Journey Beyond The Stars

Journey Beyond The Stars

This sermon was given by Abby Radu on April 19, 2025, as part of a week-long series called “Truth 4 Youth!” I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

Pastor Dale Tunnell

This morning, we have some young ladies that are here to share with us, and they got a couple of songs, and then they’re going to go into their sermons. So Abby, Emily, and Manuela, you got it.

Manuela Radu

Good morning, everyone. We’ll have a couple of songs this morning. One of you, you kind of learned as the meetings went is the prayer song. So join us as we sing together this morning.

Did You Ever Talk To God?

Did you ever talk to God above? 
Tell Him that you need a friend to love. 
Pray in Jesus' name, believing that God answers prayer. 
Have you told Him all your cares and woes? 
Every tiny little thing He knows 
You can know He always hear and He will answer prayer.

Chorus
You can whisper in a crowd to Him 
You can cry when you're alone to Him
You don't have to pray out loud to Him
He knows your thoughts.
On a lofty mountain peak, He's there
In a meadow by a stream. He's there 
Anywhere on earth you go.
He's been there from the start.

Verse 2
Find the answer in His Word. It's true, 
You'll be strong because He walks with you.
By His faithfulness, He'll change you too,
God answers prayer. 

Ending
Anywhere on earth you go. 
He's been there from the start. 

Manuela Radu

And we have one more song, it’s called Above All. One of my favorite all-time songs. I used to sing this song 20-plus years ago in school, every morning when we would do our worship. So join us as we sing Above All.

Above All

Verse 1 & 2
Above all powers  
Above all Kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
Your were there before the world began
Above all Kingdoms
Above all Thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth. 
There's no way to measure what you're worth. 

Chorus
Crucified, laid behind a stone.
You lived to die, rejected and alone. 
Like a rose trampled on the ground. 
You took the fall 
And thought of me above all.

Ending
Crucified, laid behind a stone.
You lived to die, rejected and alone. 
Like a rose trampled on the ground. 
You took the fall 
And thought of me above all.
Like a rose trampled on the ground. 
You took the fall 
And thought of me above all.

Abby Radu

Good morning, church. (Audience responds: Good morning.) Would you like to hear some exciting news? (Audience responds: Yes.)

Well, I have something exciting to tell you today, and you’ll hear it during this program called Journey Beyond The Stars.

First, I have a little quiz for you. If you know the answer, just say it after I finish speaking.

So here’s the first question. What are the names of the two people who ever lived, or the first people who ever lived? (Audience responds: Adam and Eve.) Yes, Adam and Eve.

Where did Adam and Eve live after they were created? (Audience responds: Garden of Eden.) Yes, the Garden of Eden. Were Adam and Eve happy in the Garden of Eden? (Audience responds: Yes.) Yes, they were perfectly happy.

Did they know anything about sin, pain or death? (Audience responds: No.) No, they only knew happiness. Adam and Eve were not allowed to eat the fruit from how many trees? (Audience responds: One.) Yes, one. And they could not eat the fruit from just one tree.

Who was in that tree? Satan was there. What kind of creature did Satan pretend to be? He chose to be a snake. Did Adam and Eve disobey God and eat fruits from the tree? Yes, they did eat the fruit from the tree. What did Adam and Eve have to do after they disobeyed? They had to leave the Garden. Very good. You guys are very good. Gavin especially.

God planned for Adam and Eve to live forever, but they sinned. They disobeyed God and now they could not be allowed to live forever. Where there is sin, there is sadness and pain.

This is why God could not let sin stay in heaven forever. It would ruin everything. God’s eternal law says that the wages of sin is death.

This is not just the kind of death that happens when you get old or sick and die. Sin brings eternal death forever and ever. Adam and Eve sinned and now they must die that eternal death.

But Jesus loved them so much that he told God the Father, I will die for them and I will go on earth and I will take their punishment. God and Jesus knew that the plan was risky. It could only work if Jesus himself did not sin.

If he sinned, then he would need a savior. But Jesus was willing to take that risk and he would come to earth just as we come, as a little baby. He would live on this earth and he would face the trials and temptations that we have.

He would overcome Satan the way that we overcome. Imagine the king of the universe coming to our sad world. Imagine him living like we live. Jesus wanted to do it because he loved us so much.

When Jesus came to this world, Satan was glad. He thought, now I can win. I will get Satan (she meant to say Jesus) to sin and his plan will be spoiled and Jesus will be my servant. Every day, Satan tried to get Jesus to do wrong. No one has ever been tempted as much as Jesus was.

But Jesus did not sin and here is how he kept from doing what is wrong. Jesus prayed and he spent much time praying to his Father in heaven. Sometimes he prayed all night.

