The Best Homecoming

our history. If you look back, many other faithful men and women have served in the ministry here some, as pastors, some on staff, others as lay leaders, others as volunteers, and it's really taken a team at Johnston Chapel of paid staff and volunteers to see this work move forward. The gospel, the truth that sinners are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, through his death, burial, and resurrection for sinners. That has always been and must always be central to all that we do here at Johnston Chapel. Over 67 years of ministry, countless lives have been transformed by the power of that gospel. Paul's doxology and Ephesians comes to mind. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever, amen. You know, Heritage Sunday is not about giving glory to men. Heritage Sunday is about giving glory to God. The only one who is worthy, to him alone, be the glory, great things he has done. Let's all worship our Lord together this morning. All right, good morning. Let's all stand and sing together. All fly well, let's sing it together. All fly well, let's sing it together. All fly well, let's sing it together. All fly well, let's sing it together. All fly well, let's sing it together. All fly well, let's sing it together. All fly well, let's sing it together. All fly well, let's sing it together. All fly well, let's sing it together. All fly well, let's sing it together. All fly well, let's sing it together. All fly well, let's sing it together. All fly well, let's sing it together. All fly well, let's sing it together. All fly well, let's sing it together. All fly well, let's sing it together. All fly well, let's sing it together. All fly well, let's sing it together. All fly well, let's sing it together. I'd like to take a few moments this morning. We haven't done this the last couple of years, but we want to recognize our current pastors and staff. We are blessed with an incredible team of servants here. They really honestly make my job of oversight so easy. We have just a wonderful team at Johnston Chapel. We have them come forward as their names are called and have them remain on the platform with me. I know they don't like this, but it is important for you to know those who don't get to be on the platform every week. Those who are serving faithfully behind the scenes, important for you all to see them and to recognize them from time to time. So I have them stay up here and please wait until the end if you would to appreciate them, express your appreciation. All of them are going to be receiving a $50 gift card to Amazon, which is just a little token of our appreciation. I want to recognize them in the order of years of service with the exception of Brian Petrie and Jim Simmons. I want to speak to their service here individually and separately. There are a few people who have served in temporary roles over the past few years. I'd like to recognize them. Amber Coppler has assisted us in custodial work for the past couple of years. She is actually on the Appalachian Trail right now, but we'll be sure to get her gift to her through her parents. Dream Along has also assisted us here for the last few years, part time in secretarial work and is stepping in right now to serve in that way. Wonderful servants, heart doing a great job. Logan Simmons has assisted us in maintenance work over the past couple of years. Melvin Ross was hired just a few weeks ago as custodian. He is doing a fabulous job as a new employee here. Daniel Pennington, he is also in his first year as our worship leader and maintenance assistant. Crystal Coppler has served two years as secretary. She is with her sister on the Appalachian Trail this morning. Jason Bowden has served two years as our pastor of children's ministries and director of facilities. Derek Belcher, who you rarely see, he's always back in our sound booth. He has served three years as our director of graphic arts. And he has put in countless hours through this season we're in to make sure we're able to do things live and do it with excellence. So we thank you for that, Derek. James Walsh has served at Johnston Chapel six years and is currently our pastor of student ministries and foreign missions. Joey Simmons has served 12 years as our director of maintenance. It's always hard to figure out where to stand up front. Johnny Robinson has served 17 years as our maintenance assistant. Darleen Bolton has served 19 years and is currently our office manager. And Jim Knowsinger has served 38 years and is currently our director of business. All right, let's thank the Lord for his providence in bringing this team together. Thank you. Thank you guys. Thank you all so much for everything you do mostly behind the scenes. We love you and appreciate all of you. Last but not least, I won't make him come up here and stand for a super long time. I'll let him come up at the end is Brian Petrie. Brian resigned this year after 23 years of ministry as our custodian. So on behalf of the church, I'd like to take just a couple of minutes and express all of our appreciation to him this morning. Now I want you to understand how difficult this is for me with Brian Petrie being not only a New York Yankees fan, but also a Los Angeles Lakers fan to boot. But I'll do my best this morning to recognize him well. A good word to describe Brian is conscientious. Conscientious. He took his work very seriously here to ensure that we always had a clean and safe environment to worship the Lord at Johnston Chapel. He was always flexible with his schedule, never ever missed a day of work, always went above and beyond to ensure things were done properly. He also has a love for discipling young people. He's been a great influence on our children here at Johnston Chapel through children's ministry, on the children of Mercer Christian academies as they walk the halls. He's always been a good influence there with young people. It's also a bit of a practical jokester if you didn't know that. I'm still finding confetti remains in my desk from my 40th birthday celebration from a few years ago. And I do vividly remember spending the morning in the wheelchair that Brian so graciously provided for me on that day. I know James will never forget the Florida Gators license plate incident on his vehicle. Brian Stuttler will never forget his office