Kerry Shook: Heaven on Earth

[Music] come on i know we're waking up a little bit but we're ready to worship god in this place [Music] [Music] come on sing this up [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] [Music] in my inside of heart heart every day is a brand new start it's got me singing how you love me come on [Music] for the rest of my [Music] if the life is [Music] cause i'm ready to be my makers [Applause] come on keep it moving where i am [Music] you love me where i am [Music] come on get those hands up come on no matter what it is [Applause] [Music] i'm ready to be my makers [Music] one more time [Music] this morning [Applause] [Music] [Music] how divine and safe and precious is your love so when i found myself on the verge of giving up [Music] i will say i belong to you i belong to you in the morning in the evening i belong to you every moment of every season i belong to you you've spoken i know it's true you chose me long before i chose [Music] how divine and safe and precious is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] in the morning [Music] i know it's true you chose me long before i chose before i [Applause] [Music] i chose a breath you chose me i remind myself who i belong to because that's where my value is you chose me [Music] before i took a breath you chose me when i couldn't pay my debt and stormed the gates of hell to save me from my mess now i belong to here sing that out you chose me [Music] before i took a breath you chose me when i couldn't pay my daddy storm the gates of hell to save me from [Music] paul said how do we know that we're saved because the grace of god covered us while i was still a sinner when he saw me in the middle of my mess when he saw me and the things i am most ashamed of he said you're worth dying for even before his blood covered me and i experienced his grace he said you are worth it you are valuable so how much more or does he love us now that we are covered by that grace [Music] [Music] save me from [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] in the evening [Music] in the evening you've spoken i know it's true [Music] or i even took breath [Music] [Applause] [Music] god we thank you for who you are this morning we lift you up and praise [Music] this is how i fight my bells [Music] this is [Music] [Music] it may look like i'm surrounded but i'm surrounded by you it may look like i'm surrounded but i'm surrounded by you it may look like i'm surrounded but i'm surrounded [Music] this is [Music] the victory is already ours it's already in god's hands instead of facing with my own strength [Music] this is [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] this is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] do [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] i know it's true [Music] [Applause] [Music] welcome to woodlands church we are so glad you're here this weekend why don't you just wave to about 50 people and then sit down hey we are so glad you're here if you're a guest with us today we're especially glad that you're here we just want you to relax and be our guest we want to make you feel right at home we want to get you connected at woodlands church that's what it's all about we're a family and we want you to connect with our family um we're kicking off something amazing today we're calling it the heaven on earth adventure over the next several weeks we're going to be experiencing a little bit of heaven in our place on earth and today we're going to kick off the whole series as my wife chris the most beautiful woman in the world is going to be speaking with me and it's going to be powerful and i know that god wants to bring some heaven into your heart today it's also a powerful day of remembrance as we remember 20 years ago the 911 terrorist attacks and as we honor those who've lost their lives and you know they'll never forget that was a big slogan back then never forget never forget well the families of those who perished on that terrible day never forget every day there's always a hole in their heart because they're missing a loved one but i think there is one thing that we have totally forgotten and that's who the real heroes are you see before 9 11 we thought the heroes were the sports stars and the celebrities and the movie stars and all the famous people but they're not really the heroes the true heroes are those who rush into burning buildings when everyone else is coming out to save people those are the true heroes and we learn that after 9 11 but i think we forget it a lot so i just want to say if you're a firefighter if you're a first responder if you're a law enforcement officer if you're an emergency medical technician um would you stand because you're the true heroes you you risk your life each and every day and we appreciate you so much would you stand just stand and i want to say nurses and medical professionals doctors during this pandemic you stand would you stand we love you we appreciate you guys so much and then of course we know that there's so many in our armed forces who've lost their lives over the last 20 years protecting our nation and so if you've served or serving in our armed forces we can never thank you enough so we do it often but we can never do enough would you stand we praise god for you god bless you god bless you for your service we love you i want us to pray dear god i thank you so much for your love for us and even though we don't understand when tragedy hits and evil seems to win the day we know that