Welcome to our new series in Revelation: the Apostle John’s famous ‘Apocalypse’. It’s the last book in God’s Bible and a picture-book, actually. It’s even a children’s book! Revelation is the great ‘unveiling’ of the true spiritual reality of this world, that lies behind the apparent material reality in front of us.

‘Revelation’ (singular, not plural) is full of images and portraits and scenes … and faces! Of hostility, of tragedy, of death … but also of relief, and delight, and eventually, joy! It’s highly confronting for all who pay attention and can seem a little terrifying at times. But at its heart, the message of Revelation is hopeful! It’s full of hope because of the heart of Jesus.

In fact, our big idea for the whole series, as your pastors, is this:

God’s conquering Lord Jesus calls us to endure faithfully until he comes, bringing i) final judgement, ii) the end of our struggles and iii) the blessing of all things made delightfully new.

Terrifying? Maybe. Hopeful? Definitely! ‘Revelation’. We’re finally here, in Term 4, 2026. And as a ‘Band of Brothers’ from 5 different regional churches, we’re stoked to finally launch this series after many months of slow (and often quite painful) preparation. We are so pleased to finally be opening this final book of God’s Word, with you.

Below is a photo of us all at our series planning week, back in May at Lake Moogerah. Ministers and apprentices from Stanthorpe, Warwick, Spring Hill, Mackay and Sarina, and Chinchilla, wrestled with which approach to take in opening up this ‘terrible beauty’ of John’s image of the end of this world, and the beginning of the new.

You can see the results in our 11-week teaching ‘Planner’, in the next few pages. We’ll reveal 11 scenes in 22 chapters of visions given by our resurrected Lord Jesus, to John. Who for? Not for Hollywood, not for false teachers and peddlers of fear, but for His churches. For Jesus’ church. First and foremost, as we’ll see, for 7 local church families in the first century, AD. But also, for all the churches of Jesus, down through history, up to and including our 5 churches. Or rather, His churches spread all across Queensland, in our time and place.

Our planner transparently displays our understanding of Revelation, and how it unfolds. Of course, our approach is what our churches teach, not necessarily what everyone in our churches believes. We have many sincere brothers and sisters among us who may take a different approach to Revelation, and this is one book where many of us may have it wrong. Perhaps all of us!

So, as your teaching elders and pastors, we urge all to join in following our teaching this term, reserving judgement on our approach, and asking each believer to give us the benefit of the doubt while the full 11 scenes unfold.

We ask each member and guest to be gentle in how we relate to one another in discussions after church, and especially in our midweek Growth/Home Groups. In Scene 1, ‘Take to Heart’, we share four clear pastoral applications to carry us all together through this term:

1. Stick it Out - Hearing and receiving this blessing from Jesus, probably in a way you’ve never heard before.

2. Forest not Trees - Focus on the big pictures, rather than fixating on the small details.

3. Stay Calm, Stay Connected and Stay the Course - Remember, Jesus is far more interested in how we treat each other as we listen to His Word, rather than on all of us conforming to one person’s particular view.

4. Hope not Fear - the purpose of Revelation is to comfort, not confuse!

To support our learning together, we’ve collated several helpful resources to recommend: 3 different books, many different infographics, and our chosen theme song for the term: ‘Is He Worthy?’ which we’ll learn together in our churches. Details about all these resources are included in the following pages. This term we’ve also created a ‘Facilitator Version’ of the growth group studies (which fill out the rest of this companion). If you’re an elder or facilitator, this is our attempt to provide some better training in how to guide our people.

Over time, four main approaches to interpreting Revelation have arisen: Preterist, Futurist, Historicist and Idealist (See the following infographic called ‘Four Ways to Read Revelation’). Our approach is ‘Partial Preterist with Idealist Application’. This is seen in our unique shaping of the 11 scenes: all around pastoral commands arising directly out of the text, in each scene!

Why have we taken this approach? Because we are convinced that God’s purpose in Revelation is to grow hope, not fear, in our hearts. It’s clearly a pastoral letter, from John the tender pastor, from the ‘Chief Shepherd’ and ultimate pastor our souls: the slain Lamb of God, Jesus. We see this purpose explained clearly in the opening blessing of Jesus, in Revelation 1:3 …

‘Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.’

Revelation is first and foremost a circular pastoral letter to real churches, just like many other letters in the New Testament. So, like we do with the rest of those letters, let's start by reading it on its own terms: a letter to real churches, in real places at a particular point in time. How would those first readers have interpreted the grand visions of John? Could it be that historical events of the time – and soon to come – fulfil most (but not all) of his visions? Let's first appreciate the first readers of this letter and their context before applying it to our time and future.

In short, we will be teaching that Scenes 1-4 are firstly about the immediate context of the 7 churches in the 60's AD. Scenes 4-9 are firstly about the 'end of the world' for the Jews, in 70AD with the fall of Jerusalem (an unimaginable catastrophe) and the destruction of the Temple (totally inconceivable to the people of the Hebrew scriptures). Scenes 10-11 are clearly all about the future return of Jesus, where his climactic victory, achieved through his death and resurrection, will finally be revealed for the whole of creation to see. We might summarise our teaching of the timeframe of the fulfilment of Revelation as follows:

• Scenes 1-4: Immediate (60’s A.D.)

• Scenes 5-9: ‘Very Soon’ (A.D.70)

• Scenes 10-11: ‘Soon!’ (sometime in our future)

We think the climax of history in the Bible is the resurrection of Jesus, not so much his soon return. So, our position is that only chapters 19-22 still lie ahead, in terms of history. What we can all agree on, and what we must focus on pastorally, is that this is a ‘Revelation’ from Jesus, all about Jesus, looking forward to the soon return of our conquering King, Jesus!

When it comes to the apparent complexity of Revelation, even little children (especially children!) can understand the main point: Jesus has won! Jesus will win! Jesus wins! And he’s coming back soon, to show the whole world. So, let’s all learn together, in humility and hope, as we all join the Apostle John at the end, in simply singing: ‘Come, Lord Jesus, come!’

Peter Evans, Stanthorpe
Daniel Goulding, Rose City (Warwick)
David Bailey, Rose City (Warwick)
John Evans, St Pauls's
Troy Wilkins, Mackay/Sarina
Samuel Herd, Chinchilla