In our worship series, Lifeboat, we learn about a group of people desperately clinging to life after the yacht they were on sank. Three days after the accident, after drifting a considerable distance from where the boat went down, they pull a stranger into the lifeboat. The stranger claimed to be the Lord.
In this series, Heaven, we turn to another of Mitch Albom’s best-selling novels, The First Phone Call From Heaven. In this mystery, Albom takes readers on a rollercoaster ride of mystery and hope.
“Miracles happen quietly every day,” writes Albom, but “They are rarely tallied. No one keeps score. Now and then, a miracle is declared to the world. And when that happens, things change.”
And the miracle Albom writes about is a phone call. Calls happen every day with little notice. But a call placed to a member of Harvest of Hope Baptist Church was different. And so were the other seven. In the case of Katherine Yellin, the call was from her dead sister, Diane. She said she was calling from heaven.
Were these miracles or the result of a cruel prank? Stay tuned, and we’ll uncover the truth together. Albom’s book offers a creative and thought-provoking illustration of the reality of heaven. However, we’ll turn to scripture as our primary source of truth, supplemented by tradition, logic, and our own experiences.
Our series follows Mitch Albom’s book but adds our own concerns and relevant stories from scripture. His book is inspirational and should cause us to reflect on our beliefs about heaven and the afterlife.
The Book Club article in our weekly newsletter, the Circuit Rider, includes a reading schedule. All relevant articles and past issues of our newsletter are on our website.
Here is the outline of our series:
| Sundays | Episode |
|---|---|
| June 8 | Heaven calling |
| June 15 | Is this real? |
| June 22 | Go tell |
| June 29 | Validation |
| July 6 | Manna |
| July 13 | Busted? |
The Prophet Amos tells us that the Lord builds his home in the heavens. And Jesus promised that He would prepare a place for each of us. Whether or not anyone has ever received a phone call from there, heaven is real.
Please join us each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. We share our weekly episodes on Facebook and our YouTube channel, and go live at 10:30 a.m. You can find these links and more information about us, or join our live broadcast on our website, FlintAsburyChurch.org.
Pastor Tommy
Mitch Albom. The First Phone Call from Heaven. New York: HarperCollins, 2014.