Uh no one drowned, so we're back. Um and so it's a good time. Um, I want to say this morning, happy Father's Day. It's good to be with all of you fathers, and uh, we want to celebrate you today. I have a few quotes that I want to share with you that have meant to me uh and Father's Day something special, and I hope it'll be special for you. I want to take care of a few things though before we get started. First, I want to say it is an honor to have Pastor Ben and Brittany with us here. Can we give them a round of applause? To come all the way back from Ohio to come here and be here with you uh says a lot, and I think that's honorable. And uh so we just pray nothing but blessings for you guys upon your family and uh while you're here. Um, always welcome. Uh with that being said, um, I want to talk a little bit about giving this morning uh because we have some great things that are going to be accessible to you. Um I know some of you may be old-fashioned and say we don't need the app. Uh, well, I hope you download it because I think you'll be blessed by it. If you don't know how to download the app, find Darla. Um and she will help you download the app. Um, the reason is because everything we do podcast-wise, youth content, you name it, will be there. There's a lot there, the online directory, but also you have the option to give online now. So here's the thing: I will have a video for you on social media this week. We'll have one for you this coming up next Sunday. If you're here, you're like, Pastor, we don't want to give online, great, God bless you. Write a check, you can give cash, or you don't have to give at all. It's really up to you. Um, we're not after your money, we're inviting you to be a part of a community that's doing incredible things for Jesus, and your little bit gets to be a part of the mission. Amen. I think we can do a lot together when we put everything we have collectively for the kingdom of God. And so if you want to be a part of the mission and you believe in what God's doing here at Grace Bible Church, we invite you into that, but only if you have a heart of gratitude in doing it. If you don't have a heart of gratitude, that's between you and God. And so we want to make it easy. So if you want to be here and you want to give, and maybe you think every week I don't have my wallet or I don't have money, cash, or card, or maybe you want to set a payment to where you just know every month you're giving toward the mission. You now have that opportunity through the app digitally, and 100% of it comes to the mission at Grace Bible Church. And so I'll have that break down. If you say that's not for me and you want to keep writing a check and just give cash, God bless you. You're more than welcome each week, okay? And so Darla has worked very, very hard on this. She's done a wonderful job, and we're excited about the content that we believe that you guys will be able to have throughout your weekly uh journey with Christ, and we hope that'll be a blessing for you. Amen? Amen. Good deal. Um, we are going to be back into our series today in heaven. Did you guys enjoy week one of heaven? Was that challenging? Was that good? Um, I hope that this week will be another uh journey for us that you will begin to ask more questions and have more thoughts and you know, really engage with the Lord in prayer in your own time at your home and reading in the scriptures and and searching it out for yourself. The Bible tells us that we have to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. It's very important that we do that. It's very important. You cannot rely on me as a pastor to get you to heaven. That's a very poor idea, okay? Um, I love the word of God and I love the kingdom of God, and I love being able to do what he's called me to do, but I cannot save you. This is between you and the Lord. And it is also your responsibility to have an excitement about the kingdom of God. And I believe we have excitement about the kingdom of God when we have an earning and a desire to actually know him. It's important. It's important. Before we get going today, a few Father Day quotes that I love. John Vavano said it like this My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person. He believed in me. I think it's so important that as fathers, we believe in our children. We believe in them and we encourage them. Clarence B. Kellen once said, My father didn't tell me how to live, he lived and he let me watch him do it. I think that's important too. Our life and our testimony of our life. A guy you may know, Billy Graham, he said, a good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society. We need you, fathers. Could we give a round of applause for all of our fathers this morning? Thank you, dads, thank you, fathers. We honor you today. Why don't we? We discovered that heaven is our true citizenship and it's our home and far more exciting than the physical, uh, or far more exciting and physical than the myths we've believed. You know, this idea of floating around on clouds and all the things the Renaissance have tried to picture for us. And if that stirred even a little holy homesickness in your heart, get ready because my hope is for today we're taking that next step. You remember when I told you guys about how when you maybe start a new series on TV, it may take you one or two episodes to really get fully engaged with it. You know what I mean? You ever been there? You ever started something like that? Well, this is the second episode today, and I hope by the third that you're going to have a bigger yearning for the kingdom of God than you ever have. Vray Alcorn in his book Heaven confronts one of the greatest