Welcome Home

MESSAGE TRANSCRIPTION: 

You may be seated. Well, if you’re new around here, let me just say welcome to Eastside. My name is Virgil Grant. I’m the senior pastor and also one of the leaders around here. I’m super excited that you’re with us today. We’ve been camping out in the book of John, we’ve been looking at some I am statements of Jesus, which means that these are the words that Jesus used to describe himself. So we’re looking actually at red letters in the in the New Testament. And those red letters means that Jesus spoke those words. We’re on the fifth I am statement and the sermon series called The Magnificent Seven. If you missed the first four messages, then let me just encourage you to go to our website. You can get caught up there. But today, we’re going to be camped out in John chapter 14. And today’s title of today’s message is. 

Welcome Home

Would you say that with me? Welcome home. In a moment, it will make sense. Hopefully. Now we’re in John chapter 14 and Jesus is talking and giving some words to his disciples. But can I just say something to you? These words are also applicable to you and I. And so notice what Jesus says.

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know. Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”

John 14:1.5 

Thomas is interjecting. Have you ever heard the phrase Doubting Thomas? You’ve ever heard that phrase before? This is the Thomas where the doubting comes from. But in this moment this is a pivotal moment for Thomas. I mean, this is an epic moment for Thomas. And we are oftentimes we give Thomas the bad rap. But in this particular case, Thomas arise to the occasion. Now, here’s the thing that you need to understand is that we often referred to Thomas as Doubting Thomas, which was his biggest failure in his life. But do you know this? Jesus never referred to Thomas as Doubting Thomas, and neither does he referred to you as your biggest mistake that you’ve ever made in your life. And aren’t you glad that his grace in his blood washes over all of that? Now, look with me at John, chapter 14, verse 6. 

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

John 14:6 

Welcome home. If you’re here this morning, I want to say welcome home. I hope that you feel and have experienced the hospitality of Eastside. We hope that you understand that this is the place that you can be welcome, you can be accepted, and you can be long before you ever believe that you could come and explore the faith. You can come and try to learn more about Jesus and you can be long before you ever believe is that we want this to be a safe place for you. We want this to be a place that feels like home so that you can explore what it means to make Jesus the Lord and Savior of your life. You can become a cross follower of His like we are today. And we just want to say to you, Welcome home. And if you’re here today and you are a Christian, if God has deposited in your life his amazing grace that you can never earn. I want you to know something that the moment that you die, the moment that you take your last breath here on this side of heaven, is that the next moment when you take the last breath and the next moment when you open your eyes, guess what? The first phrase that you will hear. Welcome home. The very worst thing that could ever happen to you and I is death is no longer the worst thing that can happen to us because of Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ has paved the way so that when we die, the next breath that we take is that we’re actually in heaven. We’re greeted by a smile from God Almighty, and we have eternity to look forward to. And I think that’s worthy of a little praise to God this morning early on for the way that he paved the way to paradise. Now, welcome home. This entire passage will make sense, John, if we understand the context. It’s a Thursday. Everybody say Thursday. It’s not just any Thursday, but it’s the Thursday before Good Friday. And can I just say something real quick about Good Friday? Is that some of you you’re confused about Good Friday and Easter weekend. Okay. And we’ll clear it up for you. Good Friday Services. It’s going to be at 6 and 7:30 are the worship times. And these services are completely different than the four services on Easter weekend. And let me just say something. I don’t have time to go through it, but we have redesigned our Good Friday services and Good Friday, if you’ve never attended, is worth the effort. But this is the Thursday before Good Friday. It’s the Thursday that Jesus is in the upper room with his disciples. Not only is he in the upper room with his disciples, but he’s there. And he has experienced the Last Supper. He’s given the juice and he’s given the bread. And even Judas is with him. So you have to understand that during this entire time. 

Jesus gave Judas opportunities.

Jesus wasn’t waiting to condemn him.

He was hoping to forgive him.

Jesus has given Judas opportunity after opportunity after opportunity, because Jesus’s heart wasn’t waiting to condemn Judas. But Jesus heart was there, ready to forgive Judas. That’s the heart of Jesus. It’s on this Thursday that Jesus is talking to his disciples, and it’s where in John 14 one comes into play and it says, Let not your heart be trouble. Why are the disciples, why are their hearts troubled? Now, some of you will say, Well, because Jesus is about to die. Well, that’s not the case, my friends. Jesus has been painting the picture for a very long time now that he’s going to die. This was not new news to the disciples that Jesus was going to die because Jesus had been saying that for some time. Look with me, Matthew, chapter 16, verse 21. 