in the end you win lord because you've already won the victory because of what you did on the cross and we just pray for comfort and strength today for all those who have lost loved ones on 9 11 2001 and we pray we would never forget to always appreciate those who protect us to always appreciate those who are willing to give their lives and lord help us to honor and to bring honor to those who make such a difference lord jesus and lord i pray today that you would just do something so powerful in each one of our lives that would bring some heaven right into our hearts it would bring some heaven right into our lives and right here right now for your glory in jesus name we pray amen [Music] [Music] hey church family good morning it is so great to see you guys we're so happy you're here because we're kicking off this new series we're so excited about and it's all about heaven and it has the potential to change not only your life but your family our community our city and even the world so we are super excited about it and it's our heaven on earth adventure the whole thing is based on the lord's prayer part of the lord's prayer in matthew chapter 6 verse 10. so would you stand in honor of god's word and why don't you read this one out loud with me okay just read it out loud just go for it here we go your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven dear god we thank you that you want to bring some heaven to earth and i just pray that you would do that over the next several weeks you would overwhelm us with heaven lord our world needs some heaven desperately bring heaven into our hearts and bring some heaven lord into our workplaces bring heaven into our neighborhoods our communities our city lord bring heaven to earth in jesus name we pray amen you can be seated jesus here and the lord's prayer is saying wherever i'm allowed to rule and reign and be king i'm going to bring some heaven into that place and so if you allow christ to be king of your heart he's going to bring the peace of heaven into your heart no matter what's going on around you if you allow jesus to be king in your marriage he's going to bring the love of heaven into your marriage the supernatural that agape unconditional kind of love that the world can't understand and god wants to be king in our workplaces in our neighborhoods in our community wherever christ is allowed to be king he's going to bring some heaven to that place and we're to pray for god to bring some heaven to earth that's god's will he wants to bring some heaven right into where you live heaven to earth and earth is a place and you live in a place and god wants to bring some heaven to your place now we live in a world where we see a lot of hell and not a lot of heaven i mean we live in a broken sin-filled world that is full of pain and poverty and sickness and sorrow but god wants to bring some heaven right into the pain and over the next few weeks we're going to pray for heaven and earth to collide in such a way that we experience so much more of god's unexplainable peace so much more of god's unbelievable power in our lives god wants to do something so great in your life he wants heaven to break loose he wants heaven to break loose in our church he wants heaven to break loose and your family and your home that's god's will but i believe before we can really pray that heaven will come to earth we need to see what heaven is like we need to see what we're praying for so we're going to kick off this series today by talking about what heaven is like in second corinthians 5 2 it says compared to what's coming living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack and we're tired of it we've been given a glimpse of the real thing our true home our resurrection bodies the spirit of god what's our appetite by giving us a taste of what's ahead he puts a little of heaven in our hearts so we'll never settle for less you see we can't even begin to fathom in our finite minds what heaven is and what heaven is like it's hard for us to humanly even imagine heaven but if we can just get a glimpse of heaven this passage says that god wants us to get a glimpse of heaven because if we get a glimpse of heaven it will change everything about the way we live on this earth so we're going to look at what heaven is like most people don't spend much time thinking about heaven i mean really when was the last time you spent a good long while thinking about heaven even christians who believe that heaven is their eternal destiny rarely give it any thought in life why is that why are we not thinking about heaven more i mean if i'm going to go to say india then i spend some time digging into that looking it up finding out all the details what is it like but the place that we're destined for as believers to spend eternity we haven't even spent as much time looking into usually is the time we spent the last time we went on vacation we're out of town for a couple days why is that well i think it's not so much about doubt as it is dullness it's not so much about disbelief as it is disinterest we hate to admit it but most people think heaven is just going to be really really really boring i mean just boring somehow we've gotten this idea that heaven is going to be something like a mashup of a classical opera and staring at clouds and a sermon that just goes on and on and on forever this eternal mind-numbing boredom and our only consolation will be that we're not in the other place well of course it's no wonder if that's our view of heaven it's no