S.R. John 17:1-3

INTRODUCTION

  1. All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum
    1. Share everything.
    2. Play fair.
    3. Don't hit people.
    4. Put things back where you found them.
    5. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS.
    6. Don't take things that aren't yours.
    7. Say you're SORRY when you HURT somebody.
    8. Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we.
  2. “Every person passing through this life will unknowingly leave something and take something away. Most of this “something” cannot be seen or heard or numbered or scientifically detected or counted. It’s what we leave in the minds of other people and what they leave in ours. Memory. The census doesn’t count it. Nothing counts without it.”
    Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
  3. What “memories” will be left behind with the church (the people) when you move on?
  4. Whether we ever attend college or not (it is not for all of us), there are certain things we need to know. Let’s review the basics.

OUTLINE

  1. Know God
    1. After three years in the school of Jesus He reminds His students of the fundamentals of learning. (John 17:1-3; Eccl. 12:1)
  2. Know Jesus
    1. All you really need to know
      1. “I am the bread of life.” (John 6:1-71; 14:6)
      2. Know and practice obedient “suffering” ( Heb. 5:7-9)
  3. Know How to Live
    1. Enjoy life (Eccl. 5:18; John 10:10)
    2. Love life and see good days (1 Peter 3:10-12)
    3. Make excellent life choices (Phil. 1:9-11)
  4. Know How to Die
    1. Plan to go home
      1. Harold – on Wed. “I hear you are going home.”
      2. Home is where your Father is. His home will be your home.
      3. Who is your Father? Two Choices:
        1. You are of your father, the devil (John 8:44)
        2. Children do like their Father (1 John 3:7-8)
        3. Hell: the final abode of the devil and all who follow Him. (Mt. 25:41 –46)
        4. Fatherhood is identified by the actions of the children.
    2. God wants His children to live with Him.
      1. God has always wanted a relationship with all of His children.
      2. He wants his children to “share in His holiness.” (Heb. 12:10) “discipline”
        1. (1 Peter 1:13-19; 2:12)
      3. “Grace and mercy understood is holiness desired.”
      4. If we refuse to live in Him, we cannot die “in Him.” (Galatians 2:20)
    3. Jesus wants to take us home to “ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thess. 4:17)
      1. There is much about heaven we don’t know, but Jesus and the Apostles assure us that Heaven is Real. (John 14) “Where I am there you may be.”
      2. We need not rely upon the testimony of a seriously ill four year old under anesthesia to assure us that heaven is for real.
      3. Anyone who rejects the testimony of Christ in Scripture will not be sufficiently convinced if someone returns from the dead.
        1. (Luke 16:30-31)
    4. Heaven is a prepared realm for those who want to be with the Father
      1. Our goal is greater than simply “helping one another get to heaven.”
        1. I long to see Him just as He is (1 John 3:1-3)
      2. Judgment and the wrath of God are motivators of holy living (2 Pt 3:9-11)
      3. But service and loyalty to our loving King, Redeemer, Brother and Friend of Sinners is our highest calling and ultimate motive.
      4. Be careful not to seek the gift over the Giver.
        1. Heaven is about being with the Lord (Phil.1:23) “having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;”
      5. My prayer for you is: Phil. 3:8-11 We cannot expect to meet Jesus in His resurrection if we are unwilling to meet Him in His death (cf. Romans 6)
  5. All We Really Need to Know:
    1. God
    2. Jesus
    3. How to live
    4. How to die. (2 Tim. 1:12)