Heaven on Earth

Heaven on Earth

Good Morning Friends,

People long for a taste of heaven on earth but too often look for it in all the wrong places. Heaven is a subject that is greatly debated in and outside of the Christian community. Some believe it is a literal place, while others believe it is “in the heart”. For the Christian, Heaven should be considered one of the most important subjects of faith, but we know so little about it really. That is why today we are spending a little time exploring the purpose of Heaven on Earth.

Scripture: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 18:10 

In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?

John 14:2 

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:4 

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:14-16

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Philippians 3:20-21 

Message: Today we reflect on how a mission imagination linked to the people of the church might better shape a better understanding of Heaven. Surely we should think more about Heaven than we do. Surely we should think more about mission than we do. Really we should be spending more time finding out as much as we can about this place we expect to live throughout eternity. It is natural that we should look and listen to the words of those we expect are already there and understand the missional route they took to get there. And in the searching on the journey we might just begin to grasp this idea of heaven and kingdom that Jesus shared on the Sermon on the Mount and in part made manifest at Pentecost. Friends, we are to experience the mystical church as it extends beyond the visible church in mission and connect this to our experience of heaven on earth. Now you may ask why the church? And that is a very good question. For if we are really honest, much of the time church seems too normal, so mundane, so unexciting. After all, if you know the facts about Jesus and salvation and you know you are in good standing with God, so why do we need church? Should we look for something that will meet our needs a little better or stimulate our senses a bit more?
We often miss the point of church because we expect it to be exciting and stimulating. Of course, that is the pattern of our culture. We do very little that fails to meet our needs or entertain us. Our story is the story of consumption and the story of the church is as a delivery system. And day-by-day we consume, so much so that we don’t even realize that we consume. It is impossible not to carry this mentality into the church. We consume church. We consume small groups when what we really need to be doing is investing in them.   Friends, relinquishing control of your lives, relishing God’s love and relying on the Spirit’s power to help us experience heaven on earth is so essential to effective mission. Catholics maybe have something for Protestants to learn about the purpose of church in its relationship to heaven. You see, the Holy Spirit formed the church to be a colony of heaven in the presence of death.… Catholics present this in an instructive fashion. We see it in Eucharist and in Jesus on the cross in Catholic Churches. The Church becomes a core element in the strategy of the Holy Spirit for providing human witness and physical presence to the Jesus-inaugurated kingdom of God in this world…Heaven on Earth. And Protestants maybe have something for Catholics to learn about the purpose of church as well for Protenstents really express a place of appointed gathering of named people who at least hope to practice a life of resurrection in a world in which death seems to reign. … Friends, there is no earthly sorrow that heaven cannot heal. If we aim for heaven we get the good things for earth too. If we aim for better things on earth we get neither.

Pray that we shine with the light of heaven. Pray we confront the image of being consumed by death. Pray we find a specific place to be a colony of heaven. Pray we not consume church as a place to get fed but embrace it as a place to invest. Pray we participate in the resurrection. Pray we admit we are sinners and in need of a Savior. Pray we abandon self-effort and realize that we cannot be saved by our works but we can love. Pray we realize we need Jesus. Pray we pray so hard that we not only know the blessings received from heaven but also that through these blessings we experience heaven on earth. Pray we employ the power of the Spirit. Pray we experience the spiritual life of Christ in our hearts. Pray we enjoy the love of Christ connected with others. Pray we expect to be filled of God when we empty ourselves. Pray we are faithful in the midst of discouragement for we are still in the world. Pray we pray as the lord taught us for the kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.

Blessings,

John Lawson