A Tour of Heaven, Stop 2.

Baxter: Next stop: what happens when someone who loves Jesus dies.

Sofia: You okay?

Sam: My grandpa died last year. I just… don't know where he is.

Baxter: Then this is the perfect stop for you, buddy.

Pastor Rick: One day at the gym, my shoe came untied. So I put my foot up on the treadmill rail to tie it.

Lady: Quit bragging! You're showing off that you can lift your leg that high!

Pastor Rick: Bragging? I can't squat down to tie my shoes. I've got bad knees!

Pastor Rick: In heaven, we won't have to worry about bad knees. See you on the other side!

SHUFFLE SHUFFLE (she moves down a treadmill)

Eli: She moved treadmills!

Pastor Rick: She sure did. But I meant it. In heaven, no more bad knees. No more pain. No more being sick.

Pastor Rick: Here's something true: everybody dies someday. The Bible says we die once. But for people who love Jesus, dying isn't the end of the story.

Pastor Rick: It's more like the end of a long flight, when the plane lands and you finally get to go home.

When Jesus died on the cross, two men were on crosses next to him.

One of the men: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

Jesus: Today you will be with me in paradise.

Maya: Today. Not someday. TODAY.

Pastor Rick: That's right. Paradise is where people who love Jesus go the moment they die. They're with him. They're happy. They're home.

Sam: My grandpa loved Jesus. He read his Bible every morning.

Pastor Rick: Then your grandpa is with Jesus right now. He's not hurting. He's not scared.

And if you love Jesus too, you'll see him again.

Sam: See you on the other side, Grandpa.

Baxter: I'm not crying. There's just a lot of cloud dust up here.

Stop 2: Do People Become Angels?

Eli: Wait, so is Sam's grandpa an angel now? With wings and a harp?

Pastor Rick: When I was a kid, I was afraid I'd turn into one of those chubby baby angels from the greeting cards. Sitting on a cloud. Playing a harp. For a thousand years.

plink… plink…

All Kids: Nooo thanks.

Pastor Rick: Good news: it's not true! Angels are a different kind of being. God made them separately. People never turn into angels. God made you to be YOU, and in heaven you'll still be you.

Stop 3: Your Body Is a Tent.

Baxter: Who's been camping?

Sofia: Once. It rained. The tent leaked. My sleeping bag got soaked.

Pastor Rick: The apostle Paul made tents for his job. So he said our bodies are like tents.

They're good for now, but they wear out. Someday they get folded up. And the real you, the part that thinks and loves and laughs, goes home to Jesus.

"We are certain about that. We would rather be away from our bodies and at home with the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:8 (NIrV)

Maya: So at a funeral… the person isn't really there?

Pastor Rick: If they loved Jesus, that's just the tent they used to live in. The real them is already home. And someday God will give us brand-new bodies that never wear out. We'll get to that at our last stop.

Stop 4: The Finish Line.

Pastor Rick: The Bible says everyone who follows Jesus will stand before him someday. When I was a kid, that scared me.

Pastor Rick: I pictured a giant movie screen showing every bad thing I ever did.

Honestly, I was more scared of Grandma than anyone.

Eli: Grandmas know EVERYTHING.

Pastor Rick: But that's not what it means. The Bible says if you follow Jesus, your sins are forgiven. Gone. As far as the east is from the west.

Pastor Rick: It's more like a race. Jesus will celebrate the ways you lived for him:

the kind words, the times you forgave, the times you shared, the times you told someone about him.

Pastor Rick: You're saved by grace. And Jesus rewards how you live.

Pastor Rick: One more story. My family was fixing up a little cabin in Arkansas. I call it the Shabin: part shack, part shop, part cabin.

Pastor Rick: I was cold and wet. Then I looked through the window and saw my whole family together, laughing.

It was as if God whispered: "You think this is good? Just wait till you get home."

Sam: Just wait till you get home. I like that.

Baxter: I hear the Shabin has rabbits. Lots of rabbits. (Just kidding. Jesus is the best part!)