Life After Death - One Minute After You Die, Part 1 with Pastor Craig Groeschel

hey thanks for checking out live Church here on YouTube if you haven't already we would love for you to subscribe all you do is click the button and you will be among the first to know when new messages clips interview stories and so much more become available subscribe and join our community we would love it today you're in luck is we have a brand new message all about answering the questions what happens after we die is there a heaven will I go to heaven if not what happens our senior pastor Craig Groeschel will help us wrestle with all of those questions and so much more when we talk about what happens one minute after you die [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and I am really excited to share some truths today from God's Word but before we do I want to take a moment and just acknowledge the power of what we got to see at 31 different locations as hundreds and hundreds of people are being baptized going public with their faith in Jesus in fact at my campus I saw a dad who was baptized who baptized his children generations are being changed by the power of Jesus and I want to just highlight a few different names of people at different locations that have come to faith in Christ out of Life Church in Albany New York Troy and Marla who were recently married found faith in Christ together baptized as husband and wife we congratulate you on the work of Jesus in your life out of Life Church Hendersonville Tennessee Jay congratulations free of drugs free of alcohol you are not a hostage you are free by the grace of Jesus baptized today and from the white church northwest Oklahoma City pastor Ronnie Bromley congratulations on the honor of baptizing your dad Kenneth today we celebrate with you websearch these are just a few stories of over 1300 individual stories of the grace of Jesus can you feel it we're not praying for revival Church we are living in the middle of one in fact today we're starting a new message series that I know is going to impact a lot of lives in a really really special way if you wouldn't mind at all of our life churches would you mind standing to your feet for the reading of God's Word we're gonna start this message series in a second Corinthians chapter 5 our title is one minute after you die what happens one minute after you die I'm curious how many of you would say I don't really like thinking a lot or talking a lot about death a lot of you say that I know Amy doesn't like to talk about what would happen to me when I always tell her here's what I want you to don't want to talk about it the truth is you don't really die did you realize that your physical bodies will cease to exist but you never cease to exist you will live eternally somewhere this is what scripture says 2nd Corinthians 5:1 for we know that when this earthly tent what is the earthly tent that's a metaphor for our bodies we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down that is when we die and leave this earthly body we will have a house in heaven an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands we grow weary in our present bodies how many of you grow weary sometimes in our present bodies and we long to put on heavenly bodies like new clothing for we will put on heavenly bodies we will not be spirits without bodies while we live in these earthly bodies we grow and we sigh but it's not that we want to get rid of these bodies that clothes us rather we want to put on new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life for success so we are always confident look at the person next to you and say I'm confident so we are always confident even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord yes we are fully confident say it again I'm confident and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies for then we'll be at home with the Lord another translation says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord so what is our goal why do we exist what is our assignment while we're in these earthly bodies in this tent or even when we are away from this earthly body verse 9 tells us so whether we are here in this body or away from this body our goal is to accumulate a lot of money [Music] did I mess that up our goal is to become YouTube famous our goal is to get a record number of likes on our latest post with the perfect filter and the dream caption our goal is a house with shiplap I don't even know what that is but evidently to some of you it's a really big deal I practiced saying shiplap because I could mess that up so easily so what is our goal whether we are here in this body or away from this body our goal is to please Christ our goal is to live for him our goal is to do what lasts eternally verse 10 Paul says for we must all stand before Christ to be judged we'll come back to this thought we will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body ultimately we need to remember whether we are here in this body or away from this body our goal is to please Christ let's all pray together father we ask that over the next few weeks that the power of your word would transform our hearts that our goal in all that we do would be to live for you to please you to honor you we pray this in your name the name of the one who is above every name the name of your son Jesus and everybody said amen amen amen why don't you high-five about three people around you and say your life matters we recover some some big topics and what I want to do is I want to let scripture do a lot of the work so we're gonna look at a lot of Bible can you handle that if you can handle it say I'm ready you ask for us they'll get ready we're gonna look at a lot of Bible we had some people ask I bumped into some people why are we talking about death that's not a fun subject why are we talking about eternity and such I want to try to answer this question as we start this message series because it's really really important why are we talking about what happens