fears head on, and that's death. He writes that many Christians find that death still feels like a terrifying leap into the unknown. Yet scripture and the logic of the gospel tell us something radically different. Alcorn reminds us that the moment a believer dies, they are not lost in some vague beyond. They step immediately into the joy of Christ's presence. He challenges the common funeral phrase, they're in a better place, by showing that it's true, but far richer than we can imagine. Death for the Christian is like moving from a war zone into the king's palace, not as a ghost, but as a fully conscious person welcomed home. You know, I want to stop here for a moment and talk to you because we live in a world where sometimes we can be smarter, uh smarter than it is for our own good. We can lead on logic and we can lead in science and we can lead on a lot of different fronts. This series of heaven, you're going to have to understand a simple fact. The simple fact is that either you're going to believe 100% of the word of God or you're not. I need to make this a uh priority in today's message because there's many people who might open the Bible and say, well, I don't believe that because it doesn't line up with this logic of knowledge that I've gained while being on the earth this short span of time. What I'm trying to tell you is that I take God at his word. It is the standard for my life. Even the things that don't comprehensively make sense sometime, like a grown man being swallowed by a big fish, that's a little out there. But I believe it happened. I believe there's a lot of things in the Bible where we talk about Noah and the Ark and the flood. I don't believe that's symbolic. I believe it really happened. I believe, I really believe that God sent fire and brimstone down on Gomorrah. I really believe that a woman was turned into a pillar of salt. I really believe it. I really believe that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin and that he lived for 33 years and he lived perfect and sinless. He was perfect without blemish. And I really believe he died for my sins, and I really believe that he was buried and that he rose three days later. I am convinced, and I believe it because the word of God applies 100% to my life and everything that's written in it from the very beginning of the first word to the end of Amen. I believe it's true. I believe it's true. And this is where philosophers and ideologists and all these different people can come and say, Well, this might be true, but this might be more symbolic for this, or Jonathan Patmos might have been writing about this. Listen to me, I don't care how you twist it, it is the sovereign word of God. And if it's in there, I believe that more than your ideas, your creativity, your knowledge, your thoughts. I will take that word over your word every day of the week. And at some point, you have to buy in to the word of God. Take the truth and sell it not. You have to truly have a relationship with the Lord where it just comes off of paper into your soul, and now you're in relationship and you talk with the Lord and He speaks to you. It's very important that we believe and understand that the Word of God is our foundation, it is our one life source, and it is our everything. I'm not telling you not to read good books, I'm not telling you not to have an open mind. I'm telling you that everything you do, let the word of God be the foundation in which you stand on and perceive the world through. That is our challenge. So this morning, we open to 2 Corinthians chapter 5, reading of verse 6 through 8. It says, Therefore, we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith and not by sight. For we live by faith and not by sight. Paul's writing here to the church of Corinth, and he's letting them know that we have a great hope. Paul had no fear because he knew exactly where he was going. He says, We are confident, confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. Isn't this an interesting text that we find with Paul? He's saying, I would rather be dead than here with you right now, because if I'm dead, I know that I am not in non-existence, but I am at home with the Lord. Paul truly believed that when he closed his eyes, he would open them in eternity with the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. And this is something that we should be confident in. My main point in number one is that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. You ask me, Tyler, do you really believe that if I'm a Christian and believe truly in Jesus Christ, that he's my Lord and Savior, that the moment that I take my last breath and the moment I close my eyes is the moment that I'll open them in eternity into the kingdom of God. I absolutely believe that. Why? Because the scriptures tell us so. I have been in hospital rooms, I have been in places into which I have watched people take their last breath. You know when someone has left this earth for good, you can see it. They are no longer there, their body is there, but their spirit is gone. You know it. And I believe that when that happens, that we take our last breath into this space, we step in eternity and we open our eyes and we begin to see something like we've never seen it. The Bible is crystal clear. There is no soul sleep or long waiting period for believers. At the moment of death, we instantly enter the presence of Jesus Christ. That is his gospel. Philippians says it like this for me to, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yes, that's what we do, right, Church? Yet what shall I choose? I do not know. I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Like, how can we get