This Sunday we’ll be focusing on one of the six great ends of the church: “the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the people of God.” Next weekend, countless Americans will be traveling, some of them great distances, to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families. A great number of those folks will be traveling to a place they call “home.” They’ll be visiting the city, and sometimes even the house they grew up in as well as the people they grew up with. For all of us, the idea of “home” comes loaded with connections, emotions and memories – some of them good, some of them not so good.
This particular great end of the church reminds me of what home is supposed to be – a place of shelter, nurture and spiritual fellowship, a place of love, acceptance, provision and safety. That job description poses quite a challenge for any family, including the family of God. This Sunday we will be taking a look at some of those challenges, and what it means to be Home, not just for those of us who worship together, but also to those outside who God wants to bring into the shelter, nurture and spiritual fellowship of His family.
In preparation for worship, please read Romans 12:9-21 and 1 John 5:18-21 and ponder these questions.
In your life, who has been someone who has provided shelter, nurture and spiritual fellowship?
List some of the characteristics that person had that helped you to feel at home with him or her.
Is there someone in your life that God is asking you to be that kind of person for?
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