Speaker 1: 0:00

Well, I'm so glad you guys are here with us on this Candypalooza Sunday at church today. I have a question for you today, though. Have you ever done something? And in the middle of it you thought to yourself oh no, this is the way I'm going to meet Jesus. Like this is not a good idea. Okay, here you go.

Speaker 1: 0:19

A while back, when I was working down in Virginia Beach at the Vineyard Church down there, we went on a pastor's retreat, and we went down to Lake Gaskin and did a lot of work, but it was the night before we had our fun day, where we rented some boats and stuff like that, and my senior pastor, my pastor Andy, he talks to me. We're at dinner. He talks to me. He says hey, jacob, I want you to know that we've been doing this retreat for years, and this is the first time you're able to do this retreat, but every pastor in the past has done this one thing, and now it's your turn to do it. And I was like oh, what is it? He says when we go out into the water tomorrow, there is this trestle bridge that you can jump from. And I was like what? I was like no, I don't know about that. And he said, jacob, you can do it. And I was like, wow, he really believes in me. So I said, okay, I'll do it. But then it hit me. I was like, how tall is this bridge? And I got to add a backstory. Okay, so that was a little over six years ago. I just learned how to swim. Okay, so I just learned to swim when I was in my early 20s. And so I'm thinking to myself, of course my pastor won't do anything to put my life in danger. And so he says, oh, he said, jacob, it's not too tall, it's only like 30 feet high. I said, 30 feet, that's high. I was like you don't pay me enough to do things like that. And so he's like Jacob, jacob. And Pastor Andy's a very convincing guy. He said, jacob, come on, man, you can do it, you can swim. Now it's time for you to be brave. I was like dang, I think he's trying to manipulate me. But so, anyways, I said, yeah, I'll do it. That night I mean I tossed and turned, thinking about it, like man, this is. That would be kind of cool if I'd go there and do it and jump. That would be kind of cool if I'd go there and do it and jump. That would be awesome. But then the other part of me was like, yeah, it'd be awesome, unless you break your spine and end up in heaven way earlier than it was just supposed to be. And so here you go.

Speaker 1: 2:12

The next morning comes, we're in the boat, we drive out to it and a couple of the people who are already going to jump from the bridge, they're already making their way up. And here I am sitting in there with my floaty and I wish I had a rubber ducky with me. And so he finally said Jacob, you going to do it. And I said you know what? I am going to do it, I'm not going to be scared, I ain't scared. And so I get out the boat and I walk up this little pathway and I get on the tracks and then one of the pastor's husbands he jumps off. No problem, he jumps off like wow, that was great. Then the youth pastor, my friend Parker. He gets to the edge of the bridge and he hesitates. And that makes me nervous. I'm like, if the youth pastor is scared, how am I supposed to do it? And so my friend Parker gets to it. He gets to the edge and then he jumps and he makes it. It's like, wow, it's awesome.

Speaker 1: 3:01

I get to the edge of the bridge. And then I get there and I look down. First mistake. I look down and I say to myself, jacob, you're an idiot for doing this. Actually, I said something else, but I can't say that in church. And so I'm looking, I'm down there and then in the boat, my wife, my pastors, they're all like jump, jacob, jump. Pastors, they're all like jump, jacob, jump. I'm like what's wrong with these sick people? And I'm here in this moment and another one of my friends, my other pastor, one of the other pastors. He says, jacob, you got this. And I said, all right, count me down. And so he counts me down Five, four, three, two, one, and I jump. And it was the longest slash, fastest jump of my life. My whole life flashed before my eyes. And then I hit the water and guess what? I'm still alive, baby. I did it. I did it, but I didn't think I was going to be. I was nervous for a second, but here you go. Here you go.

Speaker 1: 3:59

Today we conclude a series called One Minute After you Die. And today, man, I got hope for us, because we talk about heaven today. Come on, thank heaven, thanks 7-Eleven. Thank heaven for 7-Eleven, right, but you know, heaven's probably better than cheap hot dogs and gas, but anyways so. But you may be wondering why are we talking about death? Why are we talking about this subject? I don't want to hear about that, I don't want to talk about it, I don't even want to think about that. Here's the main reason why we're talking about this today Because what you believe about eternity determines how you live today.

