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Mark Wheeler
Revelation 21:1-5
Second Sunday in Lent, 03/05/2023
“Behold, There Is a New Creation: Be-Comers”
Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church
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Welcome to worship, friends – on this second Sunday in the season of Lent – a Season designed to prepare us for the wonder and grace of Jesus’ death and resurrection, Maundy Thursday, Jesus’ Last Supper, His Good Friday arrest and crucifixion and death, and Resurrection Sunday – let’s join in as Pastor Kathy leads us in our Call to Worship –
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And let’s immediately follow that with our Prelude of Praise and wonder –– I Stand in Awe of You
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Good morning Friends! Welcome worship at Lidgerwood!! Shalom Aleichem!
Last week we read from II Corinthians and discovered God’s hope for making us into a “new creation” for the old has gone and the new has come. We talked about how we make lots of opportunities for “starting over” in life, new beginnings. And we talked about how sometimes, after we’ve started over again and again and again and again … we lose hope, we feel hopeless. We talked about the “woman at the well” in John 4 who had started over again with marriage 5X, and now she’s given up on marriage and she just “lives with” another man.
And then we discovered that Christ came for just such a person – for you and me – hopeless; when we are “in Christ, we are – not we will some day become, we ARE already – a new creation.”
This is why the Season of Lent exists. So that we might be-come what God calls us to be. Behold, there is a new creation!
Welcome, friends, from around the world, to this worshipping community!
Let’s take a second to welcome each other, those in the room and across the globe, to a moment of Sabbath in God’s presence and peace, and with others whom we love and with whom we grow together. Friends, may “The PEACE of Christ be with you – and also in you!!”
Welcome to this “gathering” in God’s name. We are assembled in NorthEast Spokane, WA, along with people from all over the world. We are very glad you are “here” with us.
Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit presence and power, in your homes, through your phones and computers, in this building here, and in your lives. Pray with us … and hear and be transformed by God’s Word.
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Choir –! Thank you leading us in worship with this Sunday’s Choral Anthem – lead us in worship with: “With Wine from the Vineyard”
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Listen in as Pastor Kathy opens our Prayer time in Confession and Thanksgiving
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10 Gloria Patri
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- what are some praises, thanksgivings, adorations we want to offer?
- Is there a person or a situation you want to lift to our Lord for His answers and grace?
14 We pray this in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray: [The Lord’s Prayer]
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Let’s prepare to receive a Word from our Majestic God by singing a song of Devotion and Praise and Hope – Soon and Very Soon – #667!!
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Blessed Lord, You speak to us through the Holy Scriptures. Grant that we may hear, read, respect, learn and make “blessed hope” of everlasting life, given us through the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King….”
“When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see Jesus, We’ll sing and shout the victory.”
As I read those words, those famous hymns, what came to your mind? Did you feel a little excitement? Did you want to sing along? Did your mind rush to Heaven and the hope we all share … that one day, one glorious day, this struggle will all be over and we shall see Him?
While we are joining Jesus on His journey toward Jerusalem this Lent, we repent of our sins, confess them, and pray for forgiveness, this Hope of Heaven is reawakened. There may be times when we ignore the truth of our God, but when we are reminded, how thankful we are for His perfect plan of Salvation and the Hope of Heaven He so freely offers!
There are a lot of misconceptions about Heaven. A little boy and his mother were walking along the beach one day when they happened upon a dead seagull. “What happened to the bird mommy?” the little boy asked. The mom wanting to soften the harsh reality of death said “Well Honey, that little bird got real sick so God allowed it to die and go to heaven.” The boy thought about that for a moment and said, “So why did God throw him back down?”
1st century Christians who hid from their persecutors in the catacombs beneath the streets of Rome drew images of heaven on the walls — banquet tables and playgrounds for children. Thirty years ago, a new Christian Rock group, Audio Adrenaline, wrote this fun song: “Our House is a very, very, very big house …, with a big, big table, with lots and lots of food, a big, big, yard, where we can play football. It’s our Father’s House!”
Many American funerals today depict Heaven as a fishing boat on a lake, or a golf course with no one to wait on, or a kitchen with endless baking supplies and automatically cleaned dishes….
Today’s Bible passage reveals to us once more the real and blessed Hope of Heaven. Let’s think about heaven for just a couple of minutes together! Join me in hearing God’s Word from Revelation 21:1-5…. —-
20 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
21 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
22 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
23 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
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- HEAVEN IS A NEW ADDRESS [New Jerusalem (Vs. 1-2)]
A. Old things pass away!!
1. This is a reminder of Gen. 1:1 – God had created everything out of Nothing. The last book of the Bible reminds us of the first book of the Bible.
2. Then the problem, Genesis 3. Sin entered the world. God goes from saying, “It is very Good” to “What is this you have done?” The curse had arrived!!
3. Even creation itself was waiting for this: Romans 8 tells us, “All of creation waits with eager longing for God to reveal his children. For creation was condemned to lose its purpose, not of its own will, but because God willed it to be so. Yet there was the hope that creation itself would one day be set free from its slavery to decay and would share the glorious freedom of the children of God. For we know that up to the present time all of creation groans with pain, like the pain of childbirth” (vv. 19-22).
B. Behold, He makes all things new!!
1. Once more God unleashes His creating Power and “out of ‘nothing’,” God re-creates something!!!
2. BUT, it is not just any something; it is a new heaven and a new earth. It is not just a new creation, either; it is a HOLY CREATION, THE NEW JERUSALEM!