wonder that we would rather think about a ball game or sex or getting ahead in our job or what's for dinner and even if we do occasionally think about heaven a lot of times we're too shy to speak about it to talk about heaven with people we know who aren't christ followers maybe at work or at school or in our neighborhood because we're afraid that they will secretly think that we are naive that we're trying to escape reality by daydreaming about something better pie in the sky we all need a crutch to get us through that kind of thing so we're hesitant to talk about heaven around non-believers but here's the deal here's the truth let's face it either heaven is real or it isn't if it's not christianity is false because heaven is woven in to the fabric of the whole thing but if heaven is real then this truth should be faced full on like any other truth it should make a difference to us on monday morning heaven the reality of heaven should make a difference in the way we live our lives today so what is heaven really like well scripture gives us a solid outline without filling in all the details and really that makes a lot of sense doesn't it because all we have to use to be able to describe things are heavenly or earthly terms and we're trying to describe something heavenly otherworldly but we just have these words that we know that refer to things that we're familiar with so it makes sense that heaven's really hard to describe and when jesus talked about heaven when heaven is talked about in the bible our earthbound minds can't comprehend it it's the only words we know but we are going to look at three things about heaven and the first is that heaven is a place of so much more so much more way more than we could ever imagine the night before jesus crucifixion he gathered his closest friends for his last meal and he wanted to assure them so this is what he said so listen closely he said don't let your hearts be troubled trust in god and trust also in me there is more than enough room in my father's home if this were not so would i have told you that i was going to prepare a place for you when everything is ready i will come and get you so that you will always be with me where i am wow there are so many things we can learn about heaven just right there in this short passage one is heaven is a real place it's a real place jesus christ said i am preparing a place for you this is a place my father has a house it's a real place more real than the room that we're in so that's the first thing we know about heaven we can also know that it's expansive beyond our wildest imagination it's huge jesus said there is more than enough room in my father's home what other words can you use to talk to people try to explain something that's so massive when we all we know is our tiny little spot on this little earth in this little galaxy and we're talking about god and all of heaven and it's a place prepared for you that's something else we can know have you ever had a house guest come over to stay with you most of you have and what you do is you think of what kind of food do they like you prepare a meal for them you get their room ready you know just what they would like and you know heaven is going to seem custom made for us because our creator the very one who designed it is preparing a place just for you he's preparing a place just for you and in heaven we could also know from what jesus said that we will always be in his presence in his real actual presence where we can see him with our eyes he says there you will always be with me and lastly we can see that knowing that heaven is in our future knowing that what jesus said when he tells us something is true we can bank on it we know it is and knowing that that heaven is in our future it should give us peace in the present the very first thing was he said was don't let your hearts be troubled don't worry stop worrying i've got this i have a place for you it's prepared it's ready and at the right time i will come and get you and you will always be with me now you might be thinking okay but i need details we've all been trained to run everything through the scientific method right we want hard data well spoiler alert the bible tells us in first corinthians that no eye has seen no ear has heard no mind has imagined what god has prepared for those who love him we simply don't get to know all the details yet our tiny minds couldn't handle it but we'll find out but god does give us another clue about the reality of heaven through signs in creation now scripture is god's verbal sign to us but what he's created is his pictorial sign you see we're surrounded by all kinds of signs every day so it's really important to differentiate between human signs and god signs we look at signs around us and don't think much of where they came from just what they signify but it's really important so i want you to get this because it's going to help you understand heaven human signs are entirely arbitrary we make up a symbol as a kind of shorthand and all agree that it's going to represent something else for instance the alphabet take the letter b what sound does this make ba yeah all the kindergartners are learning this right now yeah that's a letter b it could have been anything it could have been any squiggle we actually could have assigned any squiggle to that sound and some other cultures and languages have but that's what in english this is what we chose that kind of squiggle means something to all of us it's the same with numbers they could