Eternity in Our Hearts // Embrace the Essentials

The Tension

Do we simply think of ourselves as saved, and if so, saved from what? What does it mean to have our identity in Christ? What do we do with all the baggage we have picked up along the way? How do we stop believing the lies and build our lives on the truth? This year's theme took shape from that set of questions, and it did not come easily. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of snappy options were tossed around before the team returned to Scripture and lifted the theme straight from a verse Pastor Megan has long held close. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end."

Eternity in Our Hearts

The message hung its core statement right there: Eternity in our hearts. This would mean considering and examining what it means to be forgiven, and to live in the promises of God. The invitation is to live with a greater perspective of the eternal and the things that truly matter, and to lead the entire church in caring about and valuing the eternal life Jesus promises. Confidence comes through that trust and assurance in forgiveness will deepen so that people build their lives free. The human heart has a longing for the eternal and a hunger for the things of God, and together the call is to channel that longing and hunger into a sincere pursuit of Jesus.

That pursuit will not be theoretical. By exploring eternity in our hearts, we will start to find answers about life, deepen our appreciation for who Jesus is, grow in our understanding of grace, rejuvenate our motivation for discipleship, and rethink how we perceive life and live in the promises of God. This is a year of breakthroughs, of lukewarm faith becoming white hot, of going from politely acknowledging Jesus to being consumed by the message of grace. It is a year of maturing in faith, discovering blessing, and grabbing hold of hope and freedom. This time next year, story after story and testimony after testimony of God's goodness transforming lives will fill this church.

A Strange Cultural Moment

We are the first civilization to see a secular and atheistic worldview become predominant. Skeptics have always existed, but what has emerged in recent centuries, especially in Europe and in certain communist contexts, is something brand new: entire cultures and societies dominated by secular and atheistic worldviews.

In America, faith still has a visible presence. Politicians still profess it. You can still buy a Bible at Walmart. A national day of prayer still exists. Christians can complain that the presence has lessened, but it is still there. Yet secularism is growing in influence here, and it has unquestionably become the dominant worldview in large sections of Europe. Ethics and morality, from legislation to the unspoken rules of how people conduct themselves, are no longer primarily rooted in religion and certainly not in Christianity. Since the 1970s, the secular drift has accelerated.

That makes this cultural moment historically unique. Most people throughout history assumed there was more than meets the eye. All over the world you find temples and altars, worship practices, sacrifices, prayers, and rituals meant to connect with the divine. Different cultures reached very different conclusions, and much of it got it wrong, leading away from the God revealed in the Bible. Even so, for most of human history the question sounded like this: What is beyond this life, and how do I connect with it. Increasingly today, the presumption is: There is nothing beyond this life worth being concerned with.

The passage from Ecclesiastes pushes back. We are the first culture to widely attempt to organize life as though eternity is not there, and yet the verse insists that eternity is planted in our hearts. The world around us asks us to pretend that the eternal longing of our souls is not there. So we ask, Why am I here, and settle for an answer like a six figure salary and a comfortable retirement. We want our lives to matter, but act like what matters is measured by followers, promotions, and trophies. We hunger to know who we really are, and then build identity around a career, or politics, or sexuality, or whatever is trending this month. We long for love that lasts forever, but increasingly treat relationships as disposable. We have a strong sense of justice, yet ultimately do not believe anything matters more than feelings or personal opinion. We look into the enormity of the universe and ask if our lives actually matter, and then look for the answer in shallow, empty, temporary places.

Other cultures channeled the cry for eternity into false religions and idolatry. The modern world asks us to deny the cry altogether. We have tried and it is not working. We have tried to remove eternity from our understanding of the world, but we have not removed the longing for eternity from the human heart. You still see the pursuit of the eternal in culture, though it is often twisted into horoscopes, superstitions, horror movies, trends like manifesting, and books that promise a shortcut. That ache is still there.

Treasures That Last

In the absence of an eternal focus, we try to feed an eternal hunger with things that are temporary. We try to settle an eternal longing with what is here today and gone tomorrow, and then we wonder why it is not working. Matthew 6:19 says, "Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be."

So many of the gifts of this life are to be enjoyed, not worshiped. We do not need to reject good things, but we cannot expect them to deliver what only eternity can. What changes when we have an eternal perspective. The pursuit of the eternal is a pursuit of Jesus.

The Way, The Truth, The Life

John 14:6 says, "Jesus told him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.'" Way, because we are lost. Truth, because we have believed the lies. Life, because believing the lies is killing us.

With modern sensitivities, much of that sounds good. The uncomfortable part comes in the last clause. John 14:6 says, "No one can come to the Father except through me." Is all of eternity really laser focused on one man? The invitation may be universal, but how can the way be so exclusive. The response did not back away. This means that the deepest cry of our hearts and all of eternity is in fact centered on one person. The Bible rejects the suggestion that there are a variety of paths toward eternity and salvation.

It is only Jesus.

