a way that surpasses knowledge. And Paul closed his letter to them by blessing those who love Jesus with an "undying love" -- a love lacking the very capacity to decay. Knowing that, how does it feel to read that decades later, their love had in fact decayed? What does that tell us about how love for God must be actively maintained?
Jesus uses the word "forsaken" to describe what the Ephesian church had done with their first love. Pastor Todd noted that this same word is also translated as "forgive" -- meaning to send something away. In what ways can we subtly "send away" our love for Jesus even while continuing to serve him faithfully?
The sermon described progressive Christianity as a modern parallel to the Nicolaitans -- a movement that emphasizes love and freedom while drifting from the authority of Scripture. On the other hand, the Ephesian church had the opposite problem: strong doctrinal commitment with a cold heart. How do we guard against both extremes in our own lives and in our church community?
Jesus gives three correction commands: remember, repent, and re-engage. Which of those three do you find most difficult personally, and why?
Bringing It Home
Pastor Todd asked the congregation to look in the mirror and consider: How are you doing when it comes to persevering in your faith? How are you doing when it comes to theological purity? And most importantly, have you turned your relationship with Jesus into more of an employer-employee arrangement than a love relationship? How would you answer those questions honestly?
The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 that even giving everything to the poor and enduring great hardship counts for nothing without love. When you examine your own service, your own church involvement, your own spiritual disciplines -- do they feel more like the first wife's chore list or the second wife's joyful response to being loved? What has contributed to that?
Pastor Todd shared a personal moment driving home from work when the weight of God's love for him -- completely undeserved -- overwhelmed him. Have you had a moment like that? If so, what brought it on? If not, what do you think might be
Practical Applications
Choose one or more of the following to practice individually or as a group before your next meeting:
Set aside 10 to 15 minutes this week to simply sit with the question: "What was it like when I first came to faith?" Write down what you remember -- what you felt, what changed, what mattered most. Use that reflection as a prayer, asking God to rekindle what has cooled.
Read Ephesians 3:14-19 slowly and prayerfully each day this week. Rather than reading it as information, read it as an invitation. Ask God to make the dimensions of his love more real to you than they were the day before.
Identify one area of your spiritual life that has become routine or mechanical -- a prayer habit, a serving role, a spiritual discipline. Ask God to show you how to re-engage it from a place of love rather than obligation.
Have an honest conversation with a trusted friend or your small group about whether your relationship with Jesus currently feels more like duty or devotion. Invite them to speak honestly into your life.
If you have never responded to the gospel, consider what is holding you back. The same Jesus who spoke to the church at Ephesus is the one who walks among his churches today. His invitation remains open.
Close your time together by praying as a group -- or inviting one person to pray -- using the following themes as a guide:
- Thank God that he loves us with a love that surpasses knowledge.
- Confess honestly any ways in which duty has crowded out devotion.
- Ask for the grace to remember, repent, and re-engage.
- Pray that your group and your church would be known not only for perseverance and purity, but for a love for Jesus that is alive, growing, and impossible to miss.