Living The Eternity Driven Life Series

LIVING THE ETERNITY DRIVEN LIFE

JOKE: Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn’t seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy takes out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says: "Calm down, I can help. First, let’s make sure he’s dead." There is a silence, then a gunshot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says: "OK, now what?"

INTRO: Discuss new Christian club I’m doing at ESS for grade 6-8 students; and chapel this coming week at Eastgate. Anne & Eric, two residents there, have entered eternity.

OPENING TEXT: “LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away.” (Psalm 39:4).

QUOTE: “Life on Earth is a temporary assignment...To make the best use of your life, you must never forget two truths. First, compared with eternity, life is extremely brief. Second, Earth is only a temporary residence. You won’t be here long, so don’t get too attached. Ask God to help you see life on Earth as he sees it… In order to keep from becoming too attached to this Earth, God allows us to feel a significant amount of discontent and dissatisfaction in life—longings that will never be fulfilled on this side of eternity. We are not completely happy here because we’re not supposed to be! Earth is not our final home, we were created for something much better…You will not be in Heaven two seconds before you cry out, “Why did I place so much importance on things that were so temporary? What was I thinking? Why did I waste so much time, energy and concern on what wasn’t going to last?” (Rick Warren).

• MOVIE ILLUSTRATION: SCHINDLER’S LIST: The film about the true story of Oskar Schindler, a member of the Nazi party who saved the lives of more than 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust. Last scene of the movie: “I could have got more. This car – 10 people right there. This pin, two people.” Will we be like this in Heaven?

• What does it mean to live the eternity driven life?

KEY TEXT:

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10;24-25).

THE BIG IDEA: In our key text we see three keys to living the eternity driven life. First of all, we must be faithful in our meeting together; secondly we must spur one another on to love and good deeds; and finally, we must look for ways to encourage one another.

ILLUSTRATION: I thought of this as we were discussing living the eternity driven life…

A man left the snow-filled streets of Chicago for a vacation in Florida. His wife was on a business trip and was planning to meet him there the next day. When he reached his hotel, he sent his wife a quick e-mail. Unable to find the scrap of paper on which he had written her e-mail address, he did his best to type it in from memory. Unfortunately, he missed one letter, and his note was directed instead to an elderly preacher’s wife whose husband had passed away only the day before. When the grieving widow checked her e-mail, she took one look at the monitor, let out a piercing scream, and fell to the floor dead. At the sound, her family rushed into the room and saw this note on the screen: Dearest Wife, Just got checked in. Everything prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Your Loving Husband. p.s. Sure is hot down here.

1. WE MUST BE FAITHFUL IN OUR MEETING TOGETHER:

a. Notice I didn’t start with ‘spur one another on to love and good works.” If we don’t meet together, and gather in community, we cannot challenge one another to grow!

b. Can you say, as David did: "I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go into the house of the Lord." (Psalm 122:1).

JOKE: A mother woke up her son one morning and said, “Honey, it’s time to get ready for church.” The son replied, “But mom, I don’t want to go to church today!” The mother persisted, “But you have to go to church!” The son again responded, “I don’t want to go to church!” The mother said, “You need to get up.” The son said, “Why?” The mother said, “I’ll give you three good reasons… #1 – you’re always glad you’ve gone once you get there; #2 – you always enjoy the music at church and today will be no exception; and #3 – you’re the pastor…”