Promise Land: I Promise You'll Be There | John 14:1-6

Promise made, promise kept. The pattern of that where God shows himself to be trustworthy. And the ultimate trust is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. You can trust me. I dealt with the the biggest problem you will ever face, and it's not paying your bills this month. That's not your biggest problem. It it it's not how things are going at work. That's not the biggest problem. The biggest problem that each one of us face that looms in the future is our death, the end of our life. And God is saying, you can trust me with that and everything else. [00:16:20] (47 seconds)  #PromiseMadePromiseKept

And that would be the promise, and it would be true that he will rise at the last day and he'll come to be with God in heaven. But Jesus went even further than that. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection. I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even though they die. And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this? Yes, Lord. She said, I believe that you are the Messiah, the son of God who has come into the world. [00:29:12] (42 seconds)  #IAmTheResurrection

And I think that's the part of this is as we go through life, that your life is quite a camping trip. And God has taken you to many beautiful places. But the tents break down. That these these tents of the body that we live in are not meant to be lived in forever, but the home that Jesus is preparing is. Not built by human hands, but prepared by Christ. And so the promise is this, Jesus promises that when I die, I will go to heaven to be with him. That's the promise. Pretty pretty simple, pretty straightforward. [00:21:56] (48 seconds)  #EternalHomeInChrist

And and that is why in these moments, the encouragement is if you are in those moments where you're wondering if you have, do you have, or haven't done enough, here's the deal. None of us have done enough. It's okay. We're all in the same boat, and it's sinking. But Jesus is the way. If if if Jesus would have said, your hard work is the way, if Jesus would have said, try harder, be perfect, that's the way, then we would have some issues. But the promise is that he is the way, the truth, and the life. [00:26:07] (37 seconds)  #GraceNotPerformance

And so during these times when when death gets real, like on Good Friday, when when the disciples ran, when they weren't by Jesus, where they they either had amnesia of of the promises or or they didn't have them in front of them, that Jesus is still the way. Jesus is still the way. And his death, he died, was also for doubt and unbelief and any other sin that we've committed so that we can say Jesus is the way and through Jesus Christ, my home in heaven is secure. [00:26:44] (46 seconds)  #JesusSecuresOurHome

Our soul goes to be with God in heaven. And on the last day, our soul and body will be reunited to live with God for an eternity. The one who believes in me will live even though they die, and whoever lives by believing in me, that's us, will never die. And notice what it comes down to. Do you believe this? Lord, I believe you're the Christ. I believe you're the Messiah. And it takes us back to where we started. Believe me. [00:30:39] (34 seconds)  #BelieveAndLive

Every major relationship you have is based on trust and must have trust or faith or belief or whatever word you wanna put in that. And and if you think that's overstatement, let let's try it. If you have kids in day care, tell me what it's like if you don't trust the person who's watching your child. How how does that look when you you drop them off and and you're not sure if they're going to get fed or watched or if they're going to be there when you get back? How long do you think you're going to to have that that day care provider? [00:13:29] (50 seconds)  #TrustDrivesRelationships

Because it's a reminder of what is most important. And and and this truth that Jesus has the power of life and death. His resurrection proved that. And so, again, going to these words, I am the resurrection, the one who believes in me. We have this faith relationship. Jesus is the way. The one who believes in me will live even though they die. So when when we die and our body and soul separate, that that that is earthly death, but it's not the end. [00:30:07] (32 seconds)  #DeathIsNotTheEnd

Now can you understand why people who believe in Jesus and and call themselves Christian, why we say or God says that this relationship has to be built on trust? Whoever believes in me. That if you don't believe in me, that you don't believe God, there can't be a relationship. That if you don't trust me to take care of you, that that if you don't trust that that I'm going and all the different promises that that just like the birds of the air, just like the flowers of the field, that that we look at them, they trust me. [00:15:14] (55 seconds)  #FaithIsRelationship

And so as we go through this message series, I I want you to think in terms of, first of all, being the person who makes promises. Is there a person that you need to make a promise to that is going to make their present a little more bearable and their future a little more sure. So so in that way, I get to be a a promise maker. But then, you you can also say, what does this look like? Who is another person who has made a promise to me that I'm maybe not believing, not trusting? [00:05:04] (40 seconds)  #BeAPromiseMaker

And what happens is I think we do this. We panic. That that as we look at it, that that and we we do an inventory of our lives, that that we look back and and we're faced with this going back and forth of the good and the bad we've done, and are always struggling if we've done enough. Am I a good person? And maybe it's our own conscience. I don't know exactly how that all works for each and every one of us, but I'm telling you, it's a thing. [00:25:34] (33 seconds)  #GraceOverGuilt

My kids are older now, so it's a little bit different, but I don't drop my car off at someone I don't trust. Right? That that I I look at them and and even there's a part of me that says, you know what? I don't care if you overcharge me a little bit, as long as I can trust you to fix it. That that if that confidence I'm I'm then do you see how even that that trust part of it, or or the promise or when they say this is how much it's going to cost, and if it's more, a part of me is like, whatever. As long as it's fixed and I can trust that when I'm driving, I'm not going to break down, I'll do it. [00:14:19] (40 seconds)  #TrustIsWorthIt