Turning Our Church Inside Out

Like a space shuttle leaving the launch pad, reaching out to others with God's love requires abundant motivation to overcome the barriers that impede us.

MP3 File

Turning Our Church Inside Out

One of the quirks that you may not yet know about me is that I am a bit of a space nut.  When I was a kid, I used to soak up everything I could about the Apollo space missions.  I remember the crew of Apollo 8  reading from Genesis 1 as they saw the earth rise above the moon on Christmas Eve 1968.  I remember aggressively lobbying my parents to let me stay up late so that I could see the broadcast of the first man walking on the moon.  I didn’t win that debate, but I remember when it happened.  I remember praying, along with the rest of the world, for the crew of Apollo 13 and not knowing if those three men would make it back to earth alive.  I remember looking at the moon one night after a successful moon landing and thinking to myself, “There are human beings up there, right now!”

Space Shuttle Launch

On February 22, 1996, I experienced the thrill of a lifetime when I watched the Space Shuttle Columbia lift off from Launch Pad 39-B at Cape Canaveral, Florida.  We were five miles away from the launch pad but NASA had set up loudspeakers and we could hear the communication between launch control and the shuttle crew.  16 seconds before the launch, 300,000 gallons of water were dumped underneath the launch pad to absorb the tremendous shock of the rockets and protect the launch pad during lift off. People began calling the last 10 seconds of the launch countdown.  Then the main engines and the solid rocket boosters ignited, the heat from those rockets hit the water, producing a huge cloud of steam which enveloped the shuttle.  Then slowly, surely, the shuttle emerges from the cloud and climbs into the sky on a plume of fire.  Even at the distance we were from the shuttle, when it climbed high enough in the sky, the sound of the solid rocket boosters hit you in the chest and vibrated through your whole body.  Higher and higher the shuttle climbed until we could see it no more.

But there are two things to be aware of anytime that you want to launch a vehicle into space.  First, there is a great barrier that every rocket must overcome and that barrier is gravity.  Ignore it and the result will be a disaster.  Second, somehow, someway, you must have more than enough thrust to overcome that barrier.  The two Solid Rocket Boosters and the three main engines of the Shuttle combine together to produce 6.78 million pounds of thrust to lift itself and its cargo from the bonds of earth’s great grasp.[1]

In three weeks, we will have Friendship Sunday here at Walnut Grove Lutheran Church.  And each of you has been asked to pick up one of these cards and pray to God and ask him to bring to your mind the names of some people that you could write on this card.  Then pray for each person whose name you have written on this card.  There are seven lines so you could write seven names.  You can pray to God asking him to prepare those people’s hearts, to give them a spirit of openness to being invited, a spirit of willingness to come here to worship on that day, that God would remove any barriers that could possibly get in the way to that happening.  And then pick a time, and this week would be a good time to do this, to contact the first person on your list and invite them to Friendship Sunday. If they say “Yes,” you don’t need to ask anyone else, because you want to make sure that you will be free to look after your guest when they come.  Our hope and our prayer is that every one will bring one to Friendship Sunday on November 29.

And yet, even as we plan and prepare for Friendship Sunday, most of us probably feel a little bit uncomfortable about inviting someone to church.  The same two factors that a rocket must face are in play when it comes talking about our faith with others. There is a barrier that we must overcome.  And we need to have enough thrust to overcome it.

What I would like to do today is lower that barrier a little bit for many of us. For some of us that barrier is a fear of being rejected.  And while some people will say “no” to us, let’s give them the opportunity to say it.  Let’s not say “no” for them.  Because, according to the research of author Thom Rainer which he presents in the book The Unchurched Next Door, only 21 percent of active churchgoers invite an unchurched person to church within any given 12 month period.  And yet, as Rainer and his staff surveyed unchurched people in all 50 states and Canada, they discovered, to their surprise, that 82% of the unchurched are at least “somewhat likely” to attend church if someone invited them.  That’s more than eight out of ten.  There are some who are very antagonistic towards Christianity, but they are only 5% of the unchurched population.[2] So we don’t need to be afraid of rejection.  There is more openness to being invited than what we may think.

