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What Jesus Wants His Church to Be - Part 1
John 17
Skip Heitzig

John 17 (NKJV™)
1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,
2 "as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.
3 "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
4 "I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.
5 "And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
6 "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
7 "Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.
8 "For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.
9 "I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.
10 "And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.
11 "Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.
12 "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
13 "But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
15 "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.
16 "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
17 "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
18 "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
19 "And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
20 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;
21 "that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
22 "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
23 "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
24 "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
25 "O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.
26 "And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Rediscovering Our Foundations

The church is not a place, but a people (a called-out assembly of people who gather together and whose heartfelt conviction is that Jesus is Lord). Jesus laid claim on the church—it belongs to Him ("I will build My church"). So then, what does He want His church to be like? What should mark us overall? In Jesus' longest recorded prayer before His crucifixion, He prays for four characteristics that are to mark the people of God. Today we look at the first two.

We live in an age where truth has become a relative term. But the Bible leaves no room for doubt when it comes to the absolute nature of truth. Unfortunately, our culture is vastly biblically illiterate. In this series, Pastor Skip Heitzig gets back to the roots of our faith, looking at what the Bible has to say about God, Christ, the Trinity, mankind, the church, heaven, and hell. Learn to stand on a firm foundation in the midst of an unstable culture.

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Outline

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  1. The Church Should Radiate the Glory of God
  2. The Church Should Reveal the Truth of God
    A. It Will Produce Joy
    B. It Will Produce Holiness
    The final two will be covered in part two
  3. The Church Should Rescue the Enemies of God
    IV. The Church Should Rally Over the Love of God

Transcript

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Turn in those Bibles that you brought to a familiar passage to us. We've studied it before. John chapter 17. It's Jesus' longest recorded prayer. I'm calling the message "What Jesus Wants His Church to Be."

Now, I'm going to read something to you, something that I read this week, and as I read it, it caused me to think. It's a funny little thing, but it caused me to think and write down some observations about the church. Let me tell you what I wrote down after reading it. Then I'll read it to you. I wrote down that "the church can sometimes become a place where participation is minimal, perceptions are unreasonable, and worship is invisible."

Now let me read this to you. It's a job description of the different people on the staff:

Pastor: able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, more powerful than a locomotive, faster than a speeding bullet, walks on water, gives counsel to God.

I don't know what pastor they're talking about.

Assistant Pastor: Able to leap short buildings in a single bound, as powerful as a switch engine, just as fast as a speeding bullet, walks on water when the seas are calm, and talks with God.

Minister of music: Leaps short buildings with a running start, almost as powerful as a switch engine, faster than a speeding bb, is occasionally addressed by God, walks on water if he/she knows where the tree stumps are.

Minister of youth: Runs into small buildings, recognizes locomotive two out of three times, uses a squirt gun, knows how to use the water fountain, mumbles to himself.

Church secretary: Lifts buildings to walk under them, kicks locomotives off the track, catches speeding bullets in her teeth, freezes water with a single glance, when God speaks she says, "May I ask who's calling?"

See what I mean about perceptions being unreasonable. This last week, Monday and Tuesday and flew back Wednesday, as I mentioned at our midweek study, I was in Washington D.C. In the morning, I was at two meetings at the White House and one on Capitol Hill. In the afternoon, I had free time, and I walked toward Capitol Hill. Right at the base of the steps of the United States capitol in Washington there was a gal from Belarus, which is now in Eastern Europe. She's studying in Chicago, her family's back in her home country. She has no family here. We got to talking, I started sharing with her about the Lord, and she said, "You know, it's lonely here in America without my family." She says, "I go to church, but even at my church," she said, "they are cold. It is unfriendly. It is irrelevant." And then she said to me these words, "I believe in God, but I don't believe in the church."

Immediately after that I take a cab to meet some pastors over in Georgetown. The cab driver was also from out of the country. He was from Ethiopia. And we got to talking. I started sharing, and I asked him about church. And he said, "I love my church."

I said, "You do? Why?"

He said, "It's my family."

Now, his family was also all in Ethiopia, all back home. He had none of them here, but he felt rooted in this family. I asked him why, and he said, "Well, I am a member of the worship group. I participate quite regularly." Now, I thought, "Boy, in the span of 30 minutes, I've had two conversations with two different people, both from out of the country, both whose family is back in their home country, and both have two different views of the church.

Back in the 1960s, it was popular, well, to do a lot of things, one of them was to walk around with a placard that announced what your agenda was. And one placard I saw probably on the news or in a magazine, but I'll never forget it. Big words said, "Jesus yes, church no." "Jesus yes, church no." Those are some pretty deep heartfelt sentiments. What that says to me is that Jesus Christ is a most compelling figure and the church is not. Much like what that girl from Belarus told me. Jesus yes, church no.

