Heaven – A New Year Resolution
2023 Year in Review – What Happened?
From Chinese Spy Balloons, Russia Ukraine War - Israel Hamas war – Titan submersible implosion, Maui wildfires, lots of political stuff with Biden, Trump, Speakers of the House
Notable deaths –
PASTORS: Pat Robertson, Charles Stanley, Jack Hayford, Mylon LeFevre
Sandra Day O’Connor, Sinead O’Connor, Harry Belafonte, Jimmy Buffet, Tony Bennet, Tina Turner, Henry Kissinger, Norman Lear, Rosyln Carter, Bobby Knight, Suzanne Summers, Bob Barker, Jerry Springer, Raquel Welch, Lisa Marie Presley
DRUG OVERDOSES
Matthew Perry (54)
Dex Carvey (32)
Evan Ellingson (35)
BUT - you probably also lost someone or even multiple friends or family members in 2023.
Ecclesiastes 7:2–4 (NLT)
2 Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies— so the living should take this to heart. 3Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. 4 A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time.
LORI AND TYE – 30 YEARS –
Wedding Picture – thought that a black and white theme wedding would be classic and timeless – but the style of dresses certainly wasn’t!
BUT 30 years – reflected on what we have done, where we have been, where did the time go?
Unless we plan, we are likely to continue the trajectory that we are on.
Are we on the right trajectory? Are we on the right path?
going to Australia?(illustration of Heaven) – Go through Seattle – 3200 miles direct or 3800 miles if visit Yosemite National Park, regardless need a plane or boat to get there. Can’t get there by walking, swimming, driving, riding. Like Heaven - must go through Jesus Christ.
ONLY ONE WAY TO GOD – through Jesus Christ
BUT the path God has for you can have many twist and turns.
John 14:6 (ESV)
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (ESV)
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world… earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. ... I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and help others to do the same. – C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity
Revelation 21:1-8 (ESV)
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
HEAVEN AMAZING –
God dwelling with man, wiping away every tear
Making all things new
NEW HEAVEN
NEW EARTH
NEW BODY!
Spring of water of life – free!
HEAVEN ALSO DEFINED BY WHAT’S NOT THERE
No more death
No more mourning
No more crying
Who is not in Heaven?
Revelation 21:8
8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.
Ouch –
Detestable
Murderers
Sexually immoral – pornos/porneia (all forms of sexual immorality, homosexuality, pornography, bestiality, fornication, adultery, pedophilia, hooking-up, friends with benefits)
Sorcerers – pharmakia – drug use, witchcraft,
Idolaters – any idols, any thing above God
Liars –
Notice also:
Cowardly
Faithless
WENT TO BIRTHDAY PARTY YESTERDAY –
I was content to talk to the friends and people I knew, believers, throw the ball, eat hotdogs and cake. But there were others there who weren’t believers.
The waitress at the restaurant we went to Friday night – I often ask if I can pray for them. I thought about, but didn’t feel “in the mood.”
I HAD LOST SIGHT OF HEAVEN AND HELL!
I don’t need to share the gospel with everyone I meet, but I need to be listening to the Holy Spirit and asking, “Lord, do you want me to say something? If so, what?”
Plant seeds, water seeds, harvest!
Satan wants us to think that Hell is unthinkable.
Those family parties – your Christian friend is likely longing and praying SOMEONE will talk to their sister, cousin, mother, father, aunt, uncle about Jesus because they may have been shut out.
I wasn’t being a good friend.
I need to be spiritually aware and listening to Jesus to know what He wants me to do everyday.
BUT IF I MISSED GOD’S DIRECTION IN THOSE MOMENTS, AM I MISSING GOD’S DIRECTION IN THE BIGGER THINGS, TOO?
YEAR END IS A GOOD TIME TO EXAMINE OUR LIVES (can really do it anytime, but the world helps us).
News asks – what were the big stories of 2023?
Where are we headed in 2024?
Examine yourself
Did you live 2023 on mission, mindful of your final destination? Or we you primarily enjoying the journey?
Not wrong to enjoy the journey. But can’t lose site of the final destination.
