The Cure For Troubled Hearts Part 1
John 14:1-3
Intro: Speedy
Morris the head B. Ball coach at
LaSalle Univ. was at home in the
upstairs bathroom shaving one morning
A) Wife called up Honey Sports illustrated is on the Phone/ S. I. Is on the phone
B) So excited cut face while
shaving / w/ blood running off face
& shaving cream still on he hurried down the stairs
About ½ way down he lost his balance & went
tumbling end over end to the bottom of
the stairs
C) Staggering to the phone/ his
back in pain & bleeding from the face
he replied hello this is coach
Morris
1)
The
voice on the other end replied Mr. Morris this is Jennifer w/ S. I./ I
was Calling to see
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Talk about
Heart Break { Laurie Lowe
Robert Smith was
taking his afternoon walk as part of his therapy in recovering from a massive
heart attack, the phone rang and his wife Delores answered. The call was from the Reader's Digest
Sweepstakes in New York.
They were calling
to inform the Smith family that Robert had just won $1,500,000 and that in a few
days the certified check would be arriving. Well Delores was absolutely ecstatic. Now all those dreams would come true!
"But then she remembered, her husband
was just getting over his heart attack, and the doctor had said no excitement
over anything.
Dolores was afraid that if she told him they had just won such a
large sum, he would have another heart attack and die. What should she do?
Well after some
thought she decided to call her Pastor, Pastor Baldwin to get his advice He
agreed to come over & help her deal w/ the Situation
"So in about
an hour, Bob comes back from his walk
and he and Delores and Pastor Baldwin are in the den having a nice chat.
The pastor leans toward Bob
and says, `Bob, I've got a problem and need your advice.'
"`Sure,
Pastor, if I can help, I'll be glad to,' said Bob.
"The pastor
takes a deep breath and goes on,
`It's a
hypothetical situation regarding Christian stewardship. What would a person--take you, for
instance--do if all of a sudden you found out you had won $1,500,000?
What would you do
with all that money?'
"`That's
easy,' Bob replied. `I'd start by
giving $750,000 to the church.'
Whereupon Pastor Baldwin had a massive heart attack and dropped
dead!"
B) Love one another as I have
loved you
1)
Jesus
notifies them he is leaving they cant follow right
now
C) One is going to betray Him / All
Forsake Him
1)
Even
Peter: Deny Him 3 times
D) I am sure that Jesus noticed
the Distressed look on their faces which led him to say : Ch 14 v. 1
14:1
"Let not your heart be troubled; you
believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father's house are many mansions;
if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to
Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Jesus says that there are 2 things that
will Cure the troubled heart
A)
1st Believe in God / His Son- [ Faithfulness]
B)
2nd Believe in Heaven
1)
Jesus said : Many Mansions : Dwelling Places
C)
Body
Prepared for heaven
1)
Earth 6
days Heaven 2,000 yrs
D)
Come
again to Receive you: Rapture This is our Hope Living hope Comfort one
another w/
..
Our Comfort : Our Hope Heaven That is
the cure for our troubled hearts
So
if you are here tonight heart is troubled heart is heavy Chances are you
have lost sight of Heaven
Why does Heaven seem so Far away
Distance 3 reasons / then Cure
A)1st
Nearsighted : { Only sees what is in front of it
A recent poll in Newsweek tells us that 77% of all
Americans believe in a literal place called heaven an important statistic
because imagine what our society would be like if we didnt believe in heaven . . .
A society which didnt believe in heaven would be
obsessed with youth. It would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to
look, stay, and feel young through plastic surgery,
diets, and exercise programs.
A society which didnt believe in heaven would spend
billions of dollars on life support systems to delay facing an unknown future. In
a society which didnt believe in heaven, crime would soar without fear of
either eternal judgment or reward.
The theology of a society which didnt believe in
heaven would be based upon the here and now on health, and prosperity. Techniques for
Success
Wait a minute. We are that culture because, although our generation gives
lip-service to the idea of heaven, we do not live
out the reality of heaven.
Ours is the first generation to teach
that, materially, one can have heaven on earth.
A) If you have a car with a convertible top, girls in
bikinis will flock around you.
B) Our Society offers us over & Over Heaven on earth
Stowell EARTH BOUND BELIEVERS
Earthbound
Christians live the most important segments of their lives only in the context
of this world. Their expectations dreams hopes & plans all relate to what
they can acquire & Experience Now
2nd
Reason heaven can seem so far away is related to this one: We have
responsibilities
A)Bills to pay families to feed work to
be done
Problems to fix Day to day responsibilities
B) My greatest
struggle [ Heaven in the Morning during devotions last thing on my
mind by noon
C) The First is the Pursuit of heaven on
earth
1)
This is simply the fact that I am living on earth all its Problems
3rd
Reason Distorted View of what heaven is going to be like Clouds Playing Harps
A)Farthest thing talk later {
Undescribable
But those are 3
reasons why heaven can seem so Distant we can struggle w/ one or all of those
things
A)Question is what is the Cure ? - Turn to Col 3
3:1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things
which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your
mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
Now when Paul challenged the Church in
Colossi to Set their minds on the things above he wasnt suggesting some
mystical gaze
A)He wasnt exhorting them to walk around w/ head in
the clouds/
B) But in
reality He was Challenging them to think from Heavens point of view
The Word for mind
that Paul uses in v.2 speaks of the actual Content of ones thoughts not just
the thinking Process
In other words Paul is suggesting that our Minds
need to be reprogrammed
C) Think of it in this way
I have a computer / but the use of
my computer is going to depend upon the Software programs in my Computer
My son has a Program that allows him to do Graphics
& make pictures
D)But if I want to do a Budget that program is not
going to do me any good
I need a different kind of program spread sheet /
Quicken something like that
E) So A
Change is needed to accommodate the desired outcome
That is
exactly what Paul is saying here
We need to program our minds towards the things
above so that all the output of our lives reflects Heaven
But How does that
Happen: Lesson from the Life of Abe Traveling marked by 2 things
A)1st Every where he went
Pitched a tent
B) Bethel didnt build a house Pitched a
tent
1)
Tent was a Reminder this isnt it
C) They were living with heaven in view! "Looking for a city with foundations - - builder maker was God!
D) So He and his descendants for close to 200 years
- dwelt in tents / those Tents characterized their attitude toward the world!
C) This world or wherever they were was not their
home
1) Temporary Stop
Traveling on
Vacation: Stop to admire is great but you dont stay there { Not the
Destination
A) Invisible tags Temporal remind
ourselves that this is not it -
B) Girl gets engaged everything is seen
thru that lens
2nd thing -
marked Abe in his pilgrimage was
- built altars
A.)Wherever they went - altars! Revealed not just their desire to follow the
Lord but their
devotion to the Lord!
B.)The Altar was
used for worship - want to live for the next life - with heaven in view - be
worshiper
C)Worship gets my eyes off of this place Sees the
Lord Heavenly perspective Tonight Worship / today put aside
C) That is why As often as possible - enter into holiest - be before the Lord!
Focus will change - language will change!