one minute after you died the reason is because what you believe about eternity determines how you will live today what you believe about eternity it determines how you live today if you believe that you're an accident there is no God there is no eternity then you live a selfish life a life driven for the pleasures of this time and everything's gonna be about now if in turn you believe that you were created by a God for his glory you will live somewhere eternally it will shape the way you live what we believe about eternity will determine how we live today you will live somewhere your physical body will cease to exist at some point your soul will continue to live next week we're going to talk about the horrors of hell is hell a real place what happens in Hell who goes to hell why did God create a hell do you just play cards with a bunch of fraternity brothers in hell is there real suffering what happens in hell we're gonna talk about heaven in the upcoming weeks who goes there what do you do there is it this boring long worship service were you singing for thousands of years or II have new bodies do you recognize people you know what do you do in heaven we're gonna talk about that today what I want to do is lay a foundation for our message series one minute after you die and I want to talk about three things that happen immediately after this life is done three things that happen after this life is done we've talked about the first things number one our physical bodies die scripture says this our physical bodies die Hebrews 9 verse 27 just as people are destined to what let's all say it aloud just as people are destined to die once let's pause there for a moment I want to make sure you understand that according to recent studies the studies are conclusive 1 out of 1 people die you're gonna die gonna die somehow I don't know how hopefully I don't die from a shark attack I was recently at the beach and I saw what I thought was a shark it was only a dolphin that I ran like a girl because I thought it was a shark I watched jaws when I was a little kid to this day I am scared to death of sharks I did research about shark deaths because I had nothing to do during the week because I only work on Sundays actually I work twice as much as most pastors I work Saturdays and Sundays I worked really really hard but have nothing to do in other week so I researched shark dust and what I thought was very comforting I found that you're more likely to die from getting hit in the head by a champagne cork than you are short yet that brings me great comfort you're more likely to die by getting hit on the head by a falling coconut you're more likely to die as a result of bad handwriting that's true you ever had a doctor that just scribbles and then you go take the wrong medicine you're more likely to die from falling off the toilet some of you you should be aware as you're leaning to the right looking at Instagram you're more likely I don't know you're you're you're more likely to die getting your head stuck in a vending machine trying to get out your Doritos there's shark attack I just had to tell you that it brings me great comfort in knowing the truth and you know the true thing the truth will set you free you're gonna die you've come from dust your body will go back to dust you are nothing but dust look at your neighbors say you're nothing but dust I said that years ago and a kid went home and said mom pastor Craig said I'm but dust not what I said yep you got to love fourth-grade boys and 50-year old men they all think the same scripture says this just as people are destined to say it with me just as people are destined to die once and after that to face the judgment we're gonna come back to this thought so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many and he will appear a second time not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him what's gonna happen after you die our physical bodies will die the second thing is our souls separate from our physical bodies our physical bodies stay behind our soul continues to live jesus said this in Matthew 10:28 do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell don't fear people but live in a reverent fear of God when when your body ceases to exist your soul continues to live in other words at your funeral one day and there will be a funeral after they say you know in you go on the ground and everybody else goes to Aunt Alma's house and they're eating potluck dinner you will never be more alive than you are at that moment your soul still lives even though your body ceases to exist Jesus Illustrated this truth in John's Gospel when he was talking to Martha who was incredibly upset because Lazarus her brother had died Lazarus had been dead for four days and I love what the King James Version says about his body the King James Version is so proper so holy so right it's so beautiful it said his body stinketh I just said it's tanking but the King James Version says it's stinketh and this is what Jesus said to Martha he said I am the resurrection and the life the one who believes in Me will live even though they die and whoever lives by believing in me will never die what happens to the soul of the follower of Jesus after the body dies well the Bible isn't clear on all of the details what happens immediately but what we do know is to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord we do know that there were two criminals on the cross next to Jesus they were both guilty they both needed forgiveness one recognized his need and called on the grace of Jesus and that one criminal cried out Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom and by the grace of Jesus not by any works this guilty man could have done but jesus answered him and said truly I tell you today today when your body ceases to exist you will be with me in paradise where exactly is that it is what exactly is that we're not completely clear but what we do know is this way better than this earthly life Paul wrestled with what do