Children, you can be dismissed to Children's Church. Everyone else, let's open up our Bibles to Matthew chapter 22. We're in Matthew chapter 22. We're gonna pick up at verse 23 through verse 33. That's Matthew 22 verses 23 to 33. This is God's holy word. The same day Sadducees came to him who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question saying, teacher, Moses said if a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. So to the second and third down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her. But Jesus answered them, you are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God? I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not God of the dead, but of the living. When the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. Let's pray. Father, we come before you right now and we just ask and we plead with you that you would make your presence known, that Lord, we wouldn't be simply going through the motions of church and religion, but God, that you would really speak through your word, empowered by your spirit to our hearts, that you would change us, that we would leave here with greater hope and understanding of what awaits us when we die. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Do you believe in life after death? What happens after we die? Is there anything to life after this life? Do we just simply live, die, and be done? A recent Gallup poll, 2023, most respondents around the world, about 57% of people believe that there is life after death. One in four, about 23%, believe that nothing happens when we die. And then about 15% just aren't sure, but they're not willing to say one way or another. And those that believe are torn with what it looks like. Actor Jeremy Renner, who starred in the Marvel comic movies. He was Hawkeye. He was in a near-death experience where he was crushed by a snowplow at his house and he shares his story of how he could see his whole life before him all at one time. He saw a light. It was peaceful. It was a beautiful place. And we hear those stories about a light at an end of a tunnel and all of those things. And not only is there kind of varying belief of what it looks like, there's also debate on how you get there and where you ultimately go. So I think the subject of life after death is not only a fascinating discussion, it's of vital importance because there is no turning back. no second chances once we die. But we're gonna see today, and I think this is the encouragement, according to the Lord himself, there is truly life after death. Our bodies will one day rise again, so believe in that, find comfort in that. So this is not a message necessarily directed and geared towards mothers on Mother's Day, but I think is an encouragement to all the mothers, and all the women, and all the men in our midst, if you're a follower of Jesus, because we have hope when this life ends. So if you're taking notes as we look at life after death, we're gonna look at four components to the resurrection in our passage. First of all, we're gonna look at the problem with the resurrection. We're gonna see the problem with the resurrections. We're gonna deal specifically with a group of people that do not believe in the resurrection. Their unbelief of the resurrection, they're gonna use to try to ultimately make Jesus look bad, which they fail every time at. Secondly, we're gonna look at the promise of the resurrection, that God is assured that there will be life after this life. Then we're gonna see the power of the resurrection, that God is the one He is the almighty one. He is the able one to resurrect the dead. And then lastly, we're gonna look at the practicality of the resurrection. As we're gonna see, it puts life into perspective when we believe that this is not the end. All right, so let's get started as we look at the problem with the resurrection. Now, if you remember last week, Pastor Andy preached on the authority of Jesus. And as he preached on the authority of Jesus, we saw ultimately that we owe Jesus what? We owe Jesus everything. His fingerprints are all over life. We owe our allegiance. We owe our worship to him. Yeah, we can give Caesar what is Caesar, but more importantly, we give to God what is God, and that's everything. And right after this message from Jesus, he is confronted by the Sadducees, as they said, that they tried to trick him up, they tried to get him to look bad, but they are very unsuccessful. First of all, notice their foundation. Verse 23, it says, the same day Sadducees came to him who say that there is no resurrection. Now it's weird, as we look at the Bible as a whole, also look at first century history, the Sadducees and the Pharisees were weird friends. because they had a common enemy in Jesus, but they had very differing views on a lot of stuff, besides the fact that they both did not like Jesus and did not like what he was doing. Acts 23, eight, it says the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angels, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. So as we kind of even think of these Sadducees, they're kind of defined by what they don't believe rather than they do believe. Who here sees the fireworks, the Maumee-Perrysburg fireworks every year? Raise your hand. All right. Good chunk of us. One of the things I've always liked with the fireworks is you're never sure when they're ending. You know what I'm talking about, where there's like this encore performance