Speaker 1: 4:36

What you believe about eternity determines how you live today. If you believe you're an accident, that there is no God, that there is no eternity, if you believe you're an accident, that there is no God, that there is no eternity, then the chances are you're probably going to live for a more and rightfully so more selfish life. You're going to try to do what you can now. You're going to try to live out the words of 50 Cent Get rich or die trying. Because, why not, why not? But in turn, if you know that you're created by a God for his glory and that you will live somewhere for eternity, it will shape the decisions that you make today. So what you believe about eternity will determine how you live. Here's the good news If you are a Jesus follower, you have the hope of heaven.

Speaker 1: 5:20

You have the hope of heaven, this beautiful, this beautiful thing. And what is heaven, though? What is what is? What is what is heaven going to be like? That's a big question. I don't know the answer to that, but you know, maybe you're thinking in heaven are we all going to get like nice white robes and become expert harp players? Is that what heaven's like? Is that what it's going to be? You know, is heaven going to be one long church service? That sounds more like hell to me than heaven, but you know what is heaven going to be like, you know.

Speaker 1: 5:53

So in heaven, though I don't know the full answer, but this is what I can understand. In heaven there will be no pain, there will be no sorrow, no shame, no grief, no cowboy fans Just joking about that last part but in heaven it will be filled with beauty. We united with loved ones, even your crazy Aunt Betsy. Food will taste better, wine tastes greater. According to scripture, for all my animal lovers, there will be animals in heaven. Come on. And best of all and best of all, in heaven we will be face to face with Jesus. Face to face with Jesus. How amazing is that. But here's the thing. But here's the thing.

Speaker 1: 6:41

If heaven is so good and if heaven is so great, what is the purpose of today? What's the purpose of today? What's the purpose of right now? In week one of the message series, we asked the same question. While we're still here, in this present age, what is our purpose, what is our assignment?

Speaker 1: 7:02

And the Apostle Paul tells us this in 2 Corinthians. He says so, whether we are here in this body or away from this body. Our goal is to accumulate a lot of money. Wait, is that what it says? No, our goal is to be YouTube famous. Our goal is to have the most likes on Instagram or TikTok or whatever the young people are doing nowadays. Our goal is to work so much that we never see our family. Our goal is just to have the biggest house and the best car, to show everyone that I made it.

Speaker 1: 7:34

No, so what is it according to Paul? According to the Apostle Paul. He says our goal on this earth is to please Jesus. It's to please Jesus, it's to please Jesus. So, ultimately, we need to remember that, whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please Jesus. What you believe about eternity determines how you live today. So, when it comes to heaven, as everyday people who are learning how to become Jesus followers, our goal is not just to sit back and wait for Jesus to return. Our goal is not to hope in a politician or a government system to fix the needs of this world. Our goal, as everyday people who are learning how to become Jesus followers, is to live out the prayer of our Savior when he declares may your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

Speaker 1: 8:33

And so today, today, what I want to talk about is how we can be kingdom people, how we can bring heaven on earth. Today, I want to teach us some theology today. Can I teach you some theology? Today, I'm going to talk about this thing. It's called inaugurated eschatology. You're like what? The what is that? You know what does that even mean?

Speaker 1: 8:54

Now, that's kind of a fancy way of saying. It's a fancier way of saying that the kingdom of God has already begun through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. It is not yet fully realized, though, but God's future reign has already started in the present, but it still awaits its complete fulfillment when Jesus returns. Again, it's the already but the not yet. It's the already but the not yet. And here's the truth. Here's the truth. The kingdom of God isn't just some distant dream waiting for us in the future. No, the kingdom of God is alive and active and moving today.

Speaker 1: 9:32

Jesus didn't come just so we could have hope for later. He came so we can bring heaven on earth today. And guess what? Guess what? We just don't sit back and watch. Guess what, guess what. We just don't sit back and watch. We're invited to partner with the Holy Spirit to be active in what God is doing today, what God is doing today. So here you go. The question is this Are you ready to live? A kingdom is here kind of life. A kingdom of God is here kind of life.