full of packing peanuts. And Brian was instrumental in all of those pranks. So I thank you Brian for bringing joy, bringing laughter to the office. God bless you for your faithful service of more than two decades at Johnston Chapel. Come please. And Jason I believe has the gift. You give it to him or he already gave it to him. So I appreciate you brother. We love you. Appreciate it. Thank you. There's a table out in the lobby under our missions display. There's two baskets on that table. One is designated for Brian Petrie for cards and gifts of appreciation. The other basket is for Pastor Jim who I'll recognize in a few moments. So let's give the Lord a hand again for his providence and bringing all this together. Let's continue this morning in worship as we bow before our gracious Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, God, we thank you for the opportunity this morning to gather and to worship your name. Lord thank you for just the amazing opportunity to celebrate our heritage. Lord in the faithfulness that you have shown over the years. Lord I was thinking of the verse in Deuteronomy chapter 7 that says, understand therefore that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. God may this church always be a people who love you and are faithful to obey your leading always. Lord may we always teach your truth. Continue to do that. Be faithful to your Word. Be a light in the area that you have placed us and proclaim your gospel boldly with faithfulness and truth. Lord thank you again for the faithfulness all through the years that you have shown to this family here at Johnston Chapel. And I'm so grateful to have been a part of it over the last 12 years. Just the amazing works that you have done, Lord, and the things you continue to do. Father we're so grateful for all the staff that have served here over the years. So many that have shared your grace and your love preached it faithfully. Lord and taught well. Father thank you that we have Pastor John King here this morning for his many years of ministry for blessed to hear from him once again this morning. We ask that you would speak loudly through him as he shares what you've put on his heart. Lord thank you for Pastor Dan who you've sent to us now and the leadership that he brings. Well we continue to pray for wisdom for him and guidance from you as he leads our church body into the future. Well we look forward to the great things that you have God. We think of those within our church body that are sick, that are many that are lonely and hurting and we ask for your encouragement that you would lift them up God. Lord specifically we think of Don Farley in the skin graft surgery that he is awaiting. Lord we pray that those details would come together so that he could have that procedure done. Lord for Miss Joelle Fagan God and the back surgery that she has coming up. We pray that her appointment goes well next week. Lord that you would relieve the pain that she's in that she's able to have that surgery and it would be successful. Lord Father for also for Miss Patty. We pray that she is doing better. God we continue to humbly ask for your healing for her God. Comfort and peace for her family as she walks through these challenging days. Father for offering this morning we pray that it is used for your honor and for your glory. And again Lord we thank you so much for your son Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. God bless us all the weak and weary. Captives of our flesh and blood. Our only freedom is the refuge of your love. The Father no wrong no dark of life can hide me from your eyes. We cannot fall or climb farther than your grace can be. Farther than your grace can be. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh raising grace house sweet, the sound the same, the wrench like me. I was once lost but now I found was blind but now I see. To those grace that taught my heart to do and grace my fears really. How precious did that grace of you, the hour I first believed. We were dead and 10,000 years was shining as the sun. We know the things to speak God's words. Let's sing the first verse again just for a course. Amazing grace house sweet, the sound that saved a wrench like me. I was once lost but now I found was blind but now I see. You may be seen. I'd also like to thank you to Jennifer who has put up with him for more years than we have as a church. So thank you to Jennifer for her support of Jim in the ministry and her personal investment in the ministry at Johnson Chapel. I believe she's back in the nursery right now serving silently behind the scenes. So we do appreciate Jennifer and her service to the Lord here. We missed the opportunity last year to celebrate Jim's 20th year of ministry at Johnson Chapel. So we want to do that. We want to recognize that milestone this morning. And our practice has been to give a significant gift and three days away, a little vacation getaway. But because of their family circumstances, care family and limited ability to travel, the church last year gave them a gift of $1,500 to use at their own discretion. So that gift has been distributed. I have a little something else for this morning as well. So where do you start? Where do you start with Jim Simmons? I'll say there's 20 years of labor relations in the coal mining industry could not prepare you for caring for the people of Johnson Chapel. Jim though is the epitome of what it means to be a shepherd. He really is the epitome of what it means to be a shepherd. And many of you have experienced his tender and compassionate care when you've gone through a difficult season. You've gone through an illness or a trial or a death in your family. You've experienced that care firsthand from Jim. He's been obedient to the charge of 1 Peter 5. Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care. Watching over them not because you must, but because you are willing as God wants you to be. Jim has willingly and joyfully cared for the flock here at Johnson Chapel, really at great personal cost. I've learned a lot from Jim through the years. I've been here seven years and really over the last couple of years he and I have been serving closer together in ministry and just serving together to bring comfort and encouragement to the church family. Jim has taught me many things. Jim has also demonstrated the heart of the good shepherd, Jesus who gave his life for the lost sheep. Jim has invested deeply in our community in segments of our community who have been forgotten and rejected. He shared the gospel boldly through celebrate recovery through jail ministry, through his counseling ministry and not many of you know this, but through countless funerals for people who did not have a church family. Jim has done that faithfully in our community as well. So Jim, I want to say thank you. Thank you for your faithful service to the Lord and caring for people. Now when Jim heard that we were going to recognize him this morning, he asked if this was his pre-eulogy. And then as you know Jim, what he did is he went ahead to write his own pre-eulogy. I like to share that with you this morning. He wrote it down during a pastor's meeting a couple of weeks ago from the mouth of Jim Simmons, the poet. In 1999, Johnston Chapel looked everywhere for a pastor of care. They found a man with a pretty head and no hair. Twenty years later, he is still there and remains the only one on staff with a pretty head and no hair. That's good. That's good. I'm going to read that at your funeral one day, Jim. Jim we do love you. It was our desire this morning to present Jim with something tangible. We wanted to get him a high quality rod and reel to go trout fishing. And with the recent stimulus checks, as many of you have found out, there is not a fishing rod within 500 miles of this place. No joke. So we want to do the next best thing. We got him a $250 gift card to Bass Pro Shops. Jim just recently had his knee fixed. He's almost, I think, you at the end are finished with his rehab. Two more sessions on his rehab. So we hope Jim will spend more time at the bank of the creek doing some fishing. So Jim, please come so we can recognize you this morning. Thank you. As I said, we got an amazing. Amazing team that God brought together here. It's great to celebrate that together this morning. As I said earlier, there's a designated basket for Jim back on the table. Give you an opportunity to personally express your appreciation by card or gift that way this morning. We have another special music this morning before we hear the word of God. So Jim and Kate and Claire, if you all would come forward, I guess the girls are already going forward. Proverbs 3, 5 and 6, we read these words, trust in the Lord with all thy heart, lean not into thine own understanding. And all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy past. May God give us grace to trust him more in this life. Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus just to take him at his word. Just to rest upon his promise just to know the sith of Lord. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I proved him more and more. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, O far grace to trust him more. O how sweet to trust in Jesus just to trust his cleansing blood. Just in simple faith to plunge me, if I'm healing, cleansing blood. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I proved him more and more. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, O far grace to trust him more. I'm so glad that you trust him, that you're just Jesus, O far grace to trust him more. And I know that thou art with me, will be with me to the end. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I proved him more and more. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, O far grace to trust him more. O far grace to trust him more. I want to take off the mask. It's hard to remember, isn't I keep hearing more and more people eating with their mask on and drinking with their mask on? That's a problem. It's my joy and privilege to introduce someone who really needs no introduction at Johnston Chapel, at Heritage Sunday back in 2018. I use two words to describe Pastor John King, humble shepherd. Humble shepherd. He transitioned leadership at Johnston Chapel as a humble shepherd, and he has continued to serve the local church as a humble shepherd. Over the past two years, he served as interim pastor in two different churches. He's been involved in numerous conferences, and he's been involved in training the next generation of pastors. He's been very busy over the last couple of years. Pastor John, I want to thank you for your presence with us this morning. We love you, Jeannie. We love you as well. Thank you both for being with us. We're eager to hear what God designed and called Pastor John to do, which is to preach the word. Preach the word, Pastor John, would you please come and share with us this morning? Thank you, Pastor Dan. As if there were not already enough emotions coursing through my body today, Pastor Jim, my good friend and brother, Jim Nufsinger, saying my dad's favorite song, and so that was special today. It is wonderful to be here. It is wonderful to see you. I had really hoped we could be outside so that I could see everyone. There may be some folks downstairs. I'm not sure, but it is wonderful to see you again. And thank you so much, Pastor Dan, for your gracious words and your kind invitation to share in this day. I am so glad that I was able to be here when Brian and Pastor Jim were celebrated. I add my amen to everything that was said and thank God so much for the impact both of those men had on my life. And my ministry while I was here, thank you so very much. It is just wonderful to be back with you. I am going to preach at some point this morning. Dan told me I had an hour, right? No, I'm going to preach a fairly brief message, but I have some words of reflection and memory. I want to share with you today, this is a very special day for me to be here. It was four years ago in July of 2016 that I announced my intention to retire in July of 2018. I want to clear up a little bit of misunderstanding about that. Occasionally I'll see some of you out in town and store or somewhere, and someone will ask me, where are you pastoring now? And I want to make it very clear, I did not leave Johnston Chapel to pastor another church and have not done so and will not do so. Lord willing, I truly retired from full-time pastoral ministry two years ago. And when I announced that intent to do that back in 2016, I explained that my heart desired passion has been since God called me to preach when I was 17 