this mindset, Church? Because what I find is that we have this idea, Navy. I love her to death. She this week she was she was riding in the car with me and she was hanging on for dear life. And she said, Dad, I don't want to die. You did. I don't make up stories from the pulpit. You said, I don't want to die yet. This was yesterday, you couldn't have forgot it. Yeah, it's okay. She said, I don't want to die yet. And I said, Navy, you can't threaten me with heaven. Obviously, I don't want to die yet either. But it's not because I'm scared of death. It's because, yes, I do want to see my kids grow up. Yes, I do want to see Navy get married. Yes, I do want to see my children live a long life. Yes, I do want to keep pastoring and loving people and helping people and leading people. Yes, I want to do these things. But you know what? There's something within me and within you too that you long for something that's greater than this life that you live. There's something in you that's homesick for heaven, whether you realize it or not. There's something within you that's calling you home. And what happened is that Paul became so obsessed with the Lord that he loved Jesus Christ with everything that he had in the kingdom of God that he longed to be in the presence of that kingdom more than he longed to be in the presence of earth. He said, I know I have a good work that I can keep doing, right? Like you and I have good work that we can keep doing. We can keep moving the needle forward, we can continue to go forward. But the reality is that we should be so in love with Jesus and so persuaded by the Holy Spirit that we long for heaven in such a way that we can't wait to get there. Paul said, I'm torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. I love you guys. I think you're great. I think you're awesome. I'd rather be in heaven. Have you checked the news lately? Have you checked the world lately? Have you been to a third world country lately lately? I promise you, I would choose heaven every day of the week. Versus this world that we live in that's full of sin, death, heartache, and brokenness. Paul longed for death because it meant immediate closeness to Christ. This is the present heaven, the intermediate state between death and the final resurrection. I want to tell you about a story real quick of a guy named Leonard in Tennessee. I didn't know Leonard well. I had never met him before. I'd heard about him, but I had never met him. He was a young man in his 60s. See, I'm careful. Um, a young man in his 60s. And in this moment, he had stage four cancer. And one of the members of our church had asked me to go visit him, and I said I'd love to. They said he doesn't have a long time. They're saying six months to a year. And he was already on hospice home care and trying to get him comfortable and all those things. And um, when I arrived at his home, I sit there and looking at this man, he looked totally normal, totally fine. You couldn't tell that there was something internally that was destroying him. And I remember looking at him and we joked and we laughed and we went back and forth and everything else. And I looked at him and I said, Leonard, can I ask you a question? He said, Yeah, I said, Do you know Jesus? He's like, Oh, do I know Jesus? And he began to tell me his testimony and telling me story after story of Jesus and how Jesus had affected his life and how he gave his life to Christ at a young age and how he's followed Jesus. And by the time we were done, I was so convinced there was no doubt in my mind that Leonard knew Jesus. And so I looked at Leonard, and the hospice nurse was sitting there, and I looked at him and I said, How do you want me to pray for you? How do you want me to pray for you? Do you want me to pray for healing? What do you want me to pray for, Leonard? He said, Tyler, I'm just ready to go to heaven. He said, So if you could pray that God would do this a lot sooner than later, I would be thankful. And I looked at the hospice nurse and I said, How much time do you think he really has? And she said, It's hard to tell. She said, The minimum is six months to a year. And I said, Okay. I took Leonard by his hand. I said, Leonard, I'm gonna read the verse that I read over every person when they're about to pass away. Because I don't know if I'll get to see you again. But I believe God is gracious and he loves you so much that he'll listen to your prayer. And I sat there with Leonard as he had tears coming down his face. And I prayed over him and I read the scriptures over him. And I want to tell you, I left that day, not knowing if I would see him again or what would happen. I left, and two weeks later I get a phone call. And they said, Pastor Tyler, Leonard's about to pass. I said, That was a quick six months. They said, Yeah. They said, Will you go pray over him one last time? I walked in the room, and the hospice nurse looked at me and she said, He's completely out, he won't hear you. He's he's fading. I said, Okay. I walk in the room and he's breathing deep. You know that sound is you just you just you know that sound. He's he's breathing deep and and I say, Can I just pray over him? And she's like, That's fine, but he can't hear you. I said, I just want to pray over him. So I begin to pray over him, and I begin to ask God to see my brother into the other side of eternity. And when I finish praying, lying, I'm dying. Leonard goes, Amen. That was it. That was it. Leonard would pass away in the middle of the night, and my brother is now in heaven. I want to tell you, I really believe that God listens to his children. I really believe that God meets them on the other side. Leonard was supposed to be six months to a year, but God heard the prayer of his child because my friend was suffering, but he wanted the kingdom of God more than he wanted his life. He wanted to be in heaven more than he wanted to stay. He didn't want to stick around for another six months to twelve months. Why? Because he had heaven on his mind and the image of Jesus became greater in his life than anything else in the world. Church, let us not wait until we have a diagnosis to only live for six months to 12 months, to fall so in love with Jesus that we don't get excited about the kingdom of heaven right now. Let us be excited, let us focus our sights upon him, up onto the kingdom of God. It is far better for me to depart and be with Christ than it is for me to stay here. But as long as he has me here, we're gonna do the great works for the kingdom of God. Alcorn emphasizes this brings immense comfort. Your believing loved ones who have died are not gone, for they are more alive than ever. I don't know about you, but I'm so thankful to know that my loved ones that are true believers in the kingdom of God are not dead. They're not just floating around, they're not just somewhere, but the word of God says that they were more alive than they've ever been. And that brings me great joy. That brings me great joy. Not just comfort for them, but a comfort for my life, knowing that I too will get to be with them one day. My main point number two is this that the present heaven is real but temporary. It's real but temporary. Stay with me. It's real but temporary. You remember the thief on the cross? Jesus told them we've got a man standing here. We've got guards, we've got people, we've got Jesus Christ on a cross in between two criminals. It's in this moment that we understand that the present heaven is not our final destination, it is a glorious waiting place. And scripture gives us a glimpse into this. For this thief was a bad man. He had done many crimes, he had made many mistakes, he deserved to be on the cross, he deserved to be crucified by Roman crucifixion. He deserved the worst punishment. And now he encounters Jesus. And while one is mocking, the other one now is coming to a senses of understanding who Jesus is, and he says, Remember me this day. And Jesus answered him truly and said, I'll be with you today. And today you'll be with me in paradise. Paradise. This is a Greek word when we talk about paradise that means a lush walled garden or a royal park. It's almost like the Garden of Eden. Remember, we talk about the New Jerusalem and everything else. This place into which this heaven and which our loved ones and people are. This is a place because one day the new Jerusalem, the kingdom of God, will come down. We see that in Revelation. But at this moment, Jesus is telling this thief on the cross. He's saying, For this day you'll be with me in paradise. Do you believe he's that good? Do you believe he's that good? Do you believe he's that good that in one moment, a thief on the cross who committed so many sins, did so many things wrong? Do you believe he's that good? That just in a moment of a man believing in him on the cross, even though he is so sinful and the whole world probably despises this man, that Jesus Christ with one word says, Because of your faith, today you'll be with me in paradise. Can I tell you something right now? People have told me, they said, Pastor, I don't believe in the deathbed confessions. Well, you're not God. So I guess it doesn't matter. Because I do. You wanna know why? Because I watch a man about to suffocate on his blood. I told Jesus. Remember me? And that's all it took. I don't see a man that says goes on a 40 minute long repentance session. You wanna know why? Because he had Jesus Christ of Nazareth right in front of his face. It wasn't the outward appearance that mattered to Jesus, it was the heart of the man that changed everything. Heart of the man had a heart of repentance, and he looked at Jesus and said, Remember me this day. And Jesus said, Today you will be with me in paradise. For any man or woman that lays in the bed in the last moments of their life and reflects on all their tragedy and everything that's happened in their life and the things that they've done that they shouldn't have done, or even the disbelief. God gives us space of grace. This does not mean that we should live a life of sin. We should not. We should not wait because you don't know if you're gonna die in a car wreck this afternoon. You have no idea what will take place today. So while you have this space of grace, give God everything you have and believe that when that moment does come, that you will be with him in paradise. The Bible says it like this in Revelation 6, 9, 11. When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altars the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, How long, sovereign Lord, holy and a true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood? Then each of them was given a white robe. And they were told to wait a little longer until the full number of the fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been. This is talking about these moments of tribulation. But when you have come to the Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, you have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly. To the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect. He's gonna make us perfect, to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. I could preach a whole sermon on that one verse right there on the blood of Abel. But listen to me. When we join the assembly of the firstborn, the spirit of the righteous made perfect in the heavenly Jerusalem. This