The circumstances and stories of how people encounter and begin following Him may vary, but He is the way. The exclusive claims of the gospel can sound objectionable and even offensive. Some presume the message is cruel because it does not compromise on Jesus alone saving souls. Others misunderstand the uniqueness of Jesus as spiritual pride or moral superiority among His followers. The way is exclusive, and yet the invitation is extended to everyone. 1 Timothy 2:3 says, "God our Savior, 4 who wants EVERYONE to be saved and to understand the truth. 5 For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity, the man Christ Jesus. 6 He gave his life to purchase freedom for EVERYONE."

Only Jesus can satisfy the eternal hunger in the human heart. Only Jesus is the eternal Son of God. Only Jesus is both human and divine. God became humanity to pay the price humanity could not pay. He willingly went to the cross to take on the sin of the world, and He conquered sin and death on the third day.

This is not a call to sprinkle a little religion onto life as it already is. It is a call to pursue the new, to leave the old behind, to adopt a new perspective, to relearn how to understand the world, to set new priorities and values. This is the heart of discipleship.

Embrace the Essentials

That is where the church's core values came up, not as buzzwords, but as lanes on the road of discipleship. Embrace the Essentials, Commit to Stretch, Build the Community, Live on Mission. Our focus on week one stays with the first, because it helps us most immediately channel the longing for eternity into a sincere pursuit of Jesus.

Embrace the Essentials means four practices: Worship. Prayer. Bible. Fellowship. These have been the practices of the church since day one. They are not religious boxes to check, they are practices and disciplines that facilitate our pursuit of Jesus. The object of each is to grow in relationship with Him.

Relationships grow when we deliberately make space for them, not because the activity itself is magical, but because it creates time and focus for the person you love. No one becomes a better spouse because coffee shops contain virtue, or a better parent because movies have moral power. These are the everyday rhythms that make room for relationship to grow. That is what Worship, Prayer, Bible, and Fellowship are like in our pursuit of Jesus. These are the activities that give substance to pursuing Him. These practices deepen our relationship with Him, and He satisfies our hunger for the eternal.

Make It a Habit

The Essentials shape our gatherings each Sunday. Across styles and settings, churches all over the world gather around worship, prayer, teaching from the Bible, and time with one another. If one of those is missing, something feels off. The same dynamic shows up at home. When you build a habit and you skip a day, you feel it. The good news is that the remedy is simple. Jump back in. The hard part is getting started and keeping it going until it becomes a habit.

There was a reason the word chosen was essentials. People often sound apologetic and defeated when they admit they have not been active in them. It is easy to get people to agree these are important. The real question is: How do I make them a habit? Start somewhere. Dive right in, even if that means picking up halfway through a book of the Bible instead of waiting for a perfect day one. If you miss a day or two, resume as soon as possible. Do not be discouraged. It will happen. Resist the pressure to catch up before you start again. Plan ahead and make time. Many find first thing in the morning best, others do better in the evening. Pick a consistent window of 15 to 30 minutes. Make it achievable. One plan, for example, reads straight through the Bible in a month. The point is not to perform these practices amazingly. The point is to build and deepen your relationship with God, to take the deep longing in your heart for the eternal and find the answers so many people are struggling for.

As Essentials become a rhythm, life shifts. Time in prayer. Engaging with the Bible. Devoting time in worship. Building friendships with believers who encourage and challenge you. The way you figure out life changes. You make decisions with an eternal perspective. You treat people with the love of God. You start believing the promises of God are coming to pass in your life. You trust that God is for you and not against you. Faith grows, and you begin to believe that any opposition can be faced with Jesus alongside you. You start to believe you are an overcomer who can endure and persevere. The love of God begins to overflow.

Start today. Make a plan for tomorrow. Stick it out for a week. If you can go for a week, you can go for a month. If you miss a day or two, jump back in. Build consistency in prayer, Bible reading, worship, and connection with other believers. This will make a positive difference, and you will miss it when it is gone. Your spouse will notice.

One helpful tool we have to make daily Bible reading a habit is the Word of Life App! In it is our church Bible reading plan, all of us together, making daily Bible reading a rhythm! Get the app here. It takes about five minutes a day to read straight through, with a few more minutes to truly engage. Seek to understand. Do a deep dive. Even AI is a useful tool. Ask questions all the time about people and places. Double check things. Use what is available to help you make the most of your time with God.

The vision if we put this into practice was spelled out, not in grandiosity, but in the steady tone of transformation. Your faith starts to shape and affect every aspect of your life. Your decisions are shaped by eternity, not just the moment. You gain greater stability when circumstances change. You find freedom from expecting temporary things to satisfy eternal needs. You live a life increasingly shaped by God's truth, priorities, and purpose.

Rest for Your Souls

God has placed a hunger for eternity in the human heart. Modern secularism tells us to ignore that hunger and live as though eternity is not there. Temporary things can never satisfy an eternal hunger. Jesus is the exclusive way to God, but His invitation is inclusive of everyone. Embracing the Essentials helps us pursue Jesus and live with an eternal perspective. Matthew 11:28 says, "Then Jesus said, 'Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.'" The invitation is personal and present. Rest for your soul.