There's a story of Albert Einstein on a train. He's sitting there, everybody's got their ticket with their destination on it. And on this train, the conductor starts going down the aisle. Punching everybody's tickets. It gets to um Albert Einstein.
Einstein can't find his ticket. He's looking through his pockets, looking through his jacket, looking through his briefcase. He can't find his ticket.
So the conductor Winks at him and it says That's okay, Dr. Einstein. I know who you are. And the conductor walked on down the aisle, punching everybody else's tickets. Before the conductor moved to the next car to punch their tickets, he looked back and now Einstein is on his hands and knees looking on the ground for his ticket.
And so the conductor goes back. And repeats himself. He says, Dr. Einstein. Please don't worry about it.
I know who you are. Einstein looked at the conductor and he said, sir, I too know who I am. I just don't know where I'm going. I know who I am. But I don't know who where I'm going.
We started a study of 1 Peter this past week. And remember, 1 Peter is written to a group of Christians who are about to go through incredible persecution. Peter looked on the horizon. He knows persecution is coming. Remember last week, I told you, he starts his letter not by saying, Man, I feel so sorry for you guys.
I know life's hard, I'm so sorry. He doesn't say that. He starts this letter to a persecuted church by reminding them of. Who they are. And now this week, he reminds him of.
where they're going. Who you are. And where are you going?
So, if you would look at 1 Peter chapter 1. And because of the structure of 1 Peter 1:3 through 5, a lot of scholars think this is an early hymn. You know, we got our hymns. I love some of these hymns we sing. We think that this might have been part of an early hymn in the early church.
But 1 Peter 1:3 says this: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again into a living hope. By the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. I want you to look at this.
Look at how he starts this off. He says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's interesting. Peter is a Jew, and the most common way that Jews would start their prayers would be this: Blessed be the God. That's how Peter starts it off.
But then he adds something no Jew would ever add to that. Blessed be the God. And Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in verse 4, he says, To the church about to be persecuted. And to y'all.
He says, God has given us, do you see this word? He has given us an inheritance. Do you see that? As an interesting choice of words to describe our salvation, it's interesting for two reasons. Number one, in the Old Testament, When God's people We're told about a promised land called Canaan.
Over and over and over again, the Bible called that your inheritance. Canaan, the promised land, is your inheritance. For 40 years, God's people are walking through a desert. And God reminds them, yes, but you have an. Inheritance called Canaan or the promised land.
And it's like Jesus is saying to those of us going through this dry, messed up world.
Well, John greets a messed up world. Is it just me? I don't know if I'm just getting old and crossed or what, but the older I get, I'm like, it's a really messed up world. God's like, yeah, you're walking in the desert, but you got an inheritance, you got a promised land that you're going to. It's interesting.
He calls our salvation an inheritance, which kind of goes back to the promised land. And the second reason it's an interesting choice of words is this. Inheritance implies something That's not earned. You didn't deserve it. Like We got any, don't raise your hand because I'm not into this stuff, but we got any royal watchers here.
You do the royal watching stuff, and you know, William and Kate, and what's that little baby's name they got? Archie or whatever. And, you know, actually, maybe I'm more, I know more about this than I thought I knew.
So, anyway. When William and Kate Had that little baby Archie. The moment he drew his first breath, he has an inheritance. He has a crown one day, he has a castle one day, he has a kingdom one day. Hey, did that little baby do anything to earn any of that?
Zero. He has that inheritance by virtue of being born into royalty. And it's interesting that Peter calls our salvation an inheritance because we were born into sin, but we were born again into royalty. The moment you drew your first breath as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, you have an inheritance that you didn't deserve, you didn't earn it. It's given to you by virtue of being a child of the Most High God.
Isn't that great? And so Let me ask you this.
So you have an inheritance. If you're born again, you have a royal home, a royal inheritance. How did you get qualified for that inheritance?
Well, Peter says right here: first of all, to be qualified for that inheritance, you had to be begotten. You got to be born again. We do believe that when you come to the Lord Jesus Christ, that dead you is buried spiritually and you are born again. That's the first way you're. Qualified for the inheritance.
Secondly, we are qualified, Peter says this, according to his abundant mercy. In other words, you and I should have gone to hell. We're in rebellion against a holy God. All have sinned. We should go to hell.