Speaker 1: 10:02

I'm going to give us four points about how heaven is here and now. The first one is this the kingdom of God is the already and the not yet, like I just mentioned. So, but that kind of leads to the question how can something be already but not yet? How can we have something right now but not yet? And that just leads me to a confession I have to make. I got a confession not like Usher's confession, though, but I have a confession have to make. I got a confession. Not like Usher's confession, though, but I have a confession At times. At times I can be a bad role model to my kids. Okay, here you go, I'll tell you the story. Don't judge me too much. I'll tell you the story.

Speaker 1: 10:34

My wife Erin. She's beautiful, she's wonderful. She's proof that God is good. Because I'm a goofy looking dude and she's not, you know, she's just beautiful and it's like wow, how did someone like me get her? Anyways, that's a tangent, but anyways, my wife is so awesome and what she loves to do with the kids is she loves to bake cookies with the kids, and what she does. She's such a great mom. She sets up little stations for them and they get to do their little thing and all that stuff. And then they mix it all together. And what happens when? When you mix all the ingredients together, you get cookie dough. Come on, who loves some cookie dough in here? All right, and so my wife. She gives a little bit of cookie dough to the kids.

Speaker 1: 11:10

But what Erin does when she makes cookies? She typically makes them for us, but she likes to give them away to people, so she makes a big batch to give away. And so she tells the kids hey, you can't eat too much cookie dough, because we're going to bake these and give them away. So here's where an I come in. When Aaron's not looking, I go over to the mixing bowl and start dishing out some cookie dough to everyone. Right, that's my bad role model, okay. But here's the thing. My wife's chocolate chip cookies are so good, see, they're good right now as cookie dough, but when they're fully realized as chocolate gooey cookies dude, it's even better. But the problem is, there's this in-between spot. There's the already of the delicious cookie dough and there's the fully the calm, delicious, soft, warm cookie dough. But there's the in-between of when they're in the oven baking and when they're in the oven baking. There's this tension that I feel that I want the cookie dough, but I also want it when it's fully realized. Come with me here, okay.

Speaker 1: 12:17

Jesus came, lived a life we couldn't, died a death we deserve, rose from the grave and now we get to partner with him and restore heaven on earth. It's here, but it's not fully here. And we're in this in-between spot of the already and the not yet, and the already and not yet. So what do we do in this in-between spot? What do we do? See? Jesus said this. Jesus gave us a little bit of guidance to what this looks like. See Jesus' message statement is found when. A little bit of guidance to what this looks like, see Jesus' message statement is found.

Speaker 1: 12:47

When he first began his earthly ministry. He says the time has come, the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news. Look at this. Look at this. Look how Jesus lived. He wasn't just walking around. He wasn't just walking around doing his thing. He was bringing heaven to earth. He was healing people. That was a glimpse of heaven breaking in. He was including outcasts and previously excluded people, groups, and saying that you are invited Heaven invading earth. He was forgiving sins, a sign that the kingdom of God was invading earth here and now. And here's the thing Jesus is to come again.

Speaker 1: 13:34

So we're living in this crazy tension, the crazy middle ground between the already and the not yet, and in this tension, sometimes we pray and miracles happen. Sometimes we pray and someone is healed and God moves and God restores, and sometimes we pray and that person doesn't get healed and nothing does change. Sometimes you pray for your wayward kid and they find their way back home and sometimes we pray for them and it feels like they're farther and farther away. It's a tension. There's a tension there. There's times that we see social justice work in our world, in our communities, and we say, yes, this is amazing, god is moving. But then, at the same time, we know that there is sex slavery happening right now, even in our back doors here in Chesterfield County. And there's this tension of God is here, but there's a tension that he hasn't fully come.

Speaker 1: 14:34

And what do we do in the middle? Let's make it more personal. Let's make it more personal. There's times that you feel the presence of God, you're like thank you, god, you are so good. And then there's other times that you look around and you wonder God, why have you left me? There's times that you feel purposeful, you feel on mission for a mission. You understand that you're made on purpose for a purpose. I love it. And then there's other times that you barely want to get out of the bed. There's this tension here of the already and the not yet.

