Hell fascinates and frightens a lot of people. Whether or not you grew up in Sunday School or under a "fire-and-brimstone" preacher -- American Pop Christianity is the water we swim in. It’s a version of Christianity that’s fascinated and obsessed with the afterlife. The only problem is that the Bible isn't. We get a few glimpses of life after death but they are not as fully formed as we've been led to believe. So where does that lead us with a topic like Hell? What is it and what isn't it? How does Jesus talk about hell? What are some Christian views of hell? We explore these questions and a lot more in this message.

NOTES --

// Last week we talked about how eternal life is contingent upon our connection with the Source of Life: Jesus. But what about the alternative? What about willfully disconnecting or rejecting life and love?

1. SOME IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS

- There’s virtually nothing in the OT and little in the NT about the “interim state” (immediately after life)

- There’s more about resurrection and judgment

- Most everything that’s said is said symbolically

- Hell is not “ruled” by Satan

- Humans are not inherently immortal (1 Tim. 6.10)

- Judgment awaits everyone at the end of the age

2. SOME IMPERFECT VIEWS

- INFERNALIST (aka Traditionalist): Eternal Conscious Torment

- CONDITIONALIST (aka Annihilationist): Immortality is conditional, those who ultimately reject God cease to exist

- UNIVERSALIST (also Inclusivist): All will be saved in the end

= There is no orthodox position or Christian theological consensus

3. TWO TERMS THAT BECAME "H-E-DOUBLE-HOCKEY-STICKS"

1. HADES (Luke 10.15; 16.23; Revelation 1.18; 20.14...)

- Greek word used for the Hebrew Sheol

- Refers to “realm of the dead”

2. GEHENNA (Jeremiah 7.31-33; 19.2-13; Luke 13.1-5...)

- Literal place outside Jerusalem

- Most often refers to a kind of “hell on earth”

4. TWO PARABLES ABOUT "THEN" THAT ARE REALLY MEANT TO MOTIVATE US NOW

- Luke 16.19-31

- Matthew 25.31-46

// QUOTE -- “When hate wins, hell is inevitable... Hell is the love of God refused.” (Brian Zahnd, Sinners the Hands of Loving God)

// BIG IDEA -- The way to avoid today’s "Gehenna" and tomorrow’s "Eternal fire" is a turning to Jesus demonstrated by love of neighbor.

5. ONE REMINDER TO END ON A GOOD NOTE -- Romans 8.1, 31-39

// “Come to me...” “Come follow me...” “I am the way, the truth, and the life...” There is love and life to receive and give. Stay open to this love that is inseparable in Christ. This love will do it’s work now and forever. Do not be afraid.

We begin our "After Life" series with heaven. Everybody wants to go to heaven (cue old country song) but everyone has different ideas of what heaven will be like. Where the Bible only gives us a glimpse of what’s “After Life”—pop culture and popular ideas have filled in the rest of the picture. Where do we start? What is the focus of Christian hope? What can we know of what's ultimately unknowable? We explore these questions and more.

NOTES --

1. What we’re really talking about when we talk about “Heaven”

2. What we know of what’s ultimately unknowable—we have to admit and accept some mystery!

3. How we can rest easy before we rest in peace

// The picture the Bible gives is not as clear as our culture's imagination

// Heaven is simply not the focus of the Bible and our life

// Heaven is not our ultimate hope nor our final home (the end game is a new heaven and new earth becoming one)

// QUOTE -- "Heaven is important but it's not the end of the world." (N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope)

// In the New Testament we get glimpses of a pleasant postmortem place (Luke 16.22, Luke 23.43; Philippians 1.23; 2 Cor. 12.4)

// Are we inherently immortal? (1 Tim. 6.15-16; John 3.16; Rom. 6.23; 2 Tim. 1.10)

// Heaven = God's Realm

// It's more about where God is, less about where we go. The Biblical trajectory is more "top-down" than "bottom-up"

// We have enough glimpses to trust an eternal God for eternal life after death. But the ultimate hope is resurrection.

// BIG IDEA 1 -- What we mean by “heaven” is step one of the two-step process of eternal life. Christian hope is a resurrected bodily existence on a renewed earth: not a disembodied soul on a cloud.

// BIG IDEA 2 -- Eternal life is contingent upon our connection with the Source of life: Jesus.

// SCRIPTURE FOCUS -- John 14.1-6

// You can trust Jesus to bring us to the Father. You can trust the Father to keep us safe in his care--with all those who've gone before--until Jesus returns. We know enough to know that we can rest easy after life before Jesus returns and all is renewed.