years old. Has been to preach his word, to teach his word, and at this stage of my life to mentor younger men, if God would allow that to be so until the day I die. If he gives me a health and strength to do that. As Pastor Dan indicated, God has graciously opened so many doors for me to be able to do that with the pulpit supply and a couple of churches with revival meetings or conferences or weekend ministries and 20 other churches over the past six years. And I think that the church is over the past couple of years with being able to teach some master's level classes at Appalachian Bible College and to teach a class for three months at Bible Center Church in Charleston on Sunday mornings. I served a stint for five months as interim vice president for academics at Appalachian Bible College. So the Lord has kept us plenty busy, but without all of the shepherding administration and oversight duties of being a full-time pastor. So I have much more time to enjoy my family, to do some travel, and just to have a much slower, wider pace for this phase of my life, which has been a blessing. But I wanted to say that because that's why I'm not here. I'm not a genuine, I am not here much at all. It has nothing to do with any lack of love or affection for you. We miss you very, very much. And it certainly has nothing to do with any lack of support for Pastor Dan and his ministry. I fully support Pastor Dan and his ministry. He's becoming quickly one of my heroes and he is indeed my pastor. And I appreciate him so much. In fact, I want to say a few words about that before I jump into the text this morning. Right after I made that announcement with my intention to retire back in 2016, we started a search process. I was asked by the Deacons to give some recommendations. My first recommendation was Dan Thing. And given the process that we followed and of course that took, he would indeed become my only recommendation. And then back ground to that, however, the Lord had allowed me to go to Papua New Guinea back in 2012 to witness their ministry, Dan and Amy's ministry with their family there as missionaries in Papua New Guinea. And I was so impressed with both Dan and Amy and their ministry there still was not thinking in terms of my own retirement or who might be my successor. But God providentially opened the door very clearly for Dan to become our pastor of student ministries and foreign missions in 2013. And so we served together for five years and I was further more deeply impressed with the depth and the quality of his ministry. So when it came time to make a recommendation, he was first on my list of potential candidates here at the chapel. I can see the capability. I knew the potential was there. And as we went through that process, there were a few that had some questions simply because he had had no lead pastor experience. We did a thorough search process and Dan will agree with that. It was four months of an intense grueling as if we didn't even know him. And at the end of that search process, we, the church voted to call him in January of 2017 because that search process ended a little more quickly than we'd anticipated. He went ahead and served that year in his role then as youth pastor and foreign missions pastor. And then for the last for the first six months of 2018 and my last six months, we worked together in a transition process for him to become the lead pastor. I want to say this any early questions have been more than answered. It is it would be uncharitable and unkind for me to say here this morning I told you so. I won't say that. I will say this. I will say that pastor Dan's preaching and teaching is excellent. He is my pastor and because I'm not able to be here often I always listen to him online. I'm able to be here more on Wednesday nights and his preaching and teaching is at a very high level much higher than mine was at his age. I'm so grateful for how he handles the word. He has shepherded you with genuine love and compassion, fall age groups of this church. And I'm grateful for that. His leadership has been outstanding whether it has been new ministry initiatives changes that needed to be made. He has been addressing staffing needs or just leading the church through this pandemic. I've been in a lot of churches over the last couple of years and even in the last few months this pandemic has tested the most experience of leaders and pastor Dan has provided excellent leadership for you through this time. Wonderful leadership. And I know he would be the first to say it's a team effort. That's what he would want to emphasize. And I understand it is there is a tremendous staff here as he has said. But I also understand maybe better than anyone else in this room the role of the lead pastor and the fact that all of those changes most of those ideas and initiatives and so forth are initiated or driven by the vision of the senior pastor. And so he has done an amazing job of leading you. I will say this he has exceeded I think all expectations even my lofty expectations have been exceeded in his ministry thus far. So I have such joy and peace and gratitude to our Lord Christ is the head of the church and he has provided for his body to have the right under shepherd. And I just rejoice in that every day. I thank God for it every every day. Well this day heritage Sunday what we used to call homecoming has such wonderful memories for me. We used to call this homecoming all of the time and we transition transition more to an emphasis on our heritage when it became clear to us that more and more people who were coming to Johnston Chapel did not know preacher Jimmy or even remember or even have any idea who he was. And we decided several years ago we cannot lose that heritage and so we would determine this would be a Sunday and I appreciate so much pastor Dan continuing that that thrust and emphasis on the heritage of what God has done here. But I have so many memories this still kind of serves as a homecoming and I have so many memories of homecoming through the years such a special day who can forget preacher Jimmy pulling the wagon load of kids behind the tractor bouncing down the spook trail through the woods. I wonder some of those kids are not still trying to find their way out of the woods. That thing bouncing through the woods that was crazy but it was