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Good morning. Well, it's great to be back. And uh this Sunday feels a little bit like the first Sunday in January to me, where a bunch of us have been traveling and finally we're all back in town, kind of at the same uh time, and it's just so great to uh be together, worship God together. Um if it's your first time here, hope you can tell you can just uh relax and and be yourself. If you've been coming for the last four or five weeks and you're wondering who's this dude, um my name's Steve. Uh my wife Susan and I started his hands. It's uh coming up in eight years in uh September. And he's really done just uh an amazing thing, you know, just focused our our hearts and and uh ourselves on Jesus and um and and the one thing that he's done, I guess, that maybe we didn't see is he's just turned us into a big family. And uh we'd love for you to be to be uh part of that family. Um it's a little different. We're a volunteer church, it's uh more like a cause, I guess. Uh um we've got a very small staff. I volunteer. Um I've got a a company that's another uh thing, but uh um but as I can just get into lead and and uh and do this. And so just about everybody we see doing anything this morning is uh volunteering. And I say all that because we've got a great volunteer opportunity, um, and you might have guessed what that is, but it's uh uh it's it's also a great need. And uh it's uh it's in the nursery, and I want to ask uh men especially to not tune out because we need uh we need you, we need uh um all of us. You know, we transformed the nursery uh back at the end of the year and the start of January. Megan Matear just has done a phenomenal job. God gave her a real uh vision, and so many people have uh have helped out. And so every Sunday our uh littlest uh our littlest ones get cared for and prayed for and and loved on. We got a couple dedicated teams right now, and and those teams spend two Sundays uh in the nursery and then two Sundays here in the big room. So half the time they're not able to be with us um here in the in the big room. And that was the expectation. We knew as a transition that that's um how it was going to be, but we also knew it would be too much uh for it to uh to always be like that. And so what I am asking is that everyone, man and woman, uh consider volunteering two weeks out of each year uh to help in the nursery. You know, six Sundays or twelve Sundays would be even uh bigger, but if we can all just help twice a year, it it allows us to have the most wonderful uh nursery. We've looked at a lot of different ways different churches uh do it, and this is um definitely the best way. And it uh blesses the kids and it helps us when we get a chance to serve. I told us before, but the church that uh we went to before starting his hands, on one Sunday they were announcing a big children's uh effort that they were doing, and uh they needed uh a bike, which was part of uh a giveaway, was part of what of this whole event. And so being just a humble, God-loving, generous man, um I thought to myself, you know, I'll get a bike. And uh but not only that, I thought, man, if they can do something great with one bike, imagine. Imagine if they had two. And so I had uh after church, I head back to find the guy that's leading this, and and uh I just can't wait to see the look in his eye. I know it's gonna be excitement and uh but mostly just extreme gratitude. And um and so I go, hey, guess what? You know, I heard we needed a bike, and and um and I want to not just get one, I'd really feel like like I should uh get two. And he said, Well, we already got the bikes, but I really need your help. I'm like, oh no. That's not what I was signing up for. And so one week later, I'm leading the Father Abraham dance in front of a bunch of uh fourth graders, and it was really great for me, and it was it was a great thing of what God was doing in my life, teaching me to serve, you know, and teaching me to serve where the the need was. Um it's something that we can do as husbands and wives together. Uh each room has a lead teacher, if you will, called uh a gardener, and then assistant gardeners. And someone that has a desire could be a gardener, but we all can be um assistants. And so on your Sunday, you'd get here a little bit early. Uh everything would be organized. Megan makes it easy, it's a little bit instruction. Uh there's always uh a theme and a plan and a teaching and activities and all those things. There's also free coffee and pastries, and and then you're ready to go. And so I want to show you a quick video to give you an idea of a morning in the nursery.

We have an amazing nursery, and we're excited to show you what God is doing each Sunday. We call our nursery the garden. It's a place where our littlest children can grow in God, in life and in love, just like the smallest of seeds can grow into a huge tree. This morning, we want to give you a tour of what happens in the garden every Sunday. We meet as a team in the morning before the kids arrive. All the lessons and materials are prepared for volunteers ahead of time. Kids get checked in and taken to their assigned classrooms, and that's where the real fun begins. The morning is full of dynamic developmental activities that teach our kids who God is and how much he loves them. Every Sunday has new lessons with crafts, activities, worship, and prayer time with the kids. We also have a beautiful gym space where the kids participate in active learning games that go along with each morning's theme. Every moment, from the games to snap time, reinforces the lesson and reminds the kids that God loves them, made them, and wants to be their side forever. Our volunteers get to experience the joy of nurturing these kids' very first connections and experiences with Jesus. Whether you're a parent, grandparent, or someone that just sees the value in our youngest children, these are our kids, and they need us to pour God's love into their lives. You'll be blessed to be part of the nursery team. We look forward to seeing you in the garden soon.

