Sermon Series June 29th to July 20th
Heaven
This sermon series on heaven is going to take us on a journey to see how Jesus fills out the hope of heaven. We’ll see that while the Bible is surprisingly thin on the details of what heaven is like as a place after death, it is surprisingly full of details about heaven happening right now.
We will learn that the Jesus-view of heaven is good news because it’s about how heaven repairs our world in eternity AND right now. We will learn that God is making this place, and our bodies, whole again. Heaven, according to Jesus, is not JUST where we go when we die, but it is the fullness of God’s presence breaking into everything we are and everything we love. It is your body healed, your grief finally answered, your longing satisfied in Jesus. Heaven is a coming home, and a waking up to a world remade. It is all we hope for, but so much more. Heaven is not less than your most tender longings, it is more than you dared to ever imagine. Heaven is closer and better than you think. A vision of heaven through the eyes of Jesus also transforms how we live now. We’re not just taking up space and biding our time, we’re to be on about heaven now. We’ll get to all of this, but to look at heaven through the vision of the Bible, we might need to pause and admit a few things: First, we cannot imagine what’s ahead, and that’s good news.
Go Deeper: Resources
Our intention is to create or share resources to help people explore these topics in further depth. Here are a few resources you might find meaningful during this sermon series.
Where Heaven and Earth Overlap - What does the Bible really teach about heaven, and what is heaven’s relationship to earth? In this video from The Bible Project, we explore the surprising biblical viewpoint that heaven and earth were meant to overlap, and how Jesus is on a mission to bring them together once and for all.
Sermon Audio Files
Heaven is Closer and Better than you think
The Bible talks about paradise and streets of gold and mansions. But let’s begin with this powerful image: heaven is near. You can live in heaven now through Jesus. Though there is sorrow all around, you can participate in heaven and the peace of heaven now. You must certainly be born again, not comfortable in the womb, but awake to the reality that you are part of a new world all around you. God’s world. Alert to God’s voice, presence, and purpose.
Eternal Life
Jesus, slowing down, because he knew something eternal, something heavenly, something outside of time so he could finally stop to see what others overlook. He could touch what others avoid, he could heal what others thought was expendable. Jesus lived in heaven on earth, bringing God’s glory close to others. He could live in the truth of God’s love for a world God created. He saw with eternal eyes in a world that only looked out for what they could consume in front of them.
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