Talks

On the same day as our Vision offering for our NEW ASHWOOD HOME – Matt finishes part 3 of our series on our ETERNAL HOME.

Ecclesiastes 3 tells us that “God has planted eternity in the human heart.”  So many people believe that there is some kind of life after death.  Why? Somehow, whether people believe in God or not, we all have a sense that we were made for THIS world but also Made for something beyond this world too.

Matt talks about 4 things:

The greatest STOPOVER.  Our final destination is the NEW HEAVEN and the NEW EARTH – but before then the bible authors tell us that we will wait in “paradise” or “present heaven”.  The place where God is now, and where all the people have died are waiting until Resurrection day – after Jesus returns.
HEAVEN’s REWARD Scheme. Although we arrive on earth with no material possessions and we can’t take any with us, it’s clear that the way we live will have a bearing on our life beyond the grave.  (2 Corinthians 5 verse 10)
Reward for FINANCIAL CHOICES – Luke 18 verses 22-30 / Matthew 6 v verses 20-21
Reward for PERSEVERANCE - 2 Timothy 4 verses 6-8 / Matthew 5 verses 11-12
Reward for SEEKING FIRST THE KINGDOM - Matthew 6 verse 33
Reward for SHEPHERDING GOD’s PEOPLE - 1 Peter 5 verses 2-4
Reward for OUR WORKING ENDEAVOURS - Colossians 3 verses 23 – 24
Your Future’s Bright!  What’s the Difference between A Christian Believer and A Non Believer? Paul tells us that Christian Believers – don’t live without hope! 1 Thessalonians 4 vs 13-18
Orienting Ourselves around Heaven – Jesus encouraged us to be thinking about Heaven every time we pray!  Remembering that our FATHER is in HEAVEN right now, and that our goal and our desire is to see more of the realities of HEAVEN (God’s will) here on earth as it is in HEAVEN.  So let’s set our sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honour at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. Colossians 3 verses 1-2

Gill talka to us from Revelation Chapter 21 - written by the apostle John who had a vision from God seeing forward to the end of our world as we know it now!
She explaina that it’s not easy to understand – partly because it was written originally in secret code because the church was in danger!

John has a vision of our future home.
This has always been part of God’s rescue plan for us!:To one day create a “New Heaven and a New Earth”.

We will become new creations, with new resurrected bodies, still the same people, somehow recognisable to each other. We’ll have the same soul.
The outlook is very very good!  There will be no evil, pain, tears or death but peace, wholeness, healing, thriving, satisfaction, restful pleasure.
There will be work - but it will be enjoyable, fulfilling and with purpose. And in the centre will be God living there alongside us.

“Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.  (Revelation 21 verse 3)

Jesus said that He will come back for us, and if He says He will, then He will. Peter said: ‘The day of the Lord will come like a thief’ and Jesus in Mark 13 - ‘Only the Father knows when that day will come’
So we need to be alert, on guard and be ready for it.

The early church lived as if that could be tomorrow which helped them be faithful in the face of persecution.

Challenge (and inspiration) for us before the “age to come”:
We need to get our perspective on what is eternal and not on the things of this world.
Hold possessions lightly and Rejoice because suffering is only temporary.
We should pray ‘Your Kingdom Come’, but we can also play our part by bringing the kingdom of God now, by the way we love each other, our neighbour and the stranger.

In this first part of our new mini series “Our Eternal Home”, Matt speaks to us about what the Bible authors tell us about death and what comes after.

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honour at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.” Colossians 3 verses 1-2

Matt’s 4 Points to consider:
1) Mindset change: This Life is temporary: Billy Graham summarised it beautifully: “My home is in Heaven. I’m just traveling through this world.”
2) Death is real and shouldn’t be taboo: It will happen to all of us sooner or later (unless Jesus comes back first). What if death is the beginning, not the end? It’s good to be aware of it: “Where you are, we once were. And where we are you soon will be.”
3) Death no longer has a sting: Being saved by Jesus, we have a certain hope that death is just a doorway “into the better” that Jesus prepares for us: “Death though it appears to be man’s greatest enemy, in the end proves to be his greatest friend!  I know it’s a shocking thought but it’s the ultimate liberation!” (David Oliver in “All About Heaven”)
4) Longing for Heaven: What would you answer to this question: Are you willing to stay but longing to go? OR: Are you longing to stay but willing to go? (David Pawson) Randy Alcorn puts it like this in his amazing book “Heaven”: “I’ve never been to heaven, yet I miss it.  Eden is in my blood.  The best things in life are souvenirs from Eden, appetisers of the new earth.  There are just enough of them to keep us going, but never enough to make us satisfied with the world as it is, or ourselves as we are.”

Matt encouraged us to read: 1 Corinthians Chapter 15.