Speaker 1: 15:14

So what do we do? What do we do in the waiting? What do we do in this tension? Do we just sit back and just wait for heaven to come, for Jesus to come, check this out. This is what Paul says in Acts 14. Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, and God confirmed their message. With what Signs and wonders? The Hebrew writer says it like this. He says God validated their ministry with all kinds of miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit. So here's what we do in the tension. Here's what we do in the tension. We proclaim the kingdom of God, that Jesus has come, that he has, like I said, lived the life we couldn't died a death we deserve rose again and offers forgiveness to all who come to him. We proclaim the good news, but we just don't let it hang there, because where there is proclamation, there can be demonstration of the kingdom of God. So we proclaim God's kingdom can be demonstration of the kingdom of God. So we proclaim God's kingdom. But then we demonstrate the kingdom of God. And how? How? How do we demonstrate the kingdom of God? I say we demonstrate the kingdom of God when someone's sick, we lay hands on them and we pray for them. We demonstrate the kingdom of God when we know someone who is going through some troubles, who's going through some trials, and we come with love and hope and encouragement and the kingdom of God comes in. We demonstrate the kingdom of God when we look at injustice and we say we cannot sit back in our comfortable house with our thousand dollar smartphones and not do nothing about it. We got to do something with it and God's kingdom is demonstrated through that. The kingdom of God is demonstrated when healing breaks out, when forgiveness flows, when relationships are restored, when marriages are healed, when addictions are broken, when anxiety is defeated. And we live in this tension, but we're not stuck. We're a part of heaven invading earth right now. Second thought, second thought the kingdom of God is about restoration, not escape. The kingdom of God is about restoration and not escape. What is the point of our preaching and teaching and community centers, our loving our neighbors, our feeding the poor, our international missions trips? What's the point of all those things? It's about restoration and renewal. Check this out in Revelation 21. John gets this vision from the Lord when he's on the Isle of Patmos, and this is what he says. And then he says and I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband and I heard a loud voice on the throne saying Look, god's dwelling place is now among the people and he will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them and he will be their God. And what will God be doing? What will God be doing? And he will wipe every tear from their eye. Come on, there will be no more death or mourning, or crying or pain, for the old order of things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said I am making everything new, and those who are victorious will inherit all of this and I will be their God and they will be my children. What a beautiful picture of God with us restoring things.

Speaker 1: 18:44

John Mark Calmer, in his book Garden, garden City, gives us some commentary on these verses. On that verse, he says this he says heaven is not a place that you go when you die. It's a reality that comes here when Jesus returns. He says the last chapters of the Bible are not about us going to heaven, but about heaven coming down to earth. And heaven and earth were never meant to be separate. They were always meant to overlap. It's about Eden, god's original plan, and this is why what we do really matters. Here you go. Here's a good illustration. Good illustration the house, my house, right now.

Speaker 1: 19:23

The previous owners of my house watched way too much HGTV. They watched too much Chip and Joanna Gaines. I'm not related to them I wish I was, but I'm not. They watched too much of that because the longer I live in my house, the more I started to see things weren't put together the right way, like my deck is all messed up, there's screws coming out and all the screws don't match. You know, nothing ever matches. Stuff is forced into things and I was like dang my house, man. Maybe I got to get a new house, is what I think sometimes. Maybe this thing can work him out. But then I got a friend. I got a friend named Craig. Everyone needs a friend named Craig, and not only do you need a friend named Craig, you need a friend that has the skills as Craig has. Craig knows how to fix things, and so from time to time Craig randomly shows up at my house and he just fixes stuff in my house. He fixed my door, he fixed my lights, he fixed my floors and after he restores things in my house, my house is more enjoyable to live in.

Speaker 1: 20:30

See, friends, our goal, our assignment, is not just to escape the world. Yeah, there's pain, there's problems in this world, but our goal isn't just to escape it and get away from it. Our goal is to restore it. And sometimes restoring things takes a lot of work and sometimes it's hard and sometimes it's not the easiest. But here you go when we escape. But we escape when we just sit back and complain about the world.

