[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 9th of September, 2018, Homecoming Sunday at Pilgrim Reformed Church. Look for the video of this and our other services on our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
Church homecoming – a day set aside each year for folks to come back to what once was their home church, usually accompanied by a luncheon afterwards. Here at Pilgrim, we also take a moment on this day to remember those who have passed since this time last year. They enjoyed a different kind of homecoming, one we all look forward to.
I’ll look at that homecoming in a minute, but there’s another I’d like to address first, and that is coming home to God. Our heavenly Father spoke through His prophet Ezekiel and promises us new life when we come home to Him. Please listen and follow along as I read what Ezekiel recorded for us in the 37th chapter of his book, verses 1 through 14, from the Contemporary English Version of our Holy Bible…
I’ll look at that homecoming in a minute, but there’s another I’d like to address first, and that is coming home to God. Our heavenly Father spoke through His prophet Ezekiel and promises us new life when we come home to Him. Please listen and follow along as I read what Ezekiel recorded for us in the 37th chapter of his book, verses 1 through 14, from the Contemporary English Version of our Holy Bible…
1 Some time later, I felt the Lord’s power take control of me, and His Spirit carried me to a valley full of bones. 2 The Lord showed me all around, and everywhere I looked I saw bones that were dried out. 3 He said, “Ezekiel, son of man, can these bones come back to life?”
I replied, “Lord God, only you can answer that.”
4 He then told me to say:
Dry bones, listen to what the Lord is saying to you, 5 “I, the Lord God, will put breath in you, and once again you will live. 6 I will wrap you with muscles and skin and breathe life into you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”
7 I did what the Lord said, but before I finished speaking, I heard a rattling noise. The bones were coming together! 8 I saw muscles and skin cover the bones, but they had no life in them.
9 The Lord said:
Ezekiel, now say to the wind, “The Lord God commands you to blow from every direction and to breathe life into these dead bodies, so they can live again.”
10 As soon as I said this, the wind blew among the bodies, and they came back to life! They all stood up, and there were enough to make a large army.
11 The Lord said:
Ezekiel, the people of Israel are like dead bones. They complain that they are dried up and that they have no hope for the future. 12 So tell them, “I, the Lord God, promise to open your graves and set you free. I will bring you back to Israel, 13 and when that happens, you will realize that I am the Lord. 14 My Spirit will give you breath, and you will live again. I will bring you home, and you will know that I have kept My promise. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
--Ezekiel 37:1-14 (CEV)
Let us pray… Father God, sometimes we feel and act like nothing but a pile of old dry bones, just laying around with no life in us. Revive us, please Father. Help us hear Your voice, feel Your Spirit moving inside us. Speak to us now with the message You need us to hear this day.. In the blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
A lady once asked evangelist Billy Sunday, "Why do you keep having revivals when it doesn't last?" Billy answered with a question of his own: "Why do you keep taking baths?"
Welsh author Howard Spring noted that, "The kingdom of God is not going to advance by our churches becoming filled with men, but by men in our churches becoming filled with God."
North Carolina native and American evangelist Vance Havner put it like this: "Revival is the church falling in love with Jesus all over again."
There are some things we have to keep doing over and over because they need doing over and over, like bathing and washing clothes and mowing the grass. Billy Sunday understood that we Christians need to be constantly revived, we need those reminders of who and what we are. Howard Spring recognized that numbers in and of themselves don’t matter; that how many people we have filling the pews isn’t as important as how filled with God and His Holy Spirit we are. And our native son Vance Havner summed it up best by saying that church revival is simply the family of Jesus falling in love with our Lord all over again.
Revival is all about coming back home to God, refreshing our hearts with His Holy Spirit, renewing our love for His Son Jesus. Our revival services start tonight, but revival should be an ongoing practice for us.
God showed Ezekiel a field of dry, lifeless bones. And then He gave them flesh and breathed life into them. Then God explained what the vision is all about, that the dry bones represent the people of Israel, His chosen people. Now since this is all recorded in our Bible for us all, and God speaks to us all, Gentiles and Jews alike, then we need to understand that we also are these dry bones.
And don’t we get to the point just like God is talking about, where we complain about being all dried up but don’t do anything about it. We lose all hope for any kind of decent future. We turn to drugs, both legal and illegal. We seek help from doctors who give us drugs to suppress our depression, but that really only make us more depressed. Human life becomes more and more worthless, as violence, murder, and suicides increase.
If we would only come home to God, He will pry open our self-dug graves and set us free! He will give flesh to our bones and breathe new life into us! He will bring us home! This our Lord has promised! This God has spoken!
And that brings us to the other homecoming, the one where the entire family of Jesus comes together. For although this facility is beautiful, and we come here to our home church, this is not our home. Indeed, no place in this world is our home, as the author of the Book of Hebrews clearly states in chapter 13 verse 14 when he states…
Nothing in this world is permanent, not in God’s great scheme. Everything of this world will eventually pass away, so it can certainly not be a permanent home for anyone. We are all pilgrims here, and not just in Pilgrim Church. As the old song “Wayfaring Stranger” says, we’re just traveling through this world below.
The Apostle Peter echoes this sentiment in his 1st letter to the early church, chapter 2, verses 11 and 12 when he writes…
We’re only temporary residents, but as such we should be careful to live proper lives so that the unbelieving around us see us as honorable and may come to know Jesus themselves. For Jesus will return someday, and then God will judge the world.
