Fantastic Homecoming!

I'm going to be totally honest right up front and admit to you dear reader that I was dreading Homecoming this year. For days leading up to it I had kind of a sick feeling in my stomach about the whole thing. The church has been through some trying times and I wasn't sure how things were going to be. Would anybody show up? Would there be a good Spirit in the church? Would there be any bad feelings festering beneath the surface? I prayed and prayed that the Lord would just take control of it all but still, I was dreading it.

Things started off well for General Assembly which we hold just prior to going to our Sunday school classes. I started the congregation out by singing, God Is So Good. I could already feel the Spirit just in the first line of the song. Then I read one passage of Scripture from Psalm 122:1 which says: “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD." I talked briefly about how wonderful it was to be in the church with God's people and experience the goodness of God. Just before dismissing in prayer, Sis. Charlotte said she wanted the church to sing Happy Birthday to me since my birthday was last Wednesday. I was a little embarrassed but also humbled that they would want to do that. They did a great job too. Afterwards we dismissed to our Sunday school classes.

Since I have taken over the duties as Interim Pastor, my wife has been teaching my Sunday school class instead of me. This has really given me a break from trying to do everything. Since I wasn't preaching today, I went ahead and taught my class and gave a lesson from John 9 about the blind beggar that Jesus healed. I felt great liberty during that lesson and it more or less turned into a full blown sermon. Folks down the hallway mentioned that they heard me during class time. I wish I had recorded it because there was a lot of great interaction from the students and we had great time learning.

After Sunday school we made our way up to the sanctuary. I stood at the front door and had a wonderful time greeting folks as they walked in. One after the other, folks kept streaming through the door. I didn't get a head count but there was around 120 folks for the worship service and then about 50 more came for the eating and nature trail dedication service afterward. It was wonderful to see so many former members, friends, and family there. We had a 17-member choir, all women except for me and Bro. Curt, but it sounded good. I struggled with hitting the high notes pretty bad this morning but managed to make it through.

After the choir went down we had fellowship and altar prayer, followed up with the collection of our regular tithes and offerings. Then I asked a gentleman that came to sing if he would come up and share what the Lord had laid on his heart to sing. He sang, What A Day that Will Be, Our First Day In Heaven, and So Much to Thank Him For. He did a great job singing and playing the piano. After that another young lady that sang at least year's homecoming was there and I asked her to come down and sing. She sang, When I Cross that River, and One Day. After she sang, I asked our former Choir leader, Mary-Alice, to sing for us and she sang, New Grace. She always does a fantastic job. How I would love to have her in the choir all the time. Better yet, I would love it if she would take her old job back and lead the choir and I could devote all of my attention to preaching and teaching. But, alas, she has a new church now and attends there faithfully...

When the singing was over, I asked Bro. Jerry Copeland to come up and bring the message. Bro. Jerry was the pastor at our church for 20-years; from 1986-2007. I always enjoy listening to him preach. I hardly ever get to hear him these days except at funeral services of folks that we share a common bond with. He brought a message entitled, "What About the Baby?" He brought the text from Exodus 1:22 and 2:1-10, the story of baby Moses. He did a great job relating the events and characters involved around the birth of Moses and how we can compare that to our lives today. After the message and altar call, he turned the service back over to me and I dismissed the congregation and said the blessing over the food.

Everyone made their way down to the fellowship building where the ladies of the church had prepared tons of food. I'm not even going to attempt to list everything that was there, let's just say nobody went away hungry and there was enough to feed 150 more when we were done. I tried to show some constraint this year and didn't eat very much. I usually eat until I'm sick but I was able to resist this year and felt so good after we were finished.

Following lunch we had a dedication service for the new Tranquility Trail that was built on the church property directly behind the church. This was an Eagle Scout project to help a young man, Trevor, earn his way to being an Eagle Scout. He began by leading everyone with the Pledge to the American Flag. Then he did his Scout pledges. After that his Scout Master, Allen Hancock, came forward and spoke very highly of Trevor and explained what the trail was for. Then we all took a tour of the trail. I had already walked the trail last Sunday and even found my favorite spot about mid-ways at a section with a huge rock in which I named, The Praying Rock. I spent some good prayer time at that rock last Sunday and could really feel the Spirit dealing with me over the message for that day. The Praying Rock has become one of my favorite places.

So, it was a fantastic homecoming and I had no need to worry or dread it. After it was all over I was completely worn out but it was a good feeling. Now I can't wait until next year's homecoming! I wonder if it would be out of order to hold them 2 times a year???? :)

Bro. Jerry's message below: