Homecoming: There

Homecoming Series Introduction

Psalm 84:1-4

Psalm 84:1–4 NIV

1 How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty! 2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. 3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.

Every human being wants a place to call home. Home is a place of happiness, a place of peace and rest. It is a place of safety, of warmth where we can relax and refuel. Home is where we are loved unconditionally, with all our imperfections, and make lasting memories. At home we don't have to perform a certain way to be accepted.

A homeless person is an unhappy and restless person.

In Psalm 84, the author is agonizing over the fact of being momentarily away from the house of the Lord, which he considers the home of his whole being, body and soul.

There is a hint of jealousy at the idea that while he is away, simple birds have made themselves at home in the house of the Lord.

The house of the Lord isn't just a physical location; it is synonymous with the presence of the Lord.

So he desires passionately to be in his presence again, where he can grow and become who God intended him to be.

The psalmist represents the Christian and the house of the Lord is the church.

A Christian without a church is like a person without a home. Church is the home where God wants us to be. And where he wants us to be, there his presence will be also.

The overarching story of the Bible is really about returning home. From the moment Adam and Eve broke their intimacy with God and were subsequently driven out of the garden, God set in motion a plan to bring humanity back in a relationship with him. And that plan will see its ultimate completion when at the very end God himself makes his dwelling among people.

The Bible is full of examples of people who either were going home or returning home to fulfill their destinies.

After 20 years working for his uncle, Jacob decided to return home and, along the way, God changed his name to Israel, connecting him to his true identity.

When the people of Israel left Egypt, it was to go home to the promised land, a land of blessing which flows with milk and honey.

Naomi returned home after a prolonged absence bringing along with her Ruth, who entered in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus.

The prodigal son returned home after wasting his inheritance. Fearing rejection by his father whom he betrayed, he instead was welcomed home with open arms.

The lesson for us today from these old stories is that it’s not too late, we can still turn and head back home.

This series is for you:

If you know you left your home church and wish to return

If you stopped attending church and are sitting on the sidelines, undecided

If you don’t have a home church and are hopping from church to church

If your church shutdown definitively because of the pandemic and you are churchless

If you were hurt by your previous church experience and swore never to set foot in a church again

If you have never left your church, but you know God wants to use to bring others home.

If you are resisting God's call to do more where he has planted you

In this series, we want to explore what it means to come home, more specifically, to come back to church. We want to answer the question where is home (There)? What goes on at home (Saved, Empowered, Loved) and what is expected of us when we are home (The mission base)?

So come home and let's embark on this journey of discovery and growth.

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Sunday November 6th, 2022

Introduction

Location, Location, Location

Today I want us to see that good things happen when we are at the right place and at the right time.

I want us to learn that sometimes God can place us in a location that makes no sense. He sometimes orders us to be in a place that's messy.

But ultimately, the location he chooses for us provides the best protection in a hostile environment.

In order to see how sometimes God places us in locations that do not seem right for us, let's look at the story of the prophet Elijah, who appears seemingly out of nowhere. But before we read, let me set the scene for you.

Ahab is the king of Israel. He has zero respect for God's will and does things that deeply displease Him. To make matters worse, Ahab marries Jezebel, a worshipper of the false god Baal. She is more evil than him, and together, they terrorize the people of Israel.

Let's read 1 Kings 17:1-7, 8-16

1 Kings 17:1–7 LSG

1 Élie, le Thischbite, l’un des habitants de Galaad, dit à Achab: L’Éternel est vivant, le Dieu d’Israël, dont je suis le serviteur! il n’y aura ces années-ci ni rosée ni pluie, sinon à ma parole. 2 Et la parole de l’Éternel fut adressée à Élie, en ces mots: 3 Pars d’ici, dirige-toi vers l’orient, et cache-toi près du torrent de Kerith, qui est en face du Jourdain. 4 Tu boiras de l’eau du torrent, et j’ai ordonné aux corbeaux de te nourrir là. 5 Il partit et fit selon la parole de l’Éternel, et il alla s’établir près du torrent de Kerith, qui est en face du Jourdain. 6 Les corbeaux lui apportaient du pain et de la viande le matin, et du pain et de la viande le soir, et il buvait de l’eau du torrent. 7 Mais au bout d’un certain temps le torrent fut à sec, car il n’était point tombé de pluie dans le pays.

1 Kings 17:8–16 LSG

8 Alors la parole de l’Éternel lui fut adressée en ces mots: 9 Lève-toi, va à Sarepta, qui appartient à Sidon, et demeure là. Voici, j’y ai ordonné à une femme veuve de te nourrir. 10 Il se leva, et il alla à Sarepta. Comme il arrivait à l’entrée de la ville, voici, il y avait là une femme veuve qui ramassait du bois. Il l’appela, et dit: Va me chercher, je te prie, un peu d’eau dans un vase, afin que je boive. 11 Et elle alla en chercher. Il l’appela de nouveau, et dit: Apporte-moi, je te prie, un morceau de pain dans ta main. 12 Et elle répondit: L’Éternel, ton Dieu, est vivant! je n’ai rien de cuit, je n’ai qu’une poignée de farine dans un pot et un peu d’huile dans une cruche. Et voici, je ramasse deux morceaux de bois, puis je rentrerai et je préparerai cela pour moi et pour mon fils; nous mangerons, après quoi nous mourrons. 13 Élie lui dit: Ne crains point, rentre, fais comme tu as dit. Seulement, prépare-moi d’abord avec cela un petit gâteau, et tu me l’apporteras; tu en feras ensuite pour toi et pour ton fils. 14 Car ainsi parle l’Éternel, le Dieu d’Israël: La farine qui est dans le pot ne manquera point et l’huile qui est dans la cruche ne diminuera point, jusqu’au jour où l’Éternel fera tomber de la pluie sur la face du sol. 15 Elle alla, et elle fit selon la parole d’Élie. Et pendant longtemps elle eut de quoi manger, elle et sa famille, aussi bien qu’Élie. 16 La farine qui était dans le pot ne manqua point, et l’huile qui était dans la cruche ne diminua point, selon la parole que l’Éternel avait prononcée par Élie.

