Welcome Home!

Sunday morning is a day to get up and go to church. It's been that way for a while for me.
As a husband and father of five at Stone Dam UMC, we got up and went to church on Sunday morning.
Sometimes even when we didn't feel like it.
As a pastor of the two churches I have served, with my wife and children, we got up and went to church on Sunday morning.
Sometimes even when we didn't feel like it.
On vacation, with my wife and children, we got up and went to church on Sunday morning.
Sometimes even when we didn't feel like it.

For the past several years we have been vacationing the first week in June at Oak Island, NC. This is the week before our Holston Annual Conference at Lake Junaluska, NC, so it's great to have this week at the beach with my family, resting and playing.
But also worshipping.
Devotions are more engaging for me at the beach.
Writing is more focused for me at the beach.
And so, on Sunday morning, we get up and go to church, Oceanview United Methodist Church.

Some Sundays it's more of a challenge to get there for me. The drive in on Saturday takes about 8 hours with all the stops, and it's great to be at the beach, finally. Sunday morning would be a perfect day to get on the beach early. The weather is always perfect on Sunday mornings.
Most years I have let my children decide if they want to go to church. Sometimes they have, sometimes they have wanted to sleep in instead.
This year we only have our two youngest children with us, so I asked them to go to church with me and Heather. It's Sunday morning.

And so we went to the contemorary service for the first time. We usually go to the "Spirited Traditional Service" at 11:00, but this year we switched it up.
When we walked in the front door a greeter handed us a bulletin and said, "Welcome home".

Welcome Home.

She could have just said, "Good morning." Because it was.
She could have just said, "We're glad you're here." Because they seemed to be.
She could have just said, "It's a beautiful day isn't it?" Beacause defaulting to weather talk is easy.
But she said, "Welcome home."

And it is.
We intentionally go to Ocienview because it is a United Methodist Church. One year I tried a church at a cabana on the beach. The view was beautiful. But also distracting. The wind was blowing our little pages of sheet music. And the pastor was selling his music CD's for only $12 or 2 for $20 after the service.
It was nice on the beach.
But it wasn't home.

If you have ever read my blog you probably know that I believe that praying the Psalms is an important spiritual discipline, and something that I do to help me grow in my faith and this Christian life.
So today I was reading Psalm 90, because yesterday I read Psalm 89.

"Lord, through all the generations you have been our home!"  (Psalm 90:1)

Welcome home.

And that's where I was Sunday morning.
Home in the greeting, the passing of the peace, the Lord's Prayer, and the even in the announcements.
Home in the Communion where I was able to kneel with Heather and recieve the sacrament together and pray for us.
Home in the sermon, in the familiar story for this Ascension Sunday.
Home in the fellowship hall buying items left from their United Methodist Women craft sale.

Our home is in the Lord. Our annual beach trip is a vacation from many things. A vacation should be a time away from work, but not a time away from worship.
What a great time to be refreshed and renweed in your spirit!
What a great time to know that while you are away from home, you can still be at home in a nearby church.
What a great feeling to know that we are at home in the Lord.

If you haven't experienced the feeling of home in a church, I want to say I am sorry for that. Sometimes the church is not the perfect reflection of the love of Christ.
But I think that's because we aren't perfected in this love, yet.
But I also think that we're on our way. And sometimes, through the grace of Jesus, we get it right. And sometimes, in the heartbreaking of our Lord Jesus, we don't.

But it is home. It is the place that helps us make sense of everything else in life.
It's home because there are other people there struggling with the same things you are.
It's home because there are other people there who already have struggled with the same things you are.
It's home because there are other people there who one day will be struggling with the same things you are.

It's home. It's not perfect. But it's not about us.
It's home because our Lord has brought us here together. To live, to work, to learn, to love.

When I travel I look for the cross and flame. It's a sign of what home means to me.

Next Sunday I pray that someone hugs you at church and says, "Welcome Home!"
But if not, then I pray that you will be the greeter to say it to someone else.

Because we all need to hear it.
Because we all need to know it.
Because we all need to feel it.
Because we are all longing for it (read the rest of Psalm 90 here)

Welcome home!