I want do I continue to live here and make a difference or do I go do what is better for me this is what he said in Philippians 1 verse 20 he said I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ whether I live or die he said for me living means living for Christ and dying Paul said is even better but if I live he says I can do more fruitful work for Christ so I really don't know which is better I'm torn between the two I long to go be with Christ which is better for me but for your sakes it's better that I continue to live to be in this body is to be fruitful to share the love of Jesus but it's better to be away from this body to be in the presence of Christ I don't know which what I want to do I really want to be with Jesus but for your sakes it's you and me maybe we'll stay here what happens one minute after we die we know our our physical bodies die our soul continues to live and separates from our body and then at some point number three we will all face judgment Peter said it this way first Peter 1:17 remember that our Heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites he will judge or reward he will judge or reward you according to what you do so you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as temporary residents remember this world is not your home you're just passing through this is just a short period of time in the eternal scheme of things at the end of this life we will be judged or we will be rewarded let me show you in Scripture two different judgments and talk about each one the first is called the great white throne judgment the great white throne judgment most scholars believe that the great white throne judgment is only for non-believers and I agree with is my opinion that that assessment is true this is what scripture says in Revelation chapter 20 verse 11 John who is exiled to the Isle of Patmos had a vision given to him by the Holy Spirit of the things that were to come and he said this is what I saw he said I saw a what let's say it aloud he said I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it the earth and sky fled from his presence but they found no place to hide I saw the dead both great and small standing before God's throne and the books were opened including the book of life and anyone's name who was not found recorded in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire what is the lake of fire we'll talk about that next week what is this book of life here's the amazing news what we know is that Jesus is the Son of God he was born without sin he's called the Lamb of God who was slain for the forgiveness of our since Jesus died in our place when you come to the place like the criminal on the cross when you recognize you have a need and you call out on the grace of Jesus you are saved not by works but you're saved by the grace of Jesus through faith in Him and when you call out on him your name is written in a book it's called the book of life or the Lamb's Book of Life when your name is in his book scripture says your name can never be blotted out your name can not be erased it could not be taken away there is no white out there is no eraser your name is in this book and when your name is in his book you are this child at the great white throne judgment if he looks through that book and your name is not there scripture says your next move your next place of residence is not a place that you will like nor will you enjoy Jesus says this one of the most sobering verses to me in all of Scripture it's rocked me for years it's shaken me for decades it's made me unsettled uncomfortable it's a very challenging verse Matthew 7 verse 21 Jesus said not everyone who calls out to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven only those who actually do the will of my father in heaven will enter on on what day say it aloud on on Judgment Day many will say Lord what we prophesied your name we cast out demons in your name we performed many miracles in your name in our world it might be I went to church on Easter every now and then in her name I gave the little guy ringing the bell money at the Salvation Army during Christmas I was nice to people I was better than a lot of the religious hypocrites and I tried really hard I did good works I did these things verse 23 Jesus says but I will reply I ever knew you get away from me you who break God's laws we weren't in a relationship there's two judgments the first is known as the great white throne judgment is your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life the second judgment is called the judgment seat of Christ Paul was talking to the Corinthian believers these were followers of Christ and this is what he said to them he said for those of you who are followers of Christ we must appear before the judgment seat of Christ so each of us may receive what is due for the things done while in this body whether good or bad what is the judgment seat of Christ it comes from the Greek word Baima and the Baima is taken from the Greek Olympics what was the dama after let's say a race the winners would come before the judge who would stand on the Baima or sit on the Baima and the winners would eat theirs first or second there's third the judge would then give out the rewards or the prizes or the awards and say here's the crown or here's the wreath for first place here's for another one the Baima seat was not a place to judge did you qualify the Baima seat was the place to say we celebrate the fact that you finished the race that you were faithful and here is the reward for what you have done it's very important to understand that the judgment seat of Christ is not a judgment for your sense this is a judgment for those who are followers of Christ your sins were judged and forgiven by Jesus this is a place where if Jesus acknowledges what you did on earth is rewarded in heaven now you may say but I'm confused I thought that you said we're not saved by works we're never saved by works you can't be religious enough you can't try hard enough you