05-22-2022
05-22-2022
Rev. Trevor Johnston, (LOX & Online), Rev. Jose Marrero (Lake Worth), Kurtis Alva (WPB), Rev. Efrain Silva (COH Español)
Sermon Series: Asking For A Friend
Week 5: What Happens After We Die?
English PDF file for printing.
Para imprimir el archivo PDF en Español
Read the theme verse for this series – Matthew 22:37: Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
1. In this series, we’re acknowledging that questions are good and can actually grow your faith if you talk about them honestly. Today’s question is: “What happens after we die?” What are some answers you’ve heard people give to this question?
2. Read 2 Corinthians 5:1-10:
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
A lot of people get their ideas about what happens after we die from jokes and artwork rather than from Scripture. Here are some common misunderstandings people have about life after death:
Almost everybody goes to heaven except for really bad people like Hitler.
3. Read Luke 13:23–24 and discuss what Jesus says about this misunderstanding: “Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.”
Hell is a party for all the fun people.
4. Read Luke 13:28 and discuss what Jesus says about this misunderstanding: “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.”
Another misunderstanding is that people get caught up in the metaphors the Bible uses to describe heaven and hell, but miss the reality that Scripture is trying to describe.
5. What are some metaphors about heaven and hell that people often focus on?
6. Read 1 Corinthians 2:9 and talk about what the Apostle Paul said regarding the true nature of heaven: “However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him.”
7. To truly understand life after death, it’s best to start with Jesus. Read what the Apostle Paul wrote about Jesus in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures….”
Jesus was the first person to experience new life after death. Scripture says that what happened to Jesus will one day happen for all who follow Him. From what you know about Jesus’ life after his death, what can you learn about our life after death?
8. The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:10 makes it clear that everyone will face judgment after death. We will be judged by Jesus, who experienced the challenges of being human and was known as a friend of sinners. He also died on the cross to make forgiveness possible for us.
Read 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
What kind of judge do you think Jesus will be? How do you feel about standing before Jesus as your judge?
9. In thinking about heaven, we sometimes get caught up in the metaphors. For example, people say heaven is where you can eat chocolate without the calories, where you get to have mansions, gold and jewels. What is the most important aspect of heaven, according to 2 Corinthians 5:7?
10. When the criminal on the cross next to Jesus acknowledged his own sinfulness, asked for Jesus’ help, and expressed his belief that Jesus is God, Jesus responded in Luke 23:40-43: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” How might this help people deal with fear about what comes after death?
11. A lot of people don’t like to think about hell, but Jesus talked a lot about it, because he wanted help people avoid ending up there. Read 2 Thessalonians 1:8–10: “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.”
What is the essence of hell, according to this Scripture?
12. Another misunderstanding people have about hell is that God “sends” people there. Actually God gives people what they want. If a person spends their life resisting Jesus and his grace, God won’t force them to spend eternity with Him. Imagine what it will be like to be shut out from the presence of God who is the source of all life, all joy, all light, all hope, all peace, all goodness, all love. How would you describe what hell will be like?
13. Read what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:19: “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”
What was Paul’s point here?
14. Read Jesus’ words in John 11:25-26: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
What is Jesus’ trying to communicate here?
15. What gives you hope in life, even when things are difficult?
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