What Will Heaven Be Like?

NOTE: This is our last group discussion guide for the season. After our summer break, we will resume discussion guides when groups launch on August 18.

Start Up

One of the most common questions asked leading up to this series involved heaven: What it is like, who will be there, and is it one long, never-ending church service? It makes sense that there is a lot of curiosity about heaven because none of us have seen it yet and it is a place we all want to go. Continue the conversation started this weekend about what the Bible has to say about heaven.

• Does it surprise you that heaven was the subject of so many questions submitted for this series? What questions have you had about it?

• What are some of the ways our culture has depicted heaven? Why do you think there’s been a recent surge in interest about heaven in popular books and movies?

Discuss Together

Read Romans 8:18-25.

• What words or phrases stand out to you in this passage?

• What is the “frustration” that creation is experiencing right now? How did the world become frustrated?

• Think back over your last week. How have you personally experienced and encountered the brokenness of the world?

Now, read Revelation 21:1-7.

• What words or phrases stand out to you in this passage?

• What are some ways the new heaven and new earth are different than the first heaven and earth? What will be similar?

• Jeff said, “Heaven will not be this other-worldly, completely different existence from what it is now. Heaven will be this earth, re-created, re-made, the way it was meant to be.” Is this concept of heaven different than what you have thought? Is it a more compelling view for you? Share with the group.

• If heaven isn’t about floating around on the clouds with a harp, what do you think it will be like? What do you think people who get there will do for eternity if what the Bible says is true?

• God will redeem and restore everything when Jesus returns. But He is redeeming and restoring things now, too. Think back over the last year. How have you experienced God’s redemptive and restorative work in your life?