No Place Like Home!
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· 5 viewsSermon for True Believers Baptist Church's 56th Homecoming Service
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God-Morning True Believers. 56 years ago, in 1967, the following things were going on:
God-Morning True Believers. 56 years ago, in 1967, the following things were going on:
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have A Dream Speech.” Thurgood Marshall was appointed as the first African American Supreme Court Justice. The average cost to purchase a new house was $14,250.00, the average cost of a new car was $2,750.00, and the average income per year was $7,300.00.
Gasoline was .34 per gallon, and a gallon of milk cost .43. You see, a lot has changed in this world since 1967, and a lot has changed for former and current members of True Believers Baptist Church!
Today, before sharing what the LORD has given me from your theme, “Standing Strong.” I want to talk to you about a classic movie that came out in 1939. In this particular movie, a young farm girl by the name of Dorothy Gale, lived with her Auntie Em and Uncle Henry.
This family resided in a place called Kansas. Almira Gulch brings the sheriff to the families house because he had been bitten by Dorothy’s dog Toto.
Auntie Em decides to give Toto to Ms. Ms. Gulch, who rides away with Toto in her basket. Toto jumps out and runs back to the house, where Dorothy decides to run away.
A cyclone irrupts in route to Dorothy’s return, and ultimately she is carried away to a place called Oz. The house that Dorothy was in lands directly on the Wicked Witch of the East.
The Good Witch removes the witch's ruby slippers and gives them to Dorothy, instructing her to find the Wizard of Oz. Glenda says that he can help Dorothy get back home.
Glenda tells Dorothy to “follow the yellow brick road.” On this road Dorothy meets a friendly scarecrow who is in need of a brain. She also meets a Tin Man who needs a heart, and a seemingly ferocious Lion who has no courage.
By the end of the story, Dorothy finds out the the Wizard of Oz is just a cowardly old man, who has no power, and that the slippers that she was wearing are actually her way back home. Glenda says to Dorothy, “You have always had the power, but you had to learn it for yourself.”
Glenda instructs Dorothy to click her heels together three times, and to say, “There’s No Place Like Home!” True Believers, that is the message that God gave me for you for this Homecoming Service: “There’s No Place Like Home!”
Turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles 7:12-18
2 Chronicles 7:12–18 (NKJV)
Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.’
This familiar passage in 2 Chronicles 7:12-18 is actually in response to the prayer that King Solomon prayer in 2 Chronicles 6. By the time we get to chapter 7, we hear God’s response to King Solomon’s prayer.
The world is full of problems, persecution, and pain, and as believers we should expect that because Jesus and the Bible declared that this would be the case. In John 15:19-20 we read these words:
John 15:19–20 (NKJV)
If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
In Matthew 5:10-12 we read these words:
Matthew 5:10–12 (NKJV)
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
However, there is one place that I always expect to find peace, and that’s in my own home! I often share with my wife that I can handle pretty much anything that the world throws at me, but it is very unsettling when I come home to the same type of storms that the world offers.
Likewise, True Believers, I believe the same things should hold true for the House of God. Even strangers should be able to find peace in God’s house. So this morning, if you don’t mind, I just want to share four points from this very familiar passage.
#1 God’s People & Name Are At Home (v. 14 a,b) If My people, who are called by My name, (Amplified)
The House of God, no matter where we find it, should be full of God’s people, and full of God’s name. God’s people represents you and I, and every believer in this world. It’s not based upon race, creed, or national origin. No, it’s based upon believing on Jesus Christ! But let me ask you this TBBC, what do others see when they visit here? Is it obvious that this is God’s House? Or do they find gossip, back-biting, and feuding amongst believers?
Not only should God’s people be here at home, but God’s Name should be here also. God’s name represents His character, person, and presence. This is what Jesus mean in John 14:14
If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
Many people take this Scripture out of content to mean that they can literally ask for ANYTHING in Jesus’ name.
The NAME of JESUS should reign in this house. Not my name, your name, or anyone else name. Why? Because Philippians 2:10 says
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
So first, God’s People and Name should be At Home, but also, Humility and Prayer should be at Home.
