In our summer sermon series, we are going to study the first three chapters of the last book of the Bible, beginning with Revelation 1 and then taking the letters to the seven churches of chapters 2 and 3 one at a time.  In this first chapter, we have an introduction that teaches us how and why to read the book and then see a stunning portrayal of Jesus, which serves as the base of the following letters.  This first scene and all the scenes in the book invite us to look behind the events of our lives and our world to see what is really happening so that we can live above our circumstances instead of dominated by them.