So I'm standing right in the middle of the ruins of what was originally the church at Thayatira, which Jesus mentions in this passage.

Now, as you can probably hear, this church is like right in the middle of a modern city center,

which it also was in the first century, right in the middle of a city.

Thiatira was originally established by the Roman Empire as a military garrison.

This was like a military town, and it evolved to eventually become like a very successful

blue collar, swing a hammer, work with your hands,

ply your trades type of city.

Think Houston, think Philly, think Pittsburgh, silversmiths, coppersmiths, and especially

textiles.

All of these industries prospered.

The woman that Paul meets in the book of Acts named Lydia,

it mentioned that she was a seller of purple cloths.

Because of the minerals in the water here in Thiatira,

they had a process by which they could make a red and purple dye

that like nobody else in the empire could make.

So when Lydia is a seller of purple cloths,

it mentions she was from Thayatira.

Gilds formed around the trades.

They were almost like ancient unions,

but they were also intermingled

with pagan false god and idol worship.

So if you were a Christian in this church,

...