From Groaning to Glory By Steve Lombardo

he says, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies, and he who lives and believes in me will never die. That's the promise. You're gonna die, but there's hope beyond the grave. The hope is in Jesus Christ. And that's why we could even, through the tears, celebrate around my grandpa's deathbed because he trusted in Jesus Christ as his lord and savior. And one day, by God's grace, I'm gonna see him again [00:06:39] (26 seconds)  #PrepareForEternity

So don't think that you'll have some time like my grandpa to to think about it and to talk about family talk about it with family members. One in five of us won't know it's coming. So ask these questions now. Deal with the challenge now. I mean, think about it. We prepare for retirement. We prepare for everything. Prepare for our own death. [00:16:34] (26 seconds)  #HolySpiritGuarantee

Christians understand the certainty of things to come. So here's the turn. It's a good turn. Look at second half of verse one. We have a building from God, a house that is not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. This is an eternal home that we're promised through Jesus Christ. So the promise of Christ, Jesus Christ for you, is that when you die now before Christ returns, when you die now, you go to be in the presence [00:17:50] (25 seconds)  #UnseenPowerWithin

So whether we live or whether we die, we can have courage because Jesus Christ is with us. He's doing something in us. And and even if you're on your deathbed, you can have courage. Not that you won't be scared or or or or frightful of of the things because they're new, and you haven't been there before. It's not that. Remember, we face the challenges like everybody else. The difference is we can have courage because we know that Christ is gonna show up in the hospital room. [00:22:07] (30 seconds)  #LongingForGlory

Somebody said to me before, oh, man, how do you know? You're a pastor. You talk like you know everything. How do you know what's next? How do you know if there's a life after death? I I don't know it in my myself. I've I've never been there, but I'm friends with somebody who's been there. And he's defeated death, and he came back from death, and he's coming back again. And so I'm hitching my wagon on him, fully man, truly man, truly God, Jesus Christ. [00:22:48] (34 seconds)  #GoodAndFaithfulServant

So the Holy Spirit is a guarantee of this promise of an eternal home. Now how is the Holy Spirit a guarantee or a down payment? That's how Paul says in Ephesians chapter one and chapter four. He says that the Holy Spirit is a down payment of the things that are yet to come in Christ. So I jotted this down. God is changing us by his power in his presence, and that changes our practices. [00:19:39] (31 seconds)  #TurnToJesusNow

only God could have done that. It's like, man, yeah. Thank you, lord. That's a testimony of the holy spirit in your life that god is real, that Jesus Christ is real. He's coming back again, and and that's part of the down payment. So you're getting a little taste of it. But more than that, because those things are few and far between. If you have those things, you should jot down those things. I've had one of those things in my life. It was an amazing thing that god only could do. He did it. [00:20:24] (25 seconds)  #StewardYourGifts

Those seen things aren't the things that matter. What matters is the unseen thing and the power that lives within the apostle Paul. The power that lives within you if you're a Christ follower. That power is an everlasting power that will bear fruit even into eternity. [00:07:57] (18 seconds)  #DeathIsPartOfLife