How to go to Heaven...TODAY...

Hey friends…
 
“Whoa!! Wait a minute, Chris. I like the idea of heaven, but I don’t want to go today.” Well…hmm… are you sure? Do you know where heaven is? Do you know what heaven is? I’m thinking Jesus would like to take you there today, but that may not mean what you think it does. Let’s talk about it in Deeper Thoughts below.
 
But first… a few noteworthy items:
 
·      IMPORTANT facility expansion update: We are close to “decision time” for our church family as we seek God’s wisdom for our potential expansion. Four key communication and decision steps remain:
o   THIS Sunday, we will release an anonymous online survey for you to share what impressions you have from the Lord regarding this project.
o   Sunday, March 30, 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., an all-congregation open dialogue will take a final look at the project, the design, the budget, and the funding.
o   Sunday, April 6, we will present a confidential communication card to share the specific personal generosity the Holy Spirit is leading you to contribute.
§  What one-time financial gift could be given between now and August to provide cash-in-hand for construction?
§  What ongoing monthly designated giving could be given over 2-3 years to fund debt service and/or reduction?
o   Sunday, April 27, 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., the FINAL decision meeting where our Covenant Partners will consider and vote on the future of the project.
 
·      Click here to see a detailed write-up on this expansion project.
 
·      Are you interested in taking more ownership of Mt. Hope and you missed last Sunday’s meeting? Click here to let us know you’d like a make-up session. Becoming a Covenant Partner of Mt. Hope will be super-valuable if you’d like to have a key voice in the upcoming decisions regarding our facility and our future.
 
·      Ladies: Mark your calendars for our next women’s event, Saturday, March 29, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. as we learn to make jewelry with Joan Lyerly. Cost will be $5.00 for supplies. Click here for more info and to RSVP!
 
·      Don’t forget our “Daily Six” video series, six-minutes every weekday to read along with me as we study through the Gospel of Mark. Click here to jump in! And if you’d like to receive daily email reminders, click here for a link to The Daily Six each morning!
 
OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who don’t like the idea of heaven… ever. BUT…
 
 
Some Deeper Thoughts…
 
As I am sure you can imagine, I’ve been thinking a lot about eternal life these last few weeks. Not only did my mom pass recently--and knowing the trustworthiness of her salvation has been monumentally important to me—but I’ve also had fifteen other friends die in the last year and half. It should be no surprise that the hope of eternal life matters greatly to me these days.
 
I shared with you shortly after Mom died the beautiful transition she had into eternity. As we were reading scripture over her, I had this strong impression to say to her that Jesus was in the room right at that moment, and that he had come to get her. I said, “Mom, when you see Jesus, take his hands. Take the carpenter’s hands.” And just as I was saying this, in that very moment, she stopped breathing. We were all deeply moved that Jesus had made himself known to her, coming for her in that precise moment with love and clarity.
 
Those words about “the carpenter’s hands” were not original to me. They were spoken directly from Jesus to my buddy Howie.
 
Howard was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer just twelve weeks before he died 17 months ago. A few weeks into his diagnosis, he had a LOT of faith that Jesus was going to heal him. Then, one afternoon while his wife Judy was sitting with him, he fell into a trance and had a vision. Judy testified that she could tell Howie had just left this present conscious world and was seeing something supernatural.
 
In this vision, Howie later told us that he saw Jesus in the room. Jesus reached out his hands and said to him, “Howie, it is time. I can’t wait to show you what I have prepared for you.”
 
As Howie recounted that experience to a group of his close friends that I was privileged to be among, the most remarkable thing he recalled was how he could feel the rough, leathered feel of “the carpenter’s hands.”
 
Jesus is excited to show all of us what he has prepared.
 
“Do not let your hearts be troubled,” Jesus said to his disciples—and thereby to us as well. “Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3)
 
We like this promise. But do we fully grasp what it means?
 
Look at the text. First, he tells us we are going to live in the Father’s house. Not on our own. Not left to figure out life by ourselves. We’re going to live with Dad. Secondly, he emphasized the reality of this place—it is not just a warm fantasy to make us feel better about our impending death. “If it were not so, I would have told you.” Finally, he tells us he is preparing this place so that he can come take us to where he is right now.
 
This is where we mistake what it means to go to heaven.
 
Most of us visualize heaven to mean some distant, “not now,” far off location and event where we physically leave this earth (hopefully way off into our 80’s, 90’s, or even older).
 
But heaven is not a distant event. It is right here. Right now. And we should want to enter it. Today.
 
“The kingdom of God [often interchanged by Jesus with ‘the kingdom of Heaven’] 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).
 
Did you catch that? The kingdom of heaven is right here, right now—not “over there somewhere,” but right there inside you.
 
Scholars will quickly tell us that the biblical concept of “eternal life” does not simply mean an eternity that begins later, at the point of our death. In fact, the Greek phrase is better translated as “everlasting life,” which again, does not start at some distant point in our future. We are alive right now, and that life will last forever, albeit with a brief hiccup where our temporary physical shell containing our life gets traded in for a more permanent, spiritual container (check it out in 1 Corinthians 15:50-54).

Friends, you are already living your eternal, everlasting life. The question is whether you are living it in the kingdom of heaven, or in the kingdom of darkness.
 
This Sunday let’s look at what Jesus has to say about how we get into heaven. He was asked about it directly. The fellow who asked didn’t like his answer. We wouldn’t either, unless we understand something about Jesus’ response that I bet we’ve never been taught.
 
Curious? You gotta come out on Sunday to learn this one thing. Nose around Mark 10:17-31 beforehand to see if you can catch it.
 
Do you want to go to heaven… today? Let’s meet!! Sunday, 10:00 a.m.!
 
Much love…
 
Chris Eads
Mt. Hope Pastor
Friend