There is a 5-letter word in this story that I want to draw your attention to: There.

"There" is an adverb. Adverbs modify the intensity, the quality and the manner of a verb.

Saying to someone "Sit there" is very different than just saying to them "Sit".

Omitting this powerful little word can dramatically alter a person's destiny.

"There" speaks of location.

All locations are not created equal

Psalm 133 LSG

1 Cantique des degrés. De David. Voici, oh! qu’il est agréable, qu’il est doux Pour des frères de demeurer ensemble! 2 C’est comme l’huile précieuse qui, répandue sur la tête, Descend sur la barbe, sur la barbe d’Aaron, Qui descend sur le bord de ses vêtements. 3 C’est comme la rosée de l’Hermon, Qui descend sur les montagnes de Sion; Car c’est là que l’Éternel envoie la bénédiction, La vie, pour l’éternité.

Psalm 133 demonstrate how powerful this little word can be.

Where there is unity, there is blessing and life in abundance (Verse 3)

A good location will draw interest and attention

(Our church site has been drawing lots of attention because it is in prime location)

Where God wants you may seem perplexing, maybe even inappropriate to you

God had Elijah hide near a stream and commands ravens, which are considered unclean animals (Leviticus 11:13,15), to feed him (Verse 3-4).

Leviticus 11:13 NKJV

13 ‘And these you shall regard as an abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard,

Leviticus 11:15 NKJV

15 every raven after its kind,

Application:

In a church (maybe your church) there may be practices, traditions, a culture that just don't sit well with you. But if that’s where God wants you, stay put: That church is your There.

(Examples of things we do or have done as a church that may have caused people to leave or not join: redoing our stage the way it is now and painting things black, Pastor's political affiliation and his frequent absences and him ultimately accepting a position that will keep him away for long stretches of time, allowing women to preach, etc.)

God commands Elijah to go to a widow who will take of him. This is perplexing because widows typically have very little resources in normal times. But this is during a famine fueled by a severe drought.

This woman also happens to be from Jezebel's region, which means she is most likely a worshipper of the false god Baal.) (Verse 9)

Application: Church life can be messy, but it's beautiful.

God will use those we would tend to discount to be the source of our blessing.

God will cause us to mingle with people we normally would not. We are now worshipping with them. They run to our help and we do the same for them.

You are a blessing for others in the place where God puts you

Thanks to Elijah’s obedience, the widow and her family survived the famine as God provided for them throughout the drought. (Verse 15-16)

When the widow’s son died God used Elijah to bring him back to life. (Verse 22)

Application:

Do not neglect or minimize your capacity and the gifts God has placed in you. In due time they will prove indispensable for others. But you have to be at the place at the right time.

The location where God wants you will provide protection in a hostile environment

Elijah was in a land ravaged by a famine caused by the drought: without water everything that lives, good or bad, dies. But he had food and shelter, and eventually he helped save a whole family from starvation

Cause of the drought: Deut. 11:16

Deuteronomy 11:16–17 NKJV

16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, 17 lest the Lord’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

Application: The days are evil (Eph 5:16).

Ephesians 5:15–16 NKJV

15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Just look around you. We are in a profound spiritual drought. What was evil is now called good and what was good is evil (Isaiah 5:20).

Isaiah 5:20 NKJV

20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Cause of the drought: Rom 1:21, 24, 26

Romans 1:21 NKJV

21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Romans 1:24 NKJV

24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,

Romans 1:26 NKJV

26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.

This is not the time to be without a spiritual home.

Conclusion

Over its 28 years of existence, Mont Carmel church has withstood many storms that should have destroyed it. Often we wondered how we managed to make it through some of the most devastating blows from the enemy. For instance, due mainly to an immigration crackdown between 2006-2007, more than 1/3 of the congregation was gone. Entire families packed up and fled to Canada. Many individuals were arrested and later deported. Others were too afraid to leave their houses or lived in hiding.

What more can I say about the pandemic that you don’t already know? I was recently speaking to a businessman who told me something very shocking: real estate for church buildings is one of the hottest sectors of the market right now. Hundreds of churches in the Charlotte area have closed as a result of covid. This means there are more church-less people looking for a place to call home.

Sometimes it was our own mistakes and misguided decisions that put us on the brink. The pastor would be the first to tell you that he didn’t always get it right.

But each time, the grace of God and his compassions have rescued us. We are a church of destiny. We are a resilient bunch of people. We have defied the odds.

We have been given an amazing opportunity to build a spiritual home that is bigger, stronger and more resilient. A place where we see people saved, empowered, and loved.

What have we heard from our chief shepherd, Jesus, to this effect?

God told us that you need to be found where he placed you. More than ever before your spiritual whereabouts is critically important in order to survive the spiritual drought that has engulfed America and the world

God’s plan is to turn Mont Carmel to an increasingly large and ethnically and culturally diverse church.

Just consider what is happening in the life of our senior pastor. This is not an accident. Some of you heard it in 2017 when God prophetically announced a major turning point in his life. And look what happened last month. And do you think that this man who gave over half of his life to this church would now turn his back on it? Better yet, do you think that God, whose name is Faithful, would not do to the body what he did to the head?

Friends, good things happen when we are at the right place at the right time