“From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”

Mathew 16:21 

So this is nothing new. The death of Jesus has been like a skipping record that’s been played on an old vinyl record player for months and for years now. So it’s been very clear that he’s going to die. So that’s not new news. And but here’s the thing is even the disciples, they tried to talk Jesus out of going to the cross. And Peter said to Jesus, Hey, Jesus, you cannot go to the cross. You cannot die. And what does Jesus say to Peter? Someone tell me, what does he say? He says, Satan, get the behind me. Now, folks, I don’t know if you know this or not, but it is a bad day when Jesus calls you the devil. I mean, it’s a bad day, right? Would you not agree with me? And so, I mean, this new news is not about Jesus is death, nor is it about his resurrection, because Jesus has been telling the disciples that he’s going to die. But on the third day, he’s going to be raised from the grave. So what is the new news that has the hearts of the disciples troubled? And it was this. But he wasn’t going to stick around. But he was going back home. He was going back to heaven. But disciples, their last plan, their plan was for Jesus to remain. If that Jesus was going to usher in heaven here on Earth and Jesus goes, No, no, no, I’m going back home with my father. Now, why was the disciples so troubled by that? Because they had never experienced the feeling or the expression of the Holy Spirit, Because why they had Jesus with them?  They just say, Hey, Jesus, can you give us the answer to this? I mean, Jesus was physically present with them for three and a half years, and wherever they went, whatever issue they had, they just turn to Jesus and say, Jesus, could you help us? And Jesus goes, Yep, I can help you. But Jesus then says to the disciples, Hey, you know what? It is for your benefit. It’s for the benefit of all of humanity that I go back to heaven. Because when I go back to heaven, I’m going to send you the Holy Spirit who’s going to dwell you and the same power that you’ve witnessed me display. Jesus says that same power is going to live in you, and it is called the Holy Spirit. And you and I, we have living in as if we’re Christians. The Holy Spirit. Now, how does that work? How does that apply? What does that look like? Well, very simply, it’s as simple as this. You ask. You receive and you obey. You ask. You obey. You receive and you obey. Now, let me see if I can help you to understand this. you would go, Hey, God. Life is hard. Is life hard for anybody right now? You know, some of you are going, well, marriage is hard. Being a spouse is hard. Being a parent is hard. You may want to stand up, give a testimony, a brief one. You know, some of you will go. School is hard. Some of the you would just say that just existing in the world is hard. Being an employee is hard. And what do you do? You ask the Holy Spirit to come into your life. You receive the Holy Spirit, and then you get up and you obey and you go and you do whatever you’re supposed to do. And the Holy Spirit helps you to live out life. Now, how many of you are exercising currently? Not right now, but not like in your daily rhythm. Not right now. I mean, like, how many of you like on an exercise plan? How many of you thinking about getting on an exercise plan? How many of you thinking? No way, Jose. Am I going to get an exercise plan? Right? Well, you. Have you ever gotten on the. The treadmill? What’s the other thing that you do? The elliptical. Yeah. You get on the elliptical. And have you ever gotten on the elliptical? And you, like you start pushing buttons. Has anybody ever done this or is you just Virgil? And you go and you just, like, push the button and like, you want to choose your intervals, right? You want to choose, like, the loop or the heels. You know, for me, it’s always flat line, never no heels. But, like, you get on there and you, like, you start hitting the buttons and nothing happens. Does I know what I’m talking about? Or is it just Virgil now am I the only dumb one in the group? I guess so. Okay. Here’s the thing. You get on the elliptical and nothing happens until you start moving. Because the elliptical is motion activated. And it’s the same thing with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not going to show up and show off in your life until you start moving. And still you start doing something till you start living out your faith and that you live out your faith. The Holy Spirit will show up and it will actually be activated in your life. And the disciples, their hearts were troubled. So Jesus gives them this passages to help them to come to grips with not only his death, but with their death. And this passage this morning is a passage for you and I to understand the death of Jesus. But it’s also designed to help us to come to grips with their own death. There’s three things are the passage I just want you to write down if you don’t care. The first one. 

Jesus is the answer to the ache within. 