So uh, especially if you have kids, but really all of us, if we could pick a couple weeks um out of uh out of each year to uh to help. Um the only qualification is that we're over 18. Wow, I almost fell backwards. That would have uh we could have had a healing right here. Um it's uh it's happened in here quite a bit, honestly. Um where was I before I fell off the stool? Ah. Um 18 and loving. That's the qualifications. Uh there's a short background check, it's on that form. Uh relax. This is not a credit check or checking anything else. It is just specifically checks for anything that would keep us disqualified from uh helping with kids. And obviously we all all want um that. And uh again, we're a volunteer church, know everybody's time so valuable, know that that most of us volunteer in different areas, but if we could all um find two Sundays that we could uh do that a year, um there'll just be a huge return. So if you would, before you leave, fill out the sheet that was on your uh chair and drop it off in the basket outside. Uh Megan will be uh in the lobby and and some of the um volunteer team if you have any uh questions or or have uh any um extra info you want. And uh Susan and I are gonna do a couple weeks and and hope that uh that you will too. And I will say that uh this is probably the biggest arm twisting I've ever done. I mean, we don't even pass a plate, you know. Um but it's uh but it's a big payoff, you know, and it's a big reward, and I think it's something that we can all uh make happen, don't don't you? So thank you very much uh for that. Okay, let's pray. Father, thanks for being such a great God for um loving us as children, for adopting us into your very own family, and so we can call you Abba, Father, Daddy, Father, and we just uh praise you for that and love being your your kids and Holy Spirit. We thank you for being our teacher and comforter and counselor, and just ask you to teach us each this morning that you would flow through this room and through us, and that each of us would go away with something uh that was for us and directly from you. And Jesus, we just praise you and love you. Thank you for being our Savior and our friend, and it's in your name we pray, amen. So several months ago, I was in the meeting, and it was it was a group of pretty successful business people from all over the country, and it's a quarterly meeting that focuses uh each time on one of the critical kind of elements of uh success. And this particular group um defines success in a very whole life way, you know, uh our uh relationship with God, with our with our families, our our careers, and and uh generosity. Uh Tommy Newberry leads this group. Um, and so you can uh imagine, and that's really what he does. You know, we know him for 40 Days of Joyful Life and the Fora Principal. Um the main thing he does is he's a business coach. And and so once a quarter guys come in, guys and gals from all over the country, and uh he invited me to this last meeting, and the topic was self-discipline, which is not the most fun topic in the world. Um it was great that that I got to be there because for me it's kind of a mixed bag. I mean, there's some areas of my life where I'm you know very disciplined, and then there's other areas uh not so much. So just to be there and get motivated, and and it was uh it was really good. And so to finish the meeting, uh there's a big whiteboard in front, and and you can hopefully picture this. I thought I'd try and recreate it, but I'm not that creative. Um But uh on the big whiteboard on the on the left side he wrote the word pain, and then on the right side he wrote the word gain. And then on the left side he wrote the word risk, and then on the right side he wrote the word reward, and then he wrote sowing, and then he wrote reaping, and then he wrote giving, then he wrote uh receiving. And and the way he finished the meeting is that he said, most people live and think on the left side. To be all that God created us to be, we need to live and think on the right side. Um, you know, for example, so at work, if I'm thinking, man, I can't believe I've got to work late an hour um today, that's one thing. If I'm thinking, boy, you know, I love this career, I I'm looking forward to the promotion, I know that that God uh makes hard work pay off, you know, that'd be living on the left side. Um working out. Um, you know, if it's like me where I get up and I'm like, oh man, I'm sore, I'm tired, I don't really want to go work out. Um, you know, it's hard to get in a groove. But those that that are really successful are on the right side, where it's like, man, I really want to be uh healthy and I want to have more energy and I want to sleep better, and and and you know, the focus is on the right side. Truth generosity. You know, it could be like, man, I can't believe this is a this could be a car payment, you know, or it could be someone that's like, I cannot believe all the good that's gonna happen from from this gift. And so getting through the tough times and and being all that we can be, he asserted, takes living our lives where we're focused on that right side. And it reminded me of a beautiful verse. And it's Colossians 3 1. It says, Since you have been raised to a new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven. For Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Heaven is a reality. It says the realities of heaven. And the ultimate right side, if you will, is heaven. You know, when will things be completely made right? Heaven. When will we experience you know, a really honest no fear at all? Can we talk about living with fear? When will we will we really have no fear at all? It'll be heaven. When will we get some of the rewards for the good things that we do? It'll be heaven. Where can we be completely safe? Where will our loved ones be completely safe? When will we understand all of God's plans? When will we as