For some of us, that barrier is feelings of inadequacy.  We don’t think that we are cut out to be an evangelist.  We see Billy Graham on TV, or we watch someone who is very gifted at evangelism like our very own Pastor Karl, and we think, “I am not gifted at sharing my faith with other people like that, and I do not have the same personality as those people, so I guess I cannot share my faith with anyone.”  But in the Becoming a Contagious Christian small group curriculum, Mark Mittelberg, Lee Strobel and Bill Hybels write that there six different kinds of evangelism styles and each of us one primary style plus one or two secondary styles.  Those styles are the Direct Style, like Peter in Acts 2, the Intellectual Style, like Paul in Acts 17, the Testimonial or Storytelling style like the blind man in John 9, the Interpersonal Style like Matthew who threw a party for Jesus in Luke 5:29, the Invitational Style like the Samaritan woman in John 4:23, the Serving Style like Tabitha in Acts 9:36.  I would guess that Pastor Karl is the Direct Style, but that is not my Evangelism Style.  My primary style is the Testimonial Style, I like to tells stories of God at work in my life, and my secondary style is the Intellectual Style. So God can use each one of us with the personality and the giftedness and the evangelism style that he has given us to reach out to others and draw them closer to him.[3] So hopefully that barrier doesn’t seem as high to you as it did before.

The second thing that we need to keep in mind as we prepare for Evangelism Sunday is the energy, the thrust, the motivation that is going to propel us over the barriers that keep us from witnessing to others.  To get a handle on the nature of that thrust, let’s take a look at the story of Jonah.  Jonah was a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel about 750 years before the time of Christ.  And when we hear of the story of Jonah we usually think of the part of the story where he is thrown overboard and swallowed by a fish for three days before being returned to dry ground.

But I invite you to think of the story of Jonah as a story about sharing your faith.  And in that light, it seems to be a story of how not to share your faith.  God tells Jonah to go east to Ninevah and warn the residents to turn from their evil ways and Jonah heads west towards Spain about as far west as you could go in those days.  Jonah obviously didn’t have enough thrust to get over the barrier he faced.  But what was the issue with Jonah?  Was the barrier too high?  Was he afraid of the Ninevites?  Because Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria, a fierce and belligerent empire that wiped out nations as it conquered them.  And it would make sense if Jonah was afraid.  Did Jonah not have enough faith?  Maybe he thought that the Ninevites had gone so far down the path of evil that no one not even God could turn them around and bring them back into a right relationship with God.  Was Jonah feeling inadequate?  Did he perhaps think that he could not do what God was asking him to do?  If you read all four chapters of the book of Jonah you will discover that Jonah’s problem was not on the barrier side of the equation.  If he had fears about the Ninevites, he is eventually able to overcome them.  Any feelings of inadequacy he may have had did not stop him from eventually doing what God called him to do.  And he knew that God had both the power and the compassion to save the Ninevites. After Jonah warns the Ninevites and they have a change of heart and mind and turn away from their sin and turn back towards God, Jonah complained to God,

Our LORD, I knew from the very beginning that you wouldn’t destroy Nineveh. That’s why I left my own country and headed for Spain. You are a kind and merciful God, and you are very patient. You always show love, and you don’t like to punish anyone, not even foreigners. (Jonah 4:2)

No the barriers were not too high for Jonah.  The problem was on the thrust side.  After being angry at God for being kind and merciful towards the Ninevites, Jonah goes and builds a shelter on some high ground east of the city to watch over it and see what happens.  Maybe God will change his mind and Jonah will get to see some fireworks.  It is hot and God causes a vine to grow and provide shade for Jonah as he sits there and waits for some fireworks to happen. But then a worm bites into the root of the vine and it dies and Jonah is hot and he gets angry once again.  And God says to Jonah,