Coming to the end of Acts 20 is like coming to the end of the second movie of an epic trilogy. There is closure to some things but ultimately, the showdown of the final episode still looms. Paul is on a farewell tour as the second large section of Acts closes. Paul encourages, blesses, and reminisces. But as the frequent flyer miles continue to rack up, this question looms: where is he going? Where are WE going? Are we sure we're headed in the right direction? Who are we going with? Let's explore and set off together.

NOTES --

// SCRIPTURE FOCUS -- Acts 20

// The big question in Acts 20 and in our life is WHERE ARE WE GOING? (We may not like it, it will probably be tough, but we will make it). We'll get 3 ANSWERS to this question from 3 sections of Acts 20.

// ANSWER 1 -- We're going somewhere TOGETHER

// BIG IDEA -- To follow Jesus is to never walk alone. As you walk with Jesus you look up and realize that you walk with him and others through the highs and lows of life.

// ANSWER 2 -- We're going to do the work of new life each of us is called and empowered to do.

// QUOTE -- “Jesus did not come preaching a new philosophy. He came preaching a new way of living & dying.” (Will Willimon)

// Our faith is not just meant to be believed, it's meant to be lived.

// Paul has a clear vision of what he's called and empowered to do but he's always open to discern how and where he'll do it next.

// What's the framing narrative of your life? The story you tell yourself and others about who you are and what you do -- the story that frames your life.

// Where are you going?

// Are you sure you’re headed in the right direction?

// Who are you going with?

What happens when a church gets a city's attention? What happens when it affects their wallets? What does this have to do with *our* wallets? Listen to this wild scene in Acts 19 as the transformed lives of the Way transform their city... and upset the status quo.

NOTES --

// SCRIPTURE FOCUS -- Acts 19.23-41

// 2 QUICK CONFLICT PRINCIPLES --

1. Sometimes you should listen to your friends when they tell you it's not worth the fight.

2. Most times you should keep it about what the issue is really about.

// If Jesus is Lord of my life, is he Lord of my wallet?

// BIG IDEA: These followers of the Way confronted the cultural, spiritual, and financial status quo not with publicity stunts but with holistically transformed lives that transformed the world around them.

// Our sharing and giving is a tangible pledge of allegiance to a King and kingdom.

// The message of American consumerism is that what we have is not enough -- not big enough, not new enough, not fast enough. The gospel is an economy of (more than) enough.

// QUOTE -- "The world says, the more you take, the more you have. Christ says, the more you give, the more you are." (Frederick Buechner)

// REFLECT -- Does our current spending look different than our "B.C." spending?

// REFLECT -- Are we raising disciples with a healthy idea of "enough" or are we raising consumers with a faulty view of "success"?

Consider this Interlude a "Clip Show" highlighting some of the dramatic scenes in the story of Acts. When we step back from the miles we've journeyed along "The Way," we can see that Acts is a story of movement -- geographically, socially, and theologically. And, in many ways, our lives are a story of movement too! Consider how far you've traveled in the last decade. What makes us think that God isn't still moving? Let's "roll the clips" and see what we discover.

NOTES --

// BIG IDEA -- Like the first followers of the "The Way," we make the road by walking with God -- paying attention and responding appropriately.

// In Acts 1, it's as if Jesus says "You're going to be witnesses to everyone everywhere but you'll have to trust the Holy Spirit to see where the story goes AS you're going."

// Movement 1 -- From EARTH to THE FATHER

// Movement 2 -- From HEAVEN to GOD'S PEOPLE

// Movement 3 -- From THE GATHERING to THE STREET

// Movement 4 -- From ENEMY to FAMILY

// Movement 5 -- From OLD PARADIGMS to NEW FRONTIERS

// REFLECT -- What do you learn from the first generation of followers of "The Way"? Is your heart's "factory setting" resistance or openness to the new thing God seems to be doing?

// QUOTE -- "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet. The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a) that you most need to do and (b) that the world most needs to have done." (FREDERICK BUECHNER)

We're moving! We've been so grateful for our current partner and place and now we're moving to a space that's much more "our own." Listen to the "Why's," the "What's," and the Q&A at the end.

This dramatic (and wild) scene in Acts 19 pulls back the curtain on some of the mysterious powers of light and darkness at work around us. Though we may not experience this kind of miracle or oppression every day, we should ask ourselves "what *is* the power at work in my everyday life?" What's giving me life and moving me forward? Am I connected to the right power source?

NOTES --

// SCRIPTURE FOCUS -- Acts 19.11-22

// QUESTION 1 -- What's the power filling your life?