#2 Humility & Prayer Is At Home (v. 14 c, d) will humble themselves, and pray
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), 2 Ch 7:14.
Humility is spoken about in the Bible at least 81 times. As people of God, humility is a MUST. The opposite of humility is pride, and according to Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before a fall.
At home we should find people who are not talking humility, but walking humility. Would you give your seat up for a complete stranger? Do you have to have a special seat in God’s House? Do you want people to know your name, or see your face more than they do Jesus’? Jesus’ half-brother James says it like this in James 4:7-10
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Not only should humility be at Home, but so should prayer. There are approximately 650 prayers in Scriptures, and the word pray or prayer is mentioned at least 547 times in the King James Bible.
The prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 56:7
Isaiah 56:7 (NKJV)
Even them I will bring to My holy mountain,
And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
Will be accepted on My altar;
For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
In the New Testament Jesus repeats Isaiah’s sentiments in Mark 11:17 which says:
Mark 11:17 (Amplified)
17 And He taught and said to them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations? But you have turned it into a den of robbers. [Isa. 56:7; Jer. 7:11.]
The Amplified Bible (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1987), Mk 11:17.
We would actually be more humble if we prayed more, and if we prayed more, we would remain humble. When was the last time you prayed for your Pastor, First Lady, Church Family, and such? When was the last time you stopped to listen for God’s answer? So, we should find God’s People & Name at Home, we should find Humility & Prayer at Home, but we should also find God’s Face & Repentance at Home.
#3 God’s Face & Repentance Is At Home (v. 14: e) seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), 2 Ch 7:14.
The Message Bible reads like this:
seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives
In this same verse we find that God is requiring that we seek His face. You may be asking, “PastorMic, how to I seek God’s face?” God’s face means simply His presence, as when it is recorded that Adam and Eve hid themselves from the “face of the Lord God”. The “light of God’s countenance” is his favour. “Face” signifies also anger, justice, severity. To “provoke God to his face” is to sin against him openly. Also: Cheek; Face of the lord;
Too often we come to church looking for everyone but Jesus. We’re looking to see who’s preaching, and if it’s not someone we want to see or hear from, we immediately shut down. We also wait for a certain person or group of people to show up before we begin to worship. We may even be waiting on our favorite song to be sung. But I stopped by to this 56th Homecoming Service to remind us all, seek God’s face while it can be found! Come in with your praise and worship already in place. In fact, you should have started service before you even got to service!
If we truly seek God’s face each time we come into His house, then repentance has to be be part of the program. No matter how we came in, repentant is the way we should be leaving.
Here are just a few Scriptures on Repentance:
He who covers his sins will not prosper,
But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
With no repentance there will be no change! We’ve discussed that God’s People & Name are at Home, Humility & Prayer are at Home, God’s Face & Repentance are at Home, and finally, Forgiveness & Healing Are At Home!
#4 Forgiveness & Healing Is At Home (v. 14, f, g, h) then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), 2 Ch 7:14
For God’s more than 1000 promises there are requirements on our side. In today’s text we learn that we have prayed, sought God’s face, turned from our wicked ways, then God declares that He we not only hear us,, but that He will forgives us and heal our land.
How many people at home need God’s forgiveness? How many people hear need God to heal your land/territory? Well God is here to do just that. God desires for so much more for our lives than we rarely understand. How do I know?
Because one Friday night, Jesus was drug from Judgement Hall to Judgement Hall because He wanted to Heal Our Land. This same Jesus was beaten and bruised, spat on and ridiculed, but He never said a mumbling word. Why? Because He did it for God’s People, and God’s Name.
They placed a crown of thorns on His head, and they spat on His face and called Him everything but a child of God, yet Jesus remained Humble, and like you and I, He prayed.
They hung Him on an Old Rugged cross, next to two thieves, even though He was without sin. They hammered stakes in His hands, and in His feet. As they looked upon the Face of God, yet none of them repented.
Jesus hung His head and died, and was placed in a borrowed tomb. He stayed there all night Friday, all day Saturday, all night Saturday too. But early Sunday morning, Jesus got up to forgive us and to heal our land!