You are concerned about a vine that you did not plant or take care of, a vine that grew up in one night and died the next. ¹¹In that city of Nineveh there are more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot tell right from wrong, and many cattle are also there. Don’t you think I should be concerned about that big city?(Jonah 4:10-11)

The problem with Jonah was not that the barriers were too high.  The problem was that his motivation was too low.  Jonah didn’t really care about the people of Ninevah.  What about you and me?  Do we really care about the 1.4 million unchurched people of the Lower Mainland of BC?[4] If Thom Rainer’s research applies to the people here, over 1 million of them would consider coming to church if someone asked them.  Do we really care enough to ask and give them the chance to think about it?  As I reflected on what is going on in my own heart, I have realized that I am a lot like Jonah.  I don’t really care enough about others to invite them to church.  I don’t really care enough about people to watch for and step into opportunities to share my faith with them.

One thing I do as part of my personal devotion time is keep a prayer journal.  I write down prayer requests and then I keep praying those requests until that prayer is answered.  On March 23 of this year, I wrote this prayer request, “for all the unsaved people in our community that they would trust in Jesus as Lord and Saviour.”  On August 11, I wrote, “Lord, give me a passion for the people outside of your church, for those who visit our church, for the people on the margins of society.” I am still praying those prayers.  But a few weeks ago, something happened during my quiet time with God.  A picture came to my mind.  It was an image of Jesus on a mountain looking out over the Lower Mainland and he was crying out, ‘Vancouver, Vancouver, how I longed to gather you together like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not.”  And something is starting to happen inside of me.  Because I realize that Jesus cares about people even if people don’t care about him.  And I realized that I am one of those people.  I realized that I am Vancouver, I am Ninevah, I am Jonah.  Even though my heart is often hard and turned away from God, there is this God who loves me so much that he would actively pursue me even as I am running away from him.  And the solution for what is going on inside of me is less of me and more of him.  And my hope and my prayer is that somehow, someway, as this happens, that God would take and use me to reach out to others and invite them into life with this God who loves us so much.  And I pray that he will do that with you too.

Thom Rainer and his research team interviewed on particular woman named Marian who became a Christian a year earlier at the age of forty-one.  They asked her what church members and Christians need to hear from the unchurched.

“Tell them,” Marian begins, “that the world and Satan will give them many reasons not to be bold in telling others about Jesus.  They will even have many reasons not to invite someone to church.”  She pauses with obvious intensity in her face.  “But tell them never to accept those excuses.  The unchurched to want to be invited to church.  The lost do want to be told how to be saved.”

Marian is now holding back tears.  She continues slowly.  “But what if Paula had not cared enough to invite me to church?  What if no one had been there for me during my divorce?  What if no Christian had the guts and the conviction to tell me about Jesus?  Tell them, Thom, to stop listening to the lies of Satan and the world and to be obedient.  There are millions of people who were like me, waiting on someone like them to be unashamed of what they believe.”[5]

 

(Shared at Walnut Grove Lutheran Church, Langley BC on 8 November 2009.)

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[1] “Space Shuttle,” Wikipedia; Internet; available at:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle#cite_note-Columbia_Accid_Report_D.7-10; downloaded 7 November 2009.

 

[2] Thom S. Rainer, The Unchurched Next Door:  Understanding Faith Stages as Keys to Sharing Your Faith (Zondervan:  Grand Rapids MI, 2003) 23-5.

[3] Mark Mittelberg, Lee Strobel & Bill Hybels, Becoming a Contagious Christian:  Communicating Your Faith in a Style That Fits You (Participants Guide), Revised and Updated Edition (Zondervan:  Grand Rapids MI, 2007) 24-42.

