Introduction
Video Ill.: Welcome Home - Playback Media
I say it too: Welcome home!
Home, Sweet Home
By Sermon Central
[(Michael P. Green. (2000). 1500 illustrations for biblical preaching (68). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.) From a sermon by Matthew Kratz, Hope that Stands in the Storm]
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The story is told that there was a time during the American Civil War when the rival armies were encamped on the opposite banks of the Potomac River. The Union's band played one of its patriotic tunes, and the Confederate musicians quickly struck up a melody dear to any Southerner's heart. Then one of the bands started to play "Home, Sweet Home." The musical competition ceased, and the musicians from the other army joined in. Soon voices from both sides of the river could be heard singing, "There is no place like home.”
This morning, there’s no place like home! It’s great that you are here today — for we have found that we are home in His grace, as we grow together in faith.
Being home has nothing to do with the building, the pews, the music. Being home means that we are part of a family. It’s a place where we find a sense of belonging, a place of security, a place where we find our identity. Home is exactly where we are today — in God’s presence, worshipping and growing together.
And, it is all because of God’s grace! Through God’s grace we find common ground, we are all equals before God’s throne. Our past is gone, our future is bright. Through grace we can come home. Through grace, we have a solid foundation upon which we can grow.
This morning, we are part of God’s household, and we can grow in grace and faith together in the family of God.
**I. As we begin, let’s consider that we are Home in God’s Grace.**
Paul writes in Ephesians 2:
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God's household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the Chief Cornerstone. 21 In Him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. (Ephesians 2, NIV1984)
**A. Folks, we are no longer strangers because of what Jesus did. **
Through grace, we have become members of God’s household. We have become part of His family because of His grace.
When we live covered by His grace, it does not matter what we have done in the past, what mistakes or missteps we have made.
What matters is that we are washed in His blood, as the old hymn says.
We have been transformed. We are no longer the enemies of God. We are no longer outsiders. We are no longer strangers. We are no longer foreigners. We are no longer aliens.
We now have found a place among God’s family.
We have a place of belonging.
We have eternal security, being marked with the seal of His Spirit. Paul said earlier in Ephesians:
13 … [Y]ou also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession — to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1, NIV1984)
We have a place we can call home — and it is right here, with each one of us around us.
And God’s grace is for everyone of us. There’s not a single person who is too far gone to be able to receive His grace.
God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s grace is for all. Jesus paid the price of the entire world’s sin, not just the sin of the Jews, or the Romans, or any other special groups. His death was for all of us. For God so loved THE WORLD that He gave His Son.
Talk about inclusivity. There is truly no other place where all is forgiven, where we all have a chance for a complete do-over, where we all can become members of one big family.
There’s a place for everyone in God’s family, in His home.
Clinker Bricks
By Sermon Central
[“Clinker bricks and Ebenezers,” May 2, 1999, Exeter Congregational United Church of Christ Web Site, users.rcn.com.]
More information at http://gatespres.org/ourchurch/
(From a sermon by Larry Wise, Precious In His Sight, 2/24/2010)
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Although at times it seems as though the church is in ruin and rubble, God sees it as a beautiful building.
Clinker bricks are bricks that did not quite make it. For some reason or another, they come out of the kiln misshapen or deformed. Gates Presbyterian Church in the town of Gates, New York, was intentionally built using clinker bricks. The congregation wanted to send a message, so they build their church using imperfect, rejected bricks. According to their website, “These ‘clinker’ bricks represent not only that we as Christians are all unique, as no two bricks are the same, but also that God, as well as the church, accepts and loves us with all our imperfections. Through God’s grace, through Jesus, we become living stones in His church.”
We do not become living stones because we are so great. It is God who is great. We are connected into His church through Him.
**B. As living stones, we are built on a firm foundation.**
We are grounded on the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Paul says. But as important as they are, God’s house, His family, is built on Jesus as the cornerstone.
In Psalm 18, David wrote:
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my
deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take
refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my
salvation,
my stronghold. (Psalm 18, NIV1984)
With Jesus as our rock, our cornerstone, the foundation of our salvation, our deliverer, without a doubt, God was building something that would stand against the winds of time. He was building His church on something that would last for eternity.