have been different we just happen to agree on them language works the same way there are over 6 500 languages in this world and all that's really needed in language is for the people who use it to understand amongst each other what different sounds mean that's a kind of a human symbol we make something up and we say let's call let's this idea is represented by this okay how about this symbol let's try another one what's that heart yeah what does it mean love oh you're so good okay another one what's this traffic light it's red so it means stop yeah we arbitrarily decided that red would mean stop and green would mean go we could have had it the other way around we could have said that green meant stop and red meant go but we didn't it doesn't really matter see human signs are arbitrary we just pick something and decide this is what it means okay one more human sign flag and what does it mean yeah united states of america some people said freedom and i hear you yeah anyone in the world who sees this symbol of the flag knows it stands for the united states of america human signs are impossible to guess you could not guess them because meaning is assigned it's not inherent it's just randomly assigned because as humans we can't create we can just we assign that meaning now there can be different meaning in different cultures for different symbols and that's okay but god signs and here's what you need to see god signs on the other hand are inherently different than ours because his signs always contain a trace of what's really there his signs are universal they mean the same thing throughout all time and throughout all cultures we can't make god's signs different the thing signified is always present in the sign itself it's a living signal of what it signifies now you're also surrounded by these kinds of signs every day let's try this out how about this one smoke yeah what does smoke mean fire when you see smoke there is reliably fire that's not arbitrary smoke is not an arbitrary single signal it really means there's a fire there's seriously a fire somewhere if you smell smoke your smoke alarm goes off you get out of your house because there really is a fire there really is something going on something's burning kerry's cooking i don't know but something's going on now let's try another one of god's signs how about this one yeah yeah how does that baby feel happy that could be a baby anywhere on the planet in any age any culture but see god's sign is when we see a smile on a baby the baby is reliably happy it's something that we see and we can count on what's behind it okay how about the next one sunlight yes sunlight what do you know is behind that sunlight the sun yeah a plus guys when you see sunlight you know that the sun is behind that sunlight is actually a little piece of the sun the sun is actually kind of contained in that now the sun is much bigger and greater it's a massive burning ball of fire in the sky but sunlight means there really is a sun if there's not a sun you cannot have sunlight okay last one of god's signs that we're going to touch on take a look at this one yeah fall autumn when you see the leaves turn colors you can reliably know that winter is coming it is autumn and winter is coming it's something we can see a sign but it's not arbitrary it actually means something the same to all people all the time god's signs are reliable and they always contain a shadow they're just a shadow of the real thing now here is the point i want you to get if what earth signifies is heaven then it means that the best we have on earth is but a trace but a true trace of what we'll find full blown in heaven as wispy smoke is to a raging fire you see little wisps of smoke there could be a raging forest fire coming as when you see a patch of sunlight on out on the sidewalk that is to a massive fireball that signifies there's a big fireball somewhere there's something even more real bigger what you see is just a trace and what we see on earth is just a trace of what we'll find in heaven in first corinthians chapter 13 verse 12 it says this now we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face now i know in part but then i will know fully just as i also have been fully known so that's talking about in heaven right now we're seeing dimly this the room you're in right now this is the foggy wispy place not heaven heaven is way more real than anything we could imagine here on earth the very best that this life has to offer those moments of intense joy or intense love or intense beauty are just the faintest hint of what god has in store for us in heaven heaven is more real it's more dimensional it's more detailed than earth is not less and all that we love about this earth is only a shadow of what's to come that's why the most joyful moments of our lives always hold a little heartache when you see that just stunningly beautiful sunset when you see that reunion there's a reunion between you and a loved one that you haven't seen for a long time and why is it that we cry tears of joy it's kind of strange isn't it we think tears are associated with sadness and we don't have tears when we're just happy we smile we laugh but when we're deeply joyful then the tears come the emotion overflows i think it's because as we touch just even the slightest edge of heaven our hearts burst with joy and at the same time they ache because that moment is already receding we're seeing a glimpse just a glimpse of something that feeling that we're always longing for this