Come Home Running
If you have your Bible, please open it to Joel Chapter 2. John ordered flowers to be sent to the opening of his friend’s new branch office. When John`s friend got there, he was shocked to see the flowers with the inscription. “Rest In Peace.” He was so outraged that he stopped at the florist to complain. “It could be worse,” the florist said, “Just think: Today someone was buried beneath a floral arrangement with the inscription. ‘Congratulations on Your New Location!’”
If you look at the screen behind me, you will see that the title of my message today is Come Home Running. I believe this is an important message that every person, every church, and every nation need to hear. It is time to we all return back to God. Look at the country today. It is overrun by evil, corruption, and sin. People are evil. The crime rate in this country is continually growing. People still think that a woman should be able to abort her child. The murder rate is also high. People today are also corrupt. I believe that is plain and obvious. It does not take much to corrupt a politician. All you must do is wave some money in their face and they will do whatever it takes to get it. Sin is rampant. It is everywhere and most people either do not know it because they have never heard of it before, or they have heard of it, and they do not care.
We are an evil country, a corrupt country, and we are a sinful country. We desperately need to return to the Lord. There is a song by Reba McEntire called Back to God that says this:
Oh, have you looked around
Have you heard the sound
Of Mama's cryin'
Or do you turn away
When you see the face
Of the innocent dyin'
In these darkest days
Are you not afraid
That it's too late
You gotta get down on your knees, believe
Fold your hands and beg and plead
Gotta keep on praying
You gotta cry, rain tears of pain
Pound the floor and scream His name
'Cause we're still worth saving
Can't go on like this and live like this
We can't love like this
We gotta give this world back to God
We desperately need to give this world, this country, and this nation back to God. A nation without God is a nation that has gone under. I believe it is safe to say that this is a nation that has gone under. Let us look at Joel Chapter 2 starting in verse 12.
READ JOEL 2:12-17
In these 5 verses, God instructs Joel to return to Him. Verses 1-11 of Joel chapter 2 talks about the Day of the Lord meaning, the soon coming of the Lord. We will not talk about it much today, but the coming of the Lord is near. I believe that my generation will be here for the rapture which also means there will be some in my generation left behind and they will experience the tribulation. Listen folks, even if the rapture does not happen for the next 500 years, either way every single one of us will leave this place. Whether the Lord raptures us out, whether He calls us home beforehand, or if you do not leave this place until we all stand before the judgement seat. Either way, we will one day leave Earth. We must be ready to do so and that is what God is telling Joel here. That they must return to the Lord and be ready. Next week, we are going to look at why we need to be ready. Verses 12 and 13 give us 2 reasons why we need to return to the Lord:
1. God Tells Us Too
READ JOEL 2:12 – 13 A
We need to return to God because God tells us too. We as Christians should be obeying what God has called and told us to do. God tells us here not only to return to Him, but to do it with our whole heart. There is a difference between saying that you will return to God and actually doing it.
We have all heard and probably used the phrase “actions speak louder than words.” You can talk about it as much as you would like, but until you do something about it, nothing will ever change. There is a difference between knowing about God and knowing God. There is a difference between singing and worship. There is a difference between going to church and being a Christian. You can act like a Christian. You can act like you are worshipping. You can act like you know God, but until you do those things with all your heart, nothing will happen. Look at what it says next:
“With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning”
We also must do all three of these with our full heart. Fasting is a tangible way to deny ourselves—to declare before God that we know it is all about Him, not about us. So, with our full heart, we must deny ourselves and shift all our focus and attention towards God. Matthew 16:24 says this:
“Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”
In order to follow Jesus or return back to God, we must first deny ourselves and then focus on God. We must also weep and mourn. I think that a major issue with many Christians today is that we longer weep and mourn over our sins. We are so used to sinning that often it does not affect us like it used to. Returning to God requires us to weep and mourn. Look at the beginning of verse 13 again.
“And rend your hearts and not your garments.”
An article said this about rendering your heart:
“In Bible days, people expressed sorrow by tearing (rending) their clothes. Everyone who saw them knew they were grieving. If someone wanted to demonstrate their repentance and sorrow over their sin, they would publicly tear their clothes. The outward display did not always mean they were sincerely repentant in their heart. When we sin against God and others, God’s Word insists outward sorrow is not enough. We must mean it on the inside.”
It all goes back to meaning it with all your heart. Outwardly stuff does not matter. It does not matter what you look or sound like if your heart is not in it. Returning to God requires you render your heart.
2. God is Merciful
READ JOEL 2:13 B
We need to return to God because God is merciful. I can remember when I was little, whenever I did something wrong, I would try to hide from my parents or make it a point to try to avoid them at all costs. I did this because I knew I did something that I should not have done, and I knew there would be consequences for it. I knew that more than likely; I was about to get a whooping and I did not want any part of that and sure enough, every time I got whooped.