place is real, it is a flourishing place, it is not floating clouds, but a vibrant realm where people worship, remember, and anticipate the future. You don't believe me? Then how do we get to the point of where they're sitting there in verse 11? Literally asking, How much longer shall we wait? You want to know? Good question, because I'm over here. How much longer do we wait? You ever felt like that? He said he's coming, Jesus is coming. You want to know? There's such a great anticipation up there as there should be right here. There's anticipation to each of them given a white robe. They're told to wait a little longer until the number of the fellow servants. There's still work. You want to know why? Because God's always had a plan for you and I, for his world, for his creation. And the Bible tells us that no man knows the hour of the day. But you know what? While I'm here, let me do a good work, Paul said. While I'm here, let me keep obtaining. While I'm here, let me continue to have good fruit. The world may be dying around me, but do not let the world influence the good work that God wants to do through me and not through you. Don't let it happen. Because there are people waiting and anticipating for you and I. This is the words that the Lord and his people have made access to you and I. I want to hit on one last main point and then we'll close it up here. There's this idea that we don't remain ourselves when we get to heaven. Our conscience, our relation, and this idea of joy. That when you die, you do you lose your identity. This has been controversial since people started arguing about it. Well, when I die, you won't know because the Bible tells that you know your spouse won't be your spouse and things of that nature. We and we can go on a deep dive Bible study on that. I don't mind. But this morning I want to get to the gist of a few things. There's too many encounters in scriptures that we see, whether it's Moses and Elijah, whether it's people standing on the mountaintop with God and Peter and them there. Listen to me. This is God at work. He can do whatever he wants to, how he wants to. I want you to take these scriptures in here for a moment. When talking about, will I really be known as I was known here on earth? Will I really know my loved ones? Will I really know? Here's what the Bible says after this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count. From every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and Lamb of God. I want you to think about this. How is it that people can be separated by every nation, tribe, and people and language? How does that work if they don't have identity in heaven? Think about it. Standing before the throne in the Lamb of God, they were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. And the angels were standing around the throne, and all the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell down on their faces before the throne of God, all saying, Amen, praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength to our God forever and ever. Amen. And then one of the elders asked me, These in white robes, who are they? Where do they come from? I answered, Sir, you know. You know who they are. And he said, These are they who have come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Oh, so there's actually the ability to notice who people are. There's actually an account for people. Oh, there's actually recognition. There's actually recognition in paradise of what happened to people. Hold on a second. That goes against everything I've been taught. Because I get taught that once I die here, that I get up there, there's no more tears and no more. No, no, no, no. You've been lied to all your life because you never understood it. That will come at the white throne judgment. But right now we've got people in heaven anticipating and ready, and they're waiting for you and I. I want you to know something. That you need to get excited about heaven because there's people rooting you on up there. There's people saying, Man, I hope they can, I hope they can just have a fire within their soul. I hope they'll connect with their creator. I hope they'll believe in Jesus with their whole heart. I hope because there's people rooting you on. The same people that Paul killed were rooting Paul on. I want you to know this that every person in heaven wants you to make it. Every person in heaven, your enemy that you've ever had that's in heaven right now, they want you to make it. You want to know why? Because hell is that bad and heaven is that good. They want you to make it. They want you to make it. You're gonna see your mommy and daddy one day. You're gonna see them, you're gonna see your loved ones one day. You're gonna be known as you were known. I fully am convinced of that. Why? Because the word tells us. Sir, you know, and he said, These are those who have come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple, and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. Never again will they hunger, never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to the springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Every tear in paradise, everything in paradise is going to be perfected. You and I should be excited about this. Because it's in this moment that we realize that this is just the beginning, and eternity starts right now. Eternity doesn't start when you take your last breath. Eternity starts right now. Where are you laying your treasures up in heaven? Where are you preparing? Where is your heart at? Because it starts right now. Dying is not the beginning of eternity. Living is the beginning of eternity. Living will dictate whether you