Home Sweet Home

Who here has been on a vacation or trip somewhere? After being on the journey for a while where did you want to be? Where did you want to go?

As the saying goes, there’s no place like home! Why is that? Why do we feel drawn to go home?

For most of us, one reason is that home is a place where we feel secure, safe, & loved. It’s also the place we are most familiar with. We know where things are at home & we know we will be comfortable. We want to be at our Home Sweet Home.

What home will we have forever? Where will we go when our brief time on Earth is complete? Where is our eternal home?

That’s right, our home for eternity will be in Heaven with our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ! That will be the sweetest Home ever.

Here is a question that many people have wondered about since the beginning of time …. What is it like in Heaven? What do you think Heaven will be like?

There are a couple of ways to know what it will be like when we get to Heaven. There will most definitely be feelings of peace, love, beauty, & harmony. But what else? What else will it be like in the Home of Heaven?

In addition to the information & details given in Scripture God also invited a 4-year-old boy to Heaven so we will have a firsthand account on how glorious it will be.

Some of you may have heard of the book & movie Heaven is for Real. It tells the story of this boy named Colton Burpo & what he experienced in Heaven. For those who haven’t heard his story, I will give you the highlights of it.

Colton’s parents are Pastor Todd & Mrs. Sonja Burpo. After a few hardships hit, the family decided they needed a vacation. A couple of days after they decided to spend time on vacation, Colton started feeling bad. Colton told his mom that his stomach was hurting. They thought he might have caught something like the stomach flu that was going around.

When Colton was being watched by a friend of Sonja’s his condition got much worse. He got a high fever & then lay almost motionless on the couch. They decided Colton was sick enough to be taken to the Emergency Room. After examining Colton, doctors told Todd & Sonja he needed immediate surgery. His appendix had ruptured a few days earlier & poison was seeping into his body!

Something supernatural happened to Colton while doctors were operating on him. While he was in surgery Colton’s spirit left his body & went to Heaven. He was able to see things & be with people that no one else could. He could share with the world how awesome Heaven is & encourage everyone to do what they should do so Heaven will one day be their Home Sweet Home!

Pastor Todd wrote the book Heaven is for Real based on what Colton had told him & Sonja about the time he got to spend in Heaven. He got so many great responses to what was shared in the book & movie that they both felt strongly that his innocent, childlike descriptions of God & Heaven needed to be shared with other children. They took the things Colton had told them & put them in another book titled Heaven is for Real for Kids: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back. This message is from Colton’s own words in that book.

Because these descriptions of Heaven are from a child, they are very straightforward & easy to understand. We are going to take Colton’s descriptions & turn the pages to take a step into Heaven with a young boy! What do you think will be the first thing you see when you get to this Home?

When Colton opened his eyes for the first time in Heaven he saw Jesus. He said, “Jesus is so happy when people get to Heaven. His smile is really bright, & His eyes sparkle. When I looked ay Jesus, I could tell how much He loved me. Jesus really, really loves children.”

Everything that Colton saw & did in the Kingdom of Heaven is supported by God’s Word in the Bible. The apostle Matthew wrote, “While they watched, Jesus was changed. His face became bright like the sun. And his clothes became white as light.” Colton said Jesus’ smile is bright & eyes sparkle. His face was bright like the son.

What else will we get to see when we are in Heaven?

Try to imagine how amazing Heaven will be. Have that picture in your mind? It’s even better! Colton said, “Heaven is more amazing than you can imagine. I could hear beautiful music & see lots of colors. Big, bright rainbows are everywhere you look. The streets are gold, the gates are made of pearl, & shiny jewels are on the walls.”