Homecoming’s Encouragement

HOMECOMING’S ENCOURAGEMENT—John 9:1-41

Points 1-3 presented to:Union Grove Baptist Church--‘Homecoming Service’—SEPT. 14, 2025. Points 4-10 UNUSED!

Attention:

A true brother in Christ, recently went to be with His Savior & Lord Jesus Christ, after spending 80+ years on this earth. He had lived with numerous physical problems, particularly involving his back. He had had back problems since his young days growing up on the farm. There, he was expected to & did, regularly carry very heavy bags of various things needed for the farm’s success. But that initiated his back problems.

As an older man, he finally resorted to back surgery, which left him more crippled than without it. He had to have an electronic nerve ‘stimulator’ installed in order to be able to walk.

As his pastor, I never knew him to walk without his ‘Rollator’(a walker with wheels). He was permanently bent forward. He would take very slow steps. And each step would be only a few inches at a time, with his legs shaking violently. But he & His wife would faithfully attend the services at Salem Baptist where they were members. He was a man of godly wisdom, & he had been a deacon. He also had taught Sunday School for years, & had held many other offices in the church throughout his days. He always pushed a smile thru his constant pain. He had the respect of everyone in the church who knew him.

*My Christian brother was a fantastic example of commitment for all around him! And as a result, he was a great source of encouragement to everyone!

That kind of commitment, with the encouragement spawned from it, despite his physical pain, makes me balk at the sorry/lame excuses some people use to justify themselves for NOT taking part in church services!(though honesty is a blessing!)

‘Homecoming’ is a celebration of the encouragement that each of us has received in Christ, thru the local church, here at Union Grove!

Need:

‘Homecoming’ is a standing testimony to lives changed by Christ Jesus. And so, ‘Homecoming’ is a standing testimony to the power of Christ Himself as He has worked in the past, is working now, & will ever be working in our future.

‘Homecoming’ is a standing testimony to the value of making disciples of Christ. ‘Homecoming’ is a standing testimony to the overall importance of the Church that is built on Christ, by God’s grace, thru personal faith in the forever prominent Cross-work of Christ Jesus.

‘Homecoming’ is a standing testimony to the power of God to work in each of your lives, when you invite Christ to change your life, no matter where or among whom you live.

The apostle John recorded details surrounding Jesus’ miraculous healing of a man who had been born blind.

And thru that historic event, we know that the holistic healing of body, soul, & spirit is found in Jesus alone.

‘Holistic’—•“comprehending the parts of something as intimately interconnected & explicable only by reference to the whole.”?•OR--•“concerning the whole person, taking into account: spiritual, physical, emotional, & social factors.”

God’s people are encouraged holistically, thru the Christian church...Union Grove being a good example.

A ‘Homecoming’ celebration is a source for personal encouragement among God’s people.

And we will attempt to answer the question:

?HOW does Homecoming encourage God’s people?

1—‘Homecoming’ Encourages…

CLARITY(:1-3)

Explanation:(:1-3)Pertinent Questions answered

:1a—“Now as Jesus passed by,...”

The last reference as to Jesus’ whereabouts is 8:59, where the Jews attempted to stone Him, whereupon Jesus “hid Himself & went out of the temple.” That is, Jesus left the Temple complex due to active persecution.

Jesus is on His way ‘elsewhere’ & His disciples have rejoined Him. In the process of His having left the temple environs, Jesus was now “passing by” a particular but unnamed place.

And “as Jesus passed by”, he takes notice of certain “a man” who was probably begging.

:1b—“He saw a man who was blind from birth.”

The “blind man” was ‘probably’ sitting & begging in a high-traffic area somewhere in Jerusalem.

Disabled people had no financial security other than begging, or to be involved in some limiting occupation that did not involve their particular disability.

:2—“And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

The 12 “disciples”(Jesus’--“His”) had a concern about the presence of physical deformities among men, by calling attention to the “man” who had entered life “blind.”

The disciples approach Jesus as their very respected teacher.

The disciple’s supposed, & it was commonly thought, that any physically unwelcome deformities & distresses(such as blindness), were the result of personal “sin.”

•In their opinion, those “sins” exhibit a physical manifestation of God’s judgment—played out through such things as “blindness.”

•Such a line of thinking goes so far as to hold that the “sin” of the parent would be exemplified in the illness, pain, or suffering experienced by their children!