spend eternity with the kingdom of God. Because why would you want to spend eternity with God there, but you never had a desire to do it here? Ask yourself that question. Get real with the Lord in your heart today, guys. Because one day we're gonna stand before the judge, the king of kings, the Lord of Lords. And he's gonna look at us and he's going to say, Yeah, that's mine. Come on in. Or he's gonna say, Depart from me, I never knew you. Because while I've got to tell you, paradise is great. I want to spend eternity with him. I want to be able to walk in the gates of the new Jerusalem. I want to be able to walk over the new earth and do all the cool things with those that I love and be with those who are loved where sin is not abound. I want to be in that kingdom. So I want to serve him with everything I have now because I believe as good as it is over there, I believe he's as good as he is right here. And that's a choice you and I have to make. You will know others and be known. You will remember God's faithfulness, you will feel a deeper joy than you've ever felt before. No boredom. My goodness, my kids, how many times they tell me they were bored? Like Tate has this thing where he calls me bro now. And I have to tell him I'm not your bro. I'm your dad. Dad, I'm bored, bro. No, don't say dad and bro together. In the car, dad, we're bored. Dad, we're bored, dad, we're bored. You know, people today, men, I'm bored. I don't have anything to do. There's nothing to do. People are more busy than they've ever been, and it's not because they're actually doing anything productive, but it's because they can't get their phones out of their hands. I'm bored. I'm bored. I'm bored. No, your brain's rotting and you don't realize it. You're not bored. You're just not in touch with your creator. You're not actually allowing him to move in your life the way that he wants to move in your life. Have a relationship. Get in the word. Get excited about the word. Listen to other sermons. Listen to other preachers. Open your mind to the kingdom of God. Do something that's going toward him that you're storing up for heaven and not storing up here. I promise you, your Twitter feed didn't change. Your Facebook feed didn't change. There's nothing important or good on there. I promise there's not. Sometimes you can find announcements. That's awesome. But for the majority of my life, I found drama. I don't need that in my life. I need the kingdom of God in my life. I got enough drama with four kids. I need the kingdom of God in my life. I love my four kids. They're drama. I need the kingdom of God in my life. You want to know why? Because I'm on a pathway to get somewhere. I'm on a pathway to get somewhere. Alcorn powerfully reminds us God does not destroy his image bearer at death. He perfects them. If you have the Spirit of God living inside of you, you are the temple of God. He is not going to destroy you, he's going to perfect you at death. And it's going to be the most beautiful experience you've ever had. The present heaven is filled with relationships both with God and with other believers. A young child one time asked, Will I know my mom in heaven? The answer from scriptures is resounding yes. Only better without sin separating us. Church, death has lost its sting for those in Christ. The scriptures are clear in 1 Corinthians. Where O death is your victory. There's a reason this is written, church. It's not just for funerals. It should be a reminder for you that every day when you wake up, that there is no victory in death. There is no victory. There's an old philosophy quote that says, Where death is, I am not, and where I am, death is not. I want to tell you where death is, I'm in heaven. Okay? When I die, that's not the end. When I die, I'm not a body. When I die, you can come to my funeral, but do not mourn, for I am having a great time. I want you to know that. Just so we're clear. Because I could have a heart attack from eating all the food I eat this week. That's how I feel. But if I die, I want you to know you don't need to mourn. Mourn for my wife and kids. Don't mourn for me. I'm enjoying the presence of God with my family and people around me. And at some point you have to believe that and a depth of your soul that when Paul wrote, Where O death is your victory, where O death is your sting, the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is in the law. But thanks be to God, He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's it. I didn't deserve it. He did it. Death has no power over me, death has no victory over me because of the blood of Jesus, and because of that, I will gladly embrace death and gladly walk into my inheritance that the Lord Jesus Christ has provided for me. Amen. That is our promise. If you do not know Jesus yet, I hope today you will. I hope today you will. Trust him as your savior. For death will come, but death has no power if you know Jesus. Would you stand with me? I'm gonna have the worship team come back. Yesterday, I arrived home last night. And man, I was so glad to be home. You ever taken a long trip? Someone said today to me, the best part about vacation is coming home. You know? Dude, that was so true. Guys, you don't know humidity until you get down there, dude. That's awful. We were in southern Alabama, and I got out of the car and I looked at Brooke and I said, There's that Arkansas heat. Don't miss that. It was awful. It was like 98 degrees humidity, felt like it was 100. I got out of the car, couldn't breathe. Awful. I was ready to come home. I was ready to come home. I get home, see Jeff had taken the mail out for me because I was worried that it was gonna get wet because I