can't rid yourself of enough bad stuff the problem is by Nature we are sinners and our sins separates us from a holy God we are saved by the grace Jesus and only by the grace of Jesus we are saved by grace we are saved by grace we are saved by grace but we are rewarded for works we're saved by grace but we are rewarded for works and the reality is when you've truly been transformed by Jesus when you're no longer what you were and you suddenly are a new creation you recognize you didn't bring anything significant to the table you've only been changed by the love of Jesus suddenly you know have to work for your salvation you want to live for the glory of Jesus because of what he did you are no longer the same you saved by grace but you are rewarded in heaven for how you live for your works what you do now matters eternally what will you be rewarded for what we be judged by let me just share with you a few of those things you'll be judged by a rewarded for how you treat people how you cared for the least of these how you care for the outcasts the poor the broken the marginalized the hurting you'll be judged by your motives you'll be judged by the words you speak some of you if you just thought a bad word right now it's because you're worse put some tape over your mouth sometimes it's a sobering thought you'll you'll be judged by how you endure suffering and rewarded if you do suffering well you you will be rewarded or judged by what you do with what you have did you use your resources to be a blessing or did you hoard it all for yourself you'll you will be rewarded when you bring people to Christ there's a crowd scripture says for those who are soul winners for those of you that led someone to Christ and baptized them this weekend you will be rewarded by Jesus for what you did imagine this I'm out imagine your life is over boom one day it's gonna happen your physical body ceases to exist game over all the stuff you have is left behind and you stand before Jesus and imagine you can't even stand you fall to your knees you kneel down and then he takes a crown perhaps and places it upon your brow and he says well done my good and faithful servant well done when you served kids every week you made any charnel difference in their lives you didn't even know it but there are so many of them that are here today because what you did years and years ago you prayed and you prayed and you prayed you were the brightest light in your office when everyone else laughed at you you were faithful no one else saw when you did what was right you could have done what was easy but you did what was right Jesus will say I noticed I noticed you didn't have much at all but you always gave you always tithe you always use what you had to meet the needs of other people I noticed well done he shared your faith Jesus will say to some of you you visited me when I was in prison you comforted me when I was sick you gave me food when I was hungry you gave me water when I was thirsty and you'll be disoriented did you Jesus when did I do that when did I do that and he'll look at you Jesus will look at you and say what you did into the least of these you did under me what we believe about eternity impacts how we live today I debated or not as to how real to be before you about this and my own current state up is gonna be as raw as I can be when it comes from living for eternity I have not been doing a great job lately I honestly have not been doing a great job I'm a pastor and I do my job but there's a there's a life I live apart from my job and in the life I live I haven't been on my game and I'll try to unpack it because I've really been looking at this and trying to examine the why and here's what I thought the mistake I made assists I thought the longer I walked with Christ it's been a long time now the longer I walk with Christ the easier would be to be eternally minded here's the mistake I made I didn't see there's a there's an opposite force and that is the longer I live on earth the more my roots tend to dig in to this world and I find myself today caring way too much about the things of this world it disgusts me I care about what people think rather than being obsessed with what God thinks I about the only place I interact with people that aren't Christians regularly is the gym and for years I'd go to the gym and there'd be three four five six seven people that I'd be sharing my faith with and I'd lead several to Christ all the time now I go to the gym I want people to leave me alone I want to get my workout and get my thing in gang to get out of there disgust me the more comfortable my life becomes and it's more comfortable today the more I crave more comfort and the more I crave more comfort the less I'm living for the things that matter most and I hope that doesn't disappoint you but that's just kind of where I am so with everything in me I'm fighting against the gravity toward the things of this world what what used to take maybe 10 15 minutes in the morning to kind of reset myself spiritually it just takes longer now I have to spend more time in his word I have to spend more time in prayer I have to say it's kind of like I don't know about this if you guys ever follow maps I get lost all the time I panic I freak out turn in five hundred yards it's like turn now and then it's like they're recalculating you know recalculating and that's the way I am I'm like I'm like moving toward the things that matter and then I did I get distracted and then I get distracted again and so I have to let the Holy Spirit recalculate recenter I have to I have to continue to break the roots and a love for this world so I can continue to live for what matters here's what I do I give until I'm more uncomfortable because trusting the things of this world it feels so good to have them so I break that by giving sacrificially I pray for longer than feels normal because after a while you start to say this is a waste of time no this recent or me this recent errs me I start to I start to pick people out and