Jesus is the answer to the ache within. Now, the truth of the matter is that all of us, we have an ache on the inside. Now, when you came into that, you received a puzzle piece. I noticed in the floor there’s a bunch of puzzle pieces. Raise your hand up with the puzzle piece. The people that don’t have the puzzle. Get down the floor right now. no im teasing. But I mean, if you’ve ever worked a puzzle before. What’s the most satisfying moment in working the puzzle? It is the very last piece. I mean, like if you get down to the end and there’s a piece that’s missing, What are you doing? Someone tell me You are accusing each other for hiding the piece. You get down on the floor, you look around and like the last piece is nowhere to be found. And you go, Oh, no, no, no, no. Not on my watch. And you begin to call the manufacture. You begin to look them up on Google, and you go, Hey, you know what? There’s a piece of the puzzle, has a little bit of a dog tail on it, and it’s like the fourth piece up from the bottom left. And I need that piece right now because my puzzle is not complete. You know what I’m talking about. But when you get that last piece of the puzzle and you put it on the puzzle, you step back and you go, What? Kabam? That’s it, baby. Satisfaction, right? I mean, it is like a beautiful thing, and we rejoice. But listen to me, my friends. Listen to me. Why is it that for all of us, no matter how many pieces of the puzzle that we have, no matter how much money we have in the bank, no matter how many shiny things that we’re able to purchase, no matter how many wonderful places that we can go and visit, no matter how many number of followers that we can accumulate on social media, no matter how much sex that we can have or how much that we can drink. Why is it that you and I oftentimes walk around with an ache in their spirit as if something is missing? And Jesus. Uses the word trouble. To describe the ache. In the hearts of the disciples. John 14:1. Jesus says.

“Let not your heart trouble”. 

John 14:1

The word trouble means agitated. The word trouble means churned up. It means being very afraid. Now, I don’t know if you know this or not, but Jesus was a prankster. Jesus was mischievous. So if you want to work on my mischievous farm for a child of King Jesus, as I just want you to know that up front. But Jesus, he would take the disciples and he would gather them together and he will go, Hey, disciples, I want you to get into the boat and I want you to go to the other side and I’ll meet you on the other side. You remember the story. Now it’s almost like it’s like this. Hey, disciples, go get in the boat. Everything’s going to be okay. Just go and I’ll meet you on the other side. And Jesus is going to because he knows what’s coming right now. What’s coming, Josh? What’s coming? Huh? The storm is coming, right? Exactly. The storm is coming. So, Jesus, He walks off to the side. The disciples get into the boat. They get into the boat. They start going across the the lake, and then their hearts get trouble. Why do their hearts get trouble? Is because there’s a storm. Now, here’s the thing, is that the answer to their fear was in the original instructions, because the original instructions from Jesus was what? I will see you on the other side. And what happened was that when the disciples was in the middle of the storm, they forgot about Jesus’s original instructions that I’ll see you on the other side. And I just want you to know that I came to church today to tell somebody never to doubt in the shade what Jesus told you in the sunshine. I came to church today to tell someone that you got to hang on to whatever he told you on the shore when you’re in the middle of the storm. If he says you’re going to make it to the other side, you’re going to make it to the other side. Now, here’s the thing about Jesus. He’s given the disciples plenty of time to be in the middle of the ocean. Jesus, He appears to the disciples only as the son of man can. He’s walking on the water. As he’s walking on the water. I don’t have time to really go into this, but I have to because it’s so good. The disciples, they were panic mode. Jesus was just taking a stroll and Jesus was going to keep right on walking. Because why? Jesus was waiting for the disciples to invite them into the boat. And you know what? Jesus is walking next to you in the storm that you’re currently experiencing. But you know what Jesus is waiting for? Jesus is waiting for you to invite him into the boat. He’s waiting for you to invite him into your shaky marriage. He’s waiting for you to invite him into your parenting skills. Jesus is waiting for you. For whatever surge that you’re facing in your life, Jesus is waiting for you to invite him in because he’s a gentleman. And he will never impose himself upon you or anyone else. And whatever storm that you are facing today as an individual, as a couple, as a family, I just want you to know all you have to do. Jesus is waiting for you to invite him in to the boat of your life, and he will come in and he will fulfill the ache that is inside of your heart. Isn’t that wonderful? Number two. 

Death is not the end. 

Now, folks, we do not understand death. Again. Jesus gave us this passage to help us to have perspective on his death and perspective on our own death. You have to understand that. We think we believe. Ms. Marks, you will appreciate this. We believe that we are our bodies. The body is only the temple that holds who we are. The real us is not the body, but the real us is our soul. You hear What I’m saying is that body and soul is two different things. Are you your body or are you your soul? You are your soul. And here’s the thing, Jake, is when you die a day from now or a year from now, and you die, and then a year later, after your death, a thousand years later, 10,000 years without your body. Guess what? You’re still Jake. Because your soul is you. Now what we do is when someone dies, we weep over their body, but it’s just a lifeless shell. Is all it is. I mean, folks, you go to the cemetery, you go to the cemetery, you visit the cemetery. There is no one there. There’s no one there. It’s just a bunch of lifeless shell. The only live people there is the caretaker, hopefully hes alive.  The well-wishers and the people bringing flowers. No one else is there. Everyone else is gone. And you’re going to be you you regardless if you have a body or not. Now. In week seven and on Easter Sunday, we will talk a little bit more about this. were just get prepared. But you have to understand something that after you have died is that you continue to be you. But there’s something that takes place after you die. Look what it says in Hebrews. It says this Hebrews Chapter nine, verse 27. 

