The Great Invitation -“DIVINE DISRUPTION”

john 14:1-6 ““Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:1-6 tpt

1“Don’t worry or surrender to your fear. For you’ve believed in God, now trust and believe in me also. 2My Father’s house has many dwelling places. If it were otherwise, I would tell you plainly, because I go to prepare a place for you. 3And when everything is ready, I will come back and take you to myself so that you will be where I am. 4And you already know the way to the place where I’m going.”

5Thomas said to him, “Master, we don’t know where you’re going, so how could we know the way there?”

6Jesus explained, “I am the Way, I am the Truth, and I am the Life. No one comes next to the Father

As you walk through the valley of the unknown, you will find the footprints of Jesus both in front of you and beside you.

We will all experience loss during our lifetime over someone or something. Yet the topic of loss and grief is often unspoken and overlooked

“We pray, Let this cup pass from me. But we have to believe that God knows what He is doing when He’s not doing what we want Him to do.” -

Jesus calls us to focus on His peace, His place, His promises and His plan.

1. Peace (1)

The loss of a loved one is never easy, and I know that all of you are grieving the loss of Bro Charlie. Even though he is no longer with us in physical form, his spirit lives on in each of you. In these difficult times, Jesus is asking us to trust in His peace. He knows that we are hurting and He wants to help ease our pain. So please don't hesitate to reach out to Him for comfort and strength. Lean on your friends and family for support, and remember that Bro Charlie will always be with you in your hearts.

A. The disciples felt every emotion that Jesus went through. First, they were filled with joy at seeing him return home safely after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem where people had waving palm branches ready for them as an honor guard to celebrate this great victory over death! But soon it became clear that he wouldn't be around much longer - something inside each one of us understands when our time on earth is coming close to its end...

B. The disciples were upset and so Jesus looked at them with tenderness and said in verse 1: “Let not your hearts be troubled.” The tense here means to “stop letting your hearts be troubled,” indicating that they were falling apart. The word “your” is plural as Jesus moves from talking to Peter to the entire team. “Troubled” literally means, “to be stirred up.”

C. In the second half of verse 1, Jesus makes another claim to deity: “Believe in God; believe also in me.” He’s saying something like this: “You trust in God who is invisible and that’s great; now it’s time to trust in me, even though I will be leaving you for a while.” The only way to have peace in the midst of troubled times is to trust in Christ.

Later in this same chapter, in verse 27, Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid.”

If you feel like crying today, let it out. When a friend of Jesus died, John 11:35 says that Jesus broke down and wept. If Jesus cried, then so can you. Invite him into your pain. Because pain is the invitation for transformation He never promises to keep us from tough times, but He does promise to give us His peace in the midst of difficulty and trouble.

Next, He tells us to focus on another place.

2. Place (2, 3a). “In my father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.”

A. For those who know Jesus, death is not an eerie journey to an unknown destination. Believers are assured that there is a place where all wrongs will be made right, where all imbalances will be straightened out.

B. The Greek word for “rooms” means to “abide” or “remain,” and refers to something that is not temporary, but permanent. Friends, our place here won’t last but we’re headed to a place that is everlasting.

C. When Jesus said there are many rooms in His Father’s house, and He’s going there to prepare a place for them, He’s drawing on a very familiar image. In those days it was customary for travelers to send someone ahead to find lodging and make arrangements in a distant city. You couldn’t use Siri or Google maps.

Friends, Jesus has gone before us to prepare a place for us in heaven. All the arrangements have been made for those who have put their full faith and trust in Him.

3. Promise (3b)

Jesus gives a promise to his frantic followers in verse 3, “I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” Jesus is saying, “I’m not just going to show you the way to the place I’ve prepared, or just give you a map. I promise to come back and take you to that place so that we can be together forever. Then you’ll finally be home.”

Jesus reinforces this promise in John 14:18: “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

B. Likewise, Jesus is preparing a room for His bride, the church, right now. When the time is right, He will gather us and bring us to the Father’s house.

Have you ever wondered what heaven will be like? Here are some promises…

• Heaven will be ready

• Heaven will be resplendent

• Heaven will be restoration

• Heaven will be real

• Heaven will be reunion with Christ and with Christ followers

• Heaven will be right

C. Jesus guarantees that if we put our full confidence in Him, we’ll be with Him forever. It’s his promise. The Bible is full of the promises of God and not one of them has ever been broken. Psalm 145:13: “The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made.”

Whenever God restores something, He restores it to a place greater than it was before.

4. Plan

A. One of the disciples named Thomas spoke up for the rest of the timid team. They just didn’t get it. What in the world was Jesus talking about? “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?

B. In verse 6, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me…’” Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only life. There is no other plan but the person of Jesus. There is no way to get to heaven unless we go through Him. Acts 4:12: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus made it clear that the way is narrow and restrictive: “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

C. Jesus is very inclusive in the sense that everyone is invited to a relationship with Him as John 6:37 states: “…and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” But, His claims are extremely exclusive in that there is no other way to Heaven except through Him.

Took :

Around the corner I have a friend,

In this great city that has no end;

Yet days go by, and weeks rush on,

And before I know it, a year is gone,

And I never see my old friend's face,

For Life is a swift and terrible race.

He knows I like him just as well

As in the days when I rang his bell

And he rang mine. We were younger then,

And now we are busy, tired men:

Tired with playing a foolish game,

Tired with trying to make a name.

"Tomorrow," I say, "I will call on Jim,

Just to show that I'm thinking of him."

But tomorrow comes--and tomorrow goes,

And the distances between us grows and grows. Around the corner!--yet miles away . . . "Here's a telegram, sir . . ."

"Jim died today."

And that's what we get, and deserve in the end:

Around the corner, a vanished friend.