Deus Misereatur

{ The audio file } Heaven Pt 5: “Forever!” Revelation 21:1-8 Come, Lord Jesus! Lift our sights to that “forever day”, to that “evermore time” when we will know you like never before, when faith and hope will be swallowed up in sight and love will flower into full bloom! And now, help us so that as we listen and imagine and dream, our yearning may be handsomely increased, and our hearts be more fully won over. Amen. I realize that last Sunday’s sermon may have left you in something of a darker humor as we talked about the Day of Judgment. But you have to take that sermon in the context of the three before it, and this one. What will happen after the resurrection and the great “Tribunal of Christ” – In other words – what will heaven feel like, sound like, taste like, smell like etc? The New Heavens and New Earth . 21.1 We are often left in the dark about heaven after the resurrection, and have pictures flitting about our heads of clouds, harps, floating bodies or angeli...

{ Audio File is here } Heaven Pt. 4: That Day! ( Isaiah 6.1-13 ) Romans 14.7-13 Lord Jesus, into whose hands the Father has entrusted all judgment; we long for your return, we deeply desire to be at home with you! But there is this disturbing business about that Day when we must all stand before you and give an account of what we have done. Please help us to hear rightly this evening that we may we be better prepared for that Day. Amen. Did you ever notice that when you were growing up, you could almost never “pull one over” on your mom or dad? At least, that was the case for me. How many times as a young boy I tried to pull a fast one, and mom or dad saw right through. “Son, did you steal the neighbor’s cigerettes?” “Ummm, uhhh, no.” “Give them here son.” “Dad! How’d you know?” “I’m Dad!” Spank, spank. And remember those times when your dad or mom called for you to come, right then and there, and you could tell from the tone of voice this was your day of reckoning! When ...

[ The audio file is here . You might find it helpful to listen as you meander through the manuscript below. Mike] --- Heaven Pt. 2: Home! John 14:1-6 ( 1 John 3.1-3 ) Lord God, you made us to walk with you forever, but our sin has shattered that companionship! And our rebellious hearts keep us looking for love in all the wrong places. Help us this day, as we hear your Scriptures, to have our hope for home restored and recovered; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen . Many years ago Anna and I lived in Turkey. We knew it was a short stay (2 years), but we knew we didn’t fully belong. We kept calling back to the United States (Morale calls), writing letters, thinking about being back “home.” We made the best of where we were, adapted to the culture, much of the food, etc., but we knew that we were Americans. It helped us keep our perspective, kept us oriented so we didn’t become something else, or breakdown in despair. The Bible, and our Lord Jesus, say the same kinds of thin...

{ You can click here to listen to the audio file } --- Heaven Pt 1: Where and What is Heaven? 2 Chronicles 6:12-21 ( 2 Timothy 4:6-18 ) O God, high and lifted up, whose dwelling is in unapproachable light, heaven is your throne and earth is your footstool: raise our sights and give us durable glimpses of heaven beginning with this sermon and throughout this series, that we might become so heavenly minded we finally become some earthly good; through your Son Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. Just about everyone under the sun assumes that they’re going to go to heaven. But what does “heaven” mean to them? If you ask folks, some will only say it’s just a better place ; others, the great golf course or hunting camp in the sky. That most folks believe in heaven shouldn’t surprise us, for God, we are told, has “put eternity into man's heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Almost every culture and society, throughout the millennia, has believed in a Life after Death . What’s sadly humorou...