"This is Who We Are, Part 2: Citizens of Heaven" with Pastor John Gonzalez - Oct. 10, 2026

Today we are starting, well not starting, we're continuing our sermon series, and this is who we are, looking at key characteristics that makes up our identity in Christ.

And today we are talking about that we are citizens of heaven.

And I want to just give you the main point of the sermon, then we'll work back from that.

The main point is this is that yes, heaven is a future reality, but it should impact the way we live in the present.

Again, a future reality that impacts us in the here and now.

Let's pray and we'll dig into it.

Lord Jesus, Lord, we praise you and we thank you for you are a good God.

We thank you because we know that there will come a day where we will get to bask in all your glory, all your love, and your presence.

And Lord, I'm praying that as we think about that day, that that day would impact us in the here and now.

This is my prayer in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Have you ever been somewhere and you thought to yourself, I don't belong here.

I want to tell you two stories about two rooms where I felt that way.

The first is a classroom.

This was the first week of high school.

I was a freshman in high school.

And already, as I say that, you can just imagine the emotions, right?

On one hand, there's excitement.

Why am I excited?

Because high school opens up a new type of independence that I didn't have before, new opportunities.

I'm excited to eventually get my driver's license.

I'm excited about all the different sports that there are, right?

There's excitement to it.

But at the same time, there's a deep panic because this is a new place that I've never been before, with new people, and I'm the new person in the building.

And to make it even worse, is I didn't grow up at um SDA.

I became SDA in my senior year of high school.

So I went to public school all my life up until college.

And my high school wasn't just any ordinary high school.

This is Reading High School, located in Reading, Pennsylvania, that's also referred to as the castle on the hill.

And the picture there you're seeing just part of the front, but it's a humongous building with over a hundred classrooms.

And when I was there, we had a student population of over 5,000 students.

You heard that right.

5,000 students.

It was less of a school and more of a city.

But my graduating class was a little over 900 seniors.

Our graduation took up almost five hours, so I'm good.

I'm sure you're glad you weren't there.

But this school literally felt like a maze.

Trying to work your way around, trying to find your way around.

Remember the second or third day.

I'm just trying to get to class before the bell rings.

And of course, there's so many classrooms, so the numbers are complex.

They're set up in a way that's very complicated.

There's four floors, there's a basement as well.

And so I'm looking at my schedule, just trying to get to the class that I'm supposed to be in.

I'm supposed to be an English class.

And I find the classroom, I hurry in right before the bell rings.

I take my seat, the bell rings.

I breathe.

Because I'm right where I'm supposed to be.

At least I thought.

Didn't take long before the teacher walked in.

She was greeting everyone as they walked in.

And she did give me like the stare.

I didn't get why she was looking at me like that.

But she walks in and she says, Welcome everyone.

You are in AP calculus class.

And right away my eyes got wide, and I'm like, oh no, I don't belong here.

I'm in the wrong classroom.

And the teacher was very smooth.

Well, she looks at me and she can tell I'm not supposed to be there.

AP calculus for seniors and some juniors if you test into it.

So she looks at me and she tells everyone, hey, before I take roll call, I want to invite you all to take out your schedules, look at block B, second period, and make sure it says AP calculus on there.

Because if it doesn't, you're in the wrong room.

Now I was the only freshman in there, so I could feel all the eyes on me.

And I was like, at this point, let me just take my walk of shame, grab my things, and I went to English class.

That's the first room, a classroom.

The second room is a hospital room.

I was in a Bible study and I received a phone call from a church member.

And I picked it up, and the church member was asking if I could go visit a good friend of that person who was in an accident, and they were asking for a pastor.

So I said, of course, send me the information and I'll go.

Luckily, the hospital was only about 10 minutes from where I was, and so I went to the hospital, went through the security desk, went all the way up through the elevators, found the room.

And as I'm walking to this room, I'm filled with that same feeling I felt in that classroom of, I don't belong here.

I don't know this person.

This person doesn't even know me.

Do they know I'm coming?

Like I don't belong here.

What am I doing here?

And I wanted to kind of walk back to my car and just go home.

But I pressed on.

And as I was walking to that room, the room was slightly creaked open.

I could hear voices that sounded like family or friends.

And again, that feeling of what am I doing?

I don't belong here.

But I pressed on, I knocked on the door, they welcomed me in, and I was able to hear the story of what happened to this individual, and I prayed with them and prayed with the family.

Was there about 35 minutes?

And as I was heading out that room, the individual stopped me and said, Pastor, I just want you to know that I'm so glad you came.

I needed this.

Two rooms, same feeling, but what's the difference?

In the first room, I was lost.

In the second room, I was exactly where I was meant to be.

In the first room, I felt as if I didn't belong.

In the second room, I was reminded that I was sent to that room.