[4] “British Columbians Least Likely to be Religious,” chart,  Statistics Canada; Internet; available at: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-008-x/2006001/c-g/4097584-eng.htm; downloaded 8 November 2009.  36% indicate no religious affliation, 21% indicate a religious affiliation but does not attend religious services.  The total of these two figures (36% + 21% = 57%) was multiplied by an estimate of the population of the Lower Mainland (2,500,000) to arrive at the estimate of 1.4 million unchurched people.

[5] Rainer, 55-56.

Stewardship of Life

"God had given us a great opportunity—to live our lives in such a way that everything we do, even the small things, can make a difference that will last forever. "

Presented by James Paulgaard on 18 October 2009

MP3 File

Stewardship of Life

Pastor Mike was in his office working on his sermon for next Sunday when Bob Smith burst through the doorway shaking some papers he had clutched in his hand.  “All you guys think about is money!  And you keep trying to get me to give you more of my money!  And I have had enough of this!  Don’t send me these letters anymore!”  Bob was the husband of Darla, who served as a Sunday School teacher at Peanut Grove Lutheran Church.  “Whoa, whoa!,”  said Pastor Mike, gesturing for calm with his hands.  “just hold on a minute here, Bob!  What’s this all about?”

“You put another one of those letters in my mailbox and if I get one more of those things, I am leaving this church and never coming back again!”

“I think I know what you are talking about Bob, but I want to make sure.  What letter are you referring to?”

Who are you following? (John 1:35-51)

Read: John 1:35-51

Focus: What does it mean to be an apprentice?

Inform

• V. 35 mathaytays a disciple, an apprentice, one who attaches themselves to a spiritual leader

• V. 36 – John the Baptizer’s again describes Jesus as “the Lamb of God”

• V. 39 – “the tenth hour” – probably 4 pm

• V. 41 – Andrew to Peter “We have found the Messiah” – Luther – proclaiming the Gospel is one beggar telling another beggar where to find food.

Where is Your Life Pointing? (John 1:19-34)

Read: John 1:19-34

Focus: What signs can you identify by their shapes?  What are some things that signs point towards?

Inform

• V. 19 – John the Baptizer’s witness takes place over 3 days

• V. 20 – John’s “I am not” vs. Jesus’ “I am”

• “Christ”

• V. 21 Elijah & John

• “the prophet” (see Deut. 18:15)

The Cream and Bread Sermon (or Small Groups: A Place of Grace)

(Significant Scriptures:  Psalm 103:1-12; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 13:31-35)

As I was preparing this message, I had an idea.  I thought it was a good idea at the time.  My thinking was something like this, “What if we did something different?  What if we had a taste test where there would be three dishes, two of which would have a missing ingredient?  Then I could ask someone to come up and taste the three items and they would a) notice that the first two dishes would have a missing ingredient and b) choose the dish that was not missing any ingredients.  And this would then be a great introduction to the rest of my message when I could talk about the Missing Ingredient in our lives and how small groups can help in that area.

So that I went ahead with that idea.  And as a person who values integrity and honesty, I need to tell you that things did not, in any way, go the way that I thought they would.  Here is what happened:

Small Groups: A Place of Truth

(Significant Scriptures:  Exodus 18:13-26; Galatians 2:8-16; John 14:1-6)

You might remember comedian Yakov Smirnoff. When he first came to the United States from Russia he was not prepared for the incredible variety of instant products available in American grocery stores. He says, “On my first shopping trip, I saw powdered milk–you just add water, and you get milk. Then I saw powdered orange juice–you just add water, and you get orange juice. And then I saw baby powder, and I thought to myself, “What a country!”

Yakov is talking about transformation and change. And as human beings, we have a need to change. 

