Meet Me at the Castle

God's will for you to go to heaven. That is God's will for you, to be with Him in heaven. We were recently gifted some time at Disneyland to celebrate our daughter, Lenia's birthday, who is in heaven. She would be 19. And we were there, we were meeting up with one of our other kids, and Levi was on the phone with her and said, "Why don't you just meet us at the castle?" And we both looked at each other when he said that, and I was like, "There's some beautiful truth in that. Meet us at the castle, and I believe that God is telling us today. Meet me at the castle," and that's my title today, "Meet me at the castle." We can say, "These are the days because of that day." We can truly be boldly confident in the fact that we can say, "These are the days. God's will is right now because of that day where we will see Him face to face in heaven." On 14, starting in verse 1, Jesus speaking, "Let not your heart be troubled." I could just stop right there. We could go our merry way, and that would be what we needed today, right? Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you, "I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am, there you may be also, and where I go you know and the way you know." And Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way?" And Jesus said to him, "Best news ever, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And Father, we receive Your Word into our hearts. Lord, would You allow the soil of our hearts to be soft to Your Word today? You don't want it to just land on top.

We don't want it to even just land an inch below. We want it to go deep into the soil of our hearts, that it would do exactly what You want it to do in us, for us, through us, for Your glory. And Lord, we thank You for the hope that we have in heaven. Thank You that because of Jesus, and when we believe in Jesus as the way the truth and the life, that we will, when we die, be with you. Thank You for that, Lord. And would You speak to us today? We need You, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen. Well, Jesus here is just about to go to the cross. He's with His disciples here in the upper room, at the last supper, He just washed His disciples' feet, which already the disciples are so awkward and uncomfortable and weirded out because that's not what a person who sits at the table is supposed to do. That's what a servant in those days was supposed to come and wash your feet. They're already kind of like, "What is happening here?" And Jesus also tells them who was going to betray Him. He also told them that He would be leaving them, and He told them that Peter was going to deny Him. Which it was interesting when we were reading this in our Gospels through the year, and I read that in chapter 13, Jesus tells Peter, "Most assuredly I say to you, you're going to deny me." And then it goes right into chapter 14, verse 1, "Blet not your heart be troubled." And I was just thinking like, "Oh gosh, for Jesus to lay that on Peter and then to say that," like how comforting, I mean, ideally that was comforting for Him, but in the presence of all the disciples, He's saying all of this, and so it makes sense that their hearts would be troubled. I feel like my heart's troubled for them. But their whole world was shifting and being turned upside down, and yet Jesus speaks peace. The peace that only He gives. speaks hope. Jesus speaks heaven.

This is literally he's laying out what is going to happen and they have still no idea and he's saying this is what's going to happen. You won't understand fully now but you will and he comforts them with words of home. Heaven is our true home and Jesus so clearly says here that he is the way the truth and the life and he's telling them trust me. I'm going to prepare a place for you trust me. If you trust God trust me. I got this. Levi Lennox and I went on a hike with our Fresh Life Leadership College. We got up early. Oh my gosh we got up early. Way too early. 4 a.m. Wake up call. I'm usually still in my Zen sleep at that point and we got up all while it was dark. We drove all the way to Glacier and it was still dark and we have our headlamps on and we're going and as we're like walking on this trail we're simultaneously seeing the sunrise seeing the the morning glow on these mountain peaks and we're just ooing and ayeing the entire time but the whole time I couldn't help but think about the fact that this dangerous hike because it's called the High Line and you're on this pretty thin walkway with a 600 foot fear cliff drop on one side. A wall on this side. Yes there's a little like thing that you can hold on to on the way there but if a bear comes like you're you just have to like hug the wall and then just pray that it doesn't see you we didn't see any bears but I was just thinking how life is such like this dangerous hiking and how like we had to keep our headlamp right in front of us to see where we were stepping and there's parts where there's like gravelly type stuff so you kind of have to like really just be aware of your footing but then simultaneously you're looking up and just seeing this incredible beauty around you but you had to keep looking where you're going maybe stop and then look up and see God's creation and see the beautiful things around you I just thought man isn't this what life is in Christ we are meant to look up the Bible tells us so many times look up look up and see be aware of heaven look up and see what is God doing but at the same time it's pilgrim progress style and if we haven't read that you should start with the kids version that's a little easier to track and then maybe go but pilgrim's progress where you are like in this life you are up and down you are going

