Village Church Annandale (Sydney) sermons

If I really believed in Heaven and Hell | Revelation 17:1-19:10 (8-14 October 2023)

During this season ‘If I really believed …’ in our groups and at Village on Sundays we will be looking at six key truths that shape our life together.

• The reality of heaven and hell

• God so loved the world he gave his only son

• The glory of the church

• The brevity of life 

• Jesus mission to seek and save the lost

• The Glory of God

72% of Americans believe in a literal heaven. 58% believe in a literal hell. What do you think beliefs about these topics would be in Australia? 

Read John 3:31-36 especially verse 36.  What is being said here about eternal life and the alternative under God’s wrath?

Heaven 

As you read the following verses, identify the different evocative images used for heaven:

• Matthew 8:11, 22:2, 25:10

• Matthew 25:34

• Hebrews 11:10, 12:22-24

• Philippians 3:20

• John 14:2-3

• Luke 23:43

Hell

The most widely held view throughout Christian history has been that those who reject Jesus will suffer eternal conscious punishment.   How do each of the following verses support that position: 

• Matthew 25:41, Jude 7

• Matthew 25:46

• 2 Thessalonians 1:9

• Hebrews 6:2

There’s a minority position in Christian scholarship which suggests that in hell, people are punished then annihilated.  (ie there is a conscious punishment but it is not eternal). The main arguments are 1. that the NT speaks of death, perishing and destruction, which imply the end of existence.And 2. That God’s justice would not demand infinite punishment for finite sin.

What do you think?  

Supporters of both perspectives see hell as real and horrific.  On both views the unrighteous realise the enormity of their sin and are aware of their everlasting separation from God.  

How should we respond? 

Read Luke 12:1-5 and discuss.

Recognise that in our contemporary world we are tempted to soften and downplay the reality of God’s justice and judgement.  (It will do us good to google Johnathan Edwards 1741 sermon ‘Sinners in the hands of an angry God.’)

How do you think it would change our church and us if we were more conscious of the realities of heaven and hell?  Pray

Village Church invites you to start the ultimate relationship. Relationships an simultaneously be the most rejuvenating, draining, peaceful, hostile, loving, and cruel parts of life. But they don't have to be this way. We're considering what it could look like to start the ultimate relationship with the one we were made to know and be known by - our loving creator God.

This morning, Alex Hitchcock is helping us think about Ultimate Love as we explore God's word in 1 John 4:7-16. What is ultimate love? What difference does it make? How can I have it?