Our Bible Study is about Heaven and all that it promises us.  For me this is pretty close to Heaven on earth. I love being around and with my grandchildren because they bring me such joy and happiness.  Isn’t that what Heaven is about, joy and happiness. Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven tells us all that the bible has to say about Heaven and our life there eternally.  View the slideshow and you see what heaven is for me here on this earth.  As a Pastor it is a blessing and an honor to perform a baptism and it is a little bit of heaven to be able to Baptize your grandchildren.  Emilee came along and I did not get to actually baptize her but the other three I was able to perform the baptism myself and God was there leading me and guiding me and blessing the ceremony.  Yes I am in Heaven, all of my grandchildren have been baptised in the church of Jesus Christ and I am one happy Pappy.

These pictures are of Georgia’s Baptism on Sunday the 13th of May.

This is the cross on Wesley UMC. I like to think it is reaching up to  the heavens carrying prayers to our savior.

In our study on Heaven we had discussion on what will Heaven be like.  Will it be clouds and harps? Will it be peaceful?  Will it be boring?  Will there be something for us to do?  Will we be in physical bodies?  Will we be spiritual beings?  Lots of other questions were asked and some were answered based on the book “Heaven” by Randy Alcorn.  Here is an excerpt from that book that gives us some answers:

In Genesis 3, the earth’s first radical transition (mankind’s fall and first judgment) can be seen as one bookend of human history. In Revelation 20, we see the second bookend in the earth’s last radical transition (Christ’s return and last judgment), creating a picture of great symmetry. In Genesis, God plants the Garden on Earth; in Revelation, he brings down the New Jerusalem, with a garden at its center, to the New Earth. In Eden, there’s no sin, death, or Curse; on the New Earth, there’s no more sin, death, or Curse. In Genesis, the Redeemer is promised; in Revelation, the Redeemer returns. Genesis tells the story of Paradise lost; Revelation tells the story of Paradise regained. In Genesis, humanity’s stewardship is squandered; in Revelation, humanity’s stewardship is triumphant, empowered by the human and divine King Jesus. These parallels are too remarkable to be anything but deliberate. These mirror images demonstrate the perfect symmetry of God’s plan. We live in the in-between time, hearing echoes of Eden and the approaching footfalls of the New Earth. Paul Marshall concludes, “This world is our home: we are made to live here. It has been devastated by sin, but God plans to put it right. Hence, we look forward with joy to newly restored bodies and to living in a newly restored heaven and earth. We can love this world because it is God’s, and it will be healed, becoming at last what God intended from the beginning.”72 The earth matters, our bodies matter, animals and trees matter, matter matters, because God created them and intends them to manifest his glory. And as we’ll see in the following chapters, the God who created them has not given up on them any more than he has given up on us.

A new earth that has perfect everything. Perfect grass, water, air, dirt, animals, humans, sky, wind, temperature, hair, skin, society and okay I snuck that perfect hair in there to see if you were paying attention but why not perfect hair.  Well we may not know based on scripture exactly what everything will be like but we can say that it is going to be three gasp good. That’s oh, oooh, oooooh, my goodness (I know it is completely understated) and I am looking forward to the moment when I am able to meet my savior in our eternal home.  Have a great evening, morning and week.  Remember that it is all about the savior we know and the life we lead.

Randy

The sun might be setting in this picture but heaven is alight with God’s presence.

Our Bible Study for the past couple of weeks is over Randy Alcorn’s book “Heaven”. There are five sessions left so if the topic is of interest to you come on by on Wednesday nights. We have a covered dish fellowship meal at 5:30, prayer at 6:15 and we start watching the video about 6:30. You are welcome at all or part of the evening. So many of us have heard so much about Heaven, about what it is like and what we will be doing. So many different ideas and many of them have nothing to do with scripture. The Rev. Dr. Randy Alcorn bases all of his ideas and statements on scripture throughout the Bible. Here is an excerpt from his book.

“A fundamental article of the Christian faith is that the resurrected Christ now dwells in Heaven. We are told that his resurrected body on Earth was physical, and that this same, physical Jesus ascended to Heaven, from which he will one day return to Earth (Acts 1:11). It seems indisputable, then, to say that there is at least one physical body in the present Heaven.

If Christ’s body in the present Heaven has physical properties, it stands to reason that others in Heaven might have physical forms as well, even if only temporary ones. It also makes sense that other aspects of the present Heaven would have physical properties-so that, for example, when Christ is seen standing at the right hand of God(Acts 7:56), he is actually standing on something. Otherwise we would have to conclude that the resurrected (and thus, embodied) Christ has been floating for two thousand years in a realm without material substance. (He could, of course, but does he?) If we know there is physical substance in Heaven (namely, Christ’s body), can we not also assume that other references to physical objects in Heaven, including physical forms and clothing, are literal rather than figurative?”

We hope to find many scriptural answers to the many questions we have. At least we will hear scripture quoted to support Randy Alcorn’s opinions and we can make educated, spirit-led decisions about our future life eternal.

With a first name like Randy, I just have to listen to him.

Have a blessed week,

Pastor Randy Branch