Notes of Faith September 26, 2026
Traveling day today… notes expected soon…
Great Reunions: Reunited in Heaven
1 Thess 4:13-18
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
We often experience the sorrow of separation—a child leaving for college, friends or family moving to another city, children getting married and leaving home. In each of these cases our sorrow is tempered by the fact that we know we will likely be reunited with them.
At Thessalonica some of the Christians were concerned about fellow believers who had died prior to the return of Christ. Paul wrote to them to assure them that they would be reunited with their deceased loved ones. At what we refer to as the Rapture of the Church, Christ will raise deceased believers from the grave, followed by those who are alive. “And thus we shall always be with the Lord”—deceased and living believers reunited in heaven.
Take comfort in Paul’s words if you long to be reunited with deceased friends or family who died in Christ. A great reunion is coming which will last for eternity.
The church is the only society in the world that never loses any of its members, even by death.
John Blanchard
John 14:1-3
Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 "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.
John 11:25-26
I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.
We were created eternal beings and though we experience death (because of sin), God planned for us eternal destinations, in heaven with Him, or in hell, separated from Him forever!
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and receive the free gift of salvation and redemption, along with eternal life in the presence of the one true God!
Pastor Dale