Come check out our new series through the book of Jude!
- Tuesday – JR. HIGH 7:00pm-8:30pm
- Wednesday – HIGH SCHOOL 7:00pm-8:30pm
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Sunday Sermon Notes: “What Happens After We Die?”
25 Oct
Isn’t it interesting that our world doesn’t really know what to do with the idea of death? Flowers, which are beautiful signs of life, adorn cemeterie. There is even an occupation to make dead people look nice and happy and life-like after they’re dead—a mortician. All of the anti-aging creams, diets, and plastic surgeries prove that we are afraid to die. The truth is, death has a 100% success rate—10 out of 10 people will die!
So, what happens when we die?
Let’s take a look at some FALSE ideas first:
1. NATURALISM
This belief says that humans are only a body and have no soul. Once people die, there is nothing more. In order to make life count, “you need to squeeze as much joy out of life. If it is filled with pain and regret, you are simply a loser.”
2. UNIVERSALISM
This belief says that “in the end everyone goes to heaven no matter what they have done in this life”. The problem is that “rapists, pedophiles, murders, thieves, can go on with their disgusting activity their entire life and be eternally rewarded.”
3. CATHOLICISM
Some Catholics believe in the idea of purgatory. This belief says that after death, people go to purgatory who have died in God’s grace in order to pay God off for the sins that haven’t been forgiven. This is totally wrong because it basically says that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was not enough and that we can take care of what Jesus did not complete as our sacrifice on the cross for our sins. We know that when Jesus said, “It is finished,” that it was!
4. REINCARNATIONISM
This belief says that after you die, you will come back repeatedly to earth until you have paid off your karmic debt. You must try to make right all the things you did wrong until you reach a state of perfection or nirvana, then you join the “energy of the universe”. This is foolish because “you can’t pay off your old sin as fast as you would be adding to your new sin.”
So what does the BIBLE say actually happens when you die?
1. As humans, we are composed of body and soul.
2. At death, a separation occurs between our body and our soul (Psalm 104:29; 146:4; Ecclesiastes 3:20-21, 12:7; James 2:26.
3. For Christians, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; Luke 23:43), therefore, the soul of a believer goes immediately into Jesus’ presence (2 Corinthians 5:1-10; Philippians 1:23).
4. For non-Christians, their souls go to immediate eternal punishment (Hebrews 9:27).
5. When Christ returns, there will be a resurrection of the dead (for both Christians and non-Christians), and body and soul will be reunited (Daniel 12:2; Matthew 25:46).
6. All will face judgment, based on their deeds. Those who’s name is written in the book of Life (because of faith in Christ alone, by grace only), will be welcomed in to heaven for eternity. Those who’s name is not written in the book of Life are cast in to the lake of fire with Satan and demons for eternal punishment (Revelation 20:11-15).
** Ideas and quotations are borrowed from Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe by Mark Driscoll (esp. Chapter 13). In addition, Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem was consulted (esp. Chapter 41). Please look at these resources for more detail on these and other theologies.
Tags: Sermon Notes
Christian Life
5 OctWhat is the Christian life supposed to look like?
Matthew 13:44 says this:
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a file, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
Too often, as Christians, we tend to try to get as close to sin as possible without actually touching it. Instead, we should be running after Jesus with all of our strength and money and time!
Here’s a prayer to keep in mind:
“God, cause me to find my complete joy and happiness in You alone. Help me believe that You are my one and only treasure.”
By Jordie Saenz
Mistakes of the Misanthropic Mind
16 Jul
Misanthropic? What is this, the SATs? No, that was just for the purposes of alliteration (another SAT word? Sorry). Basically, a misanthrope (one who is misanthropic) is “somebody who hates humanity, or who dislikes and distrusts other people and tends to avoid them.” I don’t know about you, but I know there are times in my walk through life when I find myself befitting of this description. So what does God’s word have to say about this particular subject? We are in luck. It is a well addressed subject in the bible. Let’s start in 1 John 4:7-11:
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Does that sound like a ringing endorsement for misanthropy? No, I think not. In fact it presents quite the opposite point. We are to love one another. Right from the top, “Dear friends, let us love one another.” Why you ask? Here John reminds us of the sacrifice of Jesus for the atonement of our sins. Now that is love. The logical conclusion in verse 11 is this, “since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” But let’s get one thing straight here, this is not a suggestion. 1 John 4:21 lays it out pretty plainly, “And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” Notice the use of the word “command.” This is not the only instances of this command in the bible either, trust me on that one.
So what does this “love your brothers” stuff mean anyway? Like my actual brother? Or does it mean my parents and friends and other Christians? Well, yes, but that is not the end of it. You are to love all people. Check out what Matthew 5:46 has to say about it; “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?” (For those of you who may not know, tax collectors were known as thieves and cheaters and all around bad dudes) Basically the point is this, it’s easy to love someone when they are nice to you and everything is going well. The real challenge, and the real calling that we as Christians have, is to love everyone. Whether they are nice to you or mean, stranger, friend or foe, whether they are Christians or not. I would suggest that it is more important for us to love those that we find it difficult to love. Those are the people that we need to be an example for, that we need to share the truth with, and that will help us to mature into the loving people that God desires us to be.
Now a potentially confusing verse for new believers and even some old believers is 1 John 2:15 and it goes like this; “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” But check out verse 16; “For everything in the world–the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world.” “The world” in these verses is not referring to the people we interact with in our lives, but rather to the aspects of this life that are going to stand between us as humans and our ability to live righteous, godly lives. We as believers are called to be in the world, but we are no longer to be of the world (see John 17:14-18). Thanks to Christ’s atoning sacrifice we have been set apart from the world and adopted as Children of God. Basically, being in the world means we are supposed to go out of our comfort zone and interact with people and show them what it is to be loved. We are to seek out people and love them based on the example that Jesus set forth for us.
God Bless,
Devin Campbell