through difficulty you are struggling this is hard and yet you're on your way to the celestial city you're on your way to heaven you have to be mindful of your footing but mindful of heaven it's interesting because while we were on the hike I was asking Levi this question because he knows all the things and so I can ask him anything and he'll tell me but I was like what is that quote about people who say like oh you're so heavenly minded that you're no earthly good like people who like your head or your head is in the clouds because you're just only thinking about heaven you're not doing anything good for for people on earth and CS Lewis said he responded to this by saying well history has proven that those who are truly actually heavenly minded are the ones that do the most earthly good and it's actually possible for us Christian to walk in this life in the struggle in this life and yet keep our eyes up and be so aware of what God is doing the kingdom of heaven is at hand Jesus would say over and over again and yes heaven is a is God's will for us then but it's also God's will for us now heaven is our home and as we read these beautiful words from our Savior we're gonna be I wanted to package up some reminders because how easy is it We talk about our forever home. Like, oh, I found my forever home, and I'm gonna live here until the day I die. That is amazing. And I hope that we all find the home that we're gonna be in and have children in and grandkids, and but that's not our forever home. Our forever home is heaven. And I wanna package up some things that I hope will remind you. They're actually all very, like, commonly heard phrases about home. But my prayer is that when you hear it

after you write down your notes, and these would be things that you would remember where your true home is. Home isn't just the destination. It's the journey. And everything we do now, like in Gladiator, what we do here echoes in eternity. What we do now, everything we do now has everything to do with that day. I love how when nowadays you can enter into maps, your destination, where you need to go. That's like, okay, this is where we're going. But now you can add in these stops along the way. So Levi and I were out of town coming back home, and we were headed into the airport, but we had to stop and find gas along the way. So he, like, puts in the destination, the airport, but then was like, okay, we also need to get gas. If we were looking for the closest, safest, best gas station, and but also time was limited. So we kind of, we had to find the closest best. And so what if we had put in a gas station that took us two hours off our route? Like, that doesn't make any sense. We had to find something that was on the route there. And how much of, like, life is that where, if heaven truly is our destination, where are our stops along the way? Where are we taking ourselves?

Are we taking ourselves closer to heaven or further? Robert Murray McShane says, your journey to heaven should be your great concern. Every step and day brings you nearer to it. Dear friends, judge everything in this way. Will this help you in your journey or not? Ask yourself this often. Will this make me fitter for heaven? Will this advance or hinder me? Will it lead me into temptations or wicked company? Will this relationship help? Will they go with you or drag you upon your, or drag upon your wheels? Will this book or this company, and I would add this movie? Will this fill your sails for heaven? If not, go not near them. For I ask you this, what is the use of living but to get on in our journey to heaven? How are we, as we're walking in God's will, as we're seeking him first, how are the stops that we're taking along the way in alignment with the kingdom of heaven and where we are ultimately destined to go in Christ? And so if you're taking notes, I couldn't really pick one and both of them was awesome. So this is kind of like under meet me at the castle, you could write, eight heaven-bound reminders. So write that down. Eight heaven-bound reminders slash reminders

of our homeland security, meaning the security because of Jesus, we don't make the way ourselves to heaven. There's not a bunch of different ways to heaven. There's one way to heaven and that is Jesus who is the way, the truth, the life. And we can have security. We don't have to wonder or think, well, I didn't do enough good things or I didn't do this or I did wrong. We can be secure in our homeland and we can truly say, I seek a homeland and we can be secure in that. So eight heaven-bound reminders, reminders of our homeland security and the number eight is significant in the Bible because what, it signifies new beginnings. It signifies new life and resurrection. So there's eight of them. Number one, home is where the heart is. Home is where the heart is. Jesus said, do not let your heart be troubled. And I wanna speak that over you today. Is your heart troubled? Is it easy for you to see what's going on in the world? Is it easy to see what's going on in your life, the mess that you're in, the pain that you're walking in, the grief that you're in, and easy just to see the trouble?

