Our culture is fascinated with the idea and subject of the "After-Life."  In today's message, Pastor Shane talks about 3 common myths surrounding the "After-Life" that we can see in our culture and then weighs it against what we find in the Scriptures, and in particular, Rev 20.

The book of Revelation is more about staying true to Jesus than it is about predicting the future.  Revelation ends with the announcement of a wedding reception celebrating Jesus being united with his people after a long period of waiting, as a bridegroom is united with his bride after a long engagement.  This is both a beautiful picture and reminder of what our relationship with Jesus is all about!

In this week's message Pastor Shane talks about the important topic of what as believers to "Be in the world, but not of the world."

This week Pastor Joel is going to talk about the topic of Idolatry and how God is a jealous God who doesn't not want to share the "wall of your heart" with anyone or anything!  Something to think about as you listen... IS there something or someone on the wall of your heart that should not be there? 

 In Rev. 12, God pulls back the veil to reveal an epic spiritual battle going on in heaven that Satan loses. John then sees Satan and his demonic entourage take their fight to earth. Chapter13 shows how in revealing what commentators call a counterfeit “Unholy Trinity”: the Dragon, the beast coming out of the sea, and the beast arising from the earth. In Rev. 12, the dragon is identified as Satan. In ch. 13, the first beast has come to be considered the “Anti-Christ,” and the second the “False Prophet.” The world is lured into worshipping the Dragon by being in awe of the first beast’s power and the second beast’s deception. The chapter ends with a call for wisdom in light of this counterfeit Trinity’s deception. 

 G.K. Beale writes, "Revelation 12 has always been, consciously or not, considered as the center and the key to the entire book.” Revelation 12 explicitly casts the dragon as the great accuser of God’s people, that ancient Serpent, the Devil. The kingdom of God was inaugurated by Jesus’ ministry, bringing the body of Christ, the Church, into existence. The dragon’s role as the accuser is completely undermined because there is no condemnation for those in Christ (Rom 8:1). The dragon thus seeks vengeance against the Church. Revelation 12 is very detailed and graphic picture of the ever present reality that we have an enemy, BUT, this enemy has been defeated and we can live in the victory that Jesus purchased for us. 

 At chapter 11, we reach the half-way mark in Revelation — and again, though chapter 11 is another chapter of difficulty, it is a chapter of hope that tells us ahead of time that in the end Jesus wins! As the 7th trumpet is blown, it’s declared: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah”(v.15). In this chapter, John is shown a contrast between the earthly temple in Jerusalem and “God’s temple in heaven”(v.19). Just as John prophesies, Jerusalem — “the holy city” — and its earthly temple were “trampled” by the Romans in AD70. But the true temple of God’s presence is now with believers who will be resurrected at Jesus’ return. Believers are now God’s living temple (see 1 Peter 2:4-5).