Eternity is Now in Session, Part 1

Eternity isn’t just a future destination—it’s a present reality. In this kickoff to our new series Eternity is Now in Session, we explore how the resurrection of Jesus invites us to live in the power and presence of God today, not just someday.

Only King Forever
Elevation Worship

A Thousand Hallelujahs
Brooke Ligerwood

Hymn Of Heaven
Bethel Music

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, 11
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, … He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

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Matthew 28:18-20
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

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Mark 16: 15, 16
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

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John 20:21-23
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

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Luke 24:44-49
Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” . . . He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

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Acts 1:1-5
In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

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Acts 1:6
Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

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Acts 1:7
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.

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Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

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Acts 1:9-11
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,”they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

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Acts 4:13
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

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John 17:3
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

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The resurrection of Jesus ushered in eternity NOW and that has huge implications NOW for those of us who believe in His name.

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Takeaways From Today
1. See every moment as a step into eternity.
2. Ask the Spirit to step you into eternity.

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A Prayer from Every Moment Holy

Pastor:O children of the living God, what is your Father’s greatest desire for you this day?

Response:That we should love our eternal King with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our minds, and with all our strength.

Pastor:And how would you show His love?

Response:By remembering Him at all times. By cultivating thankfulness for his many blessings, and trusting His good providence for the meeting of our needs. By loving all whose lives intersect our own. By choosing to serve rather than to be served, to be wounded rather than to wound, and by bearing patiently with the failings of others, extending the same kindness, mercy, and compassion that God in Christ has so graciously offered us.

Pastor:Do you now possess the needed strength to perfectly accomplish such holy requirements?

Response:We do not. We are weak and inconsistent, and often buffeted by fear and pride and selfishness. But being impoverished and ill-equipped as we are, we will look to the grace of God and to the sanctifying work of the Spirit to accomplish His purposes in and through us this day, as we, in grateful response, seek to choose that which pleases Him.

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