I think a lot of times we tend to have that same mindset about God. We tend be scared to go to God when we mess up and sin, but instead of whooping us, He is merciful, and He forgives us. He does it time after time after time. That is a God of mercy. God abounds in steadfast love. Steadfast can be defined as to be firmly fixed and not subject to change, to be firm in belief and determination, and to be loyal and faithful. God is overflowing with this faithful love that will never change. We need to return to God because He offers us a faithful love that will never change.
One of the best things about God`s love is that there is nothing that we can do to cause Him to stop loving us. There is nothing that we can do or say that will take us out of the love of God. When we sin, He still loves us. When we say something we should not say, He still loves us. His love for us is not like the love we have for each other. See, we can do or say something that can affect the love we have for each other. God loves us unconditionally. He loves us no matter what. That is the love that we are called to have. We are called to have a love for each other that resembles the love that God has for us. We make each other mad or upset and then before you know it, the love is gone.
“Return to the Lord your God,
for He is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love”
Thankfully, He is slow to anger. We too need to be slow to anger. We cannot love like God loves if we are not slow to anger like God is. Also, in order to love like God loves, we must also forgive as God forgives us. Every single one of us have gave God a million reasons to leave us, but He has not. Instead, He forgave us. We cannot walk the Christian walk if we are always walking around with built up anger towards people in us. We must forgive others as God has forgiven us.
A lot of people talk about how bad and negative social media is and to an extent, they are right, but there is also a beautiful and amazing part of social media that not a lot of people talk about and that is how many people you can reach with the Gospel. I saw a video earlier this week and it really stood out to me. It said when God made fish, He spoke to the sea. When God created trees, He spoke to the Earth. When God created humans, He spoke to Himself. What happens if you take a fish out of the sea? It dies. What happens if you take a tree out of its soil? It dies. What happens when you get disconnected from God? You die. One of the many reasons that makes hell so awful is that God is absent from it. Without God, we are nothing. Look at verses 15 and 16.
READ JOEL 2:15-16
Here, God calls for the people to gather together and return to Him. Yes, they individually needed to return to God, but they also needed to as a group. Joel 1:14 says this:
“Consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly.
Gather the elders
and all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.”
So, in both Joel chapter 1 and Joel chapter 2, God calls for the people to gather together as a group to cry out to God.
In Joel Chapter 1, the section title is “A Call to Repentance” and the section title in Joel Chapter 2 is “Return to the Lord.” They were called to repent and to return to the Lord. They were told to do this both individually and together as a group. Folks, we are called to do the same thing. We are called to repent as a church, and we are called to return to the Lord as a church. How can we as a church return to the Lord if we have not repented and turned from our sins? How can we as a church repent if we have not returned to the Lord? It takes both. Let us look at both these a little more deeply.
1. A Call for Repentance
First, we need to define what repentance is.
Repentance is reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs, which is accompanied by commitment to and actual actions that show and prove a change for the better. In modern times, it is seen as involving a commitment to personal change and the resolve to live a more responsible and humane life. In other words, being sorry for one's misdeeds. It can also involve sorrow over a specific sin or series of sins that an individual feels guilty about, or conviction that they have committed.
In Jeremiah Chapter 2 and 3, the nation of Israel is currently split into two different kingdoms. They were split into Judah and Israel with Judah being the Southern Kingdom and Israel being the Northern Kingdom. We will not take time to read it, but in Jeremiah Chapter 2 and the first part of Jeremiah Chapter 3, Israel completely walks away from God and becomes like the world and becomes worthless. They become this nation full of lawlessness, evil, and sin. Verses 6 to 9 in chapter 3 show us that the Southern Kingdom of Judah saw what Israel had become and instead of drawing closer to the Lord, they decided to follow in the footsteps of Israel. They became just like them and according to verse 12, Judah ended up becoming worse than Israel.
This is where we are at in Chapter 3... two nations that have completely distanced themselves from God and have chased after the world. With that in mind, Jeremiah Chapter 3 verses 10 and 11 says this:
“Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord.” And the Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.”
Judah did not return to God. Instead, they acted like they did. The nation of Judah did not have true repentance from the heart but instead, they performed empty actions and said worthless words. Listen folks, repentance is more than asking God for forgiveness. You were forgiven at Mt. Calvary on the cross. Repentance is asking for forgiveness and then turning from that sinful action and not doing it again. Judah asked for forgiveness, but they went straight back to the action that they were doing beforehand. There was no heart in it.
Like the nation of Israel, we are called to true repentance. A repentance in which we turn from our sin and instead turn to Christ. A few weeks ago, we had what I like to call a “Come to Jesus Meeting” after the service was over. A time where we spoke from our hearts and let some things out about how we felt. Folks, that was great but if we do not learn and turn from the mistakes we have made, then it was all for nothing. If we as a church have not truly repented with our whole hearts and turned from our wrongful actions, then that was all a waste of time.
We as a church must come together and lift up a unified voice of repentance where we turn from our actions.