so much fun and then to see him get into games of rook and just with the same energy and passion that he had about everything that he did. I'll never forget that. I'll never forget the music at homecoming the Johnston Chapel quartet the ladies ensemble so many of you as Jerry saying I thought so many times when I've heard Jerry and so many of you who have sung at times like that. Remember all the children who that was their first attempt to try to sing before a group of people remember all that would often happen at homecoming and how special that was and who can forget we saying I'll fly away this morning. Who can forget those of you who experienced this you'll oppress Lee and Linda Young's piano duets. And they would always do I'll fly away and by the time they got done with that piano was smoking and I thought it was going to fly away it was absolutely incredible just love to hear that. Remember all the volleyball games on this side of the pavilion before the lower side was developed and those games would go to four or five o'clock in the evening just wonderful times. I have a picture over my desk in my little study and that picture is a picture of our family all five of us my four sisters in me with my mom and dad. It was taken at the homecoming in 2003 our 50th anniversary celebration so all my sisters had come in and we had a family picture made I don't think I'm wrong about this Jan you might correct me later but I think I'm going to have a picture of my family. I think that maybe the last picture we all had together before dad died and I look at that picture often and I see the trees in the background I know exactly where we were standing. On that homecoming we took that picture but my most enduring memory of homecomings are the people I look out this morning and I love seeing all of you but there are so many people who are no longer with us. Some who maybe were here last year that are no longer with us it was part of the greatest burden I had in ministry and at the same time the greatest joy I had in ministry to walk along with other pastors like Pastor Jim Simmons to walk through the valley of the shadow of death with so many of our great pillars of this church. People that see I grew up in this church as a child and a teenager and people that I looked up to some of your parents I looked up to so much and then I became their pastor and walking them into heaven such a special joy but also a painful journey. I look forward to another homecoming when there will be no parting where there will be no brothers and sisters of ours missing where we'll all be together I look forward to that homecoming that will be the best homecoming the best homecoming will be in heaven and I want us to take a few moments to focus on that best homecoming in John chapter 14. John 14, turn with me please open your Bibles to that chapter where Jesus is addressing some very troubled disciples. His disciples in chapter 13 have heard him say that one of them will betray him and then he has said I'm going away I'm leaving you and where I'm going you cannot follow. And then Peter says Lord I'll follow you anywhere I'll lay down my life for you and Jesus says before the cut grows three times you will deny that you even know me. By the end of chapter 13 in the upper room the disciples are confused they are in shock they are deeply troubled and I can just imagine that Jesus pauses looks them all in the eye and smiles and says chapter 14 verse 1 do not let your hearts be troubled you believe in God believe also in me and then he begins to believe in God. And then he begins to talk about that place where he is going and the place where he will take them sometime after he has prepared a place for them that place is called heaven and Jesus describes several things about heaven. The first I want us to see this morning is the place of heaven the best homecoming in heaven is going to be in a real place. Jesus says in verse 2 my father's house has many rooms if that were not so would I have told you that I am going to go to heaven. I told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you he mentions the place again in verse 3 and then even in verse 4 he uses the word place of 3 times 3 times he uses the word place heaven is a place first of all it is a real place heaven is a real place it is just as real as blue field is just as real as Princeton a lot better just as real in fact Paul calls the place where god dwells the presence of God the third heaven and second Corinthians chapter 12 and the third heaven evidently as a reference to the fact that it is somewhere beyond the first atmospheric heaven which surrounds the earth somewhere beyond the stellar heavens of the universe the solar systems and galaxies somewhere beyond that there is a real place the third heaven heaven where God dwells, His own presence. It is a real place, but Jesus also describes it as a permanent place. Notice in verse 2, He says, my father's house has many rooms. I'm reading the NIV and as I read it, I've always reminded of the King James version here. My father's house are many mansions. And some of you are wondering, how did I get down size from a mansion to a room? What's up with that? Well, I will remind you that the term room is actually more in keeping with the concept of my father's house. My father's house has many rooms, but I will also remind you as the Christian musical group, audio adrenaline used to say, it's a big, big house with lots and lots of room. It is a big, big house. And so it has lots of rooms, but still some of us kind of miss that word mansion. Actually, some of us may have just transferred our materialistic longings for the biggest and the best and the most to heaven and think that really what's going to be great there is that I get a mansion. I get all that stuff. And that's not really the idea behind this word at all. Actually the word mansion was first used in an English translation in William Tindale's New Testament translation in 1525, almost 100 years before the King James version. He was the first one to use that word mansion. It did correspond in the English language then to the word that may have been used, but no longer does it carry that idea. The idea is not, I'm going to have this huge estate with all the trimmings. That's not the idea. The idea in the Greek word is a dwelling