Hell Series  Sermon 1/2 Introduction:  “From even the greatest of horrors irony is seldom absent”That’s a quote from H. P. Lovecraft, one of the greatest horror writers of the 20th century, perhaps all of time. If the man knew nothing else, he knew how to terrify people. See, lovecraft was an agnostic who believed in “cosmic indifference”. basically lovecraft thought that if there was a higher power in the universe, it would destroy us without a second thought, just like how we might destroy an ant without thinking. He saw the world as this cold and unfeeling place. And that is so different that what Christians believe in. We believe in a God is loving, just and kind. Who, like we talked about last we, wants a relationship with each of us. He wants to KNOW us. He’s a God who works to fix what we broke, who wants to dwell within us. However, we have a problem. One small nagging problem that, at least for me, I would prefer to ignore. This one problem that makes H.P. Lovecrafts works seem like child’s play in comparison. Christian’s have the problem of Hell. Our loving, just and kind God brings people to a place were they are tormented for eternity. Rather then Cosmic indifference we have an all powerful entity focused on our actions. And honestly, it’s hard to talk about hell. Not because it’s uncomfortable but because of our culture. We are both desensitized from horror from two different extremes. On one side, with technology people have come up with millions of different ways to scare us. From gross out movies to psychological terror we have turned being horrified into an industry. The fires of hell seem dim by comparision. On the other side we’ve sterilized horror. Everything happens on the other side of a computer screen. It might be scary, but its safe. Wars and famines and natural disasters happen in other places. The news is constantly bombarding us with tragedies that we care nothing about. So today we are going to look into hell, into what the Bible really says hell is like. I’m going to try to shock you, to make you uncomfortable. Hell is a real place and it’s were people we love are going. Now to be clear, i’m not interested in getting into the mechanics of death. We’re not going to talk about how dying works. We’re not going to talk about the grave or paradise or hades or anything like that. The things we need to know are that the final destination is eternity with God or eternity without God. So instead we are going to spend the next two weeks talking about what Eternity without God is like. See, the Bible uses two different Metaphors to describe what Eternity without God is like, what an eternity of torment will be… Fire and Darkness. Section 1: Valley of HinnomSo first Fire. This one most of us have thought of before when it comes to hell. Fire and Brimestone. A place with little red devils that torture people right? Well, not quite. As we explore we will see that the fires of hell have a rich history in the Bible.Understand that hell, or the fires of hell, is a phrase that is used again and again in the gospels. Specifically by Jesus. He’s the only person who refers to hell as hell. Peter calls it “eternal fire” well John Calls it the “Lake of Fire”. Throughout the Gospels Jesus uses the word hell to describe what happens to those who reject living by God’s definition of right and wrong, also know as the kingdom of God. But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.So if your eye— even your good eye— causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hellDon’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in he