For many of us growing up in church, it was something you had to do. You felt that, well, you were compelled to do it. You were raised in a home where maybe your parents made you go, or maybe you even heard the term "Sunday Obligation". It was never something you really looked forward to doing. You just looked forward to getting it over with so you could eat, or that's when the fun begins.

A seven year old was in Sunday School. He was listening to the teacher teach the lesson, and he didn't like it. He was rude. He piped up and he said to the teacher, get this, "Could you hurry up. This is boring."

The girl next to him ribbed him, elbowed him in the ribs and said,"Shh, be quiet. Shut up. This is church. It's supposed to be boring." It's like what you heard the guy say in the video.

Now, tonight we're going to look at what Jesus wants his church to be in John chapter 17. There are four things we're going to look at, two of them tonight. The four things are: Jesus thinks that the church should radiate the glory of God; the church should reveal the truth of God; the church should rescue the enemies of God; and fourth, the church should rally around the love of God. We're going to camp there this session and next. Tonight we're going to look at those first two.

The church, first of all, should radiate the glory of God. Now, follow me, not reading the whole chapter, but let's look at some verses together. Jesus spoke these words, He lifted up his eyes to heaven and he said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son that your son may also glorify you." Go down to verse 4. "I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do, and now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was." Verse 6, Even though the word isn't mentioned, notice the intent and the flow. "I have manifested your name to the men whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours. You gave them to me, and now they have kept your word." Verse 9, "I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them." Now skip down to verse 22. "And the glory which you gave me, I have given them that they may be one just as we are one. Verse 24, "Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me where I am. That they might behold my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world."

If I counted right, eight times the word glory, glorify, or glorified is mentioned in this prayer. Now, I know, talk about a religious sounding word, I mean, it sounds like a stain-glassed word if there ever was one. Glorified. It has that hollow ring to it, but what does it mean exactly. And that's important. The understanding of this word is vital, because it's the very thing that motivated Jesus' entire life and the very thing he prayed for principally upfront, first of all in this prayer. Not only for himself, but for the church that would follow.

So what does it mean? Glory, glorify, glorified? There are two meanings to it. Both of which are in this prayer. Meaning number one is "a visible expression of God". Let me explain. It's the wow experience. It's what you expect God to be when he shows up and you're there—bright, blinding, rapturous, wow. It's what Moses prayed for. "Lord," he said, "show me your glory."

God said, "Moses, anybody who sees me in person will die. You can't handle that."

It's what Isaiah noticed in a vision. He saw the Lord high and lifted up. The train of his robe filled the temple. And the angels cried out, "Holy, holy, holy. The whole earth is full of his glory." That's the visible expression of God. That's what Jesus refers to in verse 5. He had been in heaven and came to earth. He was going home and he said, "Okay. I'm ready for that glory back." And then toward the end of the prayer, "I want these people who have followed me to be with me and see my glory."

But there's another use of the word. Not just a visible expression of God, but there's a second use of it, and that is the "valued attention toward God". And that's what I want to zero in on—valued attention toward God. That is it means to point to God, to magnify God, to raise the level of showing at God rather than at myself. And that's what he speaks about in verse 4. "I have glorified you," or verse 6, "I have manifested your name."

The word, by the way, glory, glorified, dakadzo, originally means "to seem, or to appear, or to have an opinion of." As time went on, the word came to mean "to have a valued, or good, opinion of somebody else." And that's the idea that Jesus is praying here. He's saying, "Father, in my life, if I put you on center stage, I've shown the spotlight on you and you alone. I have manifested your name to them, and I have passed on to them as a goal and purpose for their life to do the same, to glorify you, magnify you, so that others would have a good opinion of you because of the way they live."

Last week we looked at "What is the Church?" We covered that. Tonight, "What is the Purpose of the Church?" If we're to carve out a set of priorities, one, two, three most important things that the church ought to be, what are they? Now, that's a debated question, you know, in the hollowed hallways of seminaries. What is the main purpose of the church on the earth?

Some would say the main purpose of the church on the earth is to evangelize the world, to carry out the great commission, because Jesus said, "Go and make disciples of all nations." I have to tell you I disagree. Oh, oh, I agree it's important. I agree it's vital. In fact, it's part of the very prayer that Jesus prays here, but it is not the number one priority of the church upon the earth. Not to evangelize the world, not the great commission, but the great devotion, consecration to God. To give him glory.

At the back of your bulletin, I don't know if you have ever seen it or looked at it or considered it, but every week there is the same purpose statement. It was crafted years ago, and we believe it to be important. We believe it to be Biblical.

As to the purpose of this church: 1. upreach, 2. inreach, 3. outreach. Not number 1, number 3. Upreach- our relationship to God. Giving him glory. Living such a way that other people around us get a good opinion of God. Everything flows from that relationship we have with God, that principal goal and purpose. That flows into how we treat each other, how we minister to each other, help heal each other's wounds.

And then third, with that basis of unity, and worship, love for God comes outreach to the world. So the goal of the church is that God is pointed to, given attention to, made renown, and peoples' opinions of God goes up based upon the way we live. That's what it means to glorify God.

