Holding Our Breath [With Hope]

4/11/2010

Message by Dan Davis

Guide by Will Startare

Connect:

1. What kind of thoughts come into your mind when the terms heaven and hell are brought up? Are there ideas that are clearly more figurative than literal, like heaven being up and hell being down?

2. How much importance has the topic of afterlife been in your Christian experience?

3. What kind of experiences have you had with western Christian mainstays like The Left Behind Series and Heaven’s Gates, Hell’s Flames?

Discuss:        

4.  Read: 1Thess. 4:16-17, Dan explained that the word “meet” in verse 17 is translated from Apantesis- a Greek word for when a visiting dignitary comes to a city. Officials go out to meet the dignitary and escort or ‘apantesis’ the dignitary back to the city. It is a picture of meeting and returning with.

How does the idea of God coming to earth instead of us going to him fit into to the overall narrative of scripture that we have looked at in past weeks?

5. Revelation 21: 1-5 shows the picture of heaven coming to earth, have you ever thought about environmental, social and economic issues in the context of bringing heaven to earth?

6. Most of the time, the word we translate into “Hell” is the word “Gehenna.” Gehenna refers to a valley near Jerusalem that was known as a terrible place of death, disease and destruction. Dan used the story of our own Duluwat Island as a corollary for Gehenna. What places are a literal hell on earth in your mind?

Challenge:

Journey Together- There can be people in your life that are living out hell on earth. How can you make an effort to bring Heaven to earth in lives of those around you?

Live Different- If this world isn’t just being thrown away, but restored through the expansion of heaven on earth. What implications does this have on the way you live your everyday live?

Provoke Change- A prayer: God, show us how to live out heaven on earth. Give us the knowledge and the strength to fight against hell on earth and help us work together to expand your kingdom until you come to complete it. Amen.