3. The old Jerusalem had been the center of worship for God’s chosen people, but in the end it had been the place of rejection of His only begotten Son!! NOW God has set things the way they are supposed to be. Jerusalem is a bride prepared to meet her HUSBAND, not reject Him. She is Beautifully Dressed in Holiness!!
4. This is Heaven: Our understanding that God has something more prepared for us. It will be new; it will be different. It will be God’s Design. He is Still Sovereign. He is Still in control. He is God and there is no other!! God will make it happen.
TRUTH #1: HEAVEN IS A NEW ADDRESS DESIGNED JUST FOR US!
II. HEAVEN IS A NEW COMMUNION [With God (Vs. 3-4)]
A. Still the New Jerusalem:
1. Worship of God in Spirit and in truth: “Now the Dwelling of God is with [human kind].”
2. We know that God does not live in a box or in a church, or even in a city. God is everywhere all the time!! GOD IS WITH US, BUT!!! God is SEPARATED from us, different from us, HOLY, somehow, in both the spiritual and physical realms. Now this is deep and I don’t know how perfectly orthodox I am being, but I believe the gist of it all is that God will be with us physically-spiritually; we will be way more alike than different! You and I will not be God! But we will be more godly!
3. II Corinthians 5:6-7 says, “While we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord, here we walk by faith not by sight.”
4. Jesus says to us, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” It is a promise. Something Greater is coming for all of us in our relation with God.
5. Now the Dwelling of God is with us and He will live with us.
6. Now that God Dwells Physically/Spiritually with His people things are different.
a. No sadness: He will wipe away(erase, blot out, wipe out) every tear! There will be no cause for crying there!!
b. No Separation: Death will no longer separate us from the ones we love and who love us!!
c. No sorrow: No more mourning, crying or pain. This is not just focused on death, either. No more mourning our failures. No more crying over things we could never change. No more pain caused by an unkind world.
d. No Suffering!!
TRUTH #2: HEAVEN IS A NEW COMMUNION WITH THE LIVING GOD WHO CHANGES EVERYTHING!
III. HEAVEN IS A NEW ASSURANCE [From God (Vs. 5-7)]
“He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then He said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.’”
A. We are assured that Heaven is a splendid/spectacular place: (sing song)
1. I am making all things New!! It is finished!! Jesus’ last words from the cross … now complete.
2. John 14:2-3 holds the key thought here! “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
B. We are assured that Heaven is a satisfying Place:
1. Satisfying resources: Every need … supplied, every desire … fulfilled: Thirst … quenched with the water of life!
2. Satisfying reward: We are now joint heirs with Jesus – Rom. 8:17 “He who overcomes will inherit all this”: HEAVEN: ALL THINGS NEW!!
3. We are assured that Heaven is a Satisfying relationship:
“I will be his God and he will be my child.” The adoption process, which began at our conversion, is now completed!!
TRUTH #3: HEAVEN IS A NEW ASSURANCE FROM THE LIVING GOD THAT HE WILL BE OUR GOD AND WE WILL BE HIS CHILDREN!
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Heaven is our goal in this life because it means an eternity with the best of the best in the best of the best … and it is a gift from God Almighty through His Son Jesus Christ!
Today we celebrate this truth, heaven was God’s plan for our eternal life … from the beginning,
A promised place of peace, separate from all pain and despair!
Heaven is freely offered to all who believe in Jesus, who confess Him as Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead.
In just a minute we will be celebrating at the Lord’s Table. This is one of those amazing moments where we experience both the very present reality of God in our midst … and the “not yet” reality of heaven. We share in the broken bread and the poured out cup, the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ – we commune with one another and we commune with God.
As the Church of LPC, getting ready for our next Hundred Years, Now is the time of God’s favor! Behold, we are a new creation! We are Be-Comers of God’s reality. Amen!
Approaching the Lord’s Table
I invite our Communion Servers to come forward – we approach this Table, not because of our inherent worth or accumulated value, but because God so loves the world that He gives His only begotten Son! John’s Gospel tells us that all who receive Him and believe Him have the right to be-come the children of God!
In our denomination and in this church, we invite everyone who claims Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to partake of this Holy Communion. If you have not yet been baptized, please come and talk with me or Pastor Kathy, or any of our Elders right after worship, and we’ll sit and pray together.
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As our Servers distribute the trays of broken bread and poured grape juice, let’s sing together tgis wonderful old hymn, #684, “Face to Face”
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Receive our tithes and offerings as symbols of our very lives and livelihood, given as response to Your life given for us! Bless it, and by it bless the world around us. In Christ’s name, Amen.
– Offering (4449 N Nevada St, Spokane, 99207 ; or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)
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32-35 Expedition Song #679 – When We All Get to Heaven!
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May we Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit.
And give glory to God, today, and forever! Amen.
May the Lord bless you and protect you;
may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.”
38 Announcements
- Thursday Bible Study –very Thursday at 10am, here and on Zoom
- Cantata Choir Rehearsal –very Thursday at 6pm
- Breakfast Fellowship – THIS Saturday, 9am, at Frankie Doodles
- New Member Class – Saturday March 18 (NEXT WEEK), 9-noon
Resources:
Dietterich, Inagrace T.; Journey of Discovery Bible Study: Behold, There Is a New Creation; Center for Parish Development; Chicago, IL; 1999; Pp. 5-8.
Harding, Joe; All Things New; sermon preached 03/29/2005.
Hauck, Jeremy; Hope Waits; sermon preached 02/2005.
Wheeler, Mark; “Be-Comers”; Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church; 03/05/2006.
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