where they had a big kind of boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and you're like, all right, it's over. And then you're sitting there and you're just not sure. Like, is that it? You almost need a little bit of time before you can say, okay, I think that was the final one, that encore performance. You see, the Sadducees did not believe in an encore performance. They believed when you and I breathe our last breath, when we die, it's over. And not just over, it is over. That there is no life after death, there's no spirit, there's no heaven, there's no hell. They don't believe in the supernatural. The only thing they kind of believe in is the first five books of the Bible. They kind of esteem the Pentateuch But that's about it, no spiritual realm. And friends, this is a big deal because these are fundamentals, core elements of our faith. This is Orthodox Christianity. If you believe that this life is it, you are missing the point of the Bible. 1 Corinthians 15, 19, Paul says, if in Christ we have hope in this life only, We are of all people most to be pitied, but we don't believe that. And we're gonna see the importance and significance. Well, do you believe that there is life beyond the grave? Do you await a future resurrection? I am under no delusions that a room of this many people, that everybody here believes that there is life after death. But not only do we see their foundation, let's look at their follow through. So he goes on and he asks him a question, saying, Teacher, Moses said, if a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers among us, the first married and died, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. So to the second and third, down to the seven, after them the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her. You see, the Pharisees, because they believed in no life after death, they believed everything was simple. No complications. Life's not messy. You die, it's done. Game, set, match, point, it's over. One of the things is we're having to redo our basement. We had, I shared a few weeks back, flooding. And we, insurance, and it's fun times. Great opportunity from Jesus for sanctification, and patience and growth. I'm not saying I wish it upon all of you, but it's been different. But one of the things as we're thinking through the basement, we're trying to think through, do we completely do everything how it was? Do we minimize some of the furniture? Do we want to have it more open? And as I'm looking at different things, the minimalist, simple design is like it's very all about functionality. Like you don't have a lot of clutter. It kind of sounds good, but we have a lot of clutter. So what do we do with the clutter that we have? That's kind of their view of life. Everything's just simple. You live this life. Hopefully you enjoy it. Hopefully you have a good time because once it's over, it is over. Can't be complicated, but that's not the case. So they get this hypothetical scenario because of, and mind you, they are not asking about this out of good intentions. This is not out of curiosity. They're just saying, basically, the resurrection is absurd that this could happen. So let's do this hypothetical. So they do it. And they come up from, they quote Moses, like I said, they believe in the first five books of the Bible, and they quote what the Leveret marriage was. Deuteronomy 25.5 says, if a brother dwells together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside the family. And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. And we see that in the story of Ruth. It's the Leveret marriage. So we don't know at the present time in the first century how often this was actually practiced. There's not a lot of evidence that this was as prevalent as earlier on in the life of Israel, but they use that as an example. that there's a problem with it. Now, the one thing, too, is, like, the seven. First of all, I'm starting to wonder what's going on with the wife if seven guys are dying as a result of, like, you think at some point a brother would stop and be like, I'm not marrying her. I've got five brothers who have died already. I don't want to be number six. But, like, they don't even make that up in the thing. But the problem is, What is going to happen? And you understand their reasoning. Like, let's say this is hypothetical. They're in heaven, and all of a sudden she says, honey, and seven guys answer, what, dear? It's messy. It's complicated. It doesn't make sense. But faith doesn't always make sense. Like, they're trying to narrow mind everything. Life isn't simple. Deuteronomy 29, 29, quote it. Mysterious things of God are of God. I don't know how it all works, but at the end of the day, life, and he's gonna answer the question for them. But faith is faith. But do you let your mind get in the way of belief? Are you constantly expecting God to explain himself to you? Do you constantly need God to prove himself? So we see the problem with the resurrection, but secondly, let's look at the promise He rebukes them for their ignorance. First of all, he calls out their head knowledge. Jesus answered them, you are wrong because you neither know, because you know neither the scriptures. Then he's going to go on and says, the power of God. I think we've all encountered somebody, and sometimes we're that person, where you know enough to be dangerous. Like you have some knowledge of something, but then you speak on