Jesus said, "Do not let your heart be troubled. "You believe in God, "believe also in me." Jesus comforts you today. Just like he was comforting his disciples who literally did not know what he was talking about. So if you feel the same today and you feel confused, and I don't even know, you're in good company, 'cause we don't know all the things and that's okay. God does, but Jesus comforts you today with his words as he knew that he was headed to the cross the next day, he would be on the cross being crucified for us. He comforts you today. Home is where the heart is. Let your heart be enamored with the sunrise of his grace and love and peace. Matthew 6.21 says, "For where your treasure is, "there your heart will be also." Is your treasure in the things that you have here on earth, or is your treasure in heaven? 'Cause wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be also, and that's something that is a reason for why we love and celebrate generosity and tithing and giving. And the hilarious thing that it is that God would allow us to get to give of the finances that he's given us for his glory. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. If our treasure is truly in heaven,

our heart is gonna be connected, and it keeps us even more connected. Psalm 84, five. Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. We're just passing through. We're passing through, and at the same time, we are doing what God has called us to do in the time that we have. Number two, make yourself at home. Have you heard that? Make yourself at home. Trust Jesus and make yourself at home in him. Let your heart be his home. I love that in verse 23. Jesus says, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. How comforting is that as we are giving God space and making our home with him, he's making his home with us, and I don't know how that works, but it's comforting, and it's beautiful. He says, you trust God, trust me. Make your home with me, 'cause I'm making your home for you. He's saying, he's making his home in us. In the next chapter, in John chapter 15, is one of my favorite chapters in the whole Bible, but in the book of John,

and Jesus is telling them specifically, this is how you do it. You abide in me. You dwell with me. You remain in me. Make yourself at home in him. Number three, there's no place like home. You know that one. There's no place like home. When Jesus says that in his father's house are many mansions, I know in all of our minds, we probably think of something very specific, like a huge house and many of them. But what Jesus is saying here is there is plenty of room. For you. Plenty of room. In my father's house, in another version says, are many rooms. And I love that our church is one house in many rooms. We'll get to that later, sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. But there's plenty of room for everyone. There's room in heaven for you. You are welcome here. You belong here, and there's no place like it. Jesus called it paradise. Like I said, the next day after this, Jesus would be on the cross. He would be telling one of the thieves on a cross next to him. Today, you will be with me in paradise.

He calls heaven paradise. And even the most beautiful place on earth is just a glimpse of the paradise that is heaven. Number four, homework. You guys know that word. Homework. Jesus says he's going to prepare a place for you. He's working. Jesus promised that he would come back, but until then, he's preparing, he's working. And not only that, what I love too is that you see this in the book of John and the gospels, is that when Jesus leaves his disciples, he gives them the Holy Spirit. So we don't have Jesus in the flesh with us, but he gave us his Holy Spirit to empower us to do what he asks of us. I love the thought of the personal touch of Jesus on what he's preparing for us. And I just, you see creation, you see what it is now, even in its messed-upness, but imagining what Jesus is working on now for us. Mind blown. He's doing work on your forever home, but you also have homework to do. If heaven is truly our home, we have heaven homework to do. Yes, hear me. What your current house is, whether it's an apartment, whether it's a tiny home, whether it is a mansion,

whatever your home is, make it a home. Add your touch to it. I love that about interior design, is that it's you. It's what interests you. It doesn't have to look like the celebrity's home. What is it to you? Make your current house a home. Be hospitable the way the Bible tells us to. Take care of what you have. Make this house, fresh life, a home for you, for your family, for people, for setting the table, making it a bigger, more spatial space for people to come and see that the Lord is good, and not only good, but the only good thing. You have homework too. In this life, make space, make room, whatever you do, do all for the glory of God. Number five, home, sweet home. Jesus said that where I am, there you may be also. That's the best news. And this shows us the kind of relationship that he wants with us. He wants us to be where he is. He's not some far off dictator, far off king, far off angry, old man who doesn't want to have anything to do with you. He loves you, and he wants to be near you. He just wants to be with you. We were listening to Roger Federer get inducted into the tennis hall of something fame, and he was just saying he would go out on the road,