individuals be completely whole and just like God created us to be? When will we experience love and joy and pleasure beyond what we can even imagine? It was almost four years ago, if you can believe that, if you were here when we spent seven weeks uh um talking about heaven. And we're gonna take just two uh this Sunday and and next next Sunday. But I think this will be an exciting couple weeks. For me, it's an exciting kind of uh topic. Taking a break from the left side and daydreaming a little bit about the ultimate right side, you know, the reality of heaven. And there's almost an immediate payoff when we start thinking about heaven. Paul said in Colossians 1, he said, We always pray for you and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God's people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You've had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the good news. And so we'll be reading what God's word says about heaven. It's probably more than we think. There's five hundred and fifty verses in the Bible that are specific about heaven. There's another three or four hundred verses that uses the word heaven, but it's in the referring to the st uh stars and the sky and uh that type of thing. Um in 1 Corinthians 2, it says this. That is what the scriptures mean when they say, No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. But it was to us that God revealed these things by his spirit. For his spirit teaches out everything and shows us God's deep secrets. And so heaven, what's heaven's gonna be, is one of God's deep secrets. But the cool thing is he's revealed it to us. He's revealed it to us. And we'll see some of that uh this morning. And so the problem for me, up to I don't know, uh let's say ten years ago, was I I never really wanted to go to heaven. Um I didn't want to go to hell, I knew that. But uh it just seemed so boring to me. Um, you know, floating around maybe as a spirit, uh probably on a cloud, you know, singing. Um even worshiping forever. I mean, you know, in the last 10 years, I've experienced some worship that I truly, the connection with God was so fantastic. I didn't ever want it to end. But what I was used to was, you know, six hours a week, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, pretty much being bored out of my mind. And um you know, the idea of spending forever in an eternal church service, it just, I mean, it was not that motivating. Um and so much of what I thought about heaven was completely wrong. You know, ex the exact opposite of what the Bible says. You know, for example, the floating around on a cloud um type of stuff. And so this morning uh it's kind of basic, um, although it was a shock for me when I first understood it. Um, but it's a basic that answers a lot of questions like will we have physical bodies in heaven? Will we eat? Will we drink? What will heaven be like? What will heaven look like? And so here's the truth. And uh, if everyone will stand up real quick, okay. Here's the truth. Is right now, this very moment, we are all standing on heaven. Not heaven like it's gonna be, but the location of where heaven's gonna be. Okay, you may have to sit down after that. Um we die, there's a temporary home that we think about that's called uh paradise. I'm not sure Bill and I were talking about what time is gonna be like there and if it'll go like a blink of the eye. Um but our ultimate home, when Jesus returns, is not in the clouds. It is a renewed, restored, perfect as God created it earth. Second Peter 3 says, But we're looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God's righteousness. And so in that context, the new heavens is the stars and skies, and the earth is a new restored earth. And if that seems strange, uh just hang in there. And uh we really need to understand God's perfect plan. You know, when He when God originally created the heavens and earth, and Bill talked about that last Sunday, um, it was good. It was it was perfect. He created man and women, also good and perfect, in God's image. You know, he made our physical bodies first, you know, ideal, strong, no disease, no addictions, nothing to worry about, nothing to be ashamed of. You know, he then breathed life in his spirit into us, and we were designed to live forever. Our intended home was a wonderful garden. Four different large rivers flowed into this garden, and we had responsibility, we had stuff to take care of, we interacted with animals, and we had a great relationship with God. He would come down and physically walk in the garden and talk and um and be with us. And he created all of us with uh with free will. So Adam and Eve had a had a choice. You know, a real relationship with God, a life living. Come every time you want relationship with God. And that was symbolized by the tree of life in the center of the garden. But there was another tree as we know, and that symbolized religion and rules, and just tell me what to do. That was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And so Adam and Eve, representing all of us, um chose the knowledge of good and evil. And so what we got was what they asked for, and it was the old law the knowledge of good and evil, and that intimate relationship with our Abba father, our daddy father, was broken. And everything got tough. Work had been exciting and and enjoyable enjoyable and fulfilling, and it got hard and it got difficult. Having children would have been just amazing and wonderful. But it also became painful and difficult. And our relationships, especially between husbands and wives, became sometimes painful and difficult. And all of creation felt a change, just not people, all of creation felt this change, this break in this relationship with God. Nature did, as thorns and and uh thistles and weeds grew up. Animals turned on each other and started attacking and devouring, storms and and fires and natural disasters became common. And