just say I'm gonna pray for these people that I don't even know and what it does is it gives me an eternal perspective I spend longer in God's Word because I need it because it's recalculating it's recent ring the pull of this world is so strong it's so temporary it's one day your heart will beat for the last time at that point no do-overs that's why in my world I have to fight to keep the eternal goal front and center Jesus whether I'm in this body or wherever I am my goal is to please you my goal is to please you if you find yourself more concerned with this world whatever it is but ball Jews the degree the new house popularity the car the next vacation whatever it is cut the roots off to the things of this world the things that will not last and do not matter and let the Spirit of God recalculate bring you back to spiritual center you have one goal you are just passing through here so whatever we do wherever we are our goal is to please father we ask that over the next few weeks by the power of your word and the ministry of your holy spirit you would recalculate us to an eternal mindset god help us recognize the power of the truth that what we believe about eternity will really impact how we live today may we keep our eyes on the prize living for you glorifying you all of our churches as you keep reading today I wonder how many of you would say I'm not happy about it but Craig I can be a little bit like you I am a follower of Jesus but I think my roots had been getting deeper in this world and I want to break those roots and be a more eternally focused in the way I live would you lift up your hands right now lift him up high lift him up high lift him up high father I pray for those that I'm you're speaking to you today I pray God that we would take this wake-up call seriously God that we wouldn't just hear a message and go on out and live the way we've lived that we wouldn't be just hearers of your word but God we'd be do or doers of a word shake us God disrupt us God recalibrate take us back to your truth god I pray for those that maybe even recognize this they've drifted a long way from sinner desperate times calls for desperate measures god help us to change to redirect to refocus to center around your truth not just to make slight adjustments but got to overhaul us spiritually putting you first in all that we do God every day help us to center in your word focus on your truth live for your prize may our goal every single day may not be about this world that'd be about impacting what matters to you eternally may our goal be to please you and all that we do as you keep praying today at all of our different churches nobody looking around I wanted to talk for a moment if you've been around me for a while I hope you'll know that my goal is never to use fear as a motivator what is it that draws us to God it's his loving-kindness is His grace it's his goodness it's the love of God that draws sinners to repentance but I would be it would be incomplete for me not to share with you the totality of God's Word there will be a time when Jesus will say to some people some of you here I didn't know you I didn't know you you might say but I went to live church I watched online I listen to podcasts I did good things but he was saying I did not know you how is it that were made right with God let me be crystal clear we're never made right with God by our religious works by our efforts by what we do or what we don't do the good news is so good because Jesus did for us what we are not able to do for ourself in God's love for us he became one of us in the person of his son Jesus who was without sin therefore he was qualified to be the eternal sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins he shed innocent blood on the cross died in our place rose from the dead one so that anyone and this includes you who calls out on his name would be forgiving transform it doesn't matter how dark your life is doesn't matter how much you've done wrong when you call on the name of Jesus he hears your prayers and he forgives your sins and all of our churches there are those of you you recognize you have a need when you call on him at that moment he forgives your sins you become brand-new the old is gone the new has come all of our churches those who said yes I need his grace yes I need his mercy I turned from my sins I turned toward him I give my life to Jesus that's your prayer lift your hands high now all over the place lift them up leave left if you will I want to just meet y'all back here one two three four god bless you guys right back over here as well lift him up leave about the surf praise God for you right back over here both of you right here praise God for you right back over here oh my goodness gracious following you on this side say just Jesus yes I call on your church online you click right below me others today who say I need His grace I give my life to him would you all pray with those around you everybody pray nobody prays alone for a heavenly father I trust you and give my life to you Jesus saved me forgive all my sins be my Lord be my Savior fill me with your spirit so I can live for you follow you fulfil the goal to please you and all that I do break the roots that hold me to this world Center my spirit to live for you my goal is to please you and all that I do you saved me by grace now I give you my life in Jesus name I pray is somebody celebrated did somebody worship the goodness the grace the beauty of who God is

Channel: Life.Church

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Rating: 4.8394465 out of 5

Keywords: Craig Groeschel, Sermon, Life.Church, Lifechurch, life after death, one minute after you die, afterlife, life.church sermon, what happens after death, what happens when you die, what happens after you die, spirit, sermon about heaven, judgement, judgment, eternity, eternal life, judgement seat of christ, christian sermons

Id: -pi0fS_zzkI

Length: 37min 32sec (2252 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 29 2018