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Dover Assembly of God

9.6.2020 | Heaven - Week 2

Locations & Times

4790 Carlisle Rd, Dover, PA 17315, USA

Sunday 10:30 AM

Dover Assembly Online

Sunday 10:30 AM

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Weekly Bulletin

September 6, 2020 Welcome to Dover Assembly! We are so glad you have chosen to attend Dover Assembly this morning. It is not by accident that you are here. We believe that God has allowed you to be here so that you might receive all that He has for you. We pray you are blessed as you allow the Lord to work in your life. THIS WEEK Sunday 9:00 am ~ Coffee & Donut Fellowship Time 9:30 am ~ Sunday School 10:30 am ~ Worship Service 10:30 am ~ R.O.C.K. Children’s Ministry 1:00 pm ~ Spanish Service Monday Labor Day-Office Closed Wednesday 6:30 pm ~ FAMILY NIGHT SERVICES Friday 7:00 pm ~ Joyce Meyer Video Conference Saturday 9:00 am ~ WOP Paint Day UPCOMING EVENTS Women of Purpose Conference More information will be provided by Sept. 1 from the Assemblies of God District Office regarding final plans about the Conference. Stay tuned . . . Joyce Meyer's "Girls' Night In" Grab your girlfriends and let’s have a girls’ night in! Get some snacks, put on your comfy loungewear and those cute fuzzy slippers and join us from your own church chair for our first ever Love Life Girls’ Night In with Joyce! Friday, Sept 11 @ 7:00. Please sign up so we can register for the broadcast! Women's Paint Day Is scheduled for September 12, 9:00 am. If it is a date that you cannot attend and you have paid, we will refund those who have already paid. Sign up is in the upper foyer. BODY NEWS Hemlata Update As you know, our Women of Purpose ministries has been supporting in prayer and finances Hemlata Chakroborty, who goes to an Assemblies of God School in India. We have been supporting Hemlata since she was 4 years old. She just turned 16 in August! Wow! We have been so privileged to pour into her life and know that we have played a small part in her faith in Jesus. Recently we were informed that our sponsorship would be ending this summer, however, we have since found out that we will be able to sponsor her until she graduates next year. What a blessing! Please keep Hemlata in your prayers as she prepares for life outside of the Assemblies of God school and will face whatever comes her way. Thankfully, she now knows that Jesus is right there with her. Hemlata's mom became very sick with a liver illness this past year and we found out this summer that she did pass away. Hemlata has a father and a younger brother. Continue to pray for the family. We were able to raise $150 at our WOP yard sale last month and we will be sending this money to Hemlata via One Child Ministries. This will be a very big blessing to her family. If you would like to contribute to the monthly sponsorship of $39, please let Anna or Pastor know. Post-Abortion Recovery Group Human Life services is beginning a new ministry designed to help women who have experienced an abortion. Please see the insert for more details. Township Meeting Update Continue to pray about this current situation. We have no firm answers to what appears to be the confiscation of our property. God is able to intervene and work all things out for His glory! . Congratulations! Congratulations to Emily Baiarunas for graduating from Lancaster School of Cosmetology in Esthetician training! Lord Bless you as you continue on in nail tech school. PRAYER NEEDS ~ Gladys J. ~ Beulah S. ~ Olga K. ~ Marian T. ~ Rose K. ~ Naomi G. (hip replacement) ~ Betty N. ~ Cindy D. (Angel’s mom)

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Week 2 - September 6, 2020 - Pastor Jeff Bender

Today we're going to focus on the greatness of heaven.

We're going to use a recent vacation to illustrate in a small way how great heaven will be. This year, the whole Bender family, Anna, her mom, our girls and their significant others and the grandkids were able to rent a house on the OBX.

This vacation was memorable for a few reasons, all of which can be tied into what awaits us in heaven.

GETTING THERE - PRE PLANNING

First, this house was a matter of prayer –Can everyone go, will it work out...and more specifically, God’s provision for a house.

These places are usually rented out years in advance and getting an “in” is usually difficult if not impossible.

God opened a door for us to be able to rent a great house. If God hadn’t worked this out, this trip probably wouldn’t have happened.

God is the one who made this vacation and heaven possible. Heaven needs pre-planning too. How do you get there?

If you first don’t trust Christ, you will not be there. You also can’t just show up and expect to find a place. Every place is rented far in advance and there is no just showing up.

You can’t expect to automatically show up in heaven without some preplanning. You have to make sure that you have a reservation.

1 Peter 1:4

WHAT IS THERE?

If you’ve even been to some tropical, garden spot for a trip, one of the reasons you go is because of the scenery.

We are beach people, (but we do love to witness the mountains and other wonders of God’s world). Just walking over the dunes onto the sandy beach and seeing the water was amazing.

The houses built along the beach were enormous and beautiful. As I said at the beginning, think abut the most beautiful place you’ve been.

That pales in comparison to what heaven is like.