Heaven or Drake's Mansion
By Dr. Fred W. Penney
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Drake is a famous rapper from Toronto who lives in a mansion valued at $100,000,000.
Measuring 50,000 square feet it includes a 3,200 foot square master bedroom; A basketball court and a "Great Room" with a 44-foot-high ceiling and containing a Bösendorfer concert grand piano.
Drake's mansion features a one-ton bed, a two-story closet and a 4,000-pound bathtub carved from a single slab of black marble.
The mansion is Drake's bold statement. He is quoted as saying in Architectural Digest that he wanted it to "forever remain solid in the place I was born...Because I was building it in my hometown, I wanted the structure to stand firm for 100 years. I wanted it to have a monumental scale and feel. It will be one of the things I leave behind, so it had to be timeless and strong."
Something better, something bigger, something stronger, something more timeless has been built — and that is the church — that is us — as we are built on a firm foundation.
**C. We are A Dwelling for God’s Spirit.**
You see, as members of God’s family, as part of His eternal home, we have become the dwelling place for God’s Spirit — His comforter — His counselor.
We are part of a holy temple where God lives. Not this building. Not this structure. But in our hearts.
God came to dwell among us and to dwell in us.
All through His grace.
We are here today, as a family, as the church, as the temple of the Holy Spirit, because of grace.
We do not deserve to be here. There’s nothing we could do to earn a right to be here. There’s nothing we could do to show that we belong here.
It was only through Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection to take away the sin of the world that gives us a chance to belong — to be a part — to be the church.
It’s only because of His grace that we are home.
**II. As we are home in His grace, we are also together Growing in Faith.**
Peter closed out his second letter, encouraging his readers with these words:
18 … [G]row in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…. (2 Peter 3, NIV1984)
**A. We have been called to grow.**
REAL GROWTH
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr
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JUAN CARLOS ORTEZ wrote in “LIVING WITH JESUS TODAY”:
We have a phenomenon in the church today which I call "the eternal babyhood of the believer." We have members of our church who after years of hearing messages are just the same. They continually need a minister to keep after them, changing their diapers, putting talcum on them, checking that their milk is not too hot.
The church seems more like a hospital than an army. Sometimes we fool ourselves, because we grow numerically. We think that this is growth. But to grow in numbers alone is not necessarily spiritual growth. Cemeteries also grow numerically. To have 100 people without love, then 200 people without love is just to get fat.
Many churches are just fat. Sadly, we struggle to grow spiritually in the church.
But growth is not optional. If we are not growing, then we are dying. Growth is a natural and expected part of our spiritual journey.
**B. Grace is the Soil for Growth.**
Jesus tells this story in Luke 8:
5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6 Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” (Luke 8, NIV1984)
As we come to be a part of the family, as we allow God’s love to fill our lives, and we understand that we have been chosen by God, as we accept His mercy, grace becomes the fertile soil in which our faith grows.
Our faith must be rooted in God’s grace.
When our faith begins to grow deeper in His grace, our roots grow deeper, giving us the ability to stand firm when the winds of the world are blowing all around us.
When our faith is anchored to the Rock that is Jesus, then we can withstand the storms of the world.
Without grace, though, growth in our spiritual lives is impossible. It’s just like that seed falling on all of those other types of soil.
We must foster our learning, our understanding, our growth in God’s grace. We must find ways to expand and enhance our knowledge of our Lord and Savior.
If We Are To Be Truly Born Again, One Of The ...
By Joanna Beveridge
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If we are to be truly born again, one of the first things we have to do is to acknowledge our weakness and our helplessness. We cannot sustain a spiritual life by ourselves. If we are to grow spiritually, we must learn to rely on God and trust him to provide all that we need for spiritual growth.
**C. That Knowledge will lead to Maturity.**
As we grow in our faith, it’s not just about book knowledge. It’s not just about being able to quote book, chapter, and verse on command.
It’s about that knowledge changing our lives, and allowing us to grow to be more like Jesus.
Our lives should reflect those changes as we grow in our faith.
Gladyce, A Widow, Attended Church Faithfully ...
