Take the first step with Christ. Alice took the first step through the looking glass into Wonderland. Peter, Edmund, Lucy and Susan took the first step through the wardrobe into Narnia. Bilbo Baggins took the first step from his front door at 10:45 without a handkerchief in his pocket. Abraham took the first step leaving the land of the Chaldeans for God who he had just met and he never went back. Jacob and his sons went to Egypt for some groceries and never went back for 400 years. Peter, Andrew, James and John took the first step and piled up their fishing nets and left them behind. Each of these characters made heroic journeys by taking the first step. For most of you this is not a geographical journey but for all of you it is a journey of the heart. The 17th century story by John Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress tells the story of Christian who came to see his life like he had never seen it before. He longed for a better life that ultimately led to the Celestial City. He takes the first step from his front door with people trying to stop his journey. He plugged his ears and ran crying out 'life, life, eternal life.' The choice before you today is to live like Abraham or Robinson Crusoe by making the best out of the wreck that used to be great. Crusoe was not a pilgrim on a journey but a survivor. He lived in a very small world and needed rescue.

You have been rescued but the choice is yours to hold on to the lovers of this world or to let them go.

Begin with eyes to see and ears to hear.

When you fail to see things for how they really are trouble awaits you. Blindness is a real theme throughout scripture. Elisha had the spiritual ability to know the plans of the King of Aram. An army was sent to find him and put him to death. It appeared that the army of Aram surrounded Elisha.

Now the servant of Elisha got a new perspective on what was actually happening. What was fearful is now a great adventure. Paul thought he was doing God a favor by stopping the movement called the Way. He got the drama, characters and plot completely wrong. He thought he was playing the role of Defender of the Faith when he was the Persecutor of Christ. After a season of literal blindness he saw things completely different. It became a theme for his ministry.

God asked Jeremiah twice 'what do you see?' He saw a branch of an almond tree and a boiling pot tilting away from the north. In both cases God responded with

When Christ healed the blind man he asked 'do you see anything?' The man answered that men looked like trees. So Christ prayed again until he saw correctly. When you journey with Christ make sure you have eyes to see and ears to hear or it may mean trouble for you.

Will you leave your small world and venture into a journey of the heart that has been created to long, ache, thirst, hunger and search for God? You can begin that journey any time from any place. You cannot make it happen. An adventure is something that comes to you. It chooses you. Lucy was not looking for Narnia. Alice was not looking for Wonderland. Abraham was not looking for the one true God. Jacob was not looking to have a name change to Israel. Peter, Andrew, James and John were not looking to leave the family business. The choice is not to make it happen but to 'enter in.' There was no map, itinerary of travelogue. You all know how to get to the Father through the Son but do you know how to get through this life? If you want three steps for this and seven steps for that with principles and keys by definition it you are not on a journey but a Robinson Crusoe who manages life through the best he has at his disposal. You cannot remove the mystery from a journey with Christ or avoid the dangers ahead. You can learn from those who have gone on ahead of you about the conditions, hazards and rest places.

Stop second-guessing yourself.

Be confident even in the worst condition.

Live as though this is true and value the journey.

In the 19th century an expedition explored the North Pole. A 1200 volume library was loaded onto the ship with a hand organ with 50 tunes on it. China plates for the officers with cut glass goblets with silver tableware. The uniforms of Her Majesty Queen Victoria were in every wardrobe. Years later the remains of the men on this expedition were found by Eskimos pulling a lifeboat filled with these items that actually led to their demise. They outfitted their journey with the wrong stuff. What do you take with you on the journey of your heart? What do you need to prepare for?

An imagination. You cannot out-dream God. Twelve spies went to look at the Promised Land but ten had no imagination. The fighting men who left Egypt were not the fighting men who entered Canaan because they had no imagination. The disciples fled the Garden of Gethsemane because they had no imagination. The disciples thought they would drown in a storm because they had no imagination. They thought 5000 people would starve because they had no imagination.

Ezekiel prophesied against false prophets who spoke out of their own imagination. Paul promise that we cannot out-dream God "…according to his power that is at work in us…"

A good memory. Christian grew impatient with his journey and took a shortcut that led to Doubting Castle. The Giant of Despair threw him in the dungeon where he began to loose heart. Hope spoke to him about all the things he had overcome before. Christian said 'I have the key in my heart called the Promise that will open any door in the Doubting Castle.' Hope caused him to remember. Recollection of what God has done must never be lost in the journey. The point of breaking bread together is to remember what Christ has done for us.

Sense of adventure. Do you see that being with Christ means being in the company of little fat babies playing harps on shapeless clouds with haloes over their fat little heads? The earthly journey ends 'happy ever after' but with who and doing what? Is the expression 'eternal rest' attractive to you or is it just something you read on a tombstone? If heaven begins with a wedding feast what follows it? Do we take a nap for the next 10 000 years sleeping off the heavenly wine? To say we will worship God is too one-dimensional. It cannot be fully understood but alluded to. John mentions in Revelation that heaven is 'like' this or that. He used the most beautiful imagery he could. You will have a new body to appreciate such beauty. Not just partaking of it but being one with it passing into it and bathing in it. Most people do not feel wanted but more tolerated. It begins in grade school and continues through life that you are not good enough for the sacred circle. You shall know and be known.

It will be a name that two lovers have for each other. Such a name cannot be given until you 'are' that name. It is God speaking through the clouds at the baptism of Christ 'this is my son.' In the journey of your heart you may be tolerated and treated like a stranger but in heaven you will know and be known. Christ did not redeem you to sit on the bench for eternity but he saved you to be in the game.

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