The Hope that We Already Have

I would like to begin today by talking to you about hope.  Hope is so important to life.  Some scientists once did an experiment

Jesus & the Syrophoenician Woman

which illustrates this.  They took a group of rats and let them swim in water for as long as they could and what they discovered is that these rats would swim for about an hour before they drowned.  Then they took a second group of rats and also placed them in water, but, from time to time, they would lift them out of the water and give them a rest for a bit before they would place them back into the water.  And what the scientists found is that this second group of rats swam for 24 hours before they drowned, 24 times as long as the previous group.  And the scientists theorized that the second group swam longer because they had hope.  They had the hope that someone or something would come along at some point and rescued them from the water.  And that is what enabled them to endure so much longer than did the earlier group.  And that is with animals.  I believe that hope is even more important for humans.  Some have even said that human beings cannot live without hope.

But as we think about hope there are a couple of things to keep in mind. 

Poverty – Part 1: Why should I be concerned?

This past July, as my family and journeyed to Alberta for our annual pilgrimage to visit family and friends, we past a single vehicle rollover on Highway # 1 west of Salmon Arm.  Always when I encountered such a scene, the question that runs through my mind is, “Should I stop to help?”  We slowed down and while we could see that the emergency response vehicles and personnel had not arrived on scene, we also noticed that there were about a dozen vehicles lining the sides of the road and several people were already ministering to the people involved in the accident.  Reasonably certain that the needed care was being provided and that there was little more that we could do, we continued on our journey, though not without some second-guessing of that decision.

The Christian Church finds itself in a similar predicament at times.  The early Church was not only concerned with spreading the Good News of forgiveness and a new, eternal and abundant life with Jesus Christ.  They also lived out that life by caring for the needs of those around them.

A family in the Anapra neighbourhood of Juarez, Mexico

Poverty – Part 2: What can I do?

Jesus is the one who gives us forgiveness, salvation and eternal life.  As we respond to the richness of his gifts with a desire to share them with others, there are several things we can do to help the poor:

Children lining up for lunch in the village of Sicachique, Chihuahua, Mexico

• pray, pray, pray – Pray for the poor in your personal devotions, your family devotions and, if you have an opportunity to suggest prayer petitions, in the divine service as well.
• personal lifestyle changes – intentionally turning away from the idolatry of consumerism (“buy this and you will live”), being a good steward of all that God has entrusted to you and living a frugal lifestyle so that you will be able to generously share with those in need.  This may include making different choices about what you buy, like choosing to buy products from companies that pay the farmers a fair price for their product (ie. Fair Trade products).

Questions: What about Mary the mother of Jesus?

Today we continue our summer sermon series of “Questions You’ve Always Wanted to Ask.”  It’s a time when you get to ask the questions you’ve always wanted to ask about something from the Bible, or about God or faith, or about life in general.  And then during the sermon time, we look at one of those questions in the light of God’s Word.

And the question we are considering today is about Mary.  Now there are several Mary’s in the New Testament and sometimes we can get them mixed up.  Mary, or Miriam as it would have been in Hebrew, was a very common name among Jews in Palestine at that time.  But the Mary we are looking at today is Mary the mother of Jesus.   And here is the question about her:  “Jesus’ treatment of his ‘mother and brothers’ when the come to talk to him (cf. Matthew 12:46) and his words to Mary at the Cana wedding seem harsh and terse.  I feel He wasn’t very kind to them then.  Of course He made provision for her care by assigning John to her at the crucifixion.  Yet the Roman and Orthodox churches honour Mary to the point of veneration.  How would you describe Jesus’ attitude toward Mary, and what should our attitude be?”

Christian Morality: It is not all about sex

Finally, though I have had to speak at some length about sex, I want to make it as clear as I possibly can that the centre of Christian morality is not here.  If anyone thinks that Christians regard unchastity as the supreme vice, he is quite wrong.  The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins.  All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual: the pleasure of putting other people inthe wrong, of bossing and patronising and spoiling sport, and back-biting; the pleasures of power, of hatred.  For there are two things inside me, competing with the human self which I must try to become.  They are the Animal self, and the Diabolical self.  The Diabolical self is the worse of the two. That is why a cold, self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute.  But, of course, it is better to be neither.