Speaker 1: 21:00

And can I just complain about complainers for a second? Here's my problem with complainers All the time you're using to complain, you could do something about it. You could do. There's this whole story in the Bible. For 40 years these people complained and complained and complained and they never saw the promised land. I'm going to tell you this your complaining will keep you out of God's promises. So you can sit back and just complain. You know, complain about the world and then just hope one day. Oh, jesus is coming, take me, take me up, jesus, I'm going to be with all these people. You can complain. Second thing is you can just sit and wait for heaven while injustice is evident in your backyard. See, here you go. We will be rewarded in heaven for what we do, but I also think we will be asked about our inactions.

Speaker 1: 21:51

I was reading recently in James. In the book of James. It says you want to know what sin is. You want to know what sin is. This is how they say it at the end you want to know what sin is. Sin is when you know what you ought to do but you don't do it. Let me let that one just hang a little bit. You want to know what sin is. Missing the mark? It's when you know what you ought to do but you choose not to do it. Sit back. Sit back. You know we escape when we live as if this world is our home, when we give in to our addictions, when we live for comfort, worldly success, only See, the goal of the kingdom is restoration of all things, not an escape plan from this world.

Speaker 1: 22:34

God is not abandoning his creation. He is renewing it. And how does he restore? Listen to me God didn't just save you to sit on the sidelines. He called you to be a part of something bigger, something more powerful. The Holy Spirit is not just out there doing his thing. He's inviting you to co-labor with him. This isn't a solo mission. This is God bringing you into his plan. And here's the deal. It's not just about the big stuff. It's about the everyday moments, whether it's showing mercy to people in need, whether it's standing up for justice, praying for that person in your office who's going through it. You are partnering with the Holy Spirit when you do that.

Speaker 1: 23:15

Third thing is this. Third thing is this the kingdom of God is present wherever Jesus reigns. Wherever Jesus reigns, the kingdom of God is present. The kingdom of God isn't limited to a place. It's found wherever Jesus is worshiped. Here's the truth. We are either living for the kingdom of God isn't limited to a place. It's found wherever Jesus is worshiped. Here's the truth. We are either living for the kingdom of God or we're living for the kingdom of self. We're either living for the kingdom of God or we're living for the kingdom of self.

Speaker 1: 23:41

And James, you can come on up and make it spiritual in here for us, okay. And this goes for church people too. I want to say something here. This goes for church people because sometimes we can get caught up in church world. We get caught up and say, man, I want, I'm going to reach people. I want a bigger church, I want to reach people and we say it's because I want people for Jesus. We may say that, but sometimes, really, it's just about boosting our egos. Look how big my church is, look how big this is, and I'm going to say something to that. I'm going to say something to that.

Speaker 1: 24:14

God is interested in the condition of our hearts, because you can say, oh, I want this, I want this, but your heart will be turned from Him. You could say something. You could say Jesus is my Savior and that's good and I hope he is. But is Jesus your Lord? Is he Lord of your life? Because he's supposed to be Savior and Lord. And here you go.

Speaker 1: 24:44

John Herbert says it best in his book Eternity. Now in Session, he says salvation isn't primarily about getting you into heaven, it's about getting heaven into you. So the question I will ask you, lvc, when people look at you, especially people who are far from God, when people look at you, do they say, man, you're heavenly, you got something about you that's different. That's heavenly. Like man, mike, man, I love Mike, that dude. He's heavenly man, he's awesome. Janet, oh, janet, she's great. But when Janet complains, she ain't that heavenly? Or Fred man? I love Fred, that dude, he's great, he's heavenly, but not when it's rush hour. See, are we communicating heaven with the way we live our lives? Because here's the truth your circumstances might not be heavenly, but you can live heavenly in it. God can move in you in it.

Speaker 1: 26:02

Here you go, and we see this through Jesus time and time again, because I don't think Jesus was trying to scare the hell out of people. I think Jesus was trying to impart heaven into people. And we see this, check this out. There's these stories in the gospel, because anytime you see Jesus doing something in the gospel, it's heaven inv people. And we see this, check this out. There's these stories in the gospel, because anytime you see Jesus doing something in the gospel, it's heaven invading, it's heaven moving. And there's this one particular story where this man, he's blind and he's on the corner and he calls out to Jesus and Jesus looks at him and says hey, you're blind, blindness isn't in heaven, so be healed. And he's healed.