“It is appointed for men to die once, but after this comes the judgment.”

Hebrews 9:27 

Now, how many of you, when you go to the grocery store, you try to make the the cart load of groceries from the car into the kitchen counter in one load. How many of you tried to do that? Right. We all try to do that. Right. But usually that take a couple loads now and so but we get on the counter. What do you do once you get all of your groceries on the counter. Does anyone else do this? Or is it just me? We begin to sort everything out. We puts the set the stuff that goes in the refrigerator. We just kind of stack it over here. Stuff that goes into the into the pantry goes over here, the things that goes downstairs goes over here, we just kind of sort it out we kind of sift it out. Does anybody else do that? Now, here’s what Jesus is saying, is that that after death there’s going to be a sorting. There’s going to be sifting. And you’re either going to spend eternity in heaven or hell. It’s not a question if you’re going to live for eternity. That’s not the question. The question is, where are you going to spend all of eternity? It’s either heaven or hell. It’s either life or death. It’s either the narrow road or it is the broad road. Everyone is going to spend eternity somewhere. Now for us as Christians, we understand what eternity is all about, Paul tells us in Second Corinthians chapter 5, verse 8, he says this He says, To be absent from the body is to be what? To be present with the Lord. That’s how we think about death. That’s what Jesus has secured for you and I. Absent from the body means present with the Lord. 

Death is not leaving home but going home. 

Death is not leaving home. See, here’s what I hear all the time. Well, that person left the world way too soon. There are 105 years old. They left the world way too soon. Is a is so sad. Listen to me, my friends. That’s not how we talk about death. Death is something that happens when someone you love and believe in. Who believes in Jesus death, folks, is not leaving this earth. Earth is leaving and going home. It’s being present with Jesus. Now, notice that Jesus says this.

“I go to prepare a place for them.” 

Now, Jake, what does that mean? I’ve heard all kinds of sermons on this. Don’t know about you, but, you know, there are some preachers that go, what? Jesus is up in heaven right now. And Jesus, because he’s a carpenter on Earth. He’s taking those skills and he’s using them and heaven. And what is he doing? He’s building that’s a big old mansion. He’s building new one. And hopefully Paul will get one, too. And and we just go around the room, right? And God’s up there building these these big mansions for us. And that’s the reason why God hasn’t come back, because God hasn’t built all the mansions. And I’m going, Are you kidding me? That’s not how God works. How did God create the universe? How did God create the world? How did God create the heavens and the earth? How did he create the sons and the son and the stars and the moon? How did he do it, my friend? Someone tell me. How did he do it? He spoke it into existence. And guess what he’s going to do with all the mentions? He’s going to speak them all into existence. And because you’re created in the image of God, and I’m created in the image of God. Listen to me, my friends. God has given us the ability to speak things into existence. He’s given us the ability to speak love or to speak death into the lives of other people. Now. Just ask your question. Or two. What are you saying about your job? What are you saying about your boss? What are you saying about your marriage? Or your spouse. What are you saying about the church? What are you saying about the sermon? See, this is the reason why I want to encourage you to participate. And I’m going to keep on working on is that I want you to participate because when you participate and you go, that’s good. Pastor Amen. Pastor Hallelujah. You know what that does for me? That gives me life. But most of you. Most of you. You should not make me smile, Pastor. You will never do it. Don’t even try. But, Pastor, I just want you to know something. Even though my arms are cross, I got a frown on my forehead. I just want you to know my heart is golden. I don’t know that the Bible says that whatever is in your heart will be spoken through your mouth and your lips. I don’t know. Your heart’s golden. It looks like to me that your heart is all about death. Because I only know if you engage with me. I only know what you tweet out. I only know one. You send an email. I only know when you post something on social media. I only know something if you make a phone call. But see, folks, here’s the thing. We have been given the power to speak life and death into people’s lives. And what better time to do it than on Sunday mornings. and see friends, people. They give you these illustrations. That was Jesus gives all the mansions and heaven once he gets them all created. Then he’s going to send Jesus back to the earth and he’s gonna call the redeemed together. But when Jesus says, I go prepare place for you, what he’s talking about, my friends, is hanging from the cross. It’s when I finish the work that my father has given to me. Once I finish the death burdened resurrection process, once I secure the accommodations, once secure everything and get everything ready for you, then you will be able to come and be with me. See, folks, death is not the end. Jesus is the is the answer for the ache within. But number three. 

