Meaning of SARDIS

Former capital of the kingdom of Lydia, about 80 km east of Smyrna, at the foot of Mount Tmolos.

Former capital of the kingdom of Lydia, about 80 km east of Smyrna, at the foot of Mount Tmolos.

In the year 546 B.C. Cyrus defeated Croesus, seizing his capital, which became a center of Persian administration. After the passage of the Greeks and Romans, and under the rule of the latter, Sardis was destroyed by an earthquake in the year 17 AD.

Emperor Tiberius exempted it from taxes to facilitate its reconstruction; It had a Jewish neighborhood (Ant. 14:10, 24), and soon it had a Christian community (Rev. 1:11; 3:1, 4).

Nowadays it is a town; There are the ruins of a large temple dedicated to Artemis, from the 4th century BC, and vestiges of a temple of Zeus, and the walls of a Christian church from the 4th century.
His current name is Sart.

All of nature sings God’s glory; we alone are out of tune. The question is this: How can we be brought back into the great music?

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Praise Resounds Throughout Creation

Timothy Keller

The Praise Of Creation. Praise comes to God from all he has made. It begins in the highest heaven (verses 1–4). It comes from the sun and moon and stars (verse 3), from the clouds and rain (verse 4).

Christians are saved by faith, not by obeying the law, but the law shows us how to please, love, and resemble the one who saved us by grace.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

True Worship that Pleases the Lord

Timothy Keller

A little boy left his toys out and went in to practice the piano, using hymns for his lesson. When his mother called him to pick up his toys, he said, “I ca n’t eat; “I’m singing praise to Jesus.” His mother responded: “There's no use singing God's praises when you're being disobedient.”

Psalm 19 tells us that, unless you repress it, you can still hear the stars singing about their maker.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

From Heavenly Greatness to Inexhaustible Love

Timothy Keller

The number of stars is still uncountable by human science, yet God knows them by name (verse 4; cf. Isaiah 40:26). Job speaks of the creation, when “the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy” (Job 38:7).

This Christmas season, let’s remember to thank Him for His most precious gift to us: Himself.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

The Gift of Himself

David Jeremiah

Long ago, there ruled a wise and good king in Persia who loved his people and often dressed in the clothes of a working man or a beggar so he could visit the poor and learn about their hardships.

Father, as we honor the birth of your Son, let us think on mercy, healing, and reconciliation. Amen.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Healing Time

J. Stephen Lang

1868: On this date a political leader who grew up poor, had no formal education and was illiterate until his wife taught him to read and write, issued Proclamation 179 “granting full pardon and amnesty for the offense of treason against the United States during the late Civil War.”