Speaker 1: 26:38

There's another story in the Bible where this woman is caught in the very act of adultery. She's caught and she's dragged in front of the temple courts and there's Jesus and all these people saying stone her to death for what she's done. And Jesus Jesus looks at her, kneels down, gets on her level and says you've been living a life that you know you don't want to live and I want you to know you're more valuable than that. And these people, these people can't throw a stone at you because they sin too. I can, but I drop it and I say leave this life of sin. Heaven invading her life.

Speaker 1: 27:15

Another story a man, 38 years invalent, paralyzed, stuck in the same condition for 38 years. Stuck in the same condition, what felt like for a long time. And I don't know about you today, but sometimes I've been stuck in a situation and it feels like I've been there for a long time. I feel like I haven't been, I haven't wanted to be there and I've been there for a long time. And Jesus gets to this guy who's been there for a long time and he says Jesus asks him a question. He says do you want to get well? And he comes back with an excuse and notice, notice this. Jesus hears his excuse and he says how about this? In heaven, you won't be crippled. How about you? Pick up your mat and walk? And the man right there one moment healed after 38 years.

Speaker 1: 28:07

Heaven invades earth and I'm going to tell you this, friends, it's our job to have heaven invade earth. Cs Lewis says it the best in the Great Divorce. He says heaven is not a state of mind, heaven is reality itself. All that is fully real is heavenly. How can Jesus reign in our lives? First we got to say Jesus, are you Lord? And the truth is, like I said, jesus can be Savior without being Lord in our lives. Good news is this Jesus gives us the ways to connect with him.

Speaker 1: 28:40

Matthew 6 says this. Jesus says therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life. This isn't a suggestion that Jesus says, but a command. He says do not worry. He says don't worry about what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Can any one of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life? So do not worry saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after these things and your heavenly Father check this out, knows that you need them. But then he says but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.

Speaker 1: 29:27

So, how? How do we allow Jesus to reign in our lives? Well, we got to seek God first. We got to seek God first. We got to spend daily time with God. It's reading your Bible, it's prayer, it's starting where you are, not where you want to be. Hey, if, for you, your win is doing the verse of the day, then you do that verse of the day, but you be intentional about spending daily time with God. You may not have an hour to give, but here you go. I'm going to challenge you. You do have the first 15. You do have the first 15.

Speaker 1: 29:59

I encourage all of you at least to give God five minutes in the Word, five minutes in worship and five minutes in prayer. Test me on this, check this out. Test me on this. Do this for a whole week. Give God your first 15. When you wake up, get a cup of coffee first, because God doesn't need you grumpy. 15, when you wake up, get a cup of coffee first, because God doesn't need you grumpy. But do this. Five minutes in the Word Get the YouVersion app. They got devotionals there. It's great. Five minutes in worship Play that one song you love at church.

Speaker 1: 30:30

Come on, don't get me singing Reckless Love. Five minutes in prayer. Lay it out, and your prayer life doesn't have to be these and thous and all that kind of stuff. Your prayer life is that. God, I got this going on in my day. I'm thinking about this, I'm worried about that. Talk to God. You just begin to talk to Him and I'm telling you this. It will change your life.

Speaker 1: 30:57

See, here's the thing that I want to warn us about. Sometimes it's easy to confuse a church relationship with an authentic relationship with God. But our heart here at LVC is not just to help you love your church. We want you to love LVC. It's a cool place, but if you love LVC but don't know how to love God, then we failed. You See what I believe? If you, as an everyday person, can have an authentic relationship with Jesus, it will help you navigate the complexities of life by leaning in to the heart of God for your life, by developing that.