universal longing c.s lewis captured this really well in mere christianity which is my favorite book he said if we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world you were made for so much more you were made for nothing less than heaven heaven is a place of so much more but secondly heaven is a place of no more it says in revelation 21 4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes death will be no more mourning and crying in pain will be no more for the first things have passed away that's one of my favorite verses in the bible it's the no more verse it's heaven is a no more place where god declares no more no more pain no more suffering no more sickness no more sorrow no more death heaven is a place of no more it's a place of no more brokenness you see heaven is the great restoration that's coming heaven is the great restoration that your heart longs for as chris said you were made for and that's why there's always an ache in our hearts where it feels like something is missing think about it everything in your life that is broken or will be broken totally restored totally made whole your broken dreams your broken emotions broken relationships everything that is broken and wrong in your body everything restored all that is broken will be restored in the great restoration that is heaven and to bring heaven to earth we need to pray for god to bring restoration to earth and our place on earth but we need to be restoration agents in the name of jesus we need to be the people of no more where we say no more to selfishness and no more to living in our own little self-absorbed world and not caring about anyone else no more we need more people to stand up and say no more no more loneliness and disconnection no more loneliness and disconnection i will host a life group no more loneliness i'm going to invite some people into my home and we're going to do what we were made to do being community no more loneliness not another person lonely and isolated no more racial division no more racism you know they say that in america the most segregated hour of the week is sunday morning church but at woodland church we have said no more no more we want our church to look like heaven no more the grounds levels the foot of the cross we're all the same in jesus name no more and we need more people to stand up and say no more no more child lost in the system where no one cares whether they live or die but we need so many more we need so many more people to stand up and say no more i'm going to get involved in the woodland church foster care ministry you know we say no more children and teenagers out on the streets being abused but we need so many more to step up and say no more i am going to get involved in woodland churches ministry to stop human trafficking you know we say no more unborn babies the least of these who can't speak for themselves whose lives are cut short because no one cares about a single mom who thinks she has no other options and no one gives her support and care we say no more and that's why we need more of you to step up on our woodland church pregnancy crisis pregnancy ministry that's making such an impact we say no more no more people grieving without a shoulder to cry on but we need so many more to step up and say i'm going to be involved in woodland church's griefshare ministry and no more elderly men and women who feel like they're all alone in a nursing home and they've been completely forgotten after all they've done for others in life but we need more people to step up and say i want to be involved in woodland churches nursing home ministry no more homeless out on the streets of houston because no one gave them the resources job training and mental health care so they can get back on their feet we say no more but we need many more to be involved in our hungry and homeless ministry in our counseling and mental health ministry no more we are the people of no more and we say no more no more no more no more pain no more sorrow we want to be healers that's what heaven's going to be and we're not in heaven yet there's a lot of hell around us but we're to be agents of heaven to bring restoration and so for the next six weeks we're going to do that we're going to do three things that i'm going to challenge chris and i are asking every one of you online every one of you at all our campuses every one of you on the other side of the world every one of you here at the woodlands to do three things first pray for god to bring heaven to earth in your life family and neighborhood every day for the next six weeks would you just pray for god to bring heaven to earth that's a biblical prayer it's god's will he wants to bring some more heaven into your life into your place your neighborhood your workplace pray for god to bring heaven to earth and i'm going to do a daily devotional on video that you can connect with every day and we're going to pray together and we're going to see all heaven break loose in your life we want to see all heaven break loose in this church all heaven break loose in our community get ready heaven and earth's about to collide and then secondly host a heaven on earth life group we're starting new life groups today and we want every one of you to host if you can a heaven on earth life group and what you'll do on your way out you'll see there are a lot of stations out there we have these kits these life group kits heaven on earth life group kits and just pick up a kit it's free if you're going to host a life group we'll give you