APOSTLE PAUL had a great “spiritual resume” as a Pharisee.
Philippians 3:7–11 (ESV)
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Besides having heaven and hell stamped on our hearts,
Paul seeks to
1. Know Christ (know Him or about Him?)
2. Know the power of His resurrection.
3. Share in His sufferings (persecuted, afflicted, humbled)
4. Become like Him in His death (not my will but yours be done)
Philippians 3:12 (ESV)
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
Philippians 3:13–14 (ESV)
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
I MUST KEEP HEAVEN IN VIEW
So examine your life this past year…
Were you living with heaven in mind? Or just enjoying the journey?
Is the path you are on, the path God wants for you? Or the path you want?
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS
GEN Z and Millennials most likely to make NY Resolutions; older less likely
PHYSICAL HEALTH - Fitness / Weightloss / Diet
FINANCIAL GOALS - Save $, Spend less
REDUCE STRESS / LESS TIME ON SOCIAL MEDIA
TOP ONES (ACCORDING TO FORBES) IS FITNESS
RESOLUTIONS FOR HEAVEN
1. PHYSICAL HEALTH - FITNESS/WEIGHTLOSS/DIET – top resolutions
Health is a good goal, be a good steward of the body God gave you.
IF YOU DON’T TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY, YOU CAN’T COMPLETE YOUR MISSION
Some sickness is simply the result of poor eating habits. NOT ALL
2. FINANCIAL HEALTH –
Investors look at the return on their investment, monthly, quarterly, weekly? (daily?)
What’s the return on how you have invested your finances in 2023?
Would God say you have invested well or poorly?
Are you drowning in debt, trying to live beyond your means?
am I spending money in light of eternity?
Am I investing in heaven, or trying to make heaven on earth?
START BY PUTTING GOD FIRST IN YOUR FINANCES
Malachi 3:8–10 (NLT)
8 “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. 9 You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!
If your financial health is not good, is it perhaps because you have not put God first and returning the tithe to him? Tithe = tenth.
3. FAITH HEALTH
Are you growing your faith with food that inspires you, challenges you, and calls you to live in light of eternity?
Or are you scrolling through reels, burning time, desiring more of the WORLD?
Are you in an Acts 29 community – inspiring you, praying for you, encouraging you to stand strong in the Lord? Or are you a lone ranger?
4. MISSION HEALTH
Are you doing what God created you to do?
Parable of the talents (talent unit of weight = about 75-90 lbs)
Talents abilities
Matthew 25:14–30 (ESV)
14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
AROUND 60 million people died in 2023 AROUND THE WORLD
Some new it was coming, many did not.
All stood before Jesus and went one of 2 ways.
Our faith is inspired by believers who lived all out for Jesus. The Hall of Faith in Hebrews is full of people who God used mightily. Many were flawed and made mistakes, yet they are listed in the hall of faith because of their trust in God.
PICTURE OF PASTORS WHO PASSED (Charles Stanley, Pat Robertson, Jack Hayford, Mylon Lefevre)
Hebrews 12:1–2 (ESV)
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
JESUS HAD HIS EYE ON THE PRIZE – SO HE COULD ENDURE THE CROSS, THE SHAME
2024 IS LIKELY TO HAVE SOME BUMPS, SOME CHALLENGES, but if I’m focused on heaven and having Paul’s focus/mind?
1. Know Christ (know Him or about Him?)
2. Know the power of His resurrection.
3. Share in His sufferings (persecuted, afflicted, humbled)
4. Become like Him in His death (not my will but yours be done)
I’m not going to lose heart
Hebrews 12:3 (ESV)
3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
APPLICATION - What is your next step?
Are you living in the light of eternity, with a view of heaven? (Do you know for sure you are going to heaven?)
How is your physical health? Financial health? Faith health? Mission health?
Which of Paul’s desire do you need to grow in?
1. Know Christ (know Him or about Him?) – Rapid Overview
2. Know the power of His resurrection.
3. Share in His sufferings (persecuted, afflicted, humbled)
4. Become like Him in His death (not my will but yours be done)
Mission Trip?