But God says, no, I'm going to have pity on you, mercy on you. You have an inheritance not based on who you are, but based on who I am. I have mercy on you. Second way, or third way, we're qualified for this inheritance is by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
Somebody else. died and was buried and rose again to purchase your inheritance. It wasn't that you went to church enough, memorized enough Bible verses, gave enough money. No, no, no, no. Jesus earned that inheritance for you.
And then it's very interesting. Finally, we don't keep that inheritance by our own power and strength. Verse 5: We are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. We are kept by whose power? God's power.
I'm not going to get to heaven. Because I held on to God. I'm going to heaven because he held on to me. My salvation is not my responsibility. My salvation is my response to his ability.
And then Peter says something really interesting here. I want you to look at this. He says, What does it mean in verse 4? He says, Your salvation. Ready to be revealed.
Well, Jan, I thought when I got born again, I was saved already. Peter says it's a salvation that one day will be revealed.
Now, I want you to listen to me. Your salvation has three aspects. It has a past. Aspect. I have been saved from the penalty of sin.
If you're born again, past tense, you have been saved from the penalty of sin. There's a present aspect to your salvation. I am being saved from the power of sin. I still sin, I still mess up, but I can tell you: after walking with Jesus for 40-something years, I actually have more power over sin now than I had 40-something years ago. I am being saved from the power of sin.
And then one day I will be saved from the presence of sin. As long as you're on planet Earth, you're going to be surrounded by sin. But praise God, one day I'm going to go to a place where there is no sin.
So I have salvation past, present, and future. Does that make sense? All right. And then in verse 4, he specifies. Where that inheritance is being held.
I love this. Verse 4. Reserved in heaven for you. I should have checked with the guys to see if we have this in a resource center. If not, we'll have it over the next couple weeks.
I told you last week. I think every Christian, I don't say this about a lot of books. I say it about this book. Every Christian ought to have the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn. And one of the greatest takeaways from that book is this: we need to stop spiritualizing heaven.
Heaven, would you look at me? Heaven is a real Literal place. Stop spiritualizing it. Peter says, no, your salvation is being held firm. Your inheritance is being held in a real, literal, I'm going to use this word.
Physical place called heaven. Um I love what, y'all remember who Stephen Hawkins was? He was that guy that was in a little wheelchair and a physicist, and he had, was it whatever that disease was, where Lou Gehrig's disease, and he was an atheist. Stephen Hawkins said: religion is a fairy tale for people who are afraid of the dark. Theologian John Lennox said, Yeah, and atheism is a fairy tale for people who are afraid of the light.
I like that. Heaven ends some fairy tale. That we make up to make people feel better. Peter says, No, this is a real place. There's an interesting trend.
In the in the non-Christian secular world, They're now starting to study. Life after death, near-death experiences, things like heaven, forget about the church. They're talking about this in the secular world. In fact, John Billhoff An atheist philosopher Wrote an astounding article a few years ago in the Humanist magazine. He said that the evidence for the afterlife, this is an atheist, says this: the evidence for the afterlife was so strong that humanists should just admit it and try to interpret it in naturalistic terms.
Interesting. Early this year, Dr. Michael Gillen. Ignited a firestorm. Dr.
Gilling, he's a brilliant man. He holds a doctorate in physics, mathematics, astronomy. He is a former professor at Harvard University. Brilliant man! He came out with a paper.
Where he says the universe is is a expanding at an astounding rate. But that there is a limit, physicists are saying, to that expansion.
So, right now, Our universe is expanding. And that limit is called the cosmic horizon, at which the universe cannot expand anymore. He says it is 273 billion trillion miles from planet Earth. And here's what the doctor said. He says, as we physicists are now starting to study this cosmic horizon upon which the universe cannot, or beyond which the universe cannot expand anymore.
We're studying the traits of what's beyond that cosmic horizon, and it sounds a lot like heaven. He says, for example, according to the laws of physics and Einstein's theories of special and relative theories, beyond that cosmic boundary, Where the universe can't expand anymore. Time. ceases to exist. Just like heaven, there will be no past, present, or future beyond that cosmic boundary.
Also, beyond that boundary, the only beings that could survive would be light-like beings. and that could only be inhabited by light-like beings. And there was an uproar that we have a Harvard physicist who is now actually taking the idea of heaven. Seriously? But he's not the only one.