place. And the real root of the Greek word is a permanent dwelling place. We will never be uprooted again. Genie and I have been married 48 years and those 48 years we have lived in 11 different homes. Some of them longer than others. Actually the longest was in the old parking lot over here for 14 years, but we've lived in a few places just six months or a year. Our first little apartment was the top level of an old house that was about ready to fall down. We were glad to escape that after one year. So we've lived in 11 different places. Moves are hard, aren't they? You pull up all your stuff, you have to pack up all your stuff, you have to move it somewhere else. Sometimes you're leaving friends or family, moves are hard. The idea in this word is that when we get to heaven, it is a permanent place. We will never be uprooted again. We will never have to say goodbye to a family member who knows the Lord and is there with us to a friend. We'll never have to say goodbye again. We'll never have to pack up all of our stuff and move to another location. We'll never have to start a new job in a community where we don't know anybody. We will be there forever. It is a permanent place and that's what the word rooms really means. So it is a real place. It's a permanent place, but it's also a prepared place. Jesus says in verse two, I am going there to prepare a place for you. I love that word, prepare. It's an interesting word. It literally means to prepare lovingly as you would for a guest of yours, giving that room or that area special touches that are fitting to the person that you're preparing it for. That's all in the word prepared. And so what Jesus is doing as he's preparing a place for us is that he is uniquely giving it loving touches that fit the way he made us. For instance, let's say the person visiting you in your home maybe loves flowers and you might set a couple of vases of flowers in the room just to make them feel really at home. Or maybe you know they love to read. So you might put a couple of magazines or a couple of books there in the room that they'll have access to as they stay there or something else that they may just enjoy that you know this would be fitting to have in the room for this guest. If I understand this word correctly, I think Jesus is going to prepare a place that is uniquely prepared, fitted for the way he has built us. I think that we are going to have our own personalities in heaven. The same personality we had not with all the rough edges, it's going to be refined and perfected and all the sinful things will be dropped behind. But I think we will have the same personality makeup that we have here. We will be the same people that we are here just in a glorified body. And so here's how I envision my room in heaven, my place that God's preparing for me. I can just envision that my place in heaven would have walls lined with books. Beautiful music will be playing. There will be a cabinet full of enough travel. I tend to raise to keep me busy for a couple thousand years on the new earth. And then I'll get started over visiting all those places again. And I think there will be a touchscreen that will automatically play all of WVU's basketball and football wins. That may be going a little too far. In fact, some of our coaches, I'm not sure some of their antics would translate well to heaven, right? But anyway, I think you got the idea. I think that's our room. That's our place. It's uniquely prepared for us. It is a prepared place for us. So Jesus speaks of the place of heaven. But notice, He also talks about to these troubled disciples the trip to heaven. There's going to be an actual trip, a process of getting there. And notice, two things he mentions about this trip. First of all, we're going to have a personal director for this trip. He says in verse three, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am. Jeannie and I have taken a couple of bus tours since we have retired. It's a nice way to travel without all of the planning and difficulty of trying to find places and nowhere to park and all of that. It's just a, we found it to be a wonderful way to travel. One of the things we've noticed is the Christian tour company that we've gone with these two times will often assign the same tour director to the same trip over and over again. And one of the reasons for that is that person becomes kind of a specialty. They know what to expect about every restaurant, every destination, everything that you see. And they communicate that. Often they will say before you get to some place. That's just can't wait for you to see this. You're going to love this. You're going to enjoy this so much. Here's what's waiting for you. And that sense of personal touch, like I'm directing you on this. I'm your tour director, but I'm doing it because I'm so excited for you to experience that. You know, I'm so excited when I see that Jesus says, I will come and take you to that place. He's not going to send angels. He's not going to say, okay, it's time for my bride to come join me in heaven. So you go get him, okay? I'm kind of busy up here in heaven. You go get him. No, it's like Jesus is saying, I can't wait for them to see what I prepared for them. They're going to love this. They're going to enjoy this so much. They will not believe their eyes. I want to go get them. And personally, he takes us. He is our tour director. He takes us to heaven personally. You know, the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 that the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with a voice of the Archangel with the trump call of God. And that's when the rapture will happen. But the Lord himself shall descend from heaven. He's going to come get us himself. He's going to be a personal tour director taking us to the most wonderful destination we've ever known. And that's the second thing about the trip to heaven. It not only includes a personal director, it includes a perfect destination, a perfect destination. And I know what you're thinking because I think it a lot too. It is a perfect destination. Just think streets of gold. At least in the new heaven and new earth and new Jerusalem, we know there will be streets of gold. There will be gates of that city that are made of pearl. There will be 12 foundations each made from a precious stone. There'll