// God, who created humanity, dignified humanity by becoming one of us in Christ. Then, God fills us with the Holy Spirit - joining us on earth to the life of heaven. So, in the power of the Holy Spirit, the work and message of God's kingdom is the RECLAMATION of what's been lost on earth and the REVELATION of how it ought to be, "as it is in heaven."

// QUESTION 2 -- What would spill out of your cup?

// In our work, in our struggles, in our relationships, we will always face the temptation to do the WORK of God WITHOUT staying connected to God. We can even do something "for" Christ but not "in Christ." Yikes.

// QUESTION 3 -- What might God's power do through you (when it's not all about you)?

Philosopher Simone Weil said that "Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity. Isn't this true in an increasingly distracted society moving from one thing to the next? How might our relationship with God and others grow if we were to cultivate our attention to the one in front of us? In this brief message, we're invited to explore Moses' mysterious example by connecting with God "face to face."

NOTES --

// VIDEO: "The Bridge: Face to Face by the Jubilee Project -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxN3p2QyqDk

// SCRIPTURE FOCUS -- Exodus 33.11

// PRACTICING PRESENCE -- In a culture always moving from one thing to the next, we are out of practice at being attentive to God and others. Yet God longs to be attentive to us. And our attention facilitates connection.

// ATTENTION = TIME = LIFE

// CULTIVATING ATTENTION TO GOD'S "WITH-NESS" IN... Worship, Communion, Praying, Playing, Serving, Working, Driving...

// HOW WILL YOU PRACTICE SOME "FACE TIME" WITH GOD AND OTHERS THIS WEEK?

We meet a group of believers who have only caught the first few episodes of the Story God is telling through the Holy Spirit. In fact, these disciples have never even heard of the Holy Spirit! There's something we can learn from a community that's open and eager to respond to the fresh wind of God in their midst. Can we say the same for the Church in America today? Is our faith open yet anchored enough to walk into the next chapter of the Story? Or are we too rigid and closed to the movement of God that we miss out on the adventure?

NOTES --

// SCRIPTURE FOCUS -- Acts 19.1-10

// Which kind of faith?

- Rigid or anchored?

- Settled and stuck or expandable and evolvable?

- Closed or open?

// The Holy Spirit is the birthright of every child of God, not an add-on or an "advanced degree" of spirituality. The gifts the Spirit gives may differ but the Gift of the Spirit's filling and forming presence that joins us to the life of Christ is for all who believe.

// The Holy Spirit directs and oversees our formation – knowing what we need to grow into the image of Christ when & how we're able to receive it. Can you look back & see how the seasons shaped you along the way?

// REFLECT --

- What aspects of your faith, practice, or theology have changed or evolved?

- What aspects of your faith, practice, or theology have stayed anchored throughout your journey?

- How open are you to discovering new frontiers of understanding, experiencing, and living with God?

- How do you discern and decide which of these new expressions of faith are worth pursuing?

// There is more of the Ocean of grace to dive into, discover, and experience. Stay anchored but stay curious.

// No one finds that doesn't seek.

- These 12 watched and waited...

- Those others in the synagogue claimed their desk in the Kingdom of God 101 class...

- This community should expect that God has more for us yet...

Sometimes our education and training, as good as they may be, are not quite adequate for the job we eventually need to do. We need mentors, support, and continued education to prepare us for the task at hand. So it is with our understanding of the ways of the LORD and doing His work.

//Scripture Focus: Acts 18:24-28

//Apollos was highly educated and gifted in speech; he could effectively explain why Jesus is the prophesied Messiah of the scriptures. However, he did not have the full story, mainly lacking in His knowledge of the Holy Spirit. Priscilla and Aquila, in their faithfulness, helped him learn the ways of God more adequately, preparing Him for His journey to share the Good News of Jesus to the people in Corinth.

//Remember that the book of Acts is a story of the Good News to everyone everywhere, which includes...

- relationship with the same Spirit that gave men tongues of fire at Pentecost.

- community for God’s people to love, learn, and serve.

- ability and desire to continually learn about God and His kingdom.

//In what ways can we learn about the ways of God more adequately?

"Luke offers us no set pattern for the way in which people come, step by step, into full membership of the Christian family and full participation in all the possibilities that are thereby open to them. Sometimes it happens this way, sometimes that. Just as humans grow to maturity at different paces and some make great strides in one area while others have to catch up later, so it seems to be in the church. What matters is that we are open, ready to learn from unlikely sources, and prepared for whatever God has to reveal to us through the Scriptures, the apostolic teaching, and the ongoing and always unpredictable common life of the believing family." (N. T. Wright, Acts for Everyone, P. 108)