had a letter. I can see on my phone from the post office what mail's coming in, you know? I get out of my car, I look at Brooke, I said, somebody more grass. Called Jeff, Jeff had mowed it, such a good guy. Now he's gonna hate me for saying that, but he did it. Thank you, Jeff. He also took my mail in from not getting wet, and in that mail, I had a letter from a friend that's in prison. I've told you about him. He's serving an 80-year sentence. And I sat in my room last night crying because I miss my friend. I miss my friend. Doesn't matter. I miss my friend. And 80-year sentence. And I sat there and I cried for two reasons. One, one, because I miss him. Two, because he seemed happier than 90% of people that I know. Genuinely, I wish I could read the letter for you right now. He he he went on talking about how Jesus is doing such a work in his life and how he's able to, he got his paralegal license, and how he's able to teach 300 prisoners each each week. And he started talking about how he tries to add the gospel into it, even though he's not supposed to, because he feels like he's called to continue to do that. He's like, I don't have a pulpit anymore, but the Lord's given me this, and he's like, while I'm innocent, and I know that I am, and I believe he is too, by the way. I'll go on record for saying that. While he's there, he's saying, This is where I belong at this moment because this is what God has given me. But he said, Tyler, one day I'm gonna be with you in heaven. One day this isn't gonna matter anymore. He's like, but while we're here, let's keep doing our good works, man. He told me in that letter, he said, I'm going to keep praying. He's like, I got a great reason to pray for Illinois now. He said, I'm gonna pray that God does a Holy Ghost revival in your church and in your community. He said, Let everyone back there know that they have someone praying for them right now. He's like, All I got is time. He's wrote two books on heaven, reaching people through prison bars. He's excited about it. He's excited about it. He says, Well, I miss my daughter and she's 10 now. He says, I know this is exactly where God needs me to be. And even if I do get fortunate to get out one day, I know that the prison will be where I will have to go back to to continue to be a witness for the kingdom of God. Listen to me. Listen to me. He's in love with Jesus, he's in love with Jesus, he's in love with Jesus, he's in love with Jesus, he's in love with heaven, and at some point, you and I need to realize that there's nothing this world has to offer you and I. There's nothing. Social media, nothing. TV, nothing, news, nothing. There's nothing this world can offer us. It's not out there, it's in here. It's not out there, it's in here. Get in a book, read, get in the word of God, pray fast, get excited about there's no party in college that's as good as a moment in a prayer room with the Lord. Nothing greater, nothing greater. You want to know how I know that? Because a guy sits behind bars in a small room and he is more free than a lot of people that sit outside the state penitentiary because he came to realize that Jesus Christ is everything, and when he becomes everything, I know that this is just for a moment. But heaven is eternal. At some point for you and I, it has to become everything, and when it does, the man that gives up his life will find it, but the man that tries to save it will lose it. Will you pray with me? Dear Heavenly Father, we love you. God, I'm so convicted, I'm so convicted, I'm so convicted, I'm so convicted. The things I worry about, the things I complain about. Lord, the time I spend on things that don't matter. God, let me fall in love even deeper with you. Lord, when nobody's looking and nothing's going on, Lord, let it be me and you. Let it be true community, let it be a true heart for you, let it be a true kingdom mindset. Lord, let my worth not be in speaking, let my worth not be in pastoring, let my worth not be in anything else that I could do for accolades. Let my worth be in you. Let it be enough because you're enough. Let the kingdom of God be enough because it's far better than anything that there is in this world. Lord, let us let go of people's opinions and ideologies and let us just fall into your arms. Let us trust you that you're good and you are who you say that you are. Let it be your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Let us fall in love with that. And God, for every person facing a trial in their life right now, remind them that it's temporary. Remind them that you already see the end of it. Remind them that they can take comfort in your presence. Remind them that you know where they're at. Whether it's in the belly of a fish or it's on the backside of a desert, you know where they're at. Remind them that you have them in the palm of your hand. Remind them that you're there. Remind them that they're waiting. If there's a prodigal in the room that feels like they've ran away from home, God, and that they don't deserve heaven or they're not good enough. Remind them that you're there, that you're you're walking down the road to meet them right now. Oh, Father, that they are more than enough because you're more than enough. God, heaven is for everyone that wants to be a part of it and believe in you. God, we love you. I thank you for my friend Andrew today. I thank you for our church. I thank you for your kingdom. I thank you for all those that are here. Lord, let us get excited about your presence. Let us get excited about heaven. And Lord, let us root each other on as those in heaven root us on. God, we love you, we praise you, and we glorify you in Jesus' name. Amen.