By Sermon Central
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The story is told of a widow named Gladyce. Gladyce attended church faithfully every Sunday. She would get there about 20 minutes early to sit and pray. This was her ritual. Just her and Jesus. She had been doing this for years.
Then one Sunday a new family sat behind her. This was disturbing. She said, “Oh, well, they’re visitors and they may not be back next week anyway.” She thought she could put up with the small feet kicking at her back and the toy cars being driven on the top of her pew and loud whispers for lifesavers and trips to the bathroom that interrupted her prayer for one Sunday.
Much to her dismay, one week turned into two and two into a month and she realized that they were here to stay.
She weighed her options. She could change pews, but “no, that was where she and her husband had always worshiped.” She wasn’t willing to give up her pew. She could turn around and glare at them. She could pray at home for 20 minutes.
One Sunday before worship was really bad. “Church was for quiet meditation and reflection,” she thought. She looked at the parents and the squirming children. She realized that the parents looked tired. “Perhaps I should just let them be,” she thought. Instead of yelling, she managed a small smile. The next Sunday she took lifesavers and offered them. The next Sunday she asked their names. She found out the oldest liked horses, the youngest liked cars and the middle one liked books. The next Sunday she was disappointed that they weren’t there. It didn’t seem like church without the tap of little feet at her back. Next week she invited the family over for Sunday Brunch and from there on a fast friendship grew.
She matured. She grew as the Sundays passed.
Are we allowing ourselves to grow when we are together? Or are we territorial — protecting what we think is ours? Do we want to grow together, or maintain the status quo?
We need to seek spiritual maturity — a maturity that sees others before ourselves. A maturity that tries to help others grow as well. A maturity that understands we are all sinners, but we are saved only because of a mighty grace.
This morning, we need to grow. We need to seek to understand the depth, breadth, width, and height of God’s love — so that we begin to better understand each day more and more just how much Jesus did for us.
As we understand more and more, the more our lives should mature spiritually, looking more and more like Jesus in each and every part of our lives.
**III. So what does it mean to be home in His grace, growing in faith?**
**A. It means that we need to embrace our places in God’s Household.**
We each are vital members of God’s house — we each have a unique role and purpose. God has made each one of us especially for His purpose in this world.
It means that we welcome home those who feel like outsiders.
It means that we love each other with God’s love.
When we are home in His grace, it means that we have found the place where we belong, and we truly believe that.
God wants us to come home. He is welcoming us with wide open arms.
**B. It means that we need to Commit to growing spiritually.**
It’s no longer acceptable to just maintain in our spiritual lives. We must find ways to grow.
And it is a goal that we can work toward together. We have an instant support group built in right here! We can encourage each other to grow. We can help each other to grow.
It starts by committing to the fellowship of the saints, gathering together, not neglecting meeting together. We find encouragement and support when we come together.
As we gather together, we need to commit to engaging in regular Bible study, prayer and involvement in the community of believers.
**C. It means that we are to be a Dwelling Place for God’s Spirit.**
Do we reflect God’s love, mercy and grace to the world around us?
Is it evident that we are followers of Jesus?
Can people see the difference that grace has made in our lives?
We need to be a community where God’s presence is evident, where His love and grace are displayed at all times.
**Conclusion**
This morning, on this homecoming Sunday, where we celebrate the rich history of our church, we are home — home in His grace. We have found the one place where we can find acceptance, belonging, security, and love.
Over the years, this church has stood as a beacon of God’s grace to this community. May we always strive to let that light of grace, mercy, and love shine brightly for all to see.
May we also be seeking those who are searching — those who are lost — those who need guided back to the way. May we be a place where they too can find acceptance, belonging, security, grace, and love.
And just as important, may we always be growing in our faith and trust in His grace.
This morning, if you are wandering, feeling lost in this crazy world, I encourage you to come home — immerse yourself in the grace and mercy that Jesus gives because of His love. He loves you so much that He gave His life so that we can be in a loving relationship with Him — so that we can be a part of His family — so that we can come home.
Come home today — surrender your life to Him. Find yourself home here in His grace. Then grow in His love for you each and every day.