I wasn't lost, I was sent.

And something can happen with us as Christians where we can feel that same way.

We look out in the world, we see the darkness, we see the injustice, we see the pain, and quickly we recognize and realize this can't be our home.

I don't belong here.

And the reality is it's true.

The Bible tells us that a day is coming where the clouds will break open and Jesus will take us home.

Amen.

But what do we do while we're here?

I want to suggest to you today that that future reality of heaven breaking forth and bringing us home, that that future reality should deeply and profoundly impact how we live today.

But don't take my word for it.

I want to invite you to open up to the book of Philippians, our main text for today.

The book of Philippians, and we'll be in chapter 3, looking at verses 19 and 20.

Again, the book of Philippians, chapter 3, looking at verses 19 and 20.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

If you're there, say amen.

Did not sound too good.

I'll give you a couple more seconds.

I hear pages turning.

I want you to see this for yourself.

Again, the book of Philippians, chapter 3, verses 19 and 20.

Philippians 3:19

If you're there, say amen.

Alright, that sounds good.

Here's what the Bible says their end is destruction, their God is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on what?

Earthly things.

But our citizenship, our what?

Our citizenship is in heaven.

So here we have this contrast between the way of the world and the way of Jesus.

That the way of the world and all its desires is leading towards destruction.

But for the Christian, as we see all the darkness around us, we can be assured of a different end for us, that our citizenship is in heaven.

Now, what I need you to understand is that Philippi was essentially hundreds of miles away from Rome, but it operated as an outpost for Rome.

It was actually a city filled with a lot of retired Roman soldiers.

So when Paul uses this language, this word citizenship, and the Greek is polytumer, when he uses this word right away, it will connect with them this idea that just like they are an outpost for Rome, they dress like the Romans do, they keep the same laws, they they they they help to make sure that there's no dangers and they'll send word back to Rome, that just like they are an outpost for Rome in Philippi, in the same way for you and for me, we are an outpost of heaven on earth.

And perhaps that's why when Jesus is teaching the disciples how to pray, he says, Your kingdom come, your will be done where?

On earth as it is in heaven.

In other words, that future reality of our home being in heaven should deeply impact the way we live today.

And so Paul isn't merely saying that heaven is somewhere we're going someday, but what he's saying is that heaven is a kingdom we already belong to, and that belonging impacts the way we live today.

I want you to see the words of Jesus in John chapter 17.

John 17 · chapter mention

John chapter 17, verses 14 to 18.

John 17:14–18

Again, John chapter 17, verses 14 to 18.

John 17:14–18

Here is Jesus' last prayer over his disciples.

You can feel the tension in the air.

Jesus, who usually would be smiling and joking here and there, he's very serious.

And he's praying over his disciples, and the disciples are leaning into every single word he says.

And here's what Jesus prays over them in John chapter 17, verses 14 to 18.

John 17:14–18

He says, I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

Jesus is saying, Listen, I've given them the word you've shared with me, and they don't belong to the world, because neither do I.

But notice what he says.

He's praying to his father over his disciples.

Verse 15.

Father, I'm not praying you take them out of the world.

In fact, I want them to be in the world, to impact the world, but what I am praying is that you guard them and keep them safe from the evil one.

Verse 16, they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

Set them apart in the truth.

Your word is truth.

And verse 18, don't miss this.

And just as you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.

What is Jesus saying?

He's saying, Listen, I know there's a future reality, there's the future of heaven, but your role, your job here is you are sent on a mission.

You have a purpose here.

As we await that glorious day, and it will be glorious.

God has a mission for us in the here and now.

When we look at the book of Revelation, the last message, the three angels' messages, are telling people that Babylon has fallen.

They can come out of Babylon, that although their physical address is here, their allegiance is with a better king, a better place, a better country.

And this reminds me of the story of Abraham and Lot.

This is a sermon I preached a couple of months ago on Lot who makes a decision to pitch his tent near Sodom.

And we looked at not even a chapter later.

He's not just near Sodom, where is he?

He's in Sodom.

And then a couple chapters later, not only is he in Sodom, but he's a gatekeeper of Sodom.

Essentially, he becomes a respected leader or official of Sodom.

You think, how did this happen?

How did he go from being with Abram, before he was Abraham?

How did he go from being with Abram to now being in Sodom and a leader of Sodom?

So much so that when the angels came and told him, hey, we're gonna destroy this city, everyone around him was so glued to Sodom that they did not want to leave.

And we know what happened to Lot's wife, right?

She turns around, watches the city being destroyed.

Her heart is longing for Sodom, and she's turned into a pillar of salt.

You see, the reality is that you and I, we were created for community.

Community is not a bad thing.

God put a longing for belonging in our hearts.

The danger is the enemy knows this very well.

He knows this is a desire of ours.