(C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (MacMillan: New York, 1943) 94-95.

Questions: What about anger?

During the summer we have been doing something that’s a little different:  we have been giving you the chance to choose the theme for the sermons. People have been sending in their questions and then we pick one of those questions as our sermon theme.  We may not get to all the questions but we will try to get to as many as we can.

And the question that we are looking at this week is this:   “I’d like to understand anger… basically I think it sucks… so many jump to it so quickly… why do we even have to have it!  It’s just so dumb!  Really doesn’t do much good, usually more damage to a situation…”  That email reflects some of the negative experience that many of us have had as a result of someone else’s anger.  So what about anger?

Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth), the world's leading deception expert portrays "anger," one of the seven universal micro-expressions in "Lie to Me." (photo ©2008 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Frank Ockenfels/Fox)

Let’s begin by looking at our Gospel lesson for today.  In it we have two sets of people, both angry, but for different reasons, and they do different things with their anger. 

Should a Christian marry or date a non-Christian?

(This was written in response to a question about whether a Christian should marry or date a non-Christian)

I briefly referred to the topic of Christians and non-Christians marrying in the following sermon:

http://jamespaulgaard.wordpress.com/2009/07/24/questions-how-do-you-know-if-you-are-following-gods-will-for-your-life/#more-390

The bible verse that I mention is 2 Corinthians 6:14 which reads,  ^“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”

The context (see vv. 15-18) refer to religious syncretism, the mixing of Christian and pagan beliefs, and so, this verse is first and foremost a prohibition against such mixing. This is in-line with the first commandment (You shall have no other gods before me.)

In a secondary sense, this passage is also sometimes used as support for saying that Christians should not marry non-Christians (which is the sense that I refer to it in the sermon) or that a Christian should not have a non-Christian as a business partner.  This is good advice and also common sense.  Marriage partners have enough challenges these days without being divided on spiritual matters.  A spiritual tug-of-war can develop between husband and wife, decisions about the spiritual upbringing of children can be divisive and the children receive conflicting messages about faith and life.  But the context of the passage does not support an absolute prohibition against “mixed” marriages, and none of the Ten Commandments prohibit such unions.

So, in freedom, a believer could marry a non-believer.  I have seen examples of such marriages where God has worked through the believing spouse to bring the non-believer to faith.  I have also seen situations where that has not happened.  And there are also marriages where the believer has wandered away from what was once a devout faith after a marriage to a non-believer.  And even when two sincere Christians marry, there is no guarantee that one of them will not walk away from their faith at some point in the future.

In summary, I think that it is a good idea for a person to try to make sure that the one they are considering for a potential marriage partner is on the same page as they are on spiritual matters (and other major issues as well).

A Christian Preamble for a Will

PREAMBLE

First, realizing the uncertainty of this life, I place full confidence and trust in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who promised: “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).

Second, knowing that the wages of sin is death, I believe that Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, suffered and died for the forgiveness of all my sins, which I neither deserve nor merit, but receive as a free gift of God, who is rich in grace and mercy.

Third, I urge my heirs not to set their hopes on uncertain riches, but to take hold of the life which is life indeed through faith in Jesus Christ.

A draft of a Health Care Directive

(This is a draft of a Health Care Directive that I offer as a resource to you as you prepare your own directive.  Please make sure that you have this document reviewed by a lawyer from the jurisdiction where you live before using it.  Modifications may have to be made to comply with the laws where you live.)

HEALTH CARE DIRECTIVE

TO:     MY FAMILY, MY PHYSICIAN, MY LAWYER, TO ANY MEDICAL FACILITY IN WHOSE CARE I HAPPEN TO BE, AND TO ALL THOSE CONCERNED WITH MY CARE.

As a Christian, I believe that all human life is a valuable gift from God and is therefore worthy of protection, preservation and support.  In matters of human life, the Christian aim is always to care, never to kill. However, as a Christian, my hope and my goal is not contained within this life on this earth.  I look forward with anticipation to the glorious life after death in the new heaven and the new earth which Jesus will give to everyone who trusts in Him.