Jesus knew that the source of his strength and power was from God. Jesus studied the Bible. He memorized many verses.

When Satan came with a temptation, Jesus answered with words from the Bible. Jesus asked for God’s grace to keep him from sin. We can do all these things too, right? Yes, we can.

We can have victory just like Jesus did. Jesus lived on this earth for more than 30 years. During all that time, Satan tried to get Jesus to sin.

But Jesus did not sin, not even once. Satan saw that he would have to try even harder and he decided to make the people hate Jesus. He wanted them to hate Jesus so much that they would kill him.

But the people loved Jesus. He was so kind to them. He healed their sick and he taught them about the kingdom of heaven.

He showed them what God was like. And the people loved to listen to Jesus. They told each other, this must be the Messiah.

Let’s make him our king. When Jesus was on earth, the nation of Rome ruled the world. The Jewish people did not like to be ruled by Rome.

And they hoped that when the Messiah would come, that he would deliver them from Rome. The people tried to make Jesus their king. But he would not allow it.

Jesus came to deliver them from their sins. Sin is a much greater enemy than the Romans. When Jesus would not be king, the people were disappointed.

Satan whispered to them, if Jesus were the Messiah, he would deliver you from Rome. He must not be the Messiah after all. The Jewish leaders met together to talk about Jesus.

And they decided to kill him. Late one night, they sent soldiers to arrest Jesus. And they made fun of him.

They spat on him and they slapped his face. And they pushed a crown of sharp thorns down his head. And they beat him with a whip.

Finally, Jesus was nailed to a cross on a hill called Calvary. Jesus could have asked God to send thousands of angels to help him. And his angels could have stopped his wicked men.

But Jesus did not do that. Jesus gave up his life on the cross that day. And he died because he loved us so much.

He died to pay the price for his (she meant to say our sins) sins. What is that price? Yes, it was death. The wages of sin is death.

Jesus died so that we could live with him forever. And the wicked men who killed Jesus did not understand that Jesus was dying for them. Jesus died on the sixth day of the week.

What day is that? Yes, it is Friday. And Jesus was buried in a tomb that very day. Soldiers stood in front of the tomb guarding it.

Jesus stayed in the tomb all that next day. What day was that? Saturday. It was the Sabbath.

Jesus rested in the tomb that Sabbath. Even as Jesus was dead, he still rested on the Sabbath day. And he rose the next day on Sunday morning, which is the first day of the week.

On Sunday morning, the soldiers were still standing guard. And early on Sunday morning, there was a great earthquake. And a bright, shining angel came down from heaven.

The angel rolled open the huge stone door of the tomb. And the angel called out, Son of God, come forth. Your Father calls for you.

The soldiers were not brave anymore. They shook with fear and they fell to the floor. Now they knew that they had killed the Son of God.

When Jesus came out of the tomb, the angels sang with joy. Jesus was alive, and he was alive forevermore. Jesus stayed with his disciples for 40 days.

He told them about many things. He told them that he could not stay, and he had work to do in heaven. After 40 days, Jesus went back to heaven.

And there he is now, but he is soon coming back to earth. Before Jesus went back to heaven, he told his disciples that he would be leaving them. He told his disciples that he would go to heaven and prepare a place for them.

He said, Don’t be troubled. I’m going to heaven, and I prepare a place for you. Then he gave them a special promise.

I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, ye may be also. Jesus is coming back with his angels, as he promised. Jesus is coming back for the people who love and serve him.

He is coming back to take us to heaven. Then we can live with him forever. Jesus’ promise is for us today.

Let’s read it together. I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, ye may be also. John 14.3 Did Jesus say he would never come back? No.

He said, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, ye may be also. He first came to the earth as a tiny baby, and now he promised to come again. We call this his second coming.

When Jesus comes, what will he do? Fill in the blanks. I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there may be also. Jesus loves us so much that he wants us to be where he is.

You fill in the blanks as I say John 14.3 again. I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there may be also. Now say the whole verse with me.

I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, ye may be also. John 14.3 I hope this is going to stick with you because we’re going to do it a couple more times. It’s important to memorize these verses.

Jesus loves us so much and I can’t help but love him in return. How about you? Amen. Let’s say his wonderful promise again.

The letters on the screen are the first letters of each word. Let’s say it. I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, ye may be also.

John 14.3 reminds us that Jesus is coming soon and he promised. Say it with me. Jesus is coming soon.

Let’s say John 14.3 one more time. And this time we’re going to say it without the help of the letters. I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.

John 14.3 Now you guys learned the verse from the Bible.

Jesus knows the future and that’s why he could promise that he would come again. Jesus told the disciples about many things in the future.

From the very beginning of time, Jesus told his prophets many secrets about the future.

