Homecoming…A very special time we look forward to with anticipation at seeing faces of those we once had fellowship with.  It is a time to reconnect, to once again be with those we have lost contact with over the years.

I am thinking about a movie.  In the final minutes of the movie there is a little girl    watching a balloon float away. The balloon was her way of returning home to Kansas.   Some munchkin had turned the balloon loose pre-maturely. (Those munchkins, you cannot trust them). The balloon was floating away and the wizard tried to come down to get Dorothy, but he could not.  The current carried him off.  Dorothy thought she had lost her way back home forever, but the good witch Brenda, told her, “You know what?  All you have to do is click your heels three times and repeat, ‘There’s no place like home.’” Dorothy clicks the heels of her ruby red shoes and repeats those words three times and she wakes up back in Kansas.

Homecoming or coming home is a very special time. In the physical sense homecoming takes place when we show-up.  Maybe you have gone from church in the same manner as family.  We grow up and have families of our own and don’t come back home the way we once did.   Moms and dads probably long for the days when the house was full and there was activity in every corner.  Sadly, we grow apart.  That is why homecoming is so special.  Whether it’s a family reunion, whether it’s a church homecoming, or whether it’s going to the home of your childhood it is special to come home. I go home to Mom’s cooking every year at Thanksgiving. It is a special time of the year for our family.

Why do we get excited about homecoming?  Is it the food and getting the kids ready to travel?  No!  It’s about people -- the fellowship and seeing faces from the past.  It’s special because it’s the homecoming of a family.

I believe that we are all a part of God’s great big family, regardless of the name on the church door; it’s all about being a wonderful family.  Maybe God has led us away from this church and into another, it is still good to come back to visit.  It is good to see how things have changed, to see old faces as well as new faces, to catch up on how everyone is doing and to relive old memories. The Church family is just like blood family.  We argue, we fuss, we disagree, we apologize, we love, we work, we cry, we laugh, we worship, and we pray in the Lord. That is why homecoming is so special…. it is about family.  At the end of the day, we can turn to each other and say, “I love you.”

Today let me speak about perhaps, a home going.  In chapter 11, Paul speaks about those who fought the good fight, names such as Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Joseph, to name a few….those who have fought the good fight and are now standing in Heaven. I believe they are cheerleaders for you and me.  I don’t know if they are able to look upon us, but if they can, I think they would be cheering us on.  They would say, “Keep your hand on the plow and march on to Zion, because you are a child of God. If the devil beats you back, you get up dust yourself off and keep walking toward the cross.”  They were faithful until death and they would encourage us to do the same. If they made it so can we, because we have access to the same power that they had… the power of the Holy Spirit.

Friends, let me tell you of some dear saints who have fought the fight and gone on to their home going.  I feel sure they are our cheerleaders and are cheering us on.

Bro. John Hood is cheering us on today.  We were fortunate to have Bro John and Eva in our congregation for about three years. He’s in Glory right now and if he could, he would say, “Hey!  Come here, I want to tell you something, don’t you give up and don’t you quench the spirit.”  Once, I told John I was so happy in a service I wanted to shout, but I didn’t.  He said. “Listen, don’t you quench the spirit. You do what the Lord tells you to do, no matter what.”  Our sister, Lorraine Wilson, is standing in Glory. She is saying “Run the race, keep your head up and don’t give up.”  Bro. Raymond Cooley, he’s saying, “Get up here choir, we are going to do something for the Lord,” Bro Mike Montgomery would say, “Don’t give up!”  Vena Hardin would say, “Don’t give up!”  Leroy Taylor would say, “Don’t give up, keep on keeping on!”  Our daughter Ashley would say, “Don’t give up now, Mommy; don’t give up now, Daddy.”  Alton and Morine would say, “Don’t give up.  Jackie Allender would say, “Don’t give up.” Edith Burger would say, “don’t give up, because looks what’s waiting.”  Think about it all for a moment….What a glorious experience waiting for us.  We can’t give up now.  There is a few more names I wrote down of those who would tell us not to give up.  Sister Ella Holt,  Mike Mosko, Gerry Holly, Melvin Wilson, Jimmy and Pam Hubbard, Roger Caldwell and Willy Hampton, all these loved ones would tell us, “Don’t give up, because home is waiting.  I know there are times when you get discouraged and want to lay down the gospel plow?  But folks, we are on the verge of meeting Jesus, so don’t give up. We must run our race well and you can’t run it well without giving your whole heart, mind, and soul to God.  We have to run on faith because of the cares and burdens of this life. Run you must… let nothing keep you out of that great homecoming in the air. All the saints in glory are cheering us on. The angels are cheering us on, King Jesus, I believe is cheering us on.  With a crowd like that behind me, how can I fail?  Let us run this race and let us be a part of that Great Homecoming. Let’s take up our cross and follow Christ.  Glory’s Homecoming…That’s the homecoming I am working for.

"How can I be a part of that homecoming, Preacher?"  Just look unto Jesus the author and finisher.

