Renovation Church Sermon Podcast Léonce B.Crump Jr.

The American culture is working tirelessly to make your life more siloed, isolated, and disconnected from community so that you will depend on it for your purpose and satisfaction. 
In this host culture we all live in, there is no greater problem that we face than a siloed, isolated existence. From the rise in depression, the rise in suicide, political polarization, and addiction, to the extreme beliefs that people hold with conviction no matter how it conflicts with reality… I could keep going — it is all amplified by the extreme level of isolation and disconnected lives our culture wants us to live. 
Here is what I find fascinating; I don’t have to spend any time convincing you about this. Nearly everyone hearing this would go yeah. The truth is we all pretty much resent the way this life is but feel powerless to do anything about it. Short of buying a plot of land in South Dakota and starting a commune with a group of friends, getting out of this way of life feels impossible. So, for most people, the answer is just apathy. 
I need you to know that what you feel here is not wrong. This way of life that our host culture wants us to live is the opposite of God’s design for us. The Bible, and specifically Jesus, believes that every person should be part of a unified community where they can love and be loved.

You will never be a perfect mother, and you will never be everything your child needs, but you can be faithful to the task of raising your children in the way they should go, loving them in the way that they are, and trusting Jesus with the rest. 
So today, I invite you to consider three things I learned from my mother and watch in my wife, which I hope bring new joy to your motherhood journey. 
It goes without saying that I am not pedestooling them as the paragon of motherhood, but they are the two moms I know best!

“Giving is the greatest pleasure in life.” - Julius Rosenwald
No matter where you are on your spiritual journey, we all want to live like this. We all want to be people who bless others with that level of impact, joy, and dedication.
As we read in proverbs earlier, we want to be a soul of blessing. As inspiring as that story is, and just as much as we might aspire to be that type of person, there is an equal counter-motivator we deal with.








Giving feels like losing.
Whether we are in touch with the feeling itself or not, I imagine if you did a quick inventory of your heart, you would find resonance there. Giving—for many of us—feels like a loss.
We might feel we are losing out on something we want or think we need. We might feel a loss of a greater sense of security. Or perhaps a loss of control. Whatever it is, when faced with the prospect treating our resources the way the Bible describes, our immediate feeling is often... loss.
To some extent this is natural, when we go to the store and give our money, we get our bags immediately. We see where the $100 or more went.
Giving to God might not immediately yield a return, so it might feel like you didn’t get anything back.
Even though God promises that everything we give to Him will be returned in exponentially greater ways, our inability to delay gratification has hamstrung us.

We wonder how we will avoid boredom in eternity because we have been taught to believe eternity is an immaterial realm where we don’t eat, drink, play, create or relate—we just worship all day. 
Living with those beliefs can leave us feeling confused and unsure about eternity, and no one should have to be unsure of what the hope of eternity is.The Scriptures teach an incredible continuity between this world and the one to come. Discovering this in Scripture has not only strengthened my faith and excitement about eternity, but it has also given me new language to share that hope with those who are far from God, and I believe it will do the same for you.
Today, as it has been each week, will not be comprehensive enough to answer every question you might have about life after life after death or, more simply, life after Heaven. 

The problem of Hell in our time is twofold: 1. The Bible is less clear on the nature of Hell than on its existence. 2. The word Hell conjures up images in our mind gained more from medieval imagery than from the Scriptures and the earliest Christian writings.
Just as many were brought up to think of God as a bearded old man or the “big guy in the sky” stopped believing in that image and so stopped believing in God, there are many who were taught to think of Hell as a literal underground location full of worms and fire, or as a “torture chamber” and so decided that when they stopped believing in that, they stopped believing in Hell.
However, if we are indeed Christians, we do not have the choice to reject believing in something captured throughout Scripture. Even Evangelical Universalists believe in the existence of Hell and that people will go there.
So we are left with one choice—search the Scriptures to try and discern the most biblical understanding of Hell’s nature. I believe most everyone wants that understanding to some degree or another. I would imagine, most of all, we want to be relieved of anything that doesn't line up with the Scriptures, like rage-filled preaching about medieval imagery and calling it hell.

In the previous section of John’s Gospel, Jesus spoke directly to Peter. Now, he broadens his focus to include the other disciples, for they, too, are troubled—not because they rush toward pain, disgrace, shame, or crucifixion but because they are confused and uncertain of what Jesus means about His imminent departure. 
Jesus’ talk about departure and denial disturbed them greatly. It is no wonder the Eleven are profoundly upset. 
The way the disciples are to calm their hearts, Jesus spells out for them—Believe in God; believe also in me. Another way to say it is to trust God and trust me. They can only find real hope and confidence by focusing on God rather than themselves.
The reason He gives for leaving them is a promise—He is leaving to prepare a place for them. His departure is to their advantage. Yes, He is going away, but He is going away to make a home for them.
The language Jesus employs here—Father’s house and rooms—is used in many Jewish sources when speaking of Heaven. Since Heaven is pictured here as the Father’s house, it is more natural to think of ‘dwelling places’ within a home such as rooms or suites in a large resort, not individual mansions.
The point, of course, is not the extravagance of each suite but the fact that Jesus is making such ample provision that there is more than enough space for every one of Jesus’ friends to join Him in his Father’s home. 
Interestingly, this begins to answer our question: What is Heaven?