Jesus told Daniel, the prophet, when he would come to this earth as the Messiah, that he would die for our sins. Jesus warned his prophets of a time when God’s people would have to hide and they would flee from wicked men who wanted to kill them.

He said that they would hide in the mountains for 1,260 years and this happened just as Jesus had said. Jesus told his prophets when the persecution time was over, it would be close to the end of time. We are in this time today.

We know that Jesus is coming very soon and the Bible tells us so. The Bible tells us what will happen before Jesus comes. He says that Satan will pretend to be Jesus and will fool many people.

But we won’t have to be fooled because Jesus told the prophets just how it would be when he comes. The Bible says that when Jesus comes, the sky will roll together and there will be lightning and thunder and there will be a great earthquake. We will see a smolder cloud in the east about half the size of a man’s hand.

And the cloud will get bigger and bigger and brighter until it fills the sky and it comes closer. And we will see thousands of beautiful angels and we will see Jesus right in the middle sitting on the throne. The Bible says that every eye will see him and everyone in the world will be watching.

The people who love Jesus will be very happy. But those who did not love Jesus will be afraid and they will want to hide. But there will be nowhere to hide.

Jesus will call out, awake, awake, you that sleep in the dust and arise. As Jesus calls, all the dead people who loved him will come out of their graves and come right up to Jesus. And then it will be our turn.

If we love Jesus, he will call us to come too. Next, Jesus will take us on an incredible journey through space. One by one we’ll pass the planets in our solar system.

Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, but that’s just the beginning. We will move through our own galaxy, the Milky Way, and we’ll keep going. For seven days we’ll travel through space and we’ll move faster than the speed of light.

We will journey past millions of stars, through immersed galaxies, and we will see things we never knew existed. And finally we will reach the deepest part of our outer space. Somewhere far beyond the farthest star, we will reach the most glorious place in the universe, and the Bible calls it heaven.

Jesus has planned many surprises for us in heaven. The Bible says that we can’t even imagine how glorious heaven is. But what if we miss heaven? Then we will miss the wonderful homes Jesus is preparing for us.

We will miss eating the fruit from the tree of life. We will miss the beautiful new earth that Jesus will make for us. And we will miss, most of all, being with Jesus forever.

If we miss heaven, we miss it all. But we don’t have to miss out on heaven. Jesus says, I want you to be there.

I died for you so that you can live in heaven with me. Will you take charge of your life and give me power to do what is right? Maybe you’re afraid to give Jesus your heart. Maybe you think that Jesus wants you to give up too much.

Maybe there are some sins that you like very much. Maybe you think that following Jesus will make you sad. And maybe you’re afraid that you’ll be miserable if you follow him.

But we don’t need to worry about those things. They’re all from Satan, and they’re all lies. People who follow Jesus are the happiest people in the world.

People who hold on to their sins are the ones who are miserable. Won’t you say yes to happiness? Won’t you say yes to Jesus? Don’t you want him to let him take charge in your life? I do, and I want him to be in charge of every part of my life too. If you want to give him your life too, kneel with me as we pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this precious day that you’ve given us today and for waking us up this morning. We thank you for your beautiful resurrection that you have come back to us and that you are in heaven right now preparing a beautiful place for us to come. I thank you that we are all together in this church and that we were able to praise you and to worship you today.

I pray that we’ll be able to go on with this beautiful week and that you’ll bless us. I pray that you’ll be with the ones who are hurting, the ones who are going through hard times in life. Everybody goes through those times.

But you’re there to lead us through and to take charge of us, of our lives. And I thank you for being there for us and for dying for our sins. In your holy name, amen.

Do you want to be fooled by Satan? No, I don’t either. We don’t have to fall for Satan’s tricks. If we remember what Jesus said, Jesus told the disciples, many will come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and will deceive many.

In Matthew 24, verse 5. Satan and his followers will pretend to be Jesus coming back to this earth. And many people will worship Satan. They will think that they are worshiping Jesus.

What a terrible thing. I don’t want to worship Satan, do you? No. That’s why it’s so important to know what the Bible says.

Then we won’t think that Satan is Jesus, and we won’t fall for his other tricks either. Let’s see how much you remember about Jesus’ coming. You can respond with yes or no, as I say my little sentences.

When Jesus comes, everyone in the world will see him. Yes or no? Yes. The Bible says that every eye will see him.

When Satan pretends to be Jesus, every eye will not see him. Yes or no? Jesus will come in a flying saucer. No.

No. The Bible says that Jesus will come in the clouds of heaven with great power and glory. Yes or no? There will be an earthquake when Jesus comes.

Yes. The Bible says that there will be a great earthquake, such as not seen since men were upon the earth. Yes or no? Jesus will leave the angels in heaven when he comes.