Question. That's Jesus' goal for the church. Do you think the world has the same goal? Or if the world was to give you a set of priority values, would they say, "Well, number one you should glorify God"? No, they would probably say something like, "Wait, you want to satisfy yourself. You ought to make yourself happy. You ought to glorify you. It's all about you."

Let me read to you a list of slogans. These are advertising slogans that different companies have used through the years. I found a website with all of them, thousands of them, and I won't read thousands. Don't worry.

McDonald's slogan was once- "You deserve a break today."

Nike- "If it feels good, just do it." Of course, that was shortened to "Just do it."

Nissan slogan- "Everything you want. Nothing you don't."

The Canon corporation- "Image is everything."

Pepsi- "Drink Pepsi. It will satisfy you."

Sprite- "Obey your thirst."

Toyota- "You asked for it. You got it. T..." You know it right? "Toyota."

Microsoft- "Where do you want to go today?"

Question. Why those emphases? Simply because advertisers, folks, have studied human nature. They know what drives human beings. They know what will grab us when we listen to it. They know that basically human nature says, "Serve yourself. You deserve a break. Be your own best friend, or in short glorify yourself."

It's so opposite, you see. Here's the kingdom of God. Here's the kingdom of the world. We're in the world but not of the world. And Jesus is saying, "The number one goal for my people, for my assembly, my group isn't to feel good, or it's not about them. It's about me and my Father, to glorify God." Now, I've got to say that because there are tendencies even in certain church groups to make the emphasis all about us. There's a theology that says if you want something, you use faith to get it. "You claim it in the name of Jesus,"(southern accent) and if you use a southern accent it'll work better. I don't know why, but it will. And you hold onto it, and you claim it for yourself. And listen, I believe in faith, but this theology reduces God down to a heavenly concierge where you demand and he jumps on it.

I read this prayer, and I read the worship prayer in heaven that we're going to pray according to revelation chapter 4. And listen to it. You created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created.

So, let's answer that. What is the purpose primarily of the church in the world? It's that while we live in the "me generation" we are to be the "He generation". Not the "me generation." That's everybody else, but when you live in stark contrast to the "me generation" by being the "He generation", that makes a huge impact. Huge impact. Otherwise, you're just like everybody else.

Now, you know when we come and gather, worship does exactly that. Worship is one of those exercises that takes all the attention off of you and puts all the attention on to him if the worship is done correctly. That's the value of it. He's got the focus. He's got the emphasis. The spotlight's on him.

Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones is an author that I've loved for years. And he said something interesting I'll never forget when I read it. He said, "A lot of people come to church just to be drugged." And then he explained it. "It's not that they care about what is said. It's not that they even care about God being glorified. They care about the feeling they get when they come to church. They come to be comforted, or consoled, or soothed, so that the focus is on them. I'm not saying the church shouldn't do that, but that shouldn't be the purpose that gathers us.

One leader wrote, "A church is all too often judged not by whether God is worshipped there in Spirit and in truth, or whether the word of God is faithfully proclaimed. On the contrary, a church is usually judged by the attractiveness of its ritual, friendliness of its members, and their ability to make me feel at home."

Here's the warning. Don't reduce coming to the church, gathering with the church, don't reduce it to a consumer activity. Realize that the first and great thing we can do is to render glory to God. That's number one.

Let's look at number two. I'm going to take you to verse 6. The church should not just reflect the glory of God. It should reveal the truth of God. I have manifested your name to the men whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. And now they have known that all things which you have given me are from you. For I have given to them the words which you have given me, and they have received them. What have they received? The word of God. And have known surely that I came forth from you, and they have believed that you sent me.

The church should reflect the glory of God. The church should reveal the truth of God. "Skip, why is that every time we come to church it's always the same? I mean, there's singing and preaching, singing and teaching, teach, teach, sing, sing, sing, teach every time. Can't you ever do something different? How about a puppet show? How about a raffle? How about interpretive dance? Anything."

There was a newspaper article. It was a local newspaper article, and it said, here's the title, here's the heading, "Church. A trendy place for singles seeking dates." I didn't know that. A trendy place for singles seeking dates? Now, the article goes on to give sound advice for those who are single seeking dates. Here's their advice: "You got to be subtle. You need to get a feel for the church. Sit in the back for awhile." And I'm not implying anything for those sitting in the back. It's just what the article says. The idea is "scope it out." Is that what we do? No. It's not what we do.

Jesus said these words, Go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe whatever I have commanded you. One of the heartaches as a pastor, not here, you are, I think, Biblically sound for the most part and very well fed, I believe, because every time we meet we go through the word. Every meeting in the church you have a Bible study. But there is a Biblical illiteracy among churches in our nation, a Biblical illiteracy, not even knowing where to find certain books of the Bible. There's some people who still think an epistle is the wife of an apostle. You know, they, they haven't figure out what that is yet.