Several years ago. In Discovery Magazine, physicist Brian Green said that physicists are beginning to embrace the unsettling theory that our world, watch this, is just a mirror. or a shadow of another universe. A realm where real events take place. Did you hear what I just said?
Secular physicists are now open to the idea that maybe this world is not the real place. We're just a shadow of another world. I believe we are, and that other world's called heaven.
Now, here's what bothers me. It seems like physicists Scientists Are more interested in the concept of heaven than most church members are. We don't talk about heaven that much anymore. We make fun of the old-timers who talk about heaven. And yeah, mama used to talk about heaven.
And she used to go to old hillbilly church where they'd see hillbilly songs like I'll Fly Away. And we kind of roll our eyes. Maybe we need to stop rolling our eyes and go back to the Word of God and say, there might be something here. Um Chad, I don't want to talk about heaven. I want something practical.
I don't care about this ethereal heaven stuff. Give me something practical. Seven keys to a successful marriage, five keys to financial freedom. Give me something practical. I'm going to tell you in just a second, I don't know of anything more practical than for a Christian to be heavenly-minded instead of earthly-minded.
There's something practical about heaven. Um now. Just interestingly, and this is just a theory of mine, and I may be wrong on this, but where is heaven located now? It's interesting. According to the book of Revelation, one day, wherever heaven is, It will come, here's what it says: it will come down.
And enter into our realm. If it's in a parallel universe, it'll come into our universe. If it's in another dimension, it'll come into our dimension. But Revelation is very clear. I don't think Revelation is talking metaphorically.
One day, wherever heaven is now, it is going to come down to planet Earth. And where is heaven? It's interesting. The Bible always describes heaven as being up. Have you noticed that?
It's always up. Um Now skeptics would say, ah, Bible's wrong. Because up In North Carolina is one way. Up In Australia, is another way. Bible's wrong.
Up can be different places depending on where you are on planet Earth. It's kind of interesting. Do you know there's one fixed position on planet Earth? And that's Polaris, the North Star. North is the only fixed position on planet Earth.
Here's a diagram of that. Polaris, or the North Star, is the fixed position. Earth's axis rotates. uh on a uh on an axis that is anchored by the North Star. And so There is some kind of implication when the Bible says that heaven is going to come down.
Again, I could be wrong on this, but I wonder if there's some kind of implication that when heaven enters planet Earth, it's going to do it from the north. It's interesting. The Bible indicates that God's throne is in the north. Isaiah 14, 13 through 14. Talking to Satan who wanted to take God's place.
Says this. For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into the heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation to the farthest sides of thee. North.
Implication God's throne room is somewhere to the north. Leviticus 1:11, when God's given the proper way to slaughter animals for sacrifices in the Old Testament, says this, and he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward. Toward the Lord.
Okay. Psalm 75, 6 through 7. For promotion. Cometh neither from the east. Nor from the west Nor from the south But God is the judge.
Which cardinal direction is missing in that? North implication. God's throne room is somewhere to the north. I'm not sure if it's a parallel universe, another dimension, if it's past that cosmic boundary. All we know is one day heaven is going to come to earth.
So here's the point. Let's not miss the force of the trees. Peter is talking to an audience that's about to go through incredible persecution. And what he does is not come to... Come to Pastor Peter.
Let me hold you and kind of tell you everything's going to be okay. Let me tell you, I don't know how a good God could let you go through persecution. Let's all reconstruct our faith together because God hasn't come. He doesn't do any of that. He says, let me tell you who you are in Jesus Christ.
That's last week. And let me tell you where you're going. This world is not your home. You're just passing through. One day you're going to go to your real home, which is heaven.
And what I'm finding. Is when I stop getting so focused. Remember the old song, turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will what? grows strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. When I start to focus on heaven, It does several things.
Number one, please jot this down, it gives me peace. Um What Peter is saying to his audience is, I know times are about to get tough. You're only here for a short time. In fact, I used to do this little exercise for y'all. It's been a while.
Soak. Let's do it again. On the count of three. I want you to blink your eyes one time, okay? Y'all with me?
On the counter three, just blink. One Two Three, blink.