No. The Bible says that Jesus will come in the glory of his Father with his holy angels. Yes or no? When Jesus comes, his followers who are alive on earth will first go up to meet him.

No. The Bible says that the dead in Christ shall rise first. Yes or no? After the dead will rise, all of God’s people who are still alive will rise up in the air to meet Jesus.

Yes. The Bible says that when we, sorry, then we which are alive shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Yes or no? Jesus wants to save each one of us.

Yes. The Bible says that Jesus is not willing that any should perish. Jesus is preparing homes for us because he wants us to be with him.

Yes or no? Jesus is coming to take us soon to heaven. Yes. Jesus gave us signs so that we know when the time for him to come is near.

And almost all the signs have happened already. Jesus is coming soon, and he says, surely I will come quickly. Jesus is coming soon.

Let’s say this together. Jesus is coming soon. Jesus promised that he would come again, and he will always keep his promises.

Let’s say his promise together one more time. I guess you guys have to memorize it now. It’s the Bible verse, and we’ll see.

Okay, let’s see what you guys know. So I, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, here ye may be also. Good job.

We have a new song, In Christ Alone. It’s a beautiful song. So join us as we sing.

The words of this song just are going to touch your heart, I promise.

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone, my hope is found. 
He is my life, my strength, my song.
This cornerstone, this solid ground. 
Formed through the fears that shroud the storm. 
What heights of love, what depths of peace.
When fears are sealed, while strivings cease. 
My comforter, my allies I stand. 
Christ alone, who took on flesh.
Fullness of God and helpless babe. 
His gift of love and righteousness. 
Scorned by the ones he came to save.
Till on the cross as Jesus died. 
The wrath of God was satisfied. 
For every sin on him was laid.
Here in the death of Christ I live. 
Here in the ground his body lay. 
Light of the world, my darkness slain.
Then bursting forth in glory's day. 
Up from the grave he rose again. 
And as he stands in victory.
Since Christ has lost his grip on me. 
For I am his and he is mine. 
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
Built in life, no fear in death. 
This is the power of Christ in me. 
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny. 
No power of hell, no steam of men. 
Can ever pluck me from his hand.
Till he returns or calls me home. 
Here in Christ I stand. 

Amen.

We’ll have a little video at the end. It’s an AI generated video that basically shows. It’s a song that shows Christ coming.

I hope you enjoy it.

AI-Generated Video

Through darkest night. Through storms of sorrow, loss and strife.

But now I see the golden shore. And tears will fall no more. New Jerusalem, my home, my life.

The land is shining no more night. Saints and angels lift their voice. Eternal joy, eternal joy.

The gates swing wide, my heart stands still. His voice like water, strong and real. The hands that bled now hold my own.

He brings me safely home.

Oh, New Jerusalem, my home, my life. The land is shining no more night.

Saints and angels lift their voice. Eternal joy, eternal joy. The gates swing wide, my heart stands still.

His voice like water, strong and real. The hands that bled now hold my own. He brings me safely home.

Oh, New Jerusalem, my home, my life. The land is shining no more night. Saints and angels lift their voice.

Eternal joy, eternal joy. No, no more sorrow. No, no more pain.

No, no more darkness. No more chains. Only glory, only grace.

Only love in Jesus’ face. Oh, New Jerusalem, I stand in awe. Forever home, forever God.

The song of heaven never ends. I am yours. I am home again.

Copyright 2025 Braselton Seventh Day Adventist House Of Prayer Church, Used By Permission

Closing Notes

Ok, folks, now it’s my turn to say something! I truly appreciate what the Radu family is doing! I know there has been some discussion about whether or not to ordain women as SDA pastors. And I think that this discussion misses the entire point!

Jesus is about to return! We need every hand on deck, okay? Some women who seek ordination might not have their hearts in the right place. And some male pastors who don’t want women to be ordained may have their hearts in the wrong place!

There will soon come a time when no pastor is paid anymore… and this day is coming sooner than you think! How do I know this? Have you ever actually read the IRS code for a 501 (c) (3) organization? It says very clearly that if the IRS deems anything about your organization to be incorrect, then they have the right to replace all the board members with their people. And what if these people happen to be staunch Catholics? So then, who will function as a pastor? Anyone?

What we need is for anyone who has a real relationship with God to speak up and say whatever God has revealed to them for His people! I don’t care what formal education they have, how old they are, or what gender they are, as long as they speak the Truth! Five-year-olds of either gender are just as welcome as eighty-year-olds!

And if you’re not speaking up, I might wonder why not? Do you love God as much as you need to?

You can speak up in line at the grocery store, in church, in a courtroom, or on the street. Doesn’t matter where you are! What matters is that you speak because you love God and the people around you that He loves! Am I clear enough for you? “All hands on deck!”

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