WHAT HEAVEN IS GOING TO BE LIKE… EVERYTHING GOOD THAT YOU EVER LONGED FOR!
Faith Baptist of Zephyrhills
Oct. 30th, 2021
HI CHURCH!
Do you ever wonder what heaven will be like? I think it is hard for us earth dwellers to imagine heaven… here is a good story…
There once was a rich man who was near death. He was very grieved because he had worked so hard for his money and he wanted to take it with him to heaven. So he began to pray that he might be able to take some of his wealth with him. An angel hears his plea and appears to him. “Sorry, but you can’t take your wealth with you.” The man implores the angel to speak to God to see if He might bend the rules. The man continues to pray that his wealth could follow him. The angel reappears and informs the man that God has decided to allow him to take one suitcase with him. Overjoyed, the man gathers his largest suitcase and fills it with pure gold bars and places it beside his bed.
Soon afterward the man dies and shows up at the Gates of Heaven to greet St. Peter. Seeing the suitcase St. Peter says, “Hold on, you can’t bring that in here!” But, the man explains to St. Peter that he has permission and asks him to verify his story with the Lord. Sure enough, St. Peter checks and comes back saying, “You’re right. You are allowed one carry-on bag, but I’m supposed to check its contents before letting it through.” St. Peter opens the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that the man found too precious to leave behind and exclaims, “You brought pavement?!!!”
Over the years I have read and heard a lot of people share their thoughts on heaven. Some just leave me scratching my head. One of the most common misleading ideas about heaven is that we will be angels sitting in clouds playing harps. None of those ideas are found in the Bible. We do not become angels. That is bogus. And we will surely not be sitting around playing harps in the clouds. If you are anything like me, that would NOT be heaven! Boring!
So do we have any idea of what heaven will be like? Yes, we do. And it amazes me that we often read over some great teaching on the subject. Jesus told some stories that shed some light on the mystery of heaven. We will be looking at two of them tomorrow.
As an introduction, let me ask you, “what are some of the greatest celebrations that you have planned or attended here on earth?” What were they like? What did you include? Regardless of what the celebration was, (wedding, birthday, graduation, anniversary) I am confident that there were some common denominators at these most joyful occasions.
One, I am sure that there was some worthy accomplishment/anniversary/completion that was being recognized. Two, I bet you had were with some really good friends or family members. Third, I can guess that there was some really good food to eat. Fourth, I believe that there were some great fun and enjoyable activities planned and enjoyed. You put that all together – worthy cause, great company, tasty food, and enjoyable activities and you are getting an idea of what heaven will be like.
So join us on this Sunday, October 31st as we look at two stories that Jesus told that begin with “the Kingdom of heaven is like…” You are invited! That is the title of our message. Hope you can make it.
In His Gracious Grip,
Pastor Mike