Therefore, I, __________________________________, being capable of giving instructions about my current medical treatment, make this Health Care Directive to be followed if I lose the capacity to make or communicate decisions regarding my health care.

Cremation & Making Final Arrangements

(This was written in response to a question about final arrangements and cremation.)

It is good to talk about wills and final arrangements ahead of time, and it is especially good to do so when everyone is feeling fine and the sun is shining.  It is part of the stewardship of the life that God has given to us.

Regarding cremation, our Church does not have an official position on the matter.  And if you talk to two different pastors you could get two different answers.  But all Christians should agree that we believe in the resurrection of the dead.  We are looking forward to that day when Jesus will return to this earth in a visible form and everyone will be raised from the dead.  Believers will be raised to eternal life with Jesus.  Those who do not believe will be raised to suffer an eternal existence apart from God.   The new bodies that we will be given will be different from the ones that we have now in that the laws of time and space we experience here will no longer apply to us.  Our new bodies will never grow old, never get sick and never die.  Yet our new bodies will somehow share a one to one identity with our old body.  Perhaps Jesus, in a miraculous way, will reconstitute the molecules of our old body into a new transformed body.  After all, the God who spoke all of creation into existence with a word could easily do that.

Questions: How do you know if you are following God’s Will for your life?

Grand Opening of Golden Ears Bridge, Vancouver BC, 14 June 2009

Last week we began our summer sermon series “Questions You’ve Always Wanted to Ask.”  This is a sermon series where you have the opportunity to ask questions that you have often wondered about, questions about life, God, faith and anything else you have been pondering for a while.  And while some questions are trivial matters with answers that have little impact in our lives, the really tough questions of life are different.  We need to have an answer for those kinds of questions and we need to have the right answer because we are going to be charting our lives by them.  And the idea of this summer sermon series is not to make your pastors seem like the ones with all the answers, because we don’t have all the answers.  The idea of the series is to look at our questions in the light of God’s Word and see what God says about the big questions of life.

So the question we are considering today is this:  … how do you know you are following God’s will for your life? How do you make decisions in a godly manner and then be happy with those decisions and not continue to second-guess yourself?

Questions: Are there Different Levels in Heaven?

Today we begin a new summer sermon series, “Questions You’ve Always Wanted to Ask” where you get to ask questions that you have been pondering about God, life, faith or some other important question that you have always wanted to ask.  Now the purpose of this series is not to present your pastors as somehow having all of the answers to life’s big questions.  I have a lot of questions myself.  There are a lot of things that I don’t understand.  But during this series, we will see what the Bible has to say about some of the tough issues in life.

Because there are questions for which we need to have answers, and we need to have the right answer, because having no answer, or having the wrong answer, can have horrible consequences in our lives.  For an example, in the movie Madagascar 2 some penguins deal with a flashing red warning light in the cockpit of an airplane by smashing it—but then they run out of fuel and crash land the plane.  And we don’t want to do that.  So here is our first question:

Hi Pastor James,
At our home group sessions over the past weeks, the question of getting
into heaven has been passed around the table.  Everyone has a different theory.
Are there different levels in heaven??  eg. if one has a terrible sinful past,
will one have to be the “cleaning lady” in heaven, rather than sitting at the
feet of Jesus, and rejoicing with everyone else??  Should one just be glad
they got there??  …This has got more than just a few of us very worried.

One theory was that even though we are very sorry and believe that Jesus
died for us, and are now trying to lead a life for Jesus, that we will still have
to answer for our past sins and be held accountable after death in some manner.
That is very scary. …

The other part of the question is…… do you go to heaven directly upon death
or do you linger in “sleep” until the last day, and then everyone is raised up??
I always thought one went “straight away”.

So there you go……….. a very big question for a lot of folks.