1. Thank you for coming to Samsbiblestories.com and for taking a look at the lessons I have added. These lessons are the result of years of teaching Sunday school at an Elementary level. God has richly blessed me in being able to share His Word with thousands of young people. It is now my privilege to share them with you. Please feel free to use them with your class, wherever God has planted you. The only think I ask is that you drop me a line and let me know who you are and how the lessons are working for you. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated. samueldselby@gmail God Bless you, Sam God Bless

2. What is your favorite place?

3. Would you want to live there for the rest of your life? How about forever? Today, we are going to talk about the greatest place in the world and why it is so great that you will want to go there and spend forever and never get bored or lonely or sad. That’s right, we are talking about…

4. Now, there are a lot of misconceptions about Heaven. These misconceptions about heaven are the reason many people are not too excited about going there.

5. Our Scene Time: After Jesus had died was buried and had risen from the dead and then had gone back to heaven. Most of His original disciples have either died or are in prison. The Apostle John is still alive and has been exiled to a remote island called Patmos to spend the rest of his days inprisoned, (living by himself) as the Roman government is trying to squash this new “religion” called Christianity.

6. Patmos: Where John is exiled Because John wouldn’t stop preaching about Jesus, he was exiled to this Roman prison colony. It was like being in jail. For the rest of your life. There was no way off the island. John was now very old, living out the end of his life with a bunch of criminals. But God was not finished with him yet…

7. John was at a really low point in his life. And there, on that island, God showed him a picture of things that would happen in the future. He gave John a vision of what heaven might be like and He wanted John to write down what he saw and share it with others. This is what we call the last book in the Bible… the Book of The Revelation.

8. What is it? Where is it? What does it look like? What will we be doing there? How do we make sure we are going there? Heaven

9. Heaven, The New Jerusalem 1. Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. Revelation 21 Question #2 Where is it? Heaven, The Holy City, will be in a new city called the New Jerusalem that God will lower right down to the earth.

10. Heaven, The New Jerusalem 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Heaven is God’s permanent home, where He will dwell among His children… US! Forever!

11. Question #3 What does it look like? 15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17 The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick. Heaven, The New Jerusalem Measuring Rod= 16.5 Feet Stadia= 607 feet x12,000 which translates to 1400 miles square, and 1,400 miles in Width and Length and Height and it is made of PURE GOLD!

12. To imagine what a job it was to measure the city, here is an image to help us see how large the city is: Heaven, The New Jerusalem And remember, it is as high as it is long…

13. People disagree on the exact appearance of the New Jerusalem The one thing we can all agree on is that it is REAL and it will be the most wonderful place in the world.

14. Question #4: What will we be doing there? Forever! Heaven, The New Jerusalem Hint: We won’t be playing harps. There are many things about Heaven that we don’t know, but we are given a peek into Heaven in the Book or Revelation and other books of the Bible. We know that we will be re-united with all of our loved ones that went before us and that we will have perfect health and happiness.

15. Question #4: What will we be doing there? Forever! Heaven, The New Jerusalem The Bible says we will “Rule and reign with Him (Jesus) over His creation FOREVER!”

16. Heaven, The New Jerusalem What is God’s creation?

17. Question #5 How do we make sure we are going there? (This is truly the most important one) Heaven, The New Jerusalem

18. Question #5 How do we make sure we are going there? (This is truly the most important one) Heaven, The New Jerusalem

19. Question #5 How do we make sure we are going there? (This is truly the most important one) Heaven, The New Jerusalem John 1:12 But to all who have received him--those who believe in his name-- he has given the right to become God's children