now all of creation. You, I, nature, earth, sky, we face the same thing death and decay because of a broken. Relationship with our Creator God. And so to fix all this, the first thing that had to be restored was our relationship with God. You know, Romans 5 says, For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his son. And so that's what trusting Jesus, accepting Jesus, putting our hope in Jesus, our faith in Jesus, being born again, all those things. It's another way of saying that our relationship has been restored through Jesus. And in a sense, in our lives, God puts us all kind of metaphorically back in the garden where we don't get just stuck with Adam and Eve's choice. We get to make our own choice. You know, is it going to be religion and rules, or is it going to be life and relationship with God through Jesus? And so that's number one in God's plan is restore the relationship. Then it's restoring us to the power of his spirit. You know, he does the heavy lifting and starts changing from the inside out. And then next comes relationships. And so he restores our relationship with God, he restores us the way we think about things, you know, the way we view things, uh, what what our focus is, all those types of things he starts changing. Eventually our relationships with other people change, and eventually our whole lives change. And when Jesus comes again, he's going to restore everything. Everything. All of creation, us included, uh, the earth included, animals according to his original plan. You know, uh we'll have new bodies, we'll have exciting relationships with learning and growing and uh and creating and life. So our life with God forever is not on some faraway planet or floating on a cloud. It's right here in a completely restored earth, as God originally intended it. Uh this is what Paul says in Romans. Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God's curse, but with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And when we believers also groan, and we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We too wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he's promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. In Isaiah, God prophesied through Isaiah. He says, You will live in joy and peace, the mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands. Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow, where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. Isaiah 65, it says, Look, I'm creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore. John had a uh a vision. It's recorded in the book of Revelations, and in Revelations 21 it says, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared, and the sea was also gone, and I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne saying, Look, God's home is now among his people. He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever. And the one sitting on the throne said, Look, I am making everything new. And so that really is where I guess we want to start. Kind of all we want to see this morning. Hopefully the beginning of getting excited about heaven. Um, or maybe just a reminder of what we already understood about uh uh heaven, that it'll be a beautiful, natural, physical place. And we'll see next week what we'll be doing, uh, that we'll know each other and that we'll learn and we'll grow and then and create and that it'll be some place we can really be excited about. Imagine. Anyone here love animals? It's okay. We can love animals and we can love people more, you know. Um God restores his creation, what it's gonna be like to interact and hang out with animals. Can you imagine just wrestling like with a panda bear? I mean, seriously, I mean there's there's not gonna be aggression. I mean, I mean, what if we could just take a nap, you know, with a lion or hang forever with our favorite, you know, horse or dog? Um cats won't be in heaven. Um they are self-centered little creatures. I'll say this: if you love a cat, I think God's gonna make an exception, and uh your cat will be there. But sometimes we think so spiritually that we think, you know, that that God is everything spiritual, you know, and that spiritual is good and physical is bad. But God created the earth, you know, and so much of it's physical, and every single step of the way, he said, it's good, it's good, it's good. And then he created a combination of physical and spiritual. Us. And he said, That is very good. You know, and God is proud of, God loves all his creation. Do you remember when when God destroyed the earth with the flood? He gave Noah a sign. What was the sign? It was a rainbow. You know, it's kind of interesting because it was really a contract God was making, and so that when Noah saw the rainbow, he would know that that God would not destroy the earth by a flood again. But it also was to remind himself, he said, to remind him. Oh, by the way, I remember I told Noah, you know, we tick him off too bad, and he's like, hey, that's right, I told Noah. Not that he gets ticked off, it's just uh um, but but it wasn't just a contract with Noah, it was an agreement God made with all creation. It was an agreement, in fact, that he made with all living beings, not just with Noah and his family. It's in Genesis 9. It says, Then God said, I'm giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures for all generations to come. I've placed my rainbow in the clouds, it is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I said clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the flood waters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I'll remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth. Then God said to Noah, Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth. God cares about everything. And he's gonna restore everything. I mean, if we love nature, anybody love nature? I mean, I do. We're all wired differently, but when