Purpose one of the church is to worship God, focus off me, focus on him. Purpose number two is to learn of him. It's a training center, so to speak, to learn about him. That I would learn about his attributes, his will, his purpose, his plan.

Not only is this what Jesus prayed, but you have to know that that is the pattern followed in the New Testament. Jesus taught it, and the church did exactly what Jesus prayed for.

You know, I sometimes have conversations with pastors, or theologians, seminary professors, or I read books, and they talk about great movements of church history. And as they look back sometimes they think we ought to model the church today after that historical model, whether it's the Moravian movement, or the Wesleyan movement, or the reforms of Martin Luther, or John Calvin, or whatever it might be. And those are great periods, but they did all have their flaws. I think the only true era, the only true pattern for the church is the Biblical pattern. It's the New Testament book of Acts. That happens to be the first church. That happens to be the first Jesus movement in the book of Acts, and I think that that is a book that ought to be studied. And so, if you turn to the book of Acts, you discover early on their priorities were the same as Jesus' priorities.

Listen to this. It's probably the most famous text of all in the early part. Acts 2:42, And they devoted themselves constantly to the apostles doctrine, to fellowship, to breaking bread, and to prayer. And the Lord added daily to the church those who were being saved.

What's first on the list? What did they devote themselves constantly to first? What's their number one thing? The apostles' doctrine. The apostles' doctrine? Why is that first on the list? Why isn't love first on the list? Prayer first on the list? Singing? That's not even in the list. Because as you study the Bible, the word of God, tells you how to love, how to pray, how to sing with the right motivation. It tells you everything you need to live a life that is pleasing and glorifying to the Lord. So first on their list was the apostles' doctrine, teaching the Bible. And I believe, based upon Scripture and based upon what I see, in the churches that don't place the word of God as a priority become imbalanced and a little spooky. Very confusing.

There was a small village that, I've told you before, in Europe, that had, like many European villages, a clock tower in the center of town. Everybody'd go by daily to see what time it was, hear the chimes, pace their lives according to that one clock that was the authority for everybody in the village.

As time went on, the glass that protected the hands of the clock broke. Dirt got inside the mechanism. People would walk by, and thinking, "I don't think that's the right time. That's not what my watch says. I think that's off. I better set it for the rest of the people." So somebody'd walk up and reset the time. A couple hours later somebody else would walk by and go, "That can't be the right time. I better set the right time so that everybody else will have the right time." They'd set it differently.

As time went on, you can see what would happen. There was absolutely no authority left in the village as to what time it really was, because everyone was setting it according to how they saw it. How they felt at that moment was the right time.

And churches can do that when you take away as the priority the teaching of the word of God. So, Jesus prayed for it. The early church left it as a pattern. We see it in Acts chapter 2. They followed it in their missionary endeavors. When Antioch became that great missionary sending place where the church was established, that's where they were first called Christians. Listen to what it says. Acts 11, For a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people.

And then listen to what Paul writes to young Timothy his protégé, Preach the word, not give your opinion, have interpretive dance. Preach the word. Be instant in season and out of season. Rebuke, reprove, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. Now, for a pastor this is paramount, and everything else, though there are many other things to do, become secondary to this. Did you know that? Again the book of Acts chapter 6 is the example. There was a time when a certain group of people felt left out in the church, a certain group of widows. So they came to the apostles. The apostles said, We're not going to leave the word of God and serve tables. You select seven men to do the business. We'll say amen to it, but we, they said, must continually give ourselves to prayer and to the teaching of the word.

I had a pastor call me from Ohio. It was an interesting call. He listened to our radio broadcast. He listened to how we teach through the Bible, and he said, "I want to do this. I really want to do this. I want to teach the Bible. I love teaching the Bible, but I'm in a church where I can't."

I said, "Excuse me? You're a pastor. You're in a church. You can't? 'Whatever you do, don't teach the Bible.'" I said, "Tell me how that works?"

He goes, "Well, the model that has been set, and I have to confess I set it, is the seeker model. Very, very short messages based upon felt needs. Not going through the Bible, and very, very short. They won't tolerate that. They won't tolerate long preaching."

I said, "Well, it does prove we're in the last days. They will not endure sound doctrine in the last days, but," I said, "you know what? Do it anyway."

"But we'll lose people."

"Ah, but you know what you'll do? The ones that you keep and gain will grow so deep, and so strong, and you'll lay a foundation, and God will add if you honor him."

But it was a crisis point in a church as the pastor, wanting to teach the Bible and unable to do it.

How many times in teaching the Bible have I heard people afterwards say, "You know, Skip, that's exactly what I needed to hear. In fact, this week I was talking about this with a friend or relative of mine. I had questions, and it's amazing. They're answered tonight."

I've even been accused of following people. "You followed me. You know where I live. You saw what I did."

I go, "Excuse me?"