Okay. If you live to be 76 years of age, That blink is one six billionth of your life. a teeny, tiny portion of your 76 years. But when you look at the grand scheme of eternity, your 76 years on planet Earth are quicker than that blink. Why are we so focused on the blink when we should be focused on all eternity?
And see, that's our problem. Here you go right here. We gotten a little bit too used to this place. We are citizens of America first, and I salute the flag, and I drive a Chevrolet, and I eat mama's apple pie. I believe in all that good stuff.
But I'm going to tell you something: you're not an American first. You're a citizen of the kingdom of heaven first. America, I hate today this, and I'm the most patriotic person in this place. In fact, I was going to, I have a belt buckle that's the American flag. I was going to wear it today.
I forgot to wear it, but whatever. I'm an American. I'm going to tell you something. This is going to be blasphemy, some of y'all. Do y'all know America is going to disappear one day?
Y'all, what? Is this microphone on? Hey, right, Wingers. America is going to disappear one day. Maybe we're getting a little bit too comfortable in this place.
And maybe that's why we don't have peace. John 14, the disciples are about to get roughed up. They're going to be persecuted. Jesus is going to be killed. They're about to have the worst night of their life.
Do you know what advice Jesus gives to them? John 14:1. Let not your heart be troubled. In other words, don't be scared. Don't be upset.
Jesus, you just told us we're all about to be. Setting ducks here. You just told us you're about to be killed, and now you're telling us, don't be worried, don't be scared, don't be anxious, let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions.
If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also. Do you see what he just told those guys? It's about to get tough. Life's about to get hard.
Everybody's about to come against you. But have peace. Jesus tagging out peace. Remember. I'm going to take you to a better place one day.
He tells him to think about heaven. Disciples, when you get anxious, Think about the fact I'm going to prepare a place for you. And beloved, as beautiful as planet Earth is, it was created in six literal days. Jesus has been working on your home for the last 2,000 years. Imagine what that place must be like.
Um The Emperor Hadrian. Asked the philosopher Aristotes, he said. This weird sect called Christianity is just exploding. I'm slaughtering Christians. The more I kill them, The more it grows.
He said, Aristides, try to find out why Christianity is growing so much despite persecution. And here's what Aristides wrote to the Emperor of Hadrian: He said, If any righteous person of their number dies and passes away from the world. Those crazy people rejoice. And they give thanks to their God as if that person had left one place and was going to a better place. What he said was Emperor, do you want to know why these Christians are growing and thriving despite persecution?
They actually believe that when one of them dies, that person's going to a better place. Heaven brings them peace. And just be blunt. There's a qualitative difference between a person who is given a cancer diagnosis who doesn't have the hope of heaven. versus the person who has the cancer diagnosis and they do have the hope of heaven.
It's gonna be blind. Worst thing you could ever experience would be the death of a child. There's a qualitative difference between a family who loses a child and does not have the hope of heaven. And those who loses a child, and they do have the hope of heaven. There's a qualitative difference between a Christian who watches the news that isn't focused on heaven.
He's mad, upset, torn up, angry. Versus a Christian whose focus is on heaven. He's like, Yeah, this world's a messed up place, but I ain't going to be here forever. This world isn't at my home. I'm going to a better place one day.
Focusing on heaven. gives you peace. Y'all with me? But Honestly. I say this about once every Sunday.
If you don't hear anything else I've preached today, hear that. Your focus on heaven. It's going to give you all kinds of peace. But the second one's kind of interesting. On the other hand, focusing on heaven, it develops productivity.
It makes us more productive as Christians. Have you ever heard that saying? Are our Christian, so-and-so, he is so heavenly-minded, he ain't no earthly good. Have you heard that before? They're so heavenly-minded, they're no earthly good.
I've never met a Christian like that. I've met a lot of Christians who are so earthly-minded they're no heavenly good. But what I'm finding is the Christians who have the most eternal perspective, they seem to do the most for the kingdom of God. And it's not just my observation. C.S.
Lewis said that. C.S. Lewis said: if you read history, you'll find that the Christians who did the most for the present world. Were those who thought the most of the next world? The apostles themselves who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English evangelicals who abolished the slave trade, all left their mark on earth precisely because their minds were occupied by heaven.
Now, listen to this. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world. that they've become so ineffective in this world. Aim at heaven and you'll get the earth thrown in. Aim at the earth and you'll get neither.