John 14:2

We stayed in a house that had 7 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms.

Maybe you stayed at a 5 star resort, but think about God’s mansion

Hebrews 12:22

Revelation 21:11

Revelation 21:21

Whatever beautiful surroundings you have been in, will pale in comparison with what heaven is like.

THERE IS PERMANENT!

The thing about vacations is they always end. We might have an awesome and awe-inspiring trip, but it will end and it ends rather quickly.

Our kids said that the longest week was the week before the trip and the shortest was the actual trip.

We do not live on the OBX, we live in PA.

We are only there as visitors. We know we’ll have to go home at some point.

Wouldn’t everyone like to stay on a permanent vacation? To stay in that house, or wherever your favorite place was to stay forever? To forget about work, problems, bills, and chores?

The great thing is that our life on earth is the same way, only reversed. We are only visitors here, but one day we will be permanent residents of heaven.

Philippians 3:20

2 Corinthians 5:20

An ambassador is someone who lives in one place but temporarily visits another.

THERE IS A REWARD!

1 Peter 1:9

Vacations are generally a week or so that we give ourselves after working 50 or so weeks a year.

It is a reward we give ourselves.

Heaven is God’s reward to us who believe.

Matthew 5:12

We work hard all year in anticipation for that one or two week respite.

We also deny ourselves throughout the year as we save and plan for that trip.

Matthew 6:20

We don’t make foolish purchases that don’t mean much so that we have what we need for the trip.

We don’t waste our time and resources. We save them as we plan.

Matthew 16:24

If we really want a great trip, we sacrifice during the year in order to gain a more excellent trip.

We deny ourselves during this life in order to store up for our trip to heaven.

Matthew 6:19-20

We see that there is a vacation spot that we have to get to.

We know what is there waiting for us.

We know this trip will be forever.

And we know that this trip is a reward for denying ourselves.

LASTLY & MOST IMPORTANTLY, WHO IS THERE?

All of those things are great, but any trip is only as good as those who share it with you.

A huge beach house with only me, would be a miserable trip.

The reason that this or any vacation we take is memorable is because we have the family with us.

The Bible tells us that we will have relationships in heaven.

When David's baby died . . .

2 Samuel 12:23

It doesn’t say, one day I’ll be heaven. It says one day I will be with Him!

I will be reunited with him.

Matthew 8:11

Each of these patriarchs have their own identity. We will see Abraham, eat with him and have a conversation with him.

Abraham will be with his son and grandson. Isaac will be with his son.

Matthew 17:3

Matthew and Peter recognized them as who they were. How? We don’t know, but they did.

Jonathan Edwards said: “The special affection that the saints have in this world toward other saints, who are their friends, will in some respect remain in another world.”

Pastor John Ryland, whose wife asked him a question: “John,” she said, “Will you know me in heaven?" “Betty,” he replied, “I have known you well here, and I shall not be a bigger fool in heaven than I am now; therefore I shall certainly know you there."

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

Paul wrote this to believers who thought they missed the rapture and would therefore now see their loved one who died.

And not only our family, but we get to actually see Jesus.

We all have some image that we think of when we think of Jesus, maybe a painting we have or saw.

But one day we will see Jesus as he is.

Colin Smith shares this story.

There’s a beautiful story, a true story, of a man by the name of William Montague Dyke. When William was ten years old, he was blinded in a serious accident. Despite his disability, he graduated from university with high honors. And while he was in school, William fell in love with the daughter of a high ranking British naval officer, and they became engaged.

Shortly before the wedding, William had a cutting-edge (for his day) eye surgery in the hopes that the operation would restore his sight. If the surgery failed, he had no other option. William would remain blind for the rest of his life.

After the operation, William’s eyes were swathed with bandages and he insisted on keeping the bandages on his face until the day of the wedding. “If the surgery is successful,” he said to his surgeon, “I want the first person I see to be my new bride.”

The wedding day arrived, and the guests assembled in a cathedral in England to witness the couple taking their vows. William’s father and the doctor who performed the surgery stood next to the groom, whose eyes were still covered with bandages.

The organ trumpeted the traditional wedding march, and the bride walked down the aisle to the front of the church. As soon as she arrived at the altar, the surgeon took a pair of scissors out of his pocket and cut the bandages from William’s eyes.

Tension filled the room, and the congregation held their breath as they waited to find out if William could see the woman standing before him. Then as he stood face to face with his bride to be, William’s words echoed throughout the cathedral, “You are more beautiful than I ever imagined.”

One day the bandages that cover our eyes will be removed. You will see your Savior as he is!

Faith will be turned to sight. And when you see his glory, it will be greater than you ever imagined.

Whatever great vacation you have taken is no comparison to what heaven is like.

1 Corinthians 2:9

Do you have your reservation?

Do you want to see what heaven is actually like?

Are you prepared for it?

Do you want to your family and friends who have died in Christ?

How you answer those questions will determine your future . . .

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