and he just wanted his family with him. He and his wife have two sets of twins, and I just loved this part when he was explaining, saying we just did what we could because we just wanted to be together, and it didn't make sense all the time, and it was a struggle, and it was hard babies on the road, but I just wanted to be with my kids. And that's God's heart for you. He just wants to be with you, and he wants you to be where he has paved the way, prepared the way, created this space for us to be with him for all eternity. And I can't even start to say what heaven is because it's so much more than we can even understand. We can't fathom our home sweet home, but the sweetest home of all homes is with Jesus, and that's why right here and right now, we can say these are the days. I am at home with Jesus because yes, he's creating a home for me eventually, but his home is right here, and he's near, and he's close, and I am with Jesus. So yes, we have the promise of our forever home with him, but we also get to grow with him now. And I don't know about you, but wherever Jesus is, that's where I wanna be. Number six, home away from home. Home away from home, and church is this. It's meant to be this.

In all of its imperfections, church is meant to be our home away from home. We start our week. I mean, you're here today. You said, I'm gonna wake up in the morning, and I'm gonna go to church. You could have been doing anything else, but your heart was to say, I'm gonna be in the house of the Lord. I'm gonna receive, I'm gonna encourage some people that I'm sitting next to. You are here today because you believe that the church is what you need and we are the church and this is our home away from home. God loves the church and Jesus died to save us. First Kings 9-3 says, God's eyes are on it. This is the temple he's talking about. God's eyes are on it and his heart is in it. He's all about the church. He's all about the gathering and place where he is lifted up. It's our weekly reminder that heaven is our home because we're gathering today, but then we're gonna go home and we're gonna go to work. We're gonna go to school. We're gonna go do the things that God's called us to do and while it might be easy to forget that heaven is our home, church is such a reminder of that. And Hebrews 10-23 says, let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for he who promised is faithful. So it's not just about the promise,

it's about the promise maker and let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day approaching. So as we get closer to heaven, as we get closer and we actually don't know when that's gonna be, Jesus is coming back. He said he's coming back, but maybe we will take our last breath and go see him first before he comes back for us. The day is approaching, so what are you doing now? Are you gathering with the church? Are you being the church? Are you serving? Are you on a team? Are you loving the church? These are the days because of that day. Number seven, home stretch. Home stretch, you know this word. Okay guys, we can do this, we're on the home stretch which means you're in the final phase of a difficult activity. We are in the home stretch right now. No matter where we're at in life, maybe we are a new believer, maybe we are a child, maybe we, wherever we're at in life, we're in the home stretch. Heaven is on the horizon and we're almost there. My daughter Daisy showed me this meme

and I should have shown it 'cause it's just so funny but it said POV when you bring your little kids to draw art in a nursing home. And it said the art was a picture of a hourglass and the kid wrote, "Your time's almost up." And it was just so funny, but we're almost there. Time's almost up. The Bible says our life is a vapor. It's gonna go like that. Let's keep showing up to our life. Time's almost up. Only one life will soon be passed and only what's done for Christ will last. Johnny Eric Sintada, if you haven't read any of her books, the one that ministered to me after our daughter Leni went to heaven was, is called heaven, your real home. And just her insights of after becoming paralyzed, what God would speak to her about heaven is just so rich. But she said hardships are God's way of helping me to get my mind on the hereafter. Earlier on in this chapter that she wrote because she was saying my disability is at times a pain which is a great sentence. But she talks about not just thanking God for the future body that will be free of pain in heaven. But she asked God for a new heart that doesn't want to resign or quit 'cause she would find herself sitting there in her wheelchair just wanting to quit life, just wanting to resign, the pain being unbearable,