Wow. The most effective People. in the Bible. Had a focus on heaven and eternity. They didn't just sit around waiting for Jesus to come back.
They didn't do that. The most effective men and women in the Bible were those who thought the most of eternity. Where's that in the word? Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 talks about Abraham, talks about Rahab, talks about Joshua, all these Gideon.
All these great men and women who did incredible things for God here on earth, what was their secret? Their secret, Hebrews 11:16, was this: they were looking for a better place. A heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God because He has prepared a city for them. You want to be the best real estate agent in the world?
Be a heavenly-minded real estate agent. You want to be the best insurance agent in Raleigh? Be the most heavenly-minded insurance agent in Raleigh. When you and I have a heavenly perspective, it makes us more productive here on earth.
So what does focusing on Heaven, give me. First of all, it gives me peace. I'm not trying to be mean or jaded. I just, all right, this November, we're going to vote conservative and we're going to vote pro-light. We're going to do all that stuff.
But in the end, it's just a temporary solution. It's just a band-aid. This whole world. Chad, do you believe in global warming? Yes.
This whole world's going to burn up one day. Yes, I believe in global warming. And this world's not my home. I have peace because no matter how bad it gets here on planet Earth, I know where I'm going one day. Being heavenly minded gives us peace, it gives us productivity, and then, number three, focusing on heaven produces purity.
Moral purity. 2 Peter 3.13. But we We're looking forward to the new heavens. And the new earth that He has promised, a world filled with God's righteousness. And so, dear friends, while you're waiting for these things to happen, what things?
For heaven to come, to go to heaven, while you're waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be founding, living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in His sight. He just said right there. You keep that heavenly Focus. The junk of this world just doesn't seem as appealing anymore. He's old timers.
Some of y'all may have had an old Pentecostal Baptist grandma that would do something like this. Grandma would say, hey, where are you going?
Well, mama, I'm going to go to the movies. You're going to the movies. Is that where you want Jesus to catch you if he comes back tonight? You have the movies? What are you listening to?
Well, I'm listening to this song. You listen to that filthy song? Is that what you want to be listening to when Jesus comes back? And we kind of laugh at people like that, but Peter's like, nah, they may have some wisdom there. When I started to realize that Jesus could come back at any moment, Heaven is my home.
Suddenly, the junk of this world just isn't not that appealing anymore. Here's what Randy Alcorn said in that book, Heaven book. He said, If my wedding date is on the calendar, And I'm thinking of the person that I'm going to marry. then I shouldn't be an easy target for seduction. Likewise, when I've meditated on heaven, sin is terribly unappealing.
It is when my mind drifts from heaven that sin seems attractive. Thinking of heaven leads inevitably to pursuing holiness. Our high tolerance for sin testifies of our failure to prepare for heaven. Wow. So when I'm focused on heaven, this world's not my home.
I have peace. When I'm focused on heaven, I'm more productive for the kingdom and for this earth. When I focus on heaven, I start to have more purity. The junk and the filth and the flesh of this world just doesn't appeal to me. And when I focus on heaven, watch this, it gives me, I'm just going to close with this, it gives me passion.
Gives me passion. Gives me passion. for lost people. Using passion. for global missions.
When I realize heaven is real and hell is real. And Jesus is the only difference. Suddenly, I want people to know about this Jesus. And I know, well Chad, sometimes you come on a little bit too strong. Chad, I brought a lost friend to this church, and you kind of preached on hell and sin.
And if you're not careful, you're going to scare them off. They're already going to hell. Where am I going to scare them off to? Hell number one, hell number two, or hell number three? Why don't we just share Jesus with people like we really believe eternity.
relies on it. Heaven gives me passion for lost people. Kevin. Gives me passion for every day that I wake up. I wake up and I think It's today the day.
Is today the day that I drop dead of a heart attack and go into the presence of Jesus? Or is today the day where the rapture occurs and I go to heaven and be in the presence of Jesus? When I wake up every day thinking this might be the day. How can you have a boring day like that? It gives me passion for every day.
I'll be honest with you. The more I think about heaven, The more passionate I get about Jesus. It's just strange. The more heavenly minded I get, The more excited about Jesus I get and seeing Jesus I get. A.
M. Hunter, the New Testament scholar. Tells a story of a dying man. Uh who in the The days when doctors would make house calls, he asked the doctor to come and visit him.