Heaven is an upgrade. 

Heaven is an upgrade. You know, how many of you have ever thought about what heaven’s going to be like? You know, Jesus gives us a terminology in this passage that is so easily applied, Drew. They go, Hey, God, what’s heaven like? He goes, mentions like, Well, every time you ever hear of a mention, is there anything negative ever comes out from that? You know, you think about luxury. You think about stability. Think about permanency. You think about all of this. And you go, Man, a mansion. That’s unbelievable. I don’t have a bad, ugly apartment. I mean, I got a mansion. I mean, that is such a useful terminology. Jesus says, You wonder what heaven is like. Heaven is an upgrade, because why? Heaven is a place of mansions. It’s an upgrade. Because why? There’s no death, There’s no disease, there’s no crying, there’s no mourning, there’s no sickness, there’s no anger, there’s no bitterness, there’s no sinful nature. There’s it’s all been swallowed up by the goodness of God. Heaven is an upgrade. But here’s something else you need to understand about heaven is that there are room, there are rooms in heaven for everyone. There’s space for everyone in heaven. Some of you say, Well, I just need a verse for that. Well, Jesus says. 

“There are many mentions.”

That there’s space for everyone. Everyone is welcome. Everyone is invited. Say some of you. You’re here this morning and you have mixed reviews about God, about church, about Christianity, about Jesus. Can I just tell you something? Jesus loves you. Jesus cares for you. Jesus wants you to embrace his plan for your life. Jesus wants you that when you die, that you die. And you wake up in heaven and the angels shows you around. Heaven is a place of perfection. It’s a place of peace. It’s a place of tranquility. That’s Jesus’s plan for your life. God loved you enough. To make that plan become a reality by sending his son Jesus, cross to die on the cross. To pay the price for your entry in my entry into heaven. And just so you know, there are many ways to miss heaven. There’s 100,000 ways for you to miss. Seven. But listen to me, my friends. There’s only one way to get there and look at the way to get there. John Chapter 14, verse 6 Jesus says. 

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

John 14:6 

See, folks, there’s many hundreds of thousands of ways of missing the heaven. But listen to me. 

Heaven is closed off to no one. But is accessed only through the name of one, Jesus. 

Here’s the question I want to ask you. Have you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior? Well, Pastor, are you asking the question, Do I attend church? Because I do. I’m here this morning. That’s not the question I’m asking my friends. How have you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Well, I know some verses from the Bible, known verses from the Bible can tell you about Jesus, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m asking the question. Have you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Well, Pastor, if you’re talking about doing good deeds. I’ve done a couple here recently. That’s wonderful. Thank you. But it’s not what I’m talking about. Well, pastor, are you talking about praying? Prayer is a wonderful thing, but it’s not what I’m talking about. I’m asking you the core central question that Jesus asks all of humanity. Have you received him as your Lord and Savior? Have you acknowledge that you’re a sinner, that you cannot save yourself and the only way that you can be saved. The only way that you can spend eternity in heaven is to call upon the name of Jesus and ask Him to save you and to forgive you of your sins. Now here’s what I’m going to ask you to do more. I ask you bow your head. Close your eyes. But keep your hearts open. If you’re here this morning. And you’ve never, ever invited Jesus into your heart. Two young ladies did it this morning. I believe there’s plenty of others that needs to do it here. Hundreds have done it over the last year or so. Here at Eastside. I believe that there’s people here this morning who need to invite Jesus into their heart. If that’s you this morning, here’s what we’re asking you to do for me just in a second. In a second, I’m going to ask you to raise your hand. That’s how I knew that two people this morning received Christ. And no one’s looking around. But if you’re here this morning and you’re ready to receive Christ, you’re ready to declare your dependance on him. And you’re ready to pray that prayer of dependance. Do me a favor. Just raise your hand right now. Hold it up high so I go around the room. One. Thank you. Two, three, four. five. Anybody back in the back and the risers? Six. Six people this morning. Here’s what I’m going to ask you to do. Just the entire congregation. I want to ask you to look at the screen with me and I want to ask you collectively, especially those six. But everyone else, I want you to to pray this prayer.

“Dear God, I know that I’m a sinner. I can’t fix myself, but I believe you can.

I believe Jesus died for me and my sins. I believe He rose from the dead.

Please forgive me of my sins. Please come into my heart and make me new. I give my life to you. Amen.

Would you welcome these six people into the kingdom of God this morning? Yeah. Welcome them. Welcome. Those two people this morning as well. from the early service. Welcome all eight of them.