Speaker 1: 31:32

So last thing is this. Last thing is this Church. The church is called to be a signpost of heaven, called to be a signpost pointing us to heaven and friends. If I can be honest with you today. This is what I give my life to. This is what I give my life to Because I truly believe here you go. I truly believe the local church mobilized, is the hope of the world. It's the hope of the world If the church can get into our communities, if the church can lead the way in justice, if the church can lead the way in diversity and inclusion. If the church can lead the way, it changes everything. Everything is changed, generations are changed. We can't sit back and wait for politicians to do it. It's not their job. It never was supposed to be. It was always the church to bring the hope of the world. It was always supposed to be kingdom people doing the stuff that Jesus did and so. And so I say to you what should church look like? And that's why, at LVC, we value diversity, because heaven will be diverse. That's why we worship Jesus passionately, because we will worship Jesus in heaven. That's why we encourage healthy relationships through small groups, because in heaven we will be in community. And that's why we believe in the power of prayer in ministry time, because church should be pointing us to heaven.

Speaker 1: 33:03

Nt Wright says it best. He says the work of the church is to build for the kingdom, to bring a foretaste of heaven into the present world. The truth is this when the world comes to church, often and unfortunately I don't think they think, wow, this place is heavenly. When the world thinks about church people, they don't typically use the word heavenly, they may actually use the word hellish. Those people condemn and judge, they're hypocrites.

Speaker 1: 33:36

Let it be said of us that we can be a little more heavenly. Let it be said of our lives that we can point people to Jesus, that we can be as Jesus prayed his kingdom come here and now. And Jesus says it like this. He says you are the light of the world, like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. The church exists not for itself, but to point beyond itself to a greater reality of God's kingdom and to embody the kingdom of God here and now. And that's why at LVC, everyone gets to play. You have gifts, you have talents, you have a purpose, and our job is to empower you to live out the life that God has created you to live, because you are made on purpose for a purpose and you can make a difference. So we say, god, may your kingdom come. May your kingdom come. Let us be heavenly people, pointing the world to you, Jesus, as a signpost that there is greater still to come. So, god, jesus, holy Spirit, we thank you for your love, we thank you for your goodness and we say more of you, lord, more of you, help us point people to you, jesus.

Speaker 1: 35:23

And I just feel like the Holy Spirit is saying to someone or somebodies, maybe more people, that you belong here, specifically at this church. To be honest, I just feel like the Holy Spirit is saying you belong here, you have something to add at this church. To be honest, I just feel like the Holy Spirit is saying you belong here, you have something to add to this church to help reach people for Jesus. Come, holy Spirit. I feel like the Holy Spirit is saying to someone you've been doubting the way I designed you, You've been doubting your gifts and your purpose. I feel like the Holy Spirit is saying no, I made you that way for a reason. You have something to bring to the table. And then I just next thing, honestly, guys. I just next thing, honestly, guys. I just feel the Holy Spirit saying you have a home here. You have a home here. Come Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit.

Speaker 1: 36:37

We believe for impossible things to happen, god. We believe for crazy things to happen. We believe for people we know who are struggling with addictions and pains to find healing, yep, and in ourselves, in our own lives. But we're struggling, lord. We ask for a touch of heaven right now, like the man who has stuck for 38 years. There's some of you in here today. You've been stuck for a long time and God says heal it in Jesus' name. Right now, you're healed physically, mentally, emotionally. Heal it in Jesus' name. And then some of us stir up a passion for justice. Lord, let us not sit back on the sidelines while there's people in need and you have given us resources to use. Help us be justice bringers, hero makers. Come Holy Spirit.

Speaker 1: 38:00

And if you're in here today, you don't know this Jesus personally that I've been talking about or maybe you walked away. If you want to make a decision to trust Jesus with your life, I just want to count to three and you can toss a hand up in the air so I can see who I'm praying for. I'm not going to call you out. Have you come up front? Nothing like that. I just want to see who I'm praying for. I'm not going to call you out. Have you come up front? Nothing like that. I just want to see who I'm praying for. If you want to make a decision to trust Jesus with your life or trust him again on three, you can shoot your hand up One, two, three, amen, amen, amen, amen. You can just pray this prayer with me, right where you are. Say Jesus, forgive me for my sins, make me new. Today. I trust in you. Today. I follow you In Jesus' name. Amen, amen. Let's give God some praise in here today.