2. Return to the Lord
It is important that we as individuals return to God, but it is equally important that this church returns to God. Folks, it is mighty hard for a divided church to return to God. Galatians 5: 22-26 says this:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
Those are what we call the Fruits of the Spirit. Those are all characteristics of God. Did you notice that nowhere in that list does it mention division?
Division is not mentioned as an attribute of God because division is not of God, but it is of the devil. God does not come in and divide people. God does not come in and divide churches. The devil does that. Division is an attribute of the devil. So, if we want the division in this church to leave, we must kick the devil out of this place and we do that by repenting and returning back to God. Matthew 12:25 says:
“Knowing their thoughts, He said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is a laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.”
We are one body in Christ. I want y`all to understand something here... a body that is not united cannot function. A body that is not united cannot function. A unified body must have one purpose and one goal. If we want the church to still be open and still be meeting together 10 years from now, we must unite today. If we want the church to see the year 2033, we must unite today. The future of the church is dependent upon the unity we create today. Folks, it does not matter who the pastor is if we are not united. It does not matter who the music minister is if we are not united. The Youth Pastor, Head Deacon, Pianist, Secretary, Treasurer; none of that matters if we are not united. We could have the best church staff in the entire country, and this place could still crumble and fall apart if we are divided. Folks, there are enough issues and problems in the world. The last thing that we need is for the place that we come to where we can put everything else aside and focus on nothing but Jesus be fighting too. We as a church must return to God. Listen folks, we cannot be a church after God`s own heart if we are divided. We cannot be a loving and caring church if all we do is argue and bicker with each other.
It is imperative that we return to God. It is also imperative that we the church repent and return to God. Like I said earlier, we cannot return to God if we have not repented, and we cannot repent if we do not return to God. It takes both. Not one or the other, but both.
This week, 21 Days of Prayer started at Church of the Highlands. Monday to Friday, it starts at 6 am and on Saturday, it starts at 9 am. Me, Savanah, and Alissa have been going. Every day opens with a song of worship and praise and then a speaker gives about a 10-minute devotion. Then, there is another song followed by 25 minutes of individual prayer. Then we come back and have another song and the speaker will close us out in prayer. One the most beautiful parts of 21 Days of Prayer is how much it reminds me of Heaven. Yes, 21 Days of Prayer reminds me of Heaven. It reminds me of Heaven because for one, everyone there is worshipping and when it comes time, everyone there is praying. You can look around during worship and during prayer and you will see just about every worship style, and you will see just about every prayer style. You will see people with hands lifted high or some with no hands raised at all, but we are all worshipping and praising God. During prayer, you will see some down on their knees and you will see some in theirs, but we are all praying and pouring our hearts out to God.
It also reminds me of Heaven because of the people that are there. Every day, you will see every race, every age, and both genders. Revelation 7:9-10 says this:
“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!””
Every race from every nation from every tribe will be in Heaven one day. Listen folks, if you are worried about someone who looks different than you being next to you in Heaven, do not worry about it, you probably will not be there. At 21 Days of Prayer, you will also find every age there. I have seen children there and I have seen people in their 80s and 90s be there and everyone in between. You will also find both genders. I do not care what people try to say and argue today, God made 2 genders and there are only 2 genders. Both genders are there worshipping the King of Kings. Yes, even the men are there worshipping and singing.
It is hard for us to come together to praise, worship, and pray if all we are focused on is ourselves. When we come to this place of worship, we should never be focused on what we want, what we think, or how we feel. That puts the focus and the attention on us when it should all be on God. If you want things your way, go to Burger King. There motto is “have it your way.” This is church where it is have it God`s way. During that 25-minute period of praying, they play some music. It is not somebody up on stage leading the music like the other songs, but they play it from YouTube or something. Yesterday while praying, I started off praying for Church of the Highlands and their services today and then I prayed for the Highlands College as they begin classes. Then, I went to pray for our church and our service today. As soon as I started to pray for Central, a song came on. Now, I do not believe in accidents. I believe that God has a purpose for everything. The song Way Maker came on. Y`all know it we have sung it before.
Way Maker
Miracle Worker
Promise Keeper
Light in the Darkness
My God, that is who You are
Y`all, as bad as things may seem right now, God can still make a way. God can still preform a miracle. God still keeps His promises, and He is still a light in the darkness that surrounds us. I have said it many times before. You do not have to understand God`s plan, you just have to trust it. Right now, the storms are raging. Will you keep your eyes on Jesus, or will have your eyes focused on the storm?
Today, maybe you are dealing with something, and you have not repented about it. Maybe today, you realize that you are distant from God, and you need to come home running back to God. This altar is open. Come on down and get right with God. Today, maybe you realize that division has caused an issue with your brothers or sisters in Christ. During the invitation time, I highly encourage you to go to them and make things right. There is division between you not because of God, but because of satan. Today is the day that you need to cast him out and tell him to go back to hell where he belongs. As the praise team begins to make their way up, pray. Pray to God and ask Him to unite this church together in a way that nothing could ever tear it apart. Let us pray.