the kit has everything in it that you'll need it directs you to how you get the videos online and all you need to do is invite some friends neighbors relatives some people you like to hang around with three or four five or six ten whatever and invite them to your home one night a week for the next six weeks you pick the night throw out some snacks and then you play the 10 minute video you talk about it you have fun together fellowship together and we give you everything you need in that kit and we're also going to give you a little gift certificate in that kit to get lee strobel's brand new book the case for heaven next weekend the book is released and lee's going to do the big release right here he's going to preach the case for heaven next week and kick off his book tour he's going all around the country the case for heaven and he's going to present scientific experience evidence scientific evidence of life after death and heaven it's going to be really powerful the book is amazing and you get a free copy if you host a group and so you just bring that that certificate back next week and pick up the book get lee to sign it but it's it's going to be powerful and he's starting here at his home church and and it's going to be amazing so host a life group invite some friends and by the way you can go to the willing church app you can go to the website wc.org and you'll see the green life group banner just click on that and you can get connected to a life group if you don't feel like hosting right now get connected to a life group it's a life groups finder you can find a life group in your area and just click on that they'll contact you and you can get connected we need everyone to be in life groups during this time you come on the weekend and you get inspired and then you meet with your life group you do some further study you get encouraged and you're going to go out in the community and be a part of some of our ministries that are going to make such a difference and if you're not in a life group and you're a little leery about just joining a life group then come up here to the church on tuesday night seven we're gonna have a big men's group a big women's group it's seven o'clock for six weeks on tuesday nights and then another men's group a wednesday morning at 6 00 a.m we're going to do these heaven on earth groups our pastors will teach it you get to know some other folks but there's no excuse to not be in a life group it's going to be amazing as we experience heaven on earth but then there's a third thing be a part of the heaven on earth serve weekend october 18th and 19th on that weekend a big church makes a big difference we're going to mobilize all our campuses we're going to mobilize everyone that attends woodland church online around the world and we're going to all go out into our communities and make a huge impact and we're going to be serving the community bringing restoration rebuilding doing things that are really important that with not expecting anything in return it's going to be a restoration weekend and then on the weekend services we're going to cut the message short and we're going to send you out into the foyer of our campuses and you're going to pack food we're going to pack 80 000 meals to go to haiti and we're going to put them in containers that they send them off because we have people on the ground in haiti and people that we've ministered to for so many years that are that are hungry right now and fortunately we have a lot of connections through our ministries there in haiti and we're going to be able to get it right in get 80 000 meals to them right away in desperate need because we believe with all of our hearts that we believe with all of our hearts that we say no more to people living in squalor on less than two dollars a day but we need many more of you to step up and be involved in our missions to haiti and india and to malawi into kenya and honduras and many other countries around the world because we're the people of no more where the people have so much more and we say no more we take our stand in the name of jesus in the love of christ and i'm telling you we're going to bring some heaven to earth and we need some heaven to come to earth right now in a huge way i want you to look at revelation 21 5 it says and the one who was seated on the throne said see i am making all things new heaven is a place where jesus restores everything all that is wrong will be made right all that is wrong will be taken away everything restored and made new everything in your life that you've lost or will lose and life can just be a long goodbye at times did you realize that every one you hold dear to you everything you hold here you're going to lose it at some time you're going to lose them at some time life can be just a long goodbye here on this earth everything that you've ever lost everything that you will lose one day but in heaven it'll all be restored in heaven it will all be restored i mean all the lost time that you wasted restored those lost years your lost innocence restored lost loved ones who've gone on to be with the lord restored all that is lost will be found jesus says if you're a christ follower i know it hurts now i know it's hard to believe right now but everything you've lost will be restored nothing is really lost if you're a christ follower you see chris and i lost our grandson jude samuel after only one day on this earth and this last year and a half i lost both my mom and my dad when chris was a freshman in college