In chapter 4, verses 16 and 17 of his 1st letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul tells us what to expect on that day…
This will be our true and final homecoming! This will be the time when all believers in Jesus, those who have died and those still alive on that glorious day, will be reunited as one family, the full body of Jesus. This is the great reunion with our Lord in the sky, and what a grand homecoming that will be!
But there’s a kicker, a requisite condition – did you notice? This homecoming is for those who believed in and accepted Jesus during their life on earth. Our homecoming service and lunch today is open to anyone who wishes to come. But this homecoming with Jesus is strictly for believers - no one else will be invited, or allowed to attend.
This is what we need to remember. This is why we come together every Sunday. This is why we need constant revival. This is why we need all our family to be filled with God and His Holy Spirit. This is why we need to fall in love with Jesus all over again.
Someday, if we believe, we’ll be a part of that great homecoming in the clouds. Starting this evening, we’ll come together for our three revival services. But let’s make it a point to seek revival each and every day. Let’s fall in love with Jesus, all over again.
In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, You see the hearts of Your people and You know our condition. Too often, believers look just like non-believers in our day to day actions. Too many of us are nothing but dry bones, having lost all hope, having forgotten our first love of Jesus. Please help us, Father. Return to our bones muscle, sinew, and flesh. Breathe life back into us by filling us anew with Your Holy Spirit. Renew our love for Your Son Jesus.
Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, thanking You for Your many blessings, promising to turn from our sin, and asking for Your help as we do so…
Lord Jesus, You promised to return some day to call Your church home. Please help us, Lord, to be ready for that day so we can be a part of that great reunion in the sky. Help us regain the love we felt for You when we first came to You. Revive us, Lord. Lead us back to our Father God. Lead us home.
This we pray in Your glorious name, Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, our only hope. Amen.
A lady once asked evangelist Billy Sunday, "Why do you keep having revivals when it doesn't last?" Billy answered with a question of his own: "Why do you keep taking baths?"
Welsh author Howard Spring noted that, "The kingdom of God is not going to advance by our churches becoming filled with men, but by men in our churches becoming filled with God."
North Carolina native and American evangelist Vance Havner put it like this: "Revival is the church falling in love with Jesus all over again."
There are some things we have to keep doing over and over because they need doing over and over, like bathing and washing clothes and mowing the grass. Billy Sunday understood that we Christians need to be constantly revived, we need those reminders of who and what we are. Howard Spring recognized that numbers in and of themselves don’t matter; that how many people we have filling the pews isn’t as important as how filled with God and His Holy Spirit we are. And our native son Vance Havner summed it up best by saying that church revival is simply the family of Jesus falling in love with our Lord all over again.
Revival is all about coming back home to God, refreshing our hearts with His Holy Spirit, renewing our love for His Son Jesus. Our revival services start tonight, but revival should be an ongoing practice for us.
God showed Ezekiel a field of dry, lifeless bones. And then He gave them flesh and breathed life into them. Then God explained what the vision is all about, that the dry bones represent the people of Israel, His chosen people. Now since this is all recorded in our Bible for us all, and God speaks to us all, Gentiles and Jews alike, then we need to understand that we also are these dry bones.
And don’t we get to the point just like God is talking about, where we complain about being all dried up but don’t do anything about it. We lose all hope for any kind of decent future. We turn to drugs, both legal and illegal. We seek help from doctors who give us drugs to suppress our depression, but that really only make us more depressed. Human life becomes more and more worthless, as violence, murder, and suicides increase.
If we would only come home to God, He will pry open our self-dug graves and set us free! He will give flesh to our bones and breathe new life into us! He will bring us home! This our Lord has promised! This God has spoken!
And that brings us to the other homecoming, the one where the entire family of Jesus comes together. For although this facility is beautiful, and we come here to our home church, this is not our home. Indeed, no place in this world is our home, as the author of the Book of Hebrews clearly states in chapter 13 verse 14 when he states…
14 For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.
--Hebrews 13:14 (NLT)
The Apostle Peter echoes this sentiment in his 1st letter to the early church, chapter 2, verses 11 and 12 when he writes…
11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.
--1 Peter 2:11-12 (NLT)
In chapter 4, verses 16 and 17 of his 1st letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul tells us what to expect on that day…
16 For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.
--1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NLT)
But there’s a kicker, a requisite condition – did you notice? This homecoming is for those who believed in and accepted Jesus during their life on earth. Our homecoming service and lunch today is open to anyone who wishes to come. But this homecoming with Jesus is strictly for believers - no one else will be invited, or allowed to attend.
This is what we need to remember. This is why we come together every Sunday. This is why we need constant revival. This is why we need all our family to be filled with God and His Holy Spirit. This is why we need to fall in love with Jesus all over again.
Someday, if we believe, we’ll be a part of that great homecoming in the clouds. Starting this evening, we’ll come together for our three revival services. But let’s make it a point to seek revival each and every day. Let’s fall in love with Jesus, all over again.
In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, You see the hearts of Your people and You know our condition. Too often, believers look just like non-believers in our day to day actions. Too many of us are nothing but dry bones, having lost all hope, having forgotten our first love of Jesus. Please help us, Father. Return to our bones muscle, sinew, and flesh. Breathe life back into us by filling us anew with Your Holy Spirit. Renew our love for Your Son Jesus.
Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, thanking You for Your many blessings, promising to turn from our sin, and asking for Your help as we do so…
Lord Jesus, You promised to return some day to call Your church home. Please help us, Lord, to be ready for that day so we can be a part of that great reunion in the sky. Help us regain the love we felt for You when we first came to You. Revive us, Lord. Lead us back to our Father God. Lead us home.
This we pray in Your glorious name, Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, our only hope. Amen.
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