Homecoming
Our church will celebrate Homecoming this next Sunday. That is a foreign idea for some. I had someone ask, “Do we have a dance?” Their only reference for Homecoming is high school. No, we won’t have a dance. But we will have more food than you can believe, and we will have lots of music during worship. We will start at 10 am in order to accommodate the extra music. It will be a celebration for us.
This Sunday will mark 78 years that Shellman Bluff Baptist has been in existence. Homecoming is a time when we invite friends and family who have moved away to come back home for the weekend. We hope that several former members will come back and enjoy the day of worship and fellowship with us.
I want you to consider the history of any church that has been in existence for 78 years or more. How many worship services have they had? How many people have made life-changing commitments in those services? How many weddings have taken place at the church? How many funerals have been performed? So many events, both happy and sad, have come and gone. The church has made a difference in its community.
A question I have asked of our church members is one that every church should ask. If our church ceased to exist tomorrow, would the neighborhood notice? Would we be missed? In other words, are we really making a difference?
Jesus declared, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” He has made it clear that the church will last. Not every individual church, mind you. There have been churches, sadly, who have died. They have stopped fulfilling their purpose, and they no longer exist.
But the church universal goes on. And the Lord is with that church. He will maintain and strengthen His church until the time that He returns. I pray that my church will be faithful to fulfill its mission in this world. I pray the same for all of our churches in McIntosh County. May God increase our fold, and may He help us to do our part to share the good news of Jesus to all!