There was a small factory that had a piece of equipment. The machine re-broke. They tried to fix the machinery to no avail. They called in an outside expert. He looked it over for five minutes, took a little hammer out, went ping, and started working. Submitted a bill, $10,000. The factory said, "Excuse me? Could you itemize your bill?"

"Sure. It's a dollar for hitting it with a hammer. It's $9,999 for knowing precisely where to hit."

And have you discovered that the Bible can do that? Have you discovered that the Bible, God knows precisely, like a fine engineer or machinist, or surgeon, knows exactly what to say, what to do to get into our hearts? The writer of Hebrews says, The word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart.

So, as Jesus prayed for his church, as the early church kept the priorities glorifying God, worshipping the Lord, and studying the word—those are to be our priorities—what will happen if you do that? Go, go look at verse 13 with me in chapter 17. Verse 13. Oh, let's go back to verse 12. We'll read a few, get context. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you gave me I kept, and none is lost except the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled. But I come to you, and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word. The world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

Jesus talks to his Father and says, if I'm reading it correctly, one of the byproducts of making the word of God priority is joy. Now, one of the things that I love about you is you love the Bible. It's an odd thing for a visitor to come here. They'll point it out to me. They say, "You know, your church clapped at the end of the Bible study tonight. They applauded. What's that all about?"

"They're fanatics. What can I say?"

And I mentioned this Wednesday, but isn't it funny, we're called fanatics because we clap, we get excited, we have joy in our hearts over the Lord, yet people can go to a baseball game, or a football game and throw this little thing around, and wear cheese hats, and tomahawks, and big fingers with one, and shout up and down, and they call us fanatics.

Spurgeon said, "Oh, oh how happy when our happy God is worshipped by a happy people, a cheerful people. That is in keeping with his nature and his acts."

Do you know why the Bible will produce joy? Because as you read it you'll discover the plan of God for your life, his purpose, the love of God for you. You'll discover what the future has in store for you. You'll discover what heaven's going to be like. You'll understand the meaning of life. There'll be truth and principles that help you overcome temptation in life. You'll have promises to comfort you, warnings to guard you. David in Psalm 119 said, Happy are the people who follow the law of the Lord. Happy are those who obey his decrees and search for him with all their hearts. Make me walk along the path of your commands for that is where my happiness is found.

So, are you following this? If we make our goal self-glory, self satisfaction, happiness for myself, that's my goal, we never seem to find it. If we make our goal seeking first the kingdom of God, pleasing God, glorifying God by studying what the word of God says, a byproduct is satisfaction and joy.

Tyndale House Publishers put out this little account. "90% of Bible readers feel at peace all or most of the time compared to 58% who read the Bible less than once a month. 92% of frequent Bible readers report knowing a clear purpose and meaning in life as compared to 69% of infrequent Bible readers."

So, it will produce joy. It will do something else. It will produce holiness. It will produce holiness. Go to verse 15. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. In other words, though the world is deceptive, and pulling on them, and powerfully evil, "Your word, Father, can keep them pure in the midst of it."

"Pure? Pure did you say? Who cares anything about being pure anymore? In fact, isn't it just best to go along with the crowd? Everybody's doing it. We want to be like them, so they realize we're not so weird. Because, you see, if we're weird, we stick out, they're really not going to be able to listen to what we have..." Oh, oh. I disagree. I think that when they see you as weird, and they already suspect that you are, when they see you as being different from them and unwilling to compromise in those differences, loving God madly, they wonder, "How do they do it? How are they able to be kept through it?"

Jesus prays, Sanctify them by your truth. The word means haggiadzo, "to consecrate, to be wholly devoted to God in the midst of this world." So while you're in the world, the only way you're not going to be like the world is to be in the world, because you are, but in the word. In the word and in the world. If you're always in the word, but you're never in the world, you're not going to do the world any good. But if you're only in the world and never in the word, you're going to have nothing to share with them. Sanctify them by your word.

David prayed, again, Psalm 119, Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. Folks, that's why we emphasize the Bible in every group that meets here. Whether it's a new believer's foundation group, or a woman's Bible study, or a law enforcement fellowship, always the Bible is taught. It produces joy and it makes us pure. It sanctifies us.

That's why Spurgeon was fond of saying, "A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to somebody who's not."

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Okay, then I'm going to go home and trash this puppy. By the way, Skip, your Bible looks pretty new." I take care of it.

So, last week we discovered what a church is. Tonight, the purpose of the church, Part One. Don't let the church become a trendy place for singles seeking dates. Don't let the church become like that gal that I witnessed to from Belarus—cold, unfriendly, irrelevant. The church is us, the people of God, who worship God supremely and study the word diligently. It's not about us. It's about him. This sets the pace for the rest of the week. My life is about Jesus. It's all about Jesus.

"Why do you come to church?"

"Because Jesus wants me to. Because I worship my Lord there. Because I find out who he is more, and what I can do more, and what he does for me more."

