HEAVEN

19 FEB DEMONSTRATE
DISCUSS:

1. what do you believe about heaven and eternity? What do you
think heaven is like?

2. what relevance does this have to your life?



Only the elderly, disabled, suffering, and persecuted might desire
the heaven we imagine.

randy alcorn.

We view heaven as our relief from the curse.

we fail to understand the kingdom is here,
the curse is broken
And we are meant to be the worlds relief.


Rather than seek relief, we are meant to be the relief


Matthew 13:31-21


Service is a reward, not a punishment.
We think that faithful work should be rewarded by a vacation for
the rest of our lives.

randy alcorn.



We have made heaven a distant hope
and lost all sight of it as a current reality


I have come that they may have life,
and have it to the full
john 10:10

The kingdom does not come with your careful observation, nor
will people say, Here it is, or There it is, because the kingdom of
god is within you
Luke 17:20-21

if I drive out demons by the finger of god, then the kingdom of
god has come among you
Luke 11:20




DISCUSS:

1. HOW IS HEAVEN MORE THAN JUST A DISTANT REALITY
IN YOUR LIFE?

2. CAN YOU SEE EVIDENCE OF HEAVENS PRESENCE IN
YOU, SPILLING OVER INTO THE LIVES OF OTHERS?

HEAVEN
WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE TEACH?
Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth

Isaiah 65:17


Scripture distinguishes between an intermediate heaven and the
new heaven & new earth that serve as our home in eternity with
christ

luke 23:43 - paradise
(rest, healing, comfort)

rev 21 a new heaven and a new earth
(action, adventure, expansion of our life with god)


When we pass through what we call death,
we do not lose the world...
we see it for the first time as it really is.
(1 cor 13:12)

Seeing God will be like seeing everything else for the first
timeBecause not only will we see God, he will be the lens
through which we see everything else.

randy alcorn.

Revelation 21
You will still be you in heaven
(and have a physical body)

we will still have different tastes & opinions

We will have cities, build houses, conduct business

There will be animals, nature, nations, culture, art

You will have community & privacy


Animals may be able to talk (again?)

There is physical time in heaven

We will have land and boundaries

We will still be able to play sport and lose

And you will still be HERE
DISCUSS:

1. HOW do these ideas fit with the view youve held?

2. If these ideas are correct, what are the implications?

EARTH
LIVING FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF HEAVEN
I dont believe in an afterlife, so I dont have to spend my whole
life fearing hell, or fearing heaven even more. For whatever the
tortures of hell, I think the boredom of heaven would be even
worse.

Isaac asimov


(Rev 13:6)

Another reason people assume Heaven is boring is that their
Christian lives are boring .

randy alcorn.


Without an eternal perspectiveunderstanding that the best is
yet to come,
we assume that people who die young, unmarried,
are handicapped, unhealthy
or who dont _____ [fill in the blank]
miss out on the best life has to offer.


randy alcorn.

When We are not past our prime. The earth and planets and
stars and galaxies are not past their prime.

Theyre a dying phoenix that will rise again into something far
greatersomething that will never die.

randy alcorn.

If we understand what a new heaven and a new earth means,
we will look forward to it.

(And if were not looking forward to it, we must not yet understand
it).


randy alcorn.

THE DISCIPLES UNDERSTOOD HEAVEN: THEYD SEEN IT
1 john 1:
1 Tim 4:8
1 tim 6:19 the life that is truly life
2 tim 1:10 brought life & immortality to light
2 tim 1:12 I have entrusted to him for that day
2 tim 4:1 in view of his appearing
2 tim 4:6-8
2 tim 4:18
Titus 1:1-3
Titus 3:14
1 thess 4:13-18
Heb 11:38 the world was not worthy of them
Rev 12:11 they did not shrink from death
1 col 1:10-12 a life worthy of the lord & inheritance
its not about looking forward to death.
Its looking beyond it.
randy alcorn (paraphrase).


death where is your sting?
1 cor 15:55
For the most part we are not clothed with heavens power. If we
had it, they would see it. If they saw it, they would come.

Bill johnson

All that is lost will be restored?
DISCUSS:

1. Does this change how you see heaven & eternity?

2. How might that affect your life?

Land of Confusion Disturbed

I must have dreamed a thousand dreams
Been haunted by a million screams
But I can hear the marching feet
They're moving into the street

Now, did you read the news today?
They say the danger has gone away
But I can see the fire's still alight
They're burning into the night

Land of Confusion Disturbed

There's too many men, too many people
Making too many problems
And there's not much love to go around
Can't you see this is a land of confusion?

This is the world we live in
And these are the hands we're given
Use them and let's start trying
To make it a place worth living in
Land of Confusion Disturbed

Oh, superman, where are you now?
When everything's gone wrong somehow?
The men of steel, these men of power
Are losing control by the hour

This is the time, this is the place
So we look for the future
But there's not much love to go around
Tell me why this is a land of confusion

Land of Confusion Disturbed

This is the world we live in
And these are the hands we're given
Use them and let's start trying
To make it a place worth living in

I remember long ago
When the sun was shining
And all the stars were bright all through the night
In the wake of this madness, as I held you tight
So long ago


Land of Confusion Disturbed

I won't be coming home tonight
My generation will put it right
We're not just making promises
That we know we'll never keep

There's too many men, too many people
Making too many problems
And there's not much love to go round
Can't you see this is a land of confusion?


Land of Confusion Disturbed

Now, this is the world we live in
And these are the hands we're given
Use them and let's start trying
To make it a place worth fighting for

This is the world we live in
And these are the names we're given
Stand up and let's start showing
Just where our lives are going to