Prepare your heart for our Sunday Morning Gathering by looking through these suggestions that will assist you in making the most of our time together.
You will find tangible suggestions for putting scripture to action in your personal life and in our corporate body, links to the songs we will sing, and lyrics for you to prepare for our corporate singing.
Sermon Text for Sunday: Revelation 14:14-20
Critically Think
- Read Revelation 14:14-20 through three times in succession. Then close your Bible and attempt to list the events in sequence and in detail as best as you can from memory. Go back and check. What did you miss? What did you get right? What details stood out to you as primary and noteworthy?
- How many beings/individuals are mentioned in verses 14-20?
- Who is the “one like a son of man” who is seated on the cloud? Read Daniel 7:13-14, Matthew 24:30, Acts 1:9, 11, Matthew 24:30, and John 5:27. How do these texts inform the identity of this individual?
- Read Joel 3:13. How does this Old Testament text inform and parallel what we see in Revelation 14:14-20?
- What are the descriptors of the wine press in 14:20?
Prayerfully Meditate
- Summarize the main idea of Revelation 14:14-20 in 21 words or less.
- In Revelation 13:1, we saw that the beast wore diadems/crowns on its horns. The Greek word in 13:1 for this crown was διάδημα/diadēma, which relates to “ruling authority”. In 14:14, the one like a son of man is wearing a golden crown, but the Greek term here is στέφανον/stephanon, a crown of victory or award. How do these specific terms inform our understanding of the difference between the beast and the one like a son of man?
- The most referenced object in Revelation 14:14-20 is a “sharp sickle”. As one Bible commentator puts it: “it is sharp and so will do its job swiftly and completely.” How does this vision of a sharp sickle reflect on the nature God and his judgment?
- It is surprising to see an angel speaking with authority to Christ in 14:15. Read Matthew 23:36 and Acts 1:7. In light of those passages, how are we to understand the words spoken by the angel to Christ?
- Revelation 14:18 describes an angel with power over the fire and coming from the altar who issues the call to harvest a vineyard as a picture of judgment. This appears to be the angel from Revelation 8:3-4, who stood at the golden altar and offered up the prayers of the saints before God. What is the connection, then, between the prayers of the saints in 8:3-4 and God’s judgment in 14:18-20?
Intentionally Act
- How should Revelation 14:14-20 reassure us?
- If we are trusting in Christ, what impact and significance does this passage relating to God’s judgment have for us? If Christ is not our Savior, what is its impact and significance?
- In what ways should this passage push us to change the posture of our attitudes and emotions?
- How should Revelation 14:14-20 impact our private devotion to God? Our corporate worship? Our evangelism?
- Click the links below to find the lyrics and recordings of the songs planned for our gathering this Sunday; practice the songs, study the lyrics and sing together.
- Pray for those leading our corporate gathering this week and for the Holy Spirit’s work as the Word of God is further explained and applied: Colten Honigman: music; Rob Stouffer: elder prayer & scripture reading; Bret Capranica: teaching.
Songs for Sunday
Morning Gathering
- Christ Our Hope in Life and Death (sheetmusic)
- Lead On, O King Eternal (sheetmusic)
- Have Mercy on Me (sheetmusic)
- Come Behold the Wonderous Mystery (sheetmusic)
- Rock of Ages (sheetmusic)
Evening Gathering
Lyrics
Lyrics Morning Gathering - April 13, 2025 by Summit Woods Baptist Church