Untitled Sermon

welcome

Hello all, I am so glad to see you here today. I would like to say welcome to all of you and especially any guests that are here today. This is an exciting day here. We are kicking off a new series about Heaven and we have some fellowship time scheduled with a great lunch. I would like to invite all present to stay and enjoy that time with us.

The Series, a place called heaven is taken from a book of the same name by Dr. Robert Jeffress. We asked the church to choose 5 out of the 10 chapters in the book. This is where we will get the titles for the next 5 weeks. We are using this book as a starting point and will be working through the bible to gather the information.

This week's chapter was “What will we do in heaven”, we will cover that information and a little bit more after we look at what heaven is, we have to know what heaven is, where heaven is and maybe the most important question, how do we get there?

So if you would join me in prayer before we dig into this week's sermon. Father God, thank you for allowing us into your presents. Lord, I pray that you will align our Hearts and minds with yours. I pray that the words spoken today will be yours and bring you glory. Lord, I pray as we learn about a place called heaven we get a better understanding of what it will be like, what joy it will be to be there and that you would provide the desire and understanding to want to be there. Amen.

Heaven, a word that is thrown around alot, like a nice warm bath, or a real, real good piece of cake. A visit to Hawaii, Maybe time on the beach or time on a mountain, some would think time in a tree stand in the fall is a slice of heaven. For me a time I would call heaven is when both our kids and their families are home. My family all laugh at me because when they are all home with the grandkids running around I will sit there and a misty eye might form, they all call it crying. It is a bit of paradise for me. There are many other things that are talked about as being heaven. Do you know what yours is or have you said this is heaven recently?

Heaven has a location and that location is UP, in the sky above the earth. The Israelites believe everything that was above the earth was heaven and this will give us an understanding of how the word is used In the bible the word heaven is used just under 700 times in the bible. Heaven is used to describe three different things. One use of the word is for Sky, The atmosphere, where the clouds are and the planes fly. Like in Genesis 1:6-8 And God said, “Let there be an expanse[a] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made[b] the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven.[c] And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

Then it is used to talk about the next level outer space where the sun and moon are, where the stars are endless. Like in psalms 8:3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

The moon and the stars, which you have set in place,Then there is the third use of heaven, the dwelling place of God, the place sometimes called paradise. The place that Paul saw but was unable to write anything down that is mentioned in, 2 Corinthians 12:2-4. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. This is where we go when we die.

So what is Heaven? It is the dwelling place of God. 1 Kings 8:30 And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

Heaven is where God resides.

Heaven or Heavens each part is created by God as is the earth. When you look at and think about heaven, it points to God and how majestic and great He is. When I contemplate Heaven it places me in a feeling of awe. God exists outside of heaven and earth. God fills heaven and the earth as said in Jeremiah 23:24. Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. He is not contained in them. Heaven is His throne and the Earth is His footstool Isaiah 66:1 And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

Heaven is captivating not because of what is there but rather for who is there. Heaven is the place where God dwells.

Heaven is a place of fellowship, a place where we are in the presence of God.

Heaven is a place of beauty. It is a place of Joy. Heaven is a place where everything will be eternally good, beautiful, enjoyable, exciting and fascinating, because the Creator of all things is there.

Something else heaven is, it is a place of no more’s!

It is a place of no night, no darkness, no fear. Heaven is a place of no more tears, no more pain, no more sorrow. This is what the word tells us in revelation 21:4. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

There is no longer sin and the consequences that come with it. Sin is what separated us from God and brought the pain and death and sorrow and hurts into the world we live in. This world and the pain and brokenness that we experience Points us to the need for God, the love of Jesus christ.

This life shows us what eternity will be like, Hell is one option which is the separation from God. Matthew 8:12 and 22:13. We will be thrown into darkness.

In hell there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. There is an eternity of tournament waiting for those who choose the Hell option. The main reason for this tournament is the separation from God, Whom is good, is life and light. Without him this is darkness and sorrow.

Have you ever noticed that when heaven is explained, used or mentioned it is always toward something good? A sharp stick in the eye is never referred to as heaven?

WHAT WILL WE DO IN HEAVEN?