True story. I've read it on a few occasions. I found it in another source documented this week. I always had my suspicions when I first read it, but then I found its source. It was back east. A young couple had a child, and they had a christening party for their child. It was a party before the child was to be christened at the local church, and people came over. It was a cold wintry night. The baby was placed on the guest bed in the guest bedroom. People came over. There was a flurry of activity and couple of guests not seeing the baby flung their coats in the guestroom, and then more, and then more. And the next day, true story, as sad as it might seem, the next day the local paper carried a story of the baby who was smothered to death at his own christening party. And can you imagine, how gut wrenching is that? It's all about the baby being christened. The baby has been forgotten about by the guests, and the party went on.

I share that with you because church can get that way as well sometimes. Church can become all about my ritual, my ceremony, my religious trapping, my program, and we forget about we're doing this for him. This is all about Jesus.

Heavenly Father, we're your church. We're the very group of people that you said you would build. We have no right to determine what it is to be. You have every right to determine because we are bought by the blood of your son Jesus Christ. And so, Lord, when we think about our particular part, we don't want the church to be a place where perceptions are unreasonable or worship is invisible; where it's cold, and unfriendly, and irrelevant to modern culture. We don't want it to be a trendy place for people who want to scope out members of the opposite sex. We're to be your people who worship you supremely and study your word diligently. That, Lord, it's not about us feeling good, but about you being glorified. And so, Lord, week by week as you teach us how to live, may we more and more become a group of people that not only endure sound doctrine but enjoy sound doctrine, because it reveals to us your character, your nature, your purpose, your plan, how we fit in. We have tools to overcome temptation, promises that console and comfort us. And, Lord, tonight before we leave, us, your people, church people, we want to say we submit to you as Lord that you might receive glory, and we submit to your word that we might know how to please you. Thank you for this gift, Lord. Thank you for the gift of your word, and thank you for the gift of the church, the body of Christ surrounding us. May we never forget Christ and smother him with our own agenda. And I pray that what we've learned tonight and what we sing about tonight would be kept as priorities for our lives through the week. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Additional Messages in this Series