And what he tries to do is he tries is to make us, you know, dig our roots here on the earth.

When we need to remember, we are strangers of this earth.

We have a better home, a better country, a better place that's awaiting us.

But it's not us just saying, oh, we we just want to escape the earth.

No, no, no.

While we are here, God has a mission for us.

God is sending us, what is he doing?

He's sending us into the world to be his hands and feet to this dark world.

If I could be honest with you, uh lately it's been really hard for me to say amen when people would say Jesus is coming soon.

And the reason is because of Cairo.

You know, I want to see Cairo grow up.

I want to be there for that first day of school.

I want to I want to be there as he's growing up in those middle school years, as he's trying out different sports to see what he likes.

I want to be there to see him growing in Jesus and his heart uh for Jesus.

I want to see him in high school when just like me, he was nervous and maybe I can help him a little bit on how to get around.

I want to see him as he's making that important decision of what college he will go to and what will he do for the rest of his life.

I I want to be there to see who's gonna be that special person he's gonna end up with and be there for that special day.

And maybe even one day to see my own grandchildren.

But the more I think about it, I have to remind myself that the joys of this world will not even compare, will not even come close to the joy that awaits us in heaven.

And I'm thankful and I'm so grateful that the Lord will give us a little piece of heaven here, whether through a birth of a child, whether in nature and seeing the imprint of the Creator, whether in a space where you're reconciling with a friend.

God gives us a taste of heaven, but it's it's meant to keep our stomachs uh hungry for the great the great entree that awaits us.

We can get a taste of it now, and I'm grateful for that.

But may our hearts always burn for heaven, may our hearts long for heaven, and may that longing drive us on a mission for Jesus.

May that longing help us to recognize that heaven merely isn't a place we're going to, but heaven is our identity.

You are a citizen of heaven.

You are a citizen of heaven.

2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 20 tells us this.

2 Corinthians 5:20

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.

As he's talking about heaven and the day that awaits us, he says, listen, your heart will burn for it and you will yearn for it, and that's exactly where you should be.

But don't forget that you're that this should drive you to be an ambassador for Christ, to tell a dark world about the king of light, and that they would seek his face.

See, you are a citizen of heaven.

And so when you look around at the darkness, when you look at this world and you feel that feeling, I don't belong here, that's true, you don't belong here.

But as you feel that feeling, may you also feel the pull from God telling you, will you go?

Will you go be a light in this world?

Will you allow the light that I put in you, that little light I put in you, to shine in the darkness?

And that's the beautiful thing about light in the darkness.

It doesn't take much light for it to shine in the room.

Doesn't take much light for it to drive away the darkness.

Even a little light can do that.

And God asks us the little light that we have to shine in this dark world.

You see, when we looked at Abram and Lot, we reconciled with the ideal, that the idea that you and I don't have the luxury that Lot had to choose not to be in Sodom.

The reality is no matter where you go, you are in Sodom.

You are in Babylon.

But although your address may be here, your allegiance can be somewhere else.

You are a citizen of heaven.

So when you feel rejected by this world, remember you are a citizen of heaven.

When you feel like you are measuring up to the earthly idea of success, remember you are a citizen of heaven.

When you feel lonely, when you feel like there's not a place for you to belong, remember there is a place.

There's a community of believers that believe the same thing you do and that welcome you with open arms because we are citizens of heaven.

When culture tries to tell you who you're supposed to be, and you're comparing yourself with other people in this world, remember you are a citizen of heaven.

And there's no way we can talk about heaven without looking at Revelation 21.

So would you open your Bibles to Revelation 21, telling us about that great day and the wonders that it will be.

Chapter 21, verses 1 to 3.

This is John speaking.

He says, Then I, John, I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

For the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist, and the sea existed no more.

And then I, John, I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorn for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Look, look, the residence of God is among human beings.

He will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist anymore, or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the former things have ceased to exist.

Isn't that beautiful?

The reminder that really, when we think about heaven, we tend to think about a place up there, and we will be up there with God for a thousand years.

But after those thousand years, we will dwell here on the new earth as life was intended to be, and we will be in the new Jerusalem, and we will have Eden restored to us.

But while we wait for that day, God is asking us to be sent for a mission for Him, to rescue a world that is failing, a world covered in darkness.

You know, when I was younger, and I actually I asked the Pathfinder and Adventurers this last week during their induction, I asked them, what comes to your mind when you think of heaven?

And of course, you hear all types of answers.

You know, things like, oh, you know, I think of having a pet lion, or I think about flying or teleporting or all these interesting things of what heaven might look like, what we might experience in heaven.

And I can relate with them because I remember being young and thinking about those things of well, what will we do for an eternity?

Like, will we have jobs?

Will we be by the beach with our legs up?