So the doctor hitched up the wagon. Doctor's old dog jumped in the back of the wagon. The old country doctor went to see this dying man. He leaves his dog downstairs and the doctor walks upstairs. goes into the dying man's room and shuts the door.
And immediately the dying man said, Doctor. Am I dying? The doctor said, Yes, you are. He said, do you think I'll be in eternity soon? The doctor said yes.
I do. Um The dying man started asking the doctor all these questions about heaven. And the doctor is sitting there thinking, I'm not a theologian, I'm a doctor. But this dying man is asking him all the questions about Heaven. Heaven.
Heaven. And finally the doctor stopped him and he said, He said, Do you hear that noise? The dying man said, Yeah, what is that? He said, That's my dog scratching at the door. I left him downstairs.
But he's drawn impatient. And he's come upstairs because he hears my voice. He has no notion what's inside this door. But he knows I'm here. His master is there.
And isn't that the same with you? You're not quite sure what lies behind that door into heaven, but you do know your master is there. Jesus is there, and you will be with Jesus forever. And so, um But you're standing with me right now. If you're watching online or watching on TV.
Well, you're here today. And you're not certain where you're going to spend eternity. I'm going to tell you something, you will spend eternity. Did you know this? Did you know everybody has eternal life?
I got good news for you. Everybody's got eternal life. Question is where are you going to spend that eternal life? In heaven or in hell. The default position of the human race is we are in rebellion, running away from God as fast as we can, and God does not want that, and God is trying to bring people to Him left and right.
I believe there's tears in God's eyes when He thinks about some of y'all spending eternity without Him. If you've never repented of your sins. And turn to Jesus and receive the free gift of eternal life. I want you to understand that you and I are sinners, we deserve to be punished.
Somebody got to pay for that sin that you've committed. Praise God. 2,000 years ago, somebody did. His name was Jesus, God's Son. He paid for your sins.
He died on the cross for your sins. He paid the price. He was buried. He came back to life again. He's alive now.
And now, if you'll just simply turn from your sins and turn to Jesus and turn the control of your life over to him, he will save you and give you an eternal destination called heaven. Bow your heads with me right now. Repeating magic monsters doesn't save anybody. Jesus saves you. But if this articulates what's going on in your heart right now, I want you to say this to Jesus.
You gotta mean this with all your heart. Would you say to Jesus, Jesus, I am a sinner? Lord, I deserve to be punished. But Jesus, I believe you died for my sins. Say this to him.
I believe you were buried. And I believe three days later, God raised you from the dead.
Now, this is so important. Say to him, Lord, I turn away from my sin. And I turn to you. Please forgive me of all my sins. Give me eternal life.
And when I die, Please take me to heaven. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. In just a second, we're going to close out.
I'm going to ask you to do something that we do every time. I won't tell you their names, but. Our guests that we had up here a few minutes ago, I believe they're going to be out in the lobby, are they not? If anybody needs a word of encouragement spoken over them, it's people who are serving in that part of the world. I know it might take you two extra minutes before you get in your car, but before you leave today, could you go by and just speak a word of encouragement and bless them?
Could y'all do that today? I'm begging you. We're here in a climate-controlled country where it's safe to be a follower of Jesus. They're on the edge of some very challenging places. Goodbye and speak to them.
Hey, I know this world's getting crazy and stressful. I told you a couple weeks ago. The gout folks have been studying depression for years, and they said we've never seen this much depression in America than we're seeing right now.
So, I understand what kind of world we're living in. But it reminds me when our kids, one thing I miss about having kids is we used to do road trips all the time. And we'd be on these road trips, we'd go to different places, and then come back home. What was the most consistent question they would ask? Are we always there?
Are we almost there? And they'd be fussing and fighting and picking and grumpy and all kind of sad. And they were. Defrest. Until dad said those magic words.
Kids? We're almost home. And then they turn me into different creatures. They were happy, they were joyful, they were all smiles and cheers because we were almost home. Kids?
Daddy Chad tells us, I know this is a messed up world. I know you're a little bit down, but cheer up. Hey, we're almost home in the name of Jesus Christ. How many of y'all are ready to go home? How many of y'all are ready to be with Jesus forever?
Then lift your hands and lift your voices and let's sing this to the Lord right now. Yeah.