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9/15/2002
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Does the Truth Really Matter?
2 Timothy 4
Skip Heitzig
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Today I begin a new series I am calling Rediscovering Our Foundations. I am concerned about the vast biblical illiteracy that exists in our country in general and in our churches in particular. Truth is commonly seen by our culture as relative and not fixed. Often sentiments such as, "Well, that is your truth, but it's not my truth," are expressed by many. But if truth is absolute, then why not stand up for it? Why be embarrassed about it? What do you really believe about God, the Trinity, Christ, mankind, the church, heaven, and hell?
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9/22/2002
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Is Anybody Up There?
Hebrews 11:1-40;Romans 2:1-29
Skip Heitzig
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We all remember the scene in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy and her three friends come to approach the Great Oz. Out of the corner of their eye they notice a man pulling levers behind a curtain, working the mechanical, smoke-breathing Oz. The man then reacts by announcing, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" But how can they not? The man is the explanation for everything to them. They discovered that Oz didn't really exist! So how do we know that God exists and isn't a fabrication or projection of our own imaginations?
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9/29/2002
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The Bible - From God or From Men? - Part 1
2 Timothy 3:15-17
Skip Heitzig
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In this series, Rediscovering Our Foundations, it's time to consider your own personal foundation. What is the final resting place for your cares, concerns, griefs, surprises and sorrows? Where do you turn for answers to life's deepest questions? What is your authority? How sure are you that the Bible is the inerrant and inspired Word of God? Can you articulate to others the difference between the Bible and other "sacred" religious works?
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10/6/2002
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The Bible - From God or From Men? - Part 2
2 Timothy 3:15-17
Skip Heitzig
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Last week, we discovered exactly what the designation "Scripture" referred to and how books of the Bible were considered as part of the inspired text. We also learned what inspiration means and how God used humans in His process of having exactly what He wanted written down. But anyone can claim inspiration for their work. Yet how do we know that the Bible is the authentic Word of God? Moreover, how can we share with others its uniqueness so they, too, may listen to its message and apply it?
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10/13/2002
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The God Who Knows It All!
Psalm 139:1-6
Skip Heitzig
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A little boy climbed his neighbor's apple tree when he saw their car leave. He didn't realize that while he was stuffing his pockets full of apples, another neighbor was watching through a pair of binoculars and saw the whole thing! God isn't spying on people, trying to catch them doing something wrong; but God is aware of everything. Such a truth has a profound effect on us: it can either be very comforting or else extremely unsettling.
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10/20/2002
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Are You a Big-Godder or a Little Godder?
Psalm 139:7-24
Skip Heitzig
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11/10/2002
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Wholly Holy!
Skip Heitzig
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In this current series, Rediscovering Our Foundations, we've considered some key attributes of the God we know and love. He is omniscient (knows everything); He is omnipresent (everywhere present); He is omnipotent (operates at full power). But there is another key attribute that is seldom considered, yet is fundamentally key in understanding the Bible—God's holiness. Let's observe one man's encounter with this holy God and what it means to us.
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11/17/2002
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Good Man, Mad Man, Con Man, or God-Man?
Matthew 16:13-17
Skip Heitzig
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No other person from history has generated so much controversy and speculation, as well as written literature, as Jesus Christ. Theologians, philosophers, poets and pundits have all weighed in concerning who Jesus is. What is often forgotten is that Jesus can never be overestimated! John said that the, "world itself could not contain the books that should be written" (John 21:25) about His accomplishments.
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12/1/2002
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A King Among the Critters
Luke 2:1-7
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In our current series, Rediscovering Our Foundations, we've come to the person of Christ. Last time, we considered His identity; today, we contemplate His nativity. For the next few weeks, we'll look closely at Jesus' birth, His early years, ministry, and death on the cross, which was the very purpose of His birth. It's my hope that we'll all emerge with a fuller understanding of Jesus and a deeper desire to worship and serve Him. Today, let's look at the strange circumstances of His birth.
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12/8/2002
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Jesus - The Boy With a Purpose - Part 1
Luke 2:1-52; Matthew 2:1-23
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Jesus' upbringing and boyhood has been the subject of much speculation and endless controversy throughout the centuries. Myths have developed about Jesus based (interestingly enough) on what isn't written. The Bible gives us five cameo glimpses of Jesus from early boyhood to age 30. We'll look at three of these today and then two more next week. We discover that Jesus' whole life was marked with purpose.
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12/15/2002
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Jesus - The Boy With a Purpose - Part 2
Luke 2-3
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We don't give much thought to Jesus growing up, developing into adolescence and then into manhood. But of course He did. Luke is really the only New Testament author who gives us information about these early years. He speaks generally about Jesus' growth as well as specifically about Jesus' capacity as a young boy of 12. At each stage of His life, Jesus demonstrated He knew His purpose for His life on earth.
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12/22/2002
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A Lamb at the River
Matthew 3:1-17; John 1:1-51
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When Jesus turned 30, He presented Himself to the nation of Israel in public ministry. His first appearance, however, seemed so out of character for the kind of Messiah that people were anticipating. What was He doing getting baptized in a river with everyone else? John was about to find out—and so was everyone else.
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1/12/2003
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The Holy Spirit: Invisible, Personal, Powerful
John 14-16
Skip Heitzig
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Today in our series Rediscovering Our Foundations, we consider the Holy Spirit. Most of us have heard of Him, but who is He exactly? What does He do? How important is the Holy Spirit to your personal life, your family life, your work or your leisure time? Perhaps A.W. Tozer was right when he said, "For multitudes of Christians profess today the Holy Spirit is not a necessity. They have learned to cheer their hearts and warm their hands at other fires." It is my sincere prayer that will change for us in the few weeks ahead.
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1/19/2003
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The Gracious and Holy Hound of Heaven
John 16:5-11
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Having understood Who the Holy Spirit is (Person, not just power; Deity, not just dignitary), we now find out what He does, specifically what He does in the world of unbelievers. Since the greatest gift God ever gave to the world was His only Son (John 3:16), it stands to reason that the greatest sin one can commit is to reject the Son (John 16:9). How does the Holy Spirit both sentence the world as prosecutor and yet lead people away from judgment? And what role do we play in all of this?
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1/26/2003
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I Need Somebody, Help! Not Just Anybody
John 14-16
Skip Heitzig