the struggle being so real. And here she says, "I zeroed in on a few heavenly coordinates "to lift my sights above my physical pain. "When we see him she'll be like him. "And she goes on and on in the Bible of different things "that she would just remind herself of. "The perishable shall put on the imperishable, "the corruptible, that which is incorruptible, "and that which I've done in weakness, "I will be raised in power. "He has given us an inheritance that can never perish, Hard ships are God's way of helping me to get my mind on the hereafter. Are you dealing with hardships? Are you dealing with heartache? Let that pull you to look up and to see that God is in control. He's with you. He wants to be with you, and he wants you to be with him. And there's coming a day where you will not struggle, where you will not have pain, where you will not have heartache. But right now, if God is leading you through something difficult, let him lead you. Let him separate you. Let him hold you. Let him hold you. And number eight, homecoming. Homecoming. This is the celebration of people coming together. And I know some of our schools are celebrating homecoming this week, but this is the ultimate homecoming. Jesus said, "I will come again." This is Jesus, our Savior, our God, our King. He's saying, "I will come again." Like I said earlier, yes, that's a promise, but we're looking at the promise maker. If the promise maker, the promise keeper, the faithful one, is saying, "I will come back," then we know without a shadow of a doubt that he will come. And he says, "I will come again and take you to myself that where I am there you may be also." This is the best news about heaven. Yes, heaven is perfect. Yes, heaven is all the things that we don't understand, but the best thing about heaven is that we will be with Jesus. Yes, we'll be in paradise, but we'll be with Jesus. And right now, no matter what hell you're experiencing, no matter what pain you're experiencing,

you can be with Jesus in paradise right here and right now. This is the best and the truest homecoming that Jesus tells us. God says to us today, "Meet me at the castle." And I love that this little phrase, there's action in it for us. "Meet me." There's something that we have to do. We're going to meet him at the castle. And the truth about heaven should fill us with hopeful vigor, genuine revelation to work hard and to live beautifully, not to get to heaven, but because we already have heaven. Heaven is our destination, and heaven is our journey. And in Christ we can say to each other, "Meet me at the castle." The hope that we have in heaven, the hope that we have because of Jesus should cause our faces to light up, and no matter what we're going through, be, "Oh my gosh, this is so hard. I hate this right now. I hate that I'm in the hospital dealing with this right now. I hate that I had to give birth to my baby who was still born. I hate this right now, and so does God. But we can walk through this. Because we are not alone. He is with us. We can say no matter what it is, "Meet me at the castle." We can declare to others the good news that in Jesus Christ they can meet us at the castle. There's plenty of room. Jesus said it, "I'm going to prepare a place for you. There's plenty of room for you." In our family, one of our things, especially if we're all like Olivia's in college, and there's times where we're kind of separated, and like I told you, we have a daughter in heaven. And one of the things that we talk about is that if we get separated, and these are hard conversations sometimes, but like when Levi and I talked to our kids and say, "Hey, God could take any one of us home just like He took Lenya home." But if we get separated, let's meet at the castle. We're going to meet in heaven, and not because of something that we love. but because we have just said, Lord, I believe Jesus, I believe in you. Heaven is our home. And maybe you're saying, well, what if I don't believe in Jesus? What if I'm not a Christian? What if I just showed up today and I'm just kind of like,

hmm, I just kind of want to see what this is about, or my friend made me come. Well, I just want to tell you that I'm so glad you're here. And I'm so glad that we're talking about heaven. And I'm so glad that I can tell you that it's not about you and what you have done, have not done. It's about what Jesus did. The Bible is so clear. We just read it. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father, except through Him. You can't go to heaven on your own, on your own terms. There's not a bunch of ways to heaven, but you can go to heaven by just saying, Lord, I believe. I believe in you, Jesus, that you are the way, the truth, and the life. We were headed for hell. Jesus took our shame and our debt and paid it all. And so for that, I will worship Him. For that, I will give Him my life. And Lord, we surrender to you today. And I just want to pray for those who just needed this reminder that heaven is our home. And if that's you, would you raise your hand? You're just saying, I just needed this reminder. I needed these eight reminders that heaven is my true home. Lord, I pray for your blessing on these. You can put your hands down. And for those who maybe find yourself in that place

where you're just like, I don't have a relationship with Jesus, but I want it. Well, today's your lucky day, because today is the day of salvation. And God is calling you. Jesus is saying, hey, I love you. There's plenty of room for you. In heaven, but right here, right now, in my family. And so if that's you, you just say, yes, God, I believe, I trust you. I believe that you are the way, the truth and the life. I cannot go to heaven on my own strength or on anyone else's strength, it's only you. We love you, Lord. Would you have your way in us? Would you keep our hearts set on heaven in Jesus name?