she lost her mom to cancer but we know they're not lost they're not lost i mean well-meaning people come up and say i'm sorry for your loss i know exactly what it means i've said it many times but really they're not lost we know right where they are they're in the perfect place of heaven the place of so much more in the place of no more they're right there in heaven because for christ's followers nothing is really lost real lostness is not knowing and trusting the one who is the way the truth and the life that's real lostness and i have to say to you not only is heaven a place of so much more and heaven is a place of no more but heaven is also a place of one way there's one way and christ has made that way in john 14 6 when the disciples said jesus well where is this place heaven how do we get there he said i am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me jesus said i'm making a way for you i'm going to go to the cross and i'm going to die and shed my perfect sinless blood for all of your sins all of your mistakes and regrets so that you can be in perfect heaven i know you're not perfect i know you've sinned but i'm going to take your place so that you can be in perfect heaven and i'm going to i'm going to be risen from the dead so that i can defeat death and conquer the grave and i'm going to give you a ticket to heaven that i'm going to buy i'm going to buy your place in heaven through my blood i'm going to buy you a place in heaven and i'm going to give you your place in heaven that's custom made is a free gift but you have to receive it you have to receive it you get to choose whether or not you want it in ephesians 2 8 9 it says for it is by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not from yourselves it is the gift of god not by work so that no one can boast you see heaven is a gift that we have to receive you can't earn it or deserve it i mean if we could get to heaven because of our good works heaven would be a place where everyone's bragging how did you get to heaven well i'm better than most people on earth my good outweighed my bad i i'm a good person i gave more to charity than a lot of people i did all these good things in my neighborhood and no you know there'd be people bragging but no no one can boast because it's not by works you know how did you get to heaven i didn't deserve it i'm not perfect but i'm here in perfect heaven because i received christ's ticket i accepted it what he did for me when he bought my place in heaven through his blood you see we'll all be there because we received christ's ticket you see the decisions you make on earth are magnified in eternity and so if you decide you want christ in your life here on this earth you'll be with him forever in heaven but if you decide you don't want christ you don't need christ that you'll do it on your own then you'll be separated from them for all eternity you see one second after your heart stops beating you will live on either in heaven or in hell and god says i want everyone to be with me in heaven the bible says that hell was designed for the devil and his demons but yet human being still choose to go there because they reject jesus separation for all eternity and god says heaven's a free gift but you got to stop trying to save yourself and just let me save you just accept that ticket that's free humble yourself and admit you can't get there on your own and receive the free gift that ticket where you're assured of being with me forever in heaven see heaven is a place for those who know they're broken and need to be made whole not for those who think they've got it all together and don't need restoration heaven is a place of restoration imagine with me that god appeared to you and he said if you want i'll make a deal with you i'll give you anything and everything you ask me for pleasure anything that makes you feel good power all the power you want a promotion to the top of your company 100 million followers you name it honor hey if you want the cover of time magazine and nobel prize name it and it's yours wealth enough to buy whatever you want in this world i'll even throw in freedom says god you'll have no boss do whatever you want to plus peace of mind and a good conscience and for you nothing will be sin nothing forbidden nothing off limits nothing impossible you'll never be bored and you'll never die only you'll never see my face did you notice that unspeakable chill in your deepest heart at those last words the whole first part of god's deal makes our minds leap in excitement yes that's everything everything i've always wanted but our hearts freeze in shock at you'll never see my face see your deepest heart knows the truth and the truth is that you want god more than anything else in the world i want god more than anything else in the world and we're not alone that little thought experiment we just did together it seems pretty contemporary in this society we live in but it was devised over 1600 years ago by saint augustine maybe you've heard of him you see it turns out that our modern culture's 24 hour a day busyness and obsession with entertainment and diversions is nothing new we're all searching for the same thing humans in every country all throughout time we're all searching to be satisfied we're just all trying to be satisfied remember that youtube song i still haven't found what i'm looking for it's like the anthem of the human race we're all trying to find something we just can't quite find it we're like children opening a thousand christmas