Five Things In Hell That Should Be In the Church

Over Christmas, we got to visit with our pastor from Korea for the afternoon. Good times! We also got to hear him preach again. The week we were there, he had quite the catchy title & I had to share. It’s a keeper…

5 Things in Hell That Should Be In the Church
(Luke 16:19-31)

Now, stop right there. Can you think of any that could be on the list? Take a minute or two & think about where you think this sermon will go. Now read on.

First off, the fact that Lazarus was named & the rich guy not is noteworthy. Names were very significant for Jews, so this shows where Jesus was placing the importance.

1) Absence of Materialism. (vs.22) – The rich man died & was buried, in other words, he lost it all! How much of our time, conversation, etc. are gathered around luxury? The rich man’s family had the same problem; he had five brothers with he exact same problem. (Rev. 18:11-17) Application for us: Try going on a “thing diet”. Eat leftovers, only use used things, etc. Try some purposeful downsizing, repeatedly. The things Christians spend money on effects businesses. Perhaps we should use it to make statements more often. Choose to spend money more wisely & then use our wealth to help those out of work or struggling.

2) Passion for Being Poor. (Matthew 5:3) – “Blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall see God.” Application for us: Where have you grown the most spiritually? During “fat times” or “lean times”? (Luke 16:23 & Hebrews 12:1-3)

3) Eyes Fixed on Heaven. Are our eyes fixed on Jesus? “He looked up & saw Abraham…”.

4) A Passion for the Lost. (Luke 16:23 & 27-28, Matthew 9:37)

5) An Awareness That the Choices We Make Are Permanent. – Note, the rich man never asked the obvious questions like “Can I get out of here? Don’t you remember when I gave at the temple? etc.” He was searingly aware that his choices were permanent! Application: We need a new sense of marriage permanence, spiritual commitments kept. etc. (John 3:17-18) We can’t earn our way into Heaven. And the decision is already made once we die.

Which of these five things do YOU need more of this new year? (This message was given the Sunday before New Year.)

Lazarus, Come Forth!

Good news!! The prayer chain sent news today of two great things…

– One of the people in our church with cancer who is planning a bone marrow transplant next month had tests come back today & it is cancer free! He’s the one with seven children, the youngest barely 4 years old. PTL!!

– Last week, Kevin was having pain. We prayed for him & the pain went away. He was having trouble breathing & they called in the family. We all prayed & his breathing became normal again. His nose started bleeding & wouldn’t stop so he couldn’t sleep & was getting exhasted. We prayed for the nose bleed to stop & it did! Now today, his “counts” are coming down (a good thing) & the doctors have no explanation for it. His body started making platelets on it’s own for the first time since the transplant! It is truly a miracle. The medical team has come to the end of what they can do. They are doing nothing right now. But God seems to be doing something!

At Club last Wednesday night, the kids & I talked about Lazarus & the key verse was, “I am the resurrection & the life…” We talked about death & how it is all because of sin & both cause separation. It sucks! But God has made a way for us. PTL! When we feel the sting of death, may it cause us to HATE sin, love our Saviour, and remember the hope we have only in Him. I set the lesson schedule up last fall, so this “just happened” to be this week’s lesson. This Wednesday, we will be talking about the Lord’s Prayer. Nancy Leigh DeMoss “just happened” to start a series on The Lord’s Prayer last week. 🙂 I told the kids tonight, if Kevin comes back to us, it will be just as much a miracle as watching Lazarus walk out of that grave. He was basically declared no hope – given a week to live a week & a half ago. Maybe that’s exactly where God wanted to take him to get the full glory He deserves. We shall see. If God raises him up now, & it looks like He might be, ONLY God can get the glory!!! But we continue to pray, ” Nevertheless, not My will but Yours be done.” (the memory verse for this week, letter N). Just like Jesus, we need to totally trust God the Father Who loves us beyond our comprehension, to do in & through us more than we can hope or think, no matter how bad things look around us.

Be encouraged tonight!

For those young pups out there who’ve never heard Carmen, here’s an old story/song, but it’s still good 24 years later. Just try to ignore the gold chains & jacket…