Like, like what will we be doing?

But the older I've gotten, the more I've thought about the idea, less about what we would be doing, and more so who will be there.

I think about that sea of glass, and we're all there together, people from every tribe, nation, tongue, and we're there together from all different backgrounds, but we're there not divided.

We are united because of that, the Savior who died for us.

And we're there singing a new song, a song that only you and I can sing because we were the ones who went through this dark world.

And we're singing out to the Lamb.

We're bowing before Him.

And in that moment, you turn and you see, you see the heroes of the faith.

And I just think about being able to have breakfast with Moses and have lunch with Isaac and have dinner with Jesus and being able to share that experience with the ones we love.

For me, so much is not about the place, it's about the people.

And ultimately, it's about a person, about Jesus Christ.

And so does your heart long for heaven?

Does your heart burn for heaven?

My prayer is that God will give you a sense of homesickness where you're homesick for heaven.

But as you are, may we not just throw up our hands and just try to escape this earth.

May we realize and recognize that God has a mission for us in the here and now.

That just like Jesus prayed over his disciples, is the same thing for you and me.

He's not praying for us to be taken out of the world, but he's praying for us to go into the world.

We are sent into the world to change the world.

And how do we change the world?

Well, you start with your world.

You start with your circle of influence.

You start with letting your light shine to those around you.

And yes, there will come moments where you realize you don't belong here.

The darkness hates the light.

But God is desiring to do a work through you.

And how privileged are we that on that sea of glass we're gonna look around, and what we're gonna see are people on this earth that were broken.

People who weren't worthy to be used by God.

But what united us was simply that we surrendered to the Lord.

That like Enoch, we made a decision every day to wake up and walk with the Lord.

Whether it was raining outside or whether it was sunny outside, we woke up, we walked with the Lord, and one day the Lord showed up and said, How would you like to walk with me up into heaven?

That is what God is desiring for you and for me.

When I started, I told you about two rooms.

And I want to end our time together by telling you about a third room.

I want us to think back to that moment where Jesus is having this last opportunity to talk with his disciples.

That's the third room.

In my father's house are many rooms.

I'm going to prepare a place for you, and I'll come back.

I'll come back and take you to be with me, so that where I am, you may be also.

Isn't it interesting that when John got the vision of the new Jerusalem coming out of heaven, that the ending of that wasn't so much about what the place will look like, but it was on the focal point that God will be our God, that he will be with us, dwelling with us.

And now Jesus is comforting his disciples and saying, Listen, I'm gonna go prepare a place for you, I'm preparing a room for you.

And when I come back, I'm gonna take you with me so that you can dwell with me and I with you.

Isn't that beautiful?

That what God longs for, what he's always wanted, is simply to be with us.

And yes, we can experience him here on earth.

But let me tell you, what awaits us is something like we've never seen before.

Where we can look our Savior face to face, no more division, no more barriers, and we can tell him to his face, thank you, Jesus, for what you've done for me.

I don't know about you, but I can't wait for that day.

There's no more disease, there's no more cancer, there's no more disorders, there's no more pain, no more sorrow, no more suffering.

But we're standing there on the sea of glass, we say, Thank you, Jesus, because of you and your blood, we have overcome.

So my challenge to you is as we are going to stand to our feet and sing when we all get to heaven, I want you to picture that day.

And I want you to picture the people around you.

I want to want you to picture the ones you love.

But more than that, I want you to picture the Savior, who because of his blood and because of what he's done for us, we will stand there redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

So let us stand to our feet, let's pray, and then we'll sing when we all get to heaven.

Lord Jesus, God, I pray for my friends.

Lord, this world has a way of just drawing us to itself, of making us want to dig our roots deep into this earth.

Lord, I thank you that there's a new earth that's waiting for us, a new heaven, a new Jerusalem.

And Lord, as we are expectant of that day, as we are excited for it, as our hearts burn for that day where the clouds burst open and the trumpet will sound and we'll get to be in your presence, your unfiltered, unadulterated presence.

God, we long for that.

But what I'm praying for is that as we're here, day by day, not knowing when the hour will come, Lord, I'm praying that you would just simply help us to, first of all, walk with you every day, to walk and talk with you like Enoch did, to walk and talk with you.

And as we are that, Lord, that you would help us to shine your light to those around us.

We aren't here by accident, and we definitely aren't lost here.

We're here for a purpose, we're here for a mission, and we've been sent into a dark world.

So, Lord, give us boldness like never before.

Give us courage like never before.

God, empower us, give us divine appointments where we can let your light shine through us to those around us.

And God, may we comfort each other, edify each other, and challenge each other to keep our minds, yes, fixed on heaven, but also fixed on the calling you've placed in our lives today.

Lord, this is our prayer, and we thank you in Jesus' name.

Amen.