presents and asking after each one is that all there is every time we get what we wanted that thing that we've really been striving for we get the new job we get that hot date we get that diploma we get that new outfit and that feeling of satisfaction comes on us like fireworks yes this is what i wanted but just like fireworks it's a quick explosion and fades fast and then we're right back to asking is that all there is and then we start over again don't we we start another search well there's got to be something else that's going to satisfy me we always think if we could just find what really satisfies but why can't we ever find it well the child in us that opens all those presents and is always disappointed isn't greedy we've just been promised something that we have not yet received all of our longings point to heaven there's a verse in ecclesiastes is chapter 3 verse 11 and it says he has planted eternity in the human heart our hearts are hardwired by god to long for heaven it's a universal longing i found that slowing down to really think about this explains a lot because when you think about heaven being hardwired into our hearts and we are all longing for it and it's it's something we can't let go of it helps us to understand ourselves and why we always have an itch that we just can't quite scratch nothing quite does it for us as americans we grew up understanding that the declaration of independence protects our inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness this is my right i'm just going to try over and over and over and over and over and over again to be happy and god says the same he gives us free will we can try over and over and over and over and over to be happy but the truth is we're never going to be happy here we're not supposed to be we're not home yet we are made for something this world does not have and that's why we're never satisfied when we try to fill that spot fill our longing for heaven with something on earth i found that it's when i'm the very most disappointed in this life when my heart is breaking in a million pieces when i'm crying i mean ugly crying you know what i mean the heaving and you have mascara running down your face those are the very times that i long for heaven the most and as i've gotten older i've come to see that experiencing deep dissatisfaction is actually a gift because it's when i'm most dissatisfied with this world that i seek jesus more our need is our hope did you get that our need is our hope it's the very thing that turns us to god turns us toward our true destiny the real disaster would be to feel so at home here on earth that we don't bother seeking heaven fortunately we all seem to have plenty of troubles to keep us really heaven focused don't we we act like we're okay on the outside but on the inside we're all hurting every one of us we're all hurting you're not the only one struggling here pain is so isolating but you're not the only one struggling there's a saying that says that if everybody in the room here wrote down their troubles on a piece of paper and threw them in a pile on the floor and then everybody was told okay now go pick whatever whatever paper you want take take whatever set of troubles you want well most of us would snatch back our own paper as fast as we could just think about that the people sitting next to you the people who live with you under your roof the people you work with the people you go to school with they're all hurting they're all hurting but it won't always be this way john the apostle said this of his experience of heaven so i want you to close your eyes as i read this verse as this description of heaven just close your eyes and imagine it with me there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation tribe people and language all standing before the throne and before the lamb keep your eyes closed and let's pray prayer is just the opportunity we have to talk to our creator to talk to our savior father we never take that for granted we thank you thank you that you love us we thank you that there is a real place so much more real than what we have now lord on this planet that we are on right now we're hurting we are broken and even in the pain of that hurt lord thank you for turning us toward you thank you for reminding us this is not home we are not there yet father we love you we ask you to use us to bring your kingdom to earth however many days we have left here we thank you that as we walk through trudge through sometimes crawl through hard days thank you that one day you are going to make everything right that day is coming we are slowly steadily marching toward it lord father we thank you we trust you we believe in you please use us thank you for the honor that we get to be used to bring heaven to earth [Music] and now as we go through our week in months and years father keep our eyes on that one day remind us every time we see the leaves change every time we see a little bit of sunlight every time we see someone smile thing seeing smoke help us remember this is just a whisk just a shadow of what's waiting for us true reality true love we love you jesus we can't wait to be with you one day amen

Channel: Woodlands Church with Kerry Shook

Views: 446

Rating: 4.6923075 out of 5

Keywords: woodlands, church, kerry, shook, chris, christian, god, faith, bible, tbn, daystar, joel, osteen, rick, warren, jesus, hope, ministries, pastor

Id: EeYIvs37__s

Length: 63min 21sec (3801 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 13 2021