be a tree, a river of life, and a tree alongside that river that has 12 different kinds of fruit. One for each month. And we're thinking, wow, can't wait to see all of that and experience all of that. But that's not what Jesus focuses on in a perfect place. Heaven is perfect because he is there. Because Jesus is there. Do you notice how He said it in verse 3? If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you'll be able to see the streets of gold. Right? Walk through those pearly gates. Now, I'm taking you to be with me that you also may be where I am. That's why heaven is so perfect because we finally get to be with Christ. Oh, we'll love seeing our loved ones that have gone on before us. We'll love the family reunions and sitting across the table with Old Testament saints and New Testament saints and church saints from the past ages. We'll love all of that, but we will love more than anything being with Jesus. That's the way heaven is described. That passage I referred to earlier in 1 Thessalonians 4 at the end of that passage, Paul has described that those who are dead will be raised first. Then we which are alive and remain should be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And then he says, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. I mean, that's like that's the rest of eternity. It's done nothing to do with the streets or the gates or the foundations or the mansion it has to do with Jesus. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, I am willing rather and confident to be absent from the body and what? Present with the Lord. He said to the Philippians, I'm going to straight between 2, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ. Heaven is all about Jesus. That's what makes the destination perfect. So Jesus comforts his troubled disciples with that best homecoming, describing the trip to heaven. But then he also describes the way to heaven, the way to heaven. Verse 4, you know the way to the place where I'm going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you're going. So how can we know the way? Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Jesus is the way, the way to heaven. What is the way to heaven? How do we know that we're going to be in heaven someday? How do we know that we'll be at that best homecoming? Well, it is through the way that Jesus describes for us. Notice, first of all, it is an exclusive way. It is an exclusive way. Jesus says, I am the way. He did not say, I'm going to teach you the way. Now do your best to follow what I taught you. He didn't say that. He did not say, I'm going to show you the way. Now good luck finding it. He didn't say that. He did not say, I am one of the ways or I am a way. He said, I am the way. There is only one way to heaven and that is Christ. He is the way. Now that is exclusive. That is narrow and blessedly so. Thankfully so. By the way, one of the challenges I think the church will face increasingly in years ahead and we need to be praying for our pastors and our church leadership and all of us. One of the things we will face more and more in the coming years is the push from our culture to marginalize everything that is exclusive. There is no absolute truth we are told. There are no absolute moral rights or wrongs we are told. There are no acceptable lifestyles or unacceptable lifestyles we are told. So everything is open. We are to be tolerant accepting of every kind of belief or lifestyle. And so when the church continues to declare there is only one way to heaven and it is through Jesus Christ and anybody who does not have Christ will not be in heaven. That is going to be increasingly pushed to the edges by our culture. And we need to be ready to stand on the truth that Jesus is exclusively the way to heaven. There is no other way but that is a blessed exclusiveness because you know what it means it means we can know for sure that we're going to be there. We don't have to guess among all the ways as to whether or not we've done enough, believed enough, tried hard enough, prayed through enough, we can know if we've trusted Christ, we've trusted the only way God ever said we'd get to heaven. I've often used this illustration. Some of you may remember it. If I were in a burning building and I've kind of closed myself off in a backbedroom thinking I'm safe but it's smoky back there and I'm having trouble breathing and I'm down on my knees and all of a sudden the fireman comes through that door and he's all geared up with all the protective gear and he's got the mask on and the oxygen he can breathe fine. And I'm just about to lose consciousness and he comes over to me he says I am your way out. I will carry you out. I would be a fool to look at him and with my last breaths say that's awful intolerant of you. I think I ought to be able to find my own way out of this house. You go your way, I'll go my way. I'd be a fool to say that. The fireman is my only way to escape a certain death. And what the Bible is saying here is that Jesus is your only way to escape the certain death of the wrath of God for your sin. Jesus is the only way. It is an exclusive way but notice it is also a sure way. Jesus said not only am I am the way but I am the truth. In other words you can trust me when I tell you that I am the way. I'm telling you the truth. It is a sure way. So we don't have to wonder did I get the right way? Have I done enough? Have I been good enough to get to heaven? If we have placed all of our confidence in faith in Jesus Christ and his death for us on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. If we've placed our faith in him we can trust he's telling us the truth. It is a sure way. You can know that you're going to be in heaven not because of any goodness of your own. Yes that would be arrogant to say I know I'm going to be in heaven if it's based on me but not if it's based on Jesus. All I'm saying is I trust him. I believe him. He's the truth so it is a sure way and thank God it is also a living way. A living way. Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Jesus is the life. In other words all eternal life is in him. I love the way John summarizes it in his first epistle chapter 5 verses 11 and 12. He says this is the record or this is the testimony. God has given to us eternal life and this life is in his Son and then he says in verse 12 he that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath not life. It's that simple. If you have Jesus you have eternal life. If you don't have Jesus you don't have eternal life. It is that simple. So Jesus is the exclusive way. He is the sure way and he is the living way to heaven. Why is it so exclusive? How can we be so sure? How can we know that we have eternal life? It's because of this. Jesus is the only provision that God has ever made for your sin to be taken care of for your sin to be paid for. Jesus is the only provision, the only way God ever ordained for that to be taken care of so that you might be given new life, eternal life and be brought into the family of God. That's the gospel that we could not save ourselves at all. But God said there's only one way for you to be saved. That is for my Son who will never sin and never have any of his own sin to pay for to become man and die as a substitute in your place on the cross. God didn't send Moses to do that for you. God didn't send Mohammed to do that for you. God did not send Buddha to do that for you. God never ever suggested that you could do that for yourself. But God did send his Son Jesus to do that for you. That's why he's the only way. He is the truth and he is the life. Back in 2014, the New York Times did an interview with then New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg was about ready to attend his 50th college anniversary reunion. He said that he had started to feel his age at age 72, that his mortality was before him. He was amazed. He said in that interview, how many of his classmates had already passed away. But the author of the article, the interviewer concluded the article this way. But if Bloomberg senses that he may not have as much time as he would like, he has little doubt about what would await him at a judgment day. Pointing to his work on gun safety, obesity and smoking cessation, Bloomberg said with a grin, I'm telling you if there is a God, when I get to heaven, I'm not stopping to be interviewed. I am heading straight in. I have earned my place in heaven. It's not even close. Wow. He was right about one thing. It's not even close. But not in the way he said. And I have no ill will toward Mr. Bloomberg. He may be a fine man for all I know. Same thing could be said of me. I cannot work my way to heaven. It's not even close. My best would not even be close to being enough, nor would yours. But you can place your faith in the one who said, I am the way. I am the truth. And I am the life. And if you place your faith in Christ who died for you to pay the penalty for your sin, then you're going to be at the best homecoming ever. You're going to be in heaven. I'd like to close just with this statement of challenge to all of us. Let's make sure that we see each other at the best homecoming. There are a lot of folks that we miss here today and we'd love to see. But let's make sure we see each other at that homecoming. Some of us may not be here next year. But let's make sure we're all together at that best homecoming. Let's make sure that we join each other at that time. And the way you can make sure is to know that your entire confidence of being in heaven rests in the person and work of Jesus Christ, not in yourself, but in Jesus who is the way the truth and the life. Would you pray with me? Father, thank you for the opportunity to gather together today with this church family, our family, our loved ones in Christ. I thank you, Father, that we are brothers and sisters because we can call you our Father and we can only call you our Father because of what Jesus did for us at the cross. Lord, we look forward to that best homecoming someday. We thank you for the place that we're going to. We thank you for the trip that's going to take us there when you come back to take us home and we thank you for the way that has been made so clear to us through Christ. Thank you for his provision for us on the cross so that we might know that we will be able to attend the best homecoming someday. We give you praise all the honor and glory and worship in the matchless name of our Savior Jesus. Amen. What a great day to be together and to worship the Lord and if you're here this morning and you're not sure you've placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I encourage you to speak with Pastor Dan, Pastor Jason, Pastor Jim, myself, Pastor John, and don't leave here today without knowing for sure that you will be at that homecoming in heaven. That's why we're here to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. So if you're not sure you have any doubts this morning, please speak to one of the pastors who are a deacon or a good friend who can show you from God's word how you can be saved. In this morning, I'd just like to express my personal appreciation to this church and the heritage of this church. What an awesome place to be able to serve the Lord as a pastorist. Church has been such a huge blessing to myself and to my family and thank you for that. Also this morning, just a couple of things to highlight. Do you remember in the back is the global cross talk where you can learn about our missionaries what's going on in their lives. Also the monthly prayer calendar. Also, if you've taken the 101 class and the 201 class, the 301 class is happening this Wednesday night, Pastor Dan, Miss Amy will be there, a lady in that class. So I encourage you to sign up for that if you've been considering that class. And also not this Wednesday the 19th, but the following Wednesday, the 26th is there I want to kick off night. So I encourage families to be thinking about that. Those of you that are involved in the 1st of the ministry, I believe you have a training can up this coming up this Wednesday night. So be paying attention to those things. I'd like to close this morning by reading Revelation chapter 21 verses 1 through 4. Says then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and there was no longer an E.C. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying look, God's dwelling place is now among the people and he will dwell with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, no morning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away. You are dismissed. I have tasted all that this world has to offer. Hear and don't.