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John 14:1-3

Intro: The story is told that during the American Civil War, when the rival armies were encamped on the opposite banks of the Potomac River, the Union's band played one of its patriotic tunes and the Confederate musicians quickly struck up a melody dear to an Southerner's heart. Then one of the bands started to play "Home, Sweet Home." The musical
competition ceased and the musicians from the other army joined in. Soon voices from both sides of the river could be heard singing, "There is no place like home." In a similar way, the church, in spite of its many divisions, is bound together by that one strong link - we are all going
home and to the same home! We have a common destiny.
Poem: John Howard Payne -
Three things we see in the text.

1. A new peace (1)
Jesus points to Himself as the proper object of trust as God.
Trust goes deeper than belief.
Belief - can be cold, intellectual. Trust is warm and personal.
Jesus challenges us to give Him the same response we give to God.
The Greek text has it written, "Trust in God; in me also trust."
Bottom line.. whatever we render to God we are to render to Christ.
A new peace
When sorrows like sea billows roll, we have a place to flee
We have a shelter in the time of storm.
Jesus words were timely, because the disciples were going to face the
darkest days in the history of the planet.
Jesus would lie still in death.
His voice would be silent
His body would be riddled with wounds.
His personality would be gone.
His presence would be gone
He would be beyond their reach.
So He offered them a new peace - "Believe"

2. A new place (2)
The Old Testament says little about heaven - we have some obscure references like "Paradise" & "Abraham's bosom."
A. Jesus clarifies for us about the new place
Jesus refers to it as "my Father's house." It is mentioned one other time. A home for God's children!
Jesus drove out the moneychangers. He angrily responded to the abuse by stating that "my Father's house would not be a house of merchandise."
The temple was a spacious place with its courts and chambers. It had wide-open spaces for multitudes of worshippers. In this way we can see the words of Jesus about the temple to shadow His meaning here in John 14.
B. Jesus comforts us in sharing about the new place.
Death is final. It is often premature - Baseball pitcher in Berkshire Eagle on Thursday.
The doorway to exit life is terrible enough for people.
But we know little about what's on the other side.
We do know that nobody comes back.
There is stillness, a silence that grips our hearts.
We have an instinctive horror of the grave.
But the words of Jesus, "my Father's house" provides a gleam in the gloom.
A few years ago a London newspaper held a contest to determine the best definition of "home". The winning entry was, "Home is the place where you are treated the best and complaining the most."
Robert Frost said that "home is the place that, when you arrive there they have to take you in."
Some versions translation here is inaccurate - "mansions"
It simply means rooms - abiding places - It is probably better translated as apartments.
We envision a large house on a broad estate.
A better picture is found in the Pacific Rim, or more precisely, the Orient. Here wealthier families live together in larger homes. Sons & daughters and their families live under the same roof as their parents.
The one great home contained living quarters for all.
We have perpetuated the notion that faithful Christians will have lovely mansions and the worldly saints will have to be content with cottages.
Jesus is preparing places for all true believers and each place will be beautiful.
The thought is that there are many dwelling places in heaven with room enough for all believers.

Do you remember your home as a place where you were loved and cared for?
Home is where you could be yourself
Home is where we felt warm & accepted
Jesus did not depict heaven as a strange & unfamiliar place.
Jesus assures us that we will feel at home there.
Note Paul's experience.
We gather from this experience that heaven is localized
It is somewhere and it is substantial- Jesus is living there now!

3. A new pledge (3)
The angels confirmed this promise when Jesus ascended.
Paul reminds us that this is the "blessed hope" for the church.


Conclusion:
Many of us have known the pain of spoken and unspoken words. We approach
the Table with a little bit of uneasiness a little bit of strangeness.
We have concerns as a spouse, as a parent, as an individual that in which we struggle. Jesus says, "Let me take that. Let me forgive that. Let me cleanse your spirit and give you a new beginning."