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To live one's life for God in an ungodly world sounds like mission impossible, right? It would be as if we had to do it without help. But be strengthened by this thought: God never intended for us to do it alone! That's why He has provided His people a Helper, the Holy Spirit. This ever-present divine Person is very busy helping God's people become all He wants them to be.
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2/2/2003
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Brand-Spankin' New Apostles!
Acts 1:1-8
Skip Heitzig
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The legendary missionary to India, William Carey, didn't see obstacles; he saw opportunities. He was the "Let's go for it!" kind of guy. In fact, one of his most famous sayings was, "Attempt great things for God; expect great things from God." Carey did both and saw results! The Holy Spirit can take ordinary men and women and do extraordinary things with them. He is the God who "makes all things new" (Revelation 21:5). Such a truth can only create a sense of wonder and excitement in the heart of a child of God. After all, what new thing could God do through you?
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2/9/2003
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Unholy Responses to the Holy Spirit
Ephesians 4:30
Skip Heitzig
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You might say that we live in the "Age of the Holy Spirit." Jesus promised Him to us after He was done with His own earthly ministry. We have seen that He is very active both in the world among the unconverted and in the church among God's own people. But He has one overriding goal-to bring glory to Jesus Christ in every life. What does that mean to us? It means a total surrendering to Him. As Oswald Chambers said, "The Holy Spirit cannot be located as a guest in a house. He invades everything." But what happens when people don't respond to Him rightly? Then what?
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2/16/2003
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How Can Three Be One?
Matthew 28:16-20
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1+1+1=1. Is this new math? No, it's the doctrine of the Trinity. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. At the very heart of the Judeo-Christian faith is the belief that there is only One God. Yet the Bible clearly teaches the plurality within the Godhead—three persons who are distinct from one another yet perfectly One in essence. What are we to make of all this? Why is it important? And more fundamentally, how should it affect us personally?
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2/23/2003
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The Exceedingly Un-Holy Spirit
1 John 5:19
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Satan, the prince of darkness, has been around a long time. He has studied mankind for thousands of years, marking his strategies according to what he sees in us and what God's plan for the world is. He hates what God loves; he fights what God establishes. And let's remember, he's got help! Other spirit beings have joined his rebellion and control the system known in Scripture as the world. John even said, "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19). What should we know about this arch-nemesis of God in order to stand against him?
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3/2/2003
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Touched by an Angel
Luke 1-2
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As even the title suggests, angels have become popular in modern culture. But whether we know it or not, we've all been "touched an angel." Martin Luther helped us to understand their role by remarking, "An angel is a spiritual creature created by God without a body, for the service of Christendom and of the church." He was partially correct, but angels serve an even greater role than being strictly for the church. Their ministry goes beyond us and is principally concerned with the glory and majesty of God.
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3/9/2003
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Man, Has God Got a Plan For You!
Genesis 1-3
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Alexander Pope once remarked that, "the chief study of man is man himself." That may be true, especially in our culture, but this could also be the reason why mankind is so desperate and spiritually thirsty. Looking only to ourselves rather than beyond ourselves can get pretty lonely! But why are we here? What is the purpose of mankind inhabiting this planet? How can I fulfill the God-given destiny that He originally designed for me?
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3/16/2003
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From Creation to Corruption
Genesis 2-3
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How did we, as the human race, get into the colossal mess we find ourselves in? Was it always this way? And what do Adam's actions, acted out so long ago, have to do with us in this modern technologically advanced age? Am I at all responsible? Can the effects ever be undone? Let's look at these issues in the opening chapters of Genesis.
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4/27/2003
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Church-Building 101
Matthew 16:13-20
Skip Heitzig
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The church was God's idea; it was never man's notion. Jesus Christ is the founder, director, architect, owner and builder of the church. But there is an awful lot of confusion about what a church is supposed to look and function like. Today, we look at the first New Testament mention of the church and look at our spiritual origins. As we are Rediscovering Our Foundations, let's also rediscover our spiritual roots as the people of God.
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5/25/2003
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What Jesus Wants His Church to Be - Part 2
John 17
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Church shopping and church hopping have become one of American Christians’ favorite pastimes. We want a church that suits us, helps us, and pleases us. But since Jesus paid for it, it’s His church (Acts 20:28). So what does He want from us? What should the people of God be like? What ingredients and activities ought to be part of our makeup? In this series, Rediscovering our Foundations, we must rediscover the foundational purpose for our existence as His church.
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6/1/2003
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How to Build a Beautiful Body
1 Corinthians 12:3-22
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6/22/2003
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The Last Days
2 Peter 1-3
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On October 30, 1938, the day before Halloween, the novel War of the Worlds was made into a radio broadcast featuring Orson Welles. As millions of Americans were listening, the play was performed so it would sound like a news broadcast about an invasion from Mars. Many thought they were hearing an actual news account of an invasion from Mars and concluded this was the end. Some even committed suicide as their final fatal act! In Rediscovering Our Foundations, what can we know about the last days of this world and what can we do to prepare?
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6/29/2003
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I'll Be Back
John 13:31-14:6
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A little boy was trying desperately to tell his friends about what Jesus' return would be like. He described Jesus' coming in glory as being "greater than Superman, Batman, and the Power Rangers put together!" Of course even that would be an understatement. Jesus came here 2000 years ago and then left; but He promised to return. What will it be like? What difference should it make to us right here, right now?
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7/6/2003
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The Burning Question
Revelation 20:11-15
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Hell is an eternal and biblical reality that has been relegated to the junk pile of modern myths. Woody Allen once said that hell is the abode of all people who annoy him. The word hell is used on a daily basis in people's dicey language patterns—usually as a fill-in expletive. Of all the Christian doctrines unfolded in Scripture, hell is the toughest one to handle. Most love the notion of a blissful heaven awaiting them; few cling to the idea of a literal hell to punish the lost.
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7/13/2003
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Heaven: Our Final Frontier
Revelation 21:1-27
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Captain Kirk and his starship Enterprise weekly traversed the galaxies on the famed Star Trek episodes. That was fiction! But one day you will inhabit the recreated millennial earth in a glorified body and then explore the vast kingdoms of heaven in the eternal state. That is reality! It will be so different than what you're used to that it's linguistically impossible to convey its vastness. But there's enough here to whet the appetite for heaven!
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There are 29 additional messages in this series.
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