We believe to have a lasting impact and reach this next generation is to see the light of the church be combined with the heart of the family. We desire to continually grow as a ministry in our partnership with parents. There is great power in a parent who raises up a child spiritually, and we want you to know you don’t have to do it alone. The Parent Cue is one way to come alongside your teen in what they are learning.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Series: HOMELAND (May 13th - May 27th)


We are teaching this: Heaven – What will it be like?
I have good news. Jesus has invited us to spend eternity with him in a place called Heaven. It’s actually the home where our heart longs to be, with God forever. Philippians 3:20 tells us that our citizenship is in Heaven yet we know very little about our homeland. The basis for the 3 talks in this series are the main questions that students ask any time they are deciding if they want to do something. They generally want to know: 1) What is it like there? 2) What are we going to do? Or, is it going to be fun? 3) Who is going to be there? At the end of the series, they will be able to speak more confidently about what Heaven is like and be more determined to share the Gospel with their friends and family.

Homeland Talk 1: Heaven is the home where our soul longs to be (5-13-15)
Heaven is our home and Christ has given us an invitation to go back home after our life is over. Any time I get invited to go somewhere that I have never been, the first question I ask is “what is it like?” I want details about what it looks like, what the vibe is like, what kind of cool stuff will be there. God understands our curiosity about Heaven and so He gave us some descriptions throughout Scripture of what it would be like. We don’t fully understand everything about Heaven and we won’t until we get there, but we definitely can learn some things from God’s Word and it sounds awesome in the truest sense of the word. First and foremost, Jesus is there, his presence fills heaven, and he is preparing a space for us to live there with him forever. That’s about as special as it gets but there is more. The city is made out of pure gold with walls made out of precious stones, a river with the water of life is flowing from the throne of God, a tree of life is growing there, and the whole place is going to lit up by the glory of our Lord God (Rev. 21:12-22:5). Not to mention that He will wipe every tear from our eyes and things like death, sorry, crying, and pain with be gone forever (Rev. 21:4). The blind will be able to look upon creation for the first time. It will be a place of endless joy in the presence of our savior for eternity.

Homeland Talk 2: Heaven will be the greatest adventure of our life (5-20-15)
Let’s be honest, the way we think about Heaven makes it sound really boring. Are we really going to just sit around on clouds wearing robes, playing harps, and singing songs forever? Can a place that is perfect and has no drama really be that interesting of a place to live? These types of ideas are what drive people to think that they might not want to spend eternity in Heaven. This type of thinking comes from incorrect information and incorrect thinking which causes you to believe that sin is fun and holiness is boring. Heaven is going to be awesome, in the truest sense of the word. We are going to do so much more in Heaven (especially on the New Earth) than just sit around. We will play, eat, draw, write, read, talk, laugh, explore the limits of our new bodies, and so much more. We will do this unaffected by the curse of sin while delighting in our Creator and He will delight in our worship of Him through the use and exploration of the gifts He equipped us with. No, Heaven will not be boring. Heaven will be a grand adventure full of jobs we enjoy, an eternity to go exploring, and all of it in the presence of God.

Homeland Talk 3: Big Idea: Our mission on earth is to direct people how to get to Heaven (5-27-15)
One of the most common questions we wonder about a place is what the people are like. Who is going to be there? How are they going to treat me? We are so curious about these things because relationships matter to us. In this final talk of the series we will explore these questions about who is in Heaven and how they got there. The discussion will take us to who we can expect to be reunited with and we may even explore the presence of animals in Heaven. We will review the importance of sharing the Gospel with everyone with the intention of showing them the only way to Heaven, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We know the way to Heaven and have been given the mission by Christ to take this information to the world around us so we can be in Heaven with as many people as possible. With this eternal perspective in mind, it will change how we live our lives here on earth.

Think about this:
This is our hope and the longing of our soul, to be home. With this better understanding of what your homeland, where your heart longs to be, is like you can sing songs more wholeheartedly, you can share with others what Heaven is like, and you can anticipate the days when your heart will finally be at home, with God in Heaven, forever. We have a great future ahead of us. This is not the final destination and it’s definitely not as good as it gets. God desires us to live with an eternal perspective as we live here on earth. He has a place that he wants us to go. Like a trip to Disneyland, we might not know exactly all that will happen when we are there but what we do know is that we will love all the things to do and we will love who we are with as we experience the greatest adventure of our lives. We are so eager to tell people about how awesome Oregon is or how awesome a place we visited was because we want them to experience it too. We don’t want them to miss out. We haven’t been to Heaven but we know who will be there and we have an idea of what we will do. Also, we know what they opposite end of this spectrum looks like too. So our challenge and our mission becomes to basically be walking advertisements for how great Heaven will be by loving people, telling people how much Jesus loves them, and telling them how amazing Heaven will be.

1.       Where do we get our ideas about what Heaven is like?

2.       How is the way Heaven was described tonight different than what you thought before?

3.       What is the difference between intermediate Heaven and New Earth?

4.       What questions do you have about Heaven?

5.       Given what we talked about tonight, what aspect of Heaven are you most looking forward to?