What's After ATX (Part 3): Judgement, Heaven, and Hell

TO START

Check-in with everybody in the group. Start by doing pits and peaks (have each group member share one high point and one low point from their week). We know this is such a challenging time and even though we are no longer under the stay at home order, it has still been 2 months now since we’ve been together in person for both groups and in worship. It’s okay to grieve that together!

Then ask this question to start discussion:

  • Do you believe heaven and hell exist as destinations in the afterlife? Why or why not? What has shaped your view of heaven and hell specifically (Scripture, Tradition, Culture, etc…)

TO DISCUSS

This week, Justin led us into a message focusing on what is known in Christian Scripture as “Judgement Day”. In particular, as we continued to consider the guiding question of our series, “What happens after you die?”, we explored questions related to the subsequent destinations of heaven and hell. While this is an incredibly heavy topic, Justin helped us to recognize the reality that Scripture is filled with many passages focusing on eternal life for both those who have turned from God and those who have chosen to follow God and thus, we can’t shy away from this topic as many Christians seem to try to do.

  • Has the reality of hell ever led you to believe that God doesn’t exist? Does it cause you to be frustrated with God?

  • Do you have any Scriptures that come to mind which provide a vivid picture of the reality of heaven and/or hell?

TO READ:

In the sermon, Justin read a passage from Matthew 25 which contains some of Jesus’s words concerning eternal life near the end of his own life. Now spend time reading from the Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 7:7-8 and 7:21-23 (These passages are often cited in conversations about eternal life) and then answer the following questions:

  • Who do you think gets to go to heaven? What does a person have to do in order to be saved?

  • In today’s message, Justin mentioned our eternal destiny is not contingent on our good deeds or our lack of bad deeds but rather on whether we have surrendered to God. So, close the discussion by asking this: Do you believe that you have surrendered to God? Have you offered yourself fully up to him? If so, how does your life look different? If not, what do you think is holding you back?

TO PRAY

Read this quote from The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis (From Justin’s Sermon):

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened.”

Pray this prayer:

God, thank you for making heaven for us. Enable us to be those who always say to you, “Thy will be done” and help us to encourage others to do the same. Amen

FOR FUN

Encourage your group members to read The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. It’s an exciting read that will provoke your imagination on the possibilities of heaven and hell.

Matt DeLano