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StoneBridge Community Church

Facing Down the Fear of Death

Pastor Jeff Cheadle

Locations & Times

StoneBridge Campus

4832 Cochran St, Simi Valley, CA 93063, USA

Saturday 5:30 PM

Sunday 9:00 AM

Sunday 10:30 AM

Growth Groups

Simi Town Center Way, Simi Valley, CA 93065, USA

Sunday 12:00 PM

Online "Connection Card"

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1 Corinthians 15:19-26

The Text in Context

Bob Utley, "1 Corinthians 15" from the series Paul's Letters to a Troubled Church: I and II Corinthians.

http://bit.ly/25q5tlh

"The last enemy to be destroyed is death."

Steve Job's Commencement Address

This is a prepared text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005 at Stanford University.

http://stanford.io/249HpoF

100 Bible Verses on Death

What does the Bible say about death? OpenBibleInfo website.

http://bit.ly/2A6XP46

1. Death is…

1. Death is universal and inescapable.

Hebrews 9:27-28

Tom Petty (October 20, 1950 – October 2, 2017)

Deaths in 2017

Photo Gallery with brief biographies. "Celebrity Deaths in 2017" Entertainment website.

http://bit.ly/2zeAb6C

Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

Stranger than Fiction is a 206 American film starring Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah, and Emma Thompson. The plot follows Harold Crick (Ferrell), an IRS worker who begins hearing a voice narrating his life as it happens – seemingly the text of a novel in which it is stated that he will soon die – and he frantically seeks to prevent that ending. Roger Ebert called it thought-provoking and moral, writing, "Such an uncommonly intelligent film does not often get made... [it] requires us to enter the lives of these specific, quiet, sweet, worthy people." Wikipedia article.

http://bit.ly/2hd98E3

Ecclesiastes 7:2

Psalms 39:4

For Reflection/Discussion: How often, if ever, do you think about death, your death, or the death of a loved one? Have your thoughts about death changed over time? If so, how? Why? Why, in your judgment, does the psalmist pray, "Show me, Lord, my life's end, and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is." (Psalm 39.4)

2. Death is…

2. Death is deeply disruptive and disturbing.

Psalms 55:4-5

A Grief Observed

"No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I’m not afraid but the sensation is like being afraid…" A Grief Observed is a collection of C. S. Lewis's reflections on the experience of bereavement following the death of his wife Joy in 1960. The book was first published in 1961 under the pseudonym N.W. Clerk as Lewis wished to avoid identification as the author. It inspired a 1985 television movie Shadowlands, as well as a 1993 film of the same name. The entire book is available at this link:

http://bit.ly/2yXSuPw

Genesis 2:15-17

Romans 6:23

Death

"The Bible contains much warning about death, speaking as frequently on this subject as it does about any other. In the garden of Eden where death had never entered, Adam and Eve were instructed by God to refrain from the forbidden fruit with an accompanying warning…" — Lehman Strauss, "Death" from the series Death and Afterward, Bible(dot)org.

http://bit.ly/2ivIfb9

Revelation 21:1-5

For Reflection/Discussion: Given the inevitability of death, why do so many people fear it? Why is death so disturbing and disruptive? What do you think happens when we die? On what do you base your thinking? How does the Bible understand the origin of death?

3. Death has been…

3. Death has been defeated by Jesus' death on the cross.

John 11:25-26

1 Thessalonians 4:13

"A ship sails and I stand watching till she fades on the horizon, and someone at my side says, ‘She is gone.’ Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all. She is just as large as when I saw her. The diminished size and total loss of sight is in me, not in her, and just at the moment when someone at my side says, ‘She is gone’ there are others who are watching her coming, and other voices take up the glad shout, ‘There she comes!’ And that is dying." –Bishop Brent.

Christmas in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and, more recently, J.K. Rowling address the problem of sin and death through their works of imaginative fiction. Interestingly, all three identify Christmas (and thus the Incarnation) as a defining moment in their stories in which those in bondage find redemption and salvation. Here's a fascinating article called The Lord of the Hallows: Christian Symbolism and Themes in Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and Narnia.

http://bit.ly/2hboZmy

For reflection/discussion: In 1 Thessalonians 4.13 the Apostle Paul suggests that, while Christians grieve, they do not grieve as others who have no hope. What is the basis of Christian hope in the face of death? How do we know that Jesus rose from the dead, and why is Jesus' resurrection important to us today?

1 Corinthians 15:26

What Happens When I Die?

Read Plan

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