Pastor’s Corner: ‘This earth as we know it is not our home’

Today's column is written by Pastor Nathan Kennedy of Bethel E.C. Church in Dixon.

In July of 2025, my wife Katie and I, with our five kids, moved from Pennsylvania to the beautiful town of Dixon, to pastor Bethel EC Church. We shipped large boxes of our things and moved into our new home. Bethel Church and Dixon have become home to us.

We love the friendly atmosphere of the town, the beautiful riverfront, the trails to explore, and the church family we have come to know, love, and have been blessed to serve. The older I get, the more I realize that this earth as we know it is not our home. For believers in Christ, the new heavens and new earth will be our eternal home, where there will be no more sin, sorrow, or pain.

For believers in Christ, we will experience a resurrected body that will never die and eternal fellowship with God that never ends. For now, we live in a sin-cursed world since Adam and Eve sinned and rebelled against God. We, too, have sinned and rebelled against the God who created us and loved us.

Because of sin, we cannot be in a right relationship with God on our own, nor can we spend eternity with him. God is holy and perfect in all his ways and must punish sin. We all deserve eternal punishment in hell because of our sin.

However, God made a way so that we could be made right with Him. Jesus, who is fully God and fully man, came to earth and took the punishment for us by dying on the cross. All who sincerely repent and believe that Jesus died for their sins will spend eternity with God, experiencing his grace and favor forever.

This is no work that we can do, no merit that we can earn, nor a debt that we can pay. Jesus paid our sin debt and did all he could to be with us. No matter who you are or where you have been, Jesus wants a relationship with you today.

He has no joy in the destruction of the wicked. Repent of your sin and believe that Jesus died for you. There is rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents.

For those who trust in Christ, they will be welcomed home. When you become a believer, you are a new creation that has new desires. Spend time with God by reading the Bible and spending time in prayer.

Find a church that teaches from a biblical worldview, not based on the ever-changing opinions of man. When you sin, you will feel sorrowful for your sin and not seek to celebrate it. You will grow in your life to be more like Christ every day, learning to love him and love your neighbor better.

Your life will begin to bear the fruit of the genuine salvation in Christ. Knowing that Jesus loves us and died for us inspires us to know him, live for him and share him every day. He died for us, let’s live for him!

One day, he will call us home as believers. We will not have to pack our bags, get in a car to drive to our new home or go through all the hoops involved in moving. We will go home worshiping and serving God for all of eternity, according to his will.

Don’t worry; it won’t be boring. Rather, we will spend eternity with God who loves us, whom we love, surrounded by all believers from all over the world from different times since the creation of the world, giving God glory, which is what we were made for. Pastor Nathan Kennedy is the lead pastor of Bethel E.C. Church in Dixon.