it as though you are an expert of the subject that you kind of know. And it's dangerous because sometimes people will take your language as though you are an expert on this matter. And if you're somebody who knows more about the subject than the person who is claiming, that really is unsettling, amen? Because you're like, you don't even know what you're talking about. Like, stop talking. Stop talking. And that's them. They don't know what they're talking about. In their arrogance and pride, they're clueless. They refer to Deuteronomy. Well, the Deuteronomy passage has nothing to do with the resurrection. It has nothing to do with eternal life. It has nothing to do with life after death. It has everything about carrying on the lineage of the deceased brother. That's it. That was the point of the law. Not so it would determine who you are married to after life. And I think that is the danger, friends, of knowing a little Bible and taking the Bible out of context and to mislead. They're completely ignoring multiple Old Testament passages. Isaiah 26, 19. Your dead shall live, their bodies will rise, you will dwell in the dust. Awake and sing for joy, for your due is a due of light and the earth will give birth to the dead. That is supporting what? The resurrection. Daniel 12.2, And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And what he's calling them out is if they knew the Scriptures, they would believe in the resurrection. Well, do you know the Scriptures? Do you know God's word? Do you believe in what God's word promises? But not only the head knowledge, notice the heart knowledge. Jesus answered him and said, you're wrong because you know, I want to emphasize the word know, neither the scriptures. You see, knowing in the Bible, and we've shared this before if you've been here for a while. Knowing in the Bible has very significant meaning. We use that term often in the book of Genesis. that a person knew his wife, and what happened? What do we call them? Babies. So when they're talking about knowing, it's not just like, I know my wife. Like, I know her name, and I know where she lives. No, it's intimacy. And what Jesus is ultimately calling them out is they don't intimately know the God of the Bible, and they don't know the Bible. Say they esteemed the first five books, but the rest of the scriptures were optional. They did not know. And friends, that is God's desire for you and I, that we would know the Bible. Philippians 3.8, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. He goes on and says that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. Psalm 1-2, it says, his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law. He meditates day and night. And I wanna ask you a thought-provoking question this morning. Do you know scripture? Do you know God in this kind of an intimate way? And do you desire it? Do you want to know Him more? I mean, we sang earlier, here I am to worship. Do you come before God's word on a daily basis? desiring God to speak to you. Because that's God's intent. That's God's design for you. But what ends up happening is our world is so distracting, we end up just desiring all this other stuff. You desire money, and you desire possessions, and you desire notoriety, and you desire people, and you desire pleasure, and all of those things. And then somehow in the midst of it, you leave a little space in your life and in your heart and your mind to know God and then you end up not knowing him that well and then he feels distant to you and you don't understand why. Well, God's desire, I mean, we've shared this before, the reason we go through books in the Bible is because at the end of the day, I know Andy and I, who are the primary ones that are preaching, we want you to be biblically literate. That we're gonna have to give an account to God for our time ministering, shepherding you, and the thing you need more than anything is the word of God. Moms, the greatest gift you can give your kids is Jesus, you understand that? I mean, yeah, you can be there, you can support him, you can love on him and all of those things, but there is nothing better that you can give your children than the gift of Jesus Christ and an example of Christ to your kids. I know my mom is one of the primary reasons I am where I am today, because she prioritized Christ in my life, and even when I was wayward in my college years, She kept pointing me back to Jesus. You understand? And that's your calling. Was your study of the word going beyond head to heart? Are you reflecting on his word? Are you fostering intimacy? Because here's the reality, when you know the revelation of God, and I'm not talking about the book of Revelation, you're gonna know the revealer. So we see the problem with The resurrection, he rebukes them. The promise of the resurrection. Let's now look at the power over the resurrection. He underscores that God is the one, ultimately, that they're denying. They're denying God's power. Verse 29, it says, Jesus answered them, you are wrong because you know neither the scriptures, I know, so it says, nor the power of God. though they claim an allegiance to God, they have such a disrespectful, domesticated view of God. So let's imagine, after church today, we walk upstairs, not all of us, but a few of us, up to the weight room, and there's this big, muscular, like a little bit bigger than me, tatted up guy, And he's just laying down on the bench. There's no