Now that we have an Idea where heaven is at and what heaven is like. We can look at what we will do in heaven. Maybe let's start with what we will not be doing in heaven. We will not become angels, we will not get cute little wings and lay on clouds strumming a harp all day. Heaven will not be monotonous, we will not be doing the same thing over and over and over again unless we want to, little kids do not get tired of doing the same thing. I loved to push my kids on the swings and i get to experience that joy with my grandkids. We will go to the park and get one of the H’s on a swing and we will play, Harrison will asked for me to do an underdog and i will then he will ask again 14 more times and i am exhaust, then he will ask for more, I am the one that gets tired i am the one that breaks down and wants to stop the repetition of the game. With new bodys and new experiences, how will we be bored?

We will not just sit in a church service and only praise God, While praising him will be part of the process. He has created us to do other things and gifted us for others things. While we will worship it will not be the only task, Because if that was He has already created beings that do it. The great thing about worship will be experiencing Jesus face to face. Worshiping Jesus face to face will be something that is inexpressible, I can only imagine what it will be like. There are many things that come to my mind. Those thoughts and conversation will be for another day. I am confident that it will be powerful. Isaiah 6:2-4 tells us what worship is like currently Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

We will work in heaven, when God created Adam he told him of the work that was needed, the garden needed to be tended and the animals needed to be named. It is not what we think about work that became difficult after sin entered the world.

We will enjoy the company of other people. God designed us to be in community and why would that end once we are with Him. So we will be in a community. He made some to be eyes, some to be ears, we are not complete without others, the glories thing is we will be new, our suspicion, hurts, impure motives and selfishness will be gone. What a joy it will be to be in the community.

We will continue to learn things and learn about God. We will continue to learn through interaction and time spent in relationships. That is how we learn about people now. It doesn't seem like God will just provide the information dump and take away the joy of learning new things. THink about how happy kids are when they learn something new. How often do they show people what they learned?

We will get to experience true rest. Matthew 11:28-29 tells us Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

IF that is what he tells us about life here. How much more will we experience in His presence? We will be away from the self induced stress and exhaustion. God created the world and then took a rest to marvel at what He did. He will provide the same rest for us in Heaven.

NEW Juresalem AND NEW EARTH

There will also be talk of Heaven, called the New jerusalem and new earth that will happen at the end of times. This is what is talked about in Revelation 21. I did not cover anything on that today as it was not the time for that. The important thing for all of us here today to know is. In the next one hundred years we will die and at that point we will either go to Hell or we will go to the 3rd heaven. I explained what people think we will be doing. Which as we studied the word provides some insight, God did not explain it clearly. What we will do is much less important than who we will be doing it with. Hell as we said is the separation from God and Heaven will be a fellowship with Him. The thing that will make Heaven great is being with God.

HOW TO GET THERE.

God has provided man such wisdom and knowledge with that knowledge we have found ways to access the heavens, those heavens being the first two. We have balloons, helicopters and airplanes to move in and around the first heaven, with technology we have been able to reach outer space. With many men fighting to get their own technology and people into space. But regardless of the technology that man has they can not get to the third heaven without God's help. No matter the vehicle, money, education level. None of that gets you to heaven. There is only one way to heaven.

The only way to heaven is belief in Jesus Christ. See we are all sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23. Because of that sin God sent His only son Jesus to die on a cross and be the substitute for us. Through that substitution he provided us Grace to enter into a relationship with Him. We can do nothing to earn it. We can only accept it with Faith and believe. This is the Gospel Christ in my place. Once we realize the Gift God is giving. Repent of your sins and turn to Christ. Acts 3:19 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, or Luke 13:3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

It is Christ's work on the Cross that makes us acceptable to God, He became the sin. It is sin that blocks us from having a relationship with God. Our faith in Christ accepting Him as our savior allows us to be in fellowship with God and therefore be allowed into heaven, as heaven if eternal fellowship with God.

1john 2:12 says 2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

We get to heaven by understanding we are sinners, placing our faith in Christ and turning from our sins. If you are not sure you have done this we want to provide an opportunity in the last song today to come and pray with an elder.

If you do not have Christ as your savior your life on earth is the best that it will get. The pain and suffering here on earth will pale in comparison to eternity in hell.

On the contary if you have Christ as your savior that life is as bad as it gets, the troubles, pain, loss and sorrow is as bad as it gets. For in heaven experience the no more’s

For those here today that have a relationship with Christ and living out their life for him. I have a challenge for you today. Is to help others see and understand what a life with Christ is. He calls us all to be a light and shine for him. So how are you shining? Are you living out Matthew 28:19 go and make disciples? Or as we remind you here each week. To go and live your life in such a way that people see Christ in you?

Pray with me.