when I'm out in nature, I mean, it is just the most worshipful, uh, peaceful, um, exciting thing. And nature is gonna be part of what our great joy is in heaven. I mean, if you've ever been to Augusta National or Pebble Beach or skied a great mountain, or been to any beach, or a walk in the woods, or or whatever it is, imagine when the whole earth is like the Garden of Eden. Imagine when nature is not pushing back at all. There's no weeds, there's no decay, there's no replanting that ever needs done. Imagine what the fruit is gonna taste like, what the flowers are gonna look like. Um six or seven years ago, I was in Uganda, and we were way um way out in the in the country, you know, far away from water and electricity, and and uh we got attacked by a miceite tribe. I'll maybe I'll tell you about that sometime. Um but uh but we're way out there, and uh and we're eating lunch, and part of the lunch is uh bananas. And uh I guess y'all did the banana dance uh last week, but uh this would have been worth dancing about because uh this banana was unlike anything I've had ever tasted. I mean, it was so sweet, and what you know how a banana is a little bit sweet and it just doesn't have that much flavor, just sort of tastes like a banana. I mean, this had the deepest taste, and it was so sweet. They don't eat dessert like we think of it over there. You know, there's no cakes and cookies and that type of stuff. They eat fruit, and and for good reason. Because it is just wonderful. And I know the reason I've never had anything like that before, because that banana tree was closer to God's original creation. It was closer geographically, it hadn't been affected by man, by processing and fertilizers and that. And it was it was unlike anything I'd ever had. Well, imagine when everything is like that. What food's gonna taste like, you know, what what uh flowers and trees and everything is gonna look like. And we'll be enjoying it all. You know, we'll be enjoying a real life with real bodies, different, but very physical and very real, um, with nature and animals, and more importantly, with friends, you know, with our children, with our loved ones, with each other. And the most amazing part of it is gonna be just the overwhelming joy of being in the physical presence, the physical presence of Jesus and God our Father and the Holy Spirit. And so much of what Jesus taught us helps now, makes a huge difference in our lives on earth. You know, it's a better way to live, it it's uh more enjoyable, more fulfilling, more effective, more purposeful. And that's all important. But his real focus was always heaven. That was his real focus. Being with us on a and in a completely restored, renewed and fantastic earth. In Luke 6, it says, Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said, God blesses you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. God blesses you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. God blesses you who weep now, for in due time you will laugh. What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil? Because you follow the Son of Man? When that happens, be happy. Yes, leap for joy. For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And so if the worship team will come up, we'll stop here, and uh next week we'll talk more about our great reward in heaven. Um let's stand and we'll get ready for one last song together. And so the first step we talked about is renewing the relationship, you know? And like almost everything with God, it's a mystery and it's simple. There's no forms to be filled out, there's not even really a prayer to be repeated. It's us. I mean, how do we start a relationship? With a conversation. And it's in our own words and our own way, talking to Jesus. Jesus, I need you. Jesus, help me. Jesus, I want to follow you. Jesus, I want to live with you. You know, it might be save me, it might be I'm sorry. It doesn't really matter. It's our own words and our own way. Asking Jesus into our lives. And we are created in the image of God. We are created with the Spirit. When we do that, our Spirit comes alive and connects with God's Spirit. And then He starts transforming us and changing us from the inside out and restores that relationship and then starts restoring everything else in our lives. So I was thinking about heaven, I was thinking about, believe it or not, family vacations. And um, you know, when we took vacations with us and the kids, it was usually a big drive, you know, somewhere between ten and seven hours. It was either maybe to Disney or to the beach, and uh and those trips were something else. Um, you know, on those trips there'd be big arguments, there would be sickness, there would be car trouble. I mean, just thinking about it, I could think of a flat tire, I could think of no air conditioning, I could think of blowing an entire engine. But we never stopped. We always kept going. You know, because it was worth it. We just wanted to get there because we knew we were gonna have a great time where we were going. So in Colossians 3, where we started, since you've been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven. Let's pray. So, Father, we thank you for being such a great God. We do thank you for adopting us as your kids and for preparing a place for us. I mean, with all the love and all the excitement to prepare a home for us to where we can be with you and we can be exactly who you created us to be, with no fear, with no loss, with only love and joy and excitement. We just praise you for that. And Father, I ask you to be with everyone this morning, to give us whatever we need. There's a lot of us on that uh on that car trip, if you will, that are going through rough times or tough times or or stress, and you know where we're at, and you know what we need. So please give us a little taste of heaven now. We thank you and we love you and we trust you. In Jesus' great name we pray. Amen.