weight on the barbell. Barbell's normally around 45 pounds. There's different variations of the barbell. And as he's getting ready to just kind of maybe he's just doing like a warm-up motion of it, you run over, immediately stop and say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you doing? Like, dude, you're going to hurt yourself. Like, no, no, no. And then, like, he gets up, just annoyed with you. And a little bit later, he goes over and he starts picking up, like, a 20-pound dumbbell, which is not that heavy. And immediately you say, stop doing this. You are not strong enough. What is he going to do to you? Like, do you have any idea? My muscles have muscles. Like I can lift a 45 pound. I can lift a lot more than a 45. I can lift a lot more than a 20 pound. That's really what the Sadducees are doing with regards to God. Total disrespect. They don't believe in the resurrection because they don't believe the God of the resurrection. They don't believe that he has power. that he's mighty, that he's everlasting. 1 Chronicles 29 11. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you and you rule over all as your hand or power and might and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. Literally, the sky is not the limit when it comes to God, and they don't know that. But do you know that? How big is your God this morning? Look at your current life circumstances, and I know we have a wide assortment of situations that we find ourselves in amongst our congregation. We got people that are right now in mountaintop experiences, and life is just going better than expected. I know there are people in our midst that are in valleys, and then I know there's people that are in the middle of all of that, and life is messy. Do you know this God, who's powerful and mighty? Are you placing limits on Him and what He can do? Do you believe? Are you the Father? I believe, but help me in my unbelief, because God, right now, the circumstances seem heavier than you can lift. And if that's how you're feeling, be honest with God. Share your struggle of believing, but lean into the God who's able to get you through this time. Because not only do we see God's power, it's ultimately God's power over death that's being challenged. Because you don't know the power of God. They don't believe in the resurrection because, here's the key, they don't believe because they think death is ultimately stronger than God. I remember watching a commercial a few years back, it had a bunch of different trucks, powerful trucks, and I still don't know what a Hemi is, don't even bother, I won't understand it later, but all these different trucks were pulling this load that was extremely heavy, and at one point, Only one vehicle was capable of doing it up this hill or mountain. I think at the end of the day, what the Sadducees are saying is that in the power of death over the power of God, death is stronger than God. It can't overcome it. It's just inevitable. Well, that's not accurate. God rules over life and death. Now remember, Jesus is saying this as Jesus has been crucified yet at this point in the Gospel of Matthew. Everybody nod your head no. The only time we've seen so far with Jesus showing a glimpse, a preview of what awaits was in John chapter 11 with who? Lazarus. He had raised Lazarus from the dead. Yet in that passage, Jesus said something very profound. John 11, 25, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. You see, death will never, and we need to embrace this because we experience death. We lose loved ones. We will die unless Christ returns in glory. Before then, death will never stop the plans and purposes of God. Death never triumphs over God. God allows death to take place. God ultimately is sovereign over death. You will not die one second early or one second late in God's providence. Romans 4.17, I have made you the father of many nations in the presence of God in whom you believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hebrews 11.9, This was regards to Abraham. He considered that God was able to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. Well, do you believe this? Do you believe that God has power over death? And if you do, why are you so afraid of death? I think most of us here, we fear death. Now sometimes, and I know I'll even justify and say, I'm not afraid to die, but I'm afraid to leave the people behind. So I won't be here for them to support them. But if you really believe that God has power over death, if he can raise you, you think God can take care of your family and friends when you're gone? Can he do it probably better than you can? Yes. You believe that this life is the end or that God has more. So we've seen the problem with the resurrection, we've seen the promise, we saw the power of a resurrection, and lastly, let's look at the practicality of the resurrection. First of all, this life is not the end, read verse 30 with me. For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. As I said, they are not asking this question out of genuine concern. One, it's probably not likely that one woman had been married to seven brothers. and they were very concerned about who she would be married at with in heaven. Like I said, they're trying to point out the absurdity of life after death, but Jesus answered the question, and let's be honest, I know some of you here don't like his answer. Because he says basically that this life is the end of your marriage. I mean, we have our romantic movies. We have, you know, we use terms like soulmates. We have our love songs. I've done multiple weddings or I've been to multiple weddings. Like one of the songs I've heard at the very least in dances at weddings is a song called something like thousand years. I found the lyrics, I have died every day waiting for you, darling. Don't be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more. So we have a very romanticized view of love. And the idea that when we're done here in heaven that we won't be married to each other, I think we're really being vulnerable. I think some of y'all here are a little upset with that. But here's the point, what Jesus is making. Marital relationships cease to exist in heaven because there's no purpose behind them. Notice what he says, they become like angels. It doesn't mean they become angels, but they're gonna share the similarities that angels aren't married, nor will you and I be. Because the point is, in heaven, you won't be married because you ultimately are married to who? To Jesus. and he's gonna be enough. Now that doesn't mean that we, and the Bible leaves so much kind of greatness, it doesn't mean we won't recognize or maybe know our husband or our wife in heaven, but the point is it's not gonna be about them. It's gonna be about you with Jesus. There'll be no rivals for your love and devotion. You're not gonna be looking over at your spouse with Jesus and you're gonna be jealous. Out there, he's talking to him. Like, I mean, I facetiously say that, but no, it's like you're missing the point. And I think a bigger thing for us to really contemplate and reflect upon in this is our identities in this life don't carry over in heaven. One identity does. And it's your relationship with Jesus. And I think that is, I think it's liberating for some of you, And it's discouraging for others. I think it's liberating for those of you who don't really like your identity in this world. You don't like what you do. Maybe you're single. You don't like being single. Maybe you not had children. You don't like that. There's just a lot of things. And you feel like, well, guess what? In heaven, none of that stuff's going to matter. You get to be with Jesus. But I think for others, you have found your identity in this world. All you've accomplished, your name and all of that stuff, well friends, a humbling truth to behold, none of that's gonna matter in heaven. Not that it doesn't matter how you live your life and honor Christ in this life, but at the end of the day, we're all gonna get to share in the same, those of us who are believers in Christ, get to share in the glorious dynamic and identity that we are in Jesus, that Revelation 21.3 will be our reality. Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. Would you have that view in this life? Are you making too much of your identity in this world rather than Christ? Because if you are, I can assure you, I don't even have to have a therapy session with you, I guarantee you are restless and unsatisfied in this life, because your identity here will never, ever be able to satisfy you. You'll be drinking from a well that you will always be thirsty, you'll be eating from food you will always be hungry. Because God's intent was never to have the creation satisfy us, It should be the creator. Well, do you understand that? Are you starting to make the roles in your life idols that are rivaling your affection for Christ? I mean, they're just trying to trip up Jesus and he throws them all upside down and makes us start thinking like, oh. But not only is this life not the end, it's preparing us for the end. He goes on in verse 31, and he says, as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God? Now he quotes from the first five books of the Bible, where they actually did believe. I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. And when he says the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the language he used, it's a present reality. That he is the God of Abraham. How can he be the God of Abraham? Abraham's dead. He's the God of Isaac. He's the God of Jacob. Like, how can he be the God of them? Because they're still living. Their lives have ended physically, but it doesn't mean that they haven't gone on spiritually. That God is the God of the living. Isn't that the gospel? That God resurrects dead people to walk in newness of life. Ephesians 2.5. Even when we were dead and our trespasses made us alive together with Christ. So if you believe in the gospel in that sense, why would we not believe in the physical resurrection that awaits us? Because he's the living God. I mean, that's the difference between the God of the Bible and all the other gods is they're dead because they're not. There isn't different gods. You understand that, right? There's not God and then there's like lesser gods. No, there is God. And all these other gods are dead gods because they're nothing at all. He's the God of the living. I mean, you and I, Mother's Day is kind of morbid. We could go over to the morgue. We go over to the cemetery, go to a funeral home, see somebody in a casket, and we see them. And what are those, in all these situations, what is the person that we're coming to see? They are dead. They're dead because physically they're dead. Their body is dead. But you understand, when we go to those things, there's no soul present. I mean, that's very clear what the Bible teaches, that when we die, our soul is either in the presence of God or in suffering and punishment, and then one day, Christ will return in glory, and we will, for those of us who are believers, will have bodies that are resurrected and reunited with our souls. and we will spend eternity, and that's what we're looking forward to. Psalm 73, 24, you guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom do I have in heaven but you? And there's nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Friends, this life is about getting there. The end of the day, that is the only thing that matters in this life. Now the journey can be a lot of winding roads. It could be filled with great victories and great defeats. It can have lots of blessings and at times feel like lots of curses. But at the end of the day, God is using those things to conform us into the image of his son and to get us to where we need to be. Well, do you live with that? Do you live with eternity on your mind? Because I think it's really easy for us to live temporarily. And we just focus, like even now I'm thinking, I was like, I got to paint this week. I mean, I got to get painting because we're doing this, and then carpets come in. And that's real life. Please hear me when I say this. This does not mean we ignore our responsibilities in this world. But it's a weird tension that we have to battle between focus on the things that gotta get done in this world and in this life and work and family and everything, but then also always thinking big picture, it's about eternity. It's about one day being resurrected. I mentioned a little bit in prayer, a Mother's Day, It can be a really tough day. I didn't realize it probably early on in pastoral ministry. I just assumed all the moms are happy, they get a meal out of it, and some random gift from their kids. And I think as I aged and was in pastoral ministry longer and got to talk with the women in our church, I realized it's not always a great day for everybody. There's moms who were terrible moms, and you have kids that remember those moms. They weren't supportive moms, so when they're hearing about all these great moms that we're celebrating, they're furious over the moms that they didn't have that mom. There are moms that have passed away recently, and that's just, a painful reminder that I don't get to say Happy Mother's Day to my mom, because they're gone. There are those women in our midst that have not been able to have children, and that is a reminder to them every time we do Mother's Day. It's part of the reason when you leave today, we have flowers for all the women. So you don't have to be a mom. It's for all the women. We want to support all the ladies. in the church, and that's one of the reasons we went to that as opposed to just moms, because I think it was a humbling reminder to me that I'd never thought of the fact that there's someone who would love to be a mom, and God said no. So I think there are moms here who have kids that are wayward, that aren't walking with Jesus, and they blame their parenting. not the kid, but themselves, like, man, if I would've did this, if I would've prayed more for this, if I would've set a better example, if I would've got them more into church, if I would've done all these things, they wouldn't be where they were today. And what I'm saying is I think a day like today is like a day like any day. It's a reminder that we live in a fallen, broken world where there's hurts and there's wrongs. But what I wanna encourage not only the moms, but all of us today, is this life is not the end. Our identity is not in this world. Moms, the best moms in our midst, we're thankful for you, truly are. So grateful for faithful, godly women who have raised their kids up in the ways of the Lord, but that's not your identity. Your identity is not based on the roles you serve, It's based on Christ. And this life is about preparing us for eternity that won't disappoint. Because when you and I breathe our last breath, our hope will be that one day God will raise us again and that we will be with him for all eternity. So wherever you are today, that's my encouragement. If you are a follower of Jesus, believe in that future reality, find comfort. and until that day press on, this is not our end. Understand this. This is not the destination. Praise Jesus. This is just a connecting flight to glory. Let's pray. Father, we come before you. We thank you for the hope of eternity. We thank you for the future resurrection that awaits all of us who trust in Christ. We thank you, Lord, that even if we were to die today, we know that we'll be in the presence of you. But we do look forward to a day with a glorified body that we spend eternity in heaven with you being our God and us being your people. And I just pray, I pray for anybody here right now that is going through some dark, difficult times and they're not seeing you in the midst and they feel distant from you and their circumstances feel like a thousand pounds crushing them, we pray God that you would comfort them that they are not home yet. This is not the end. I pray for anybody here that does not know Jesus, that God today might be that day that you would open up their eyes to the gospel and that they would trust in Christ and ultimately that they would have the same hope that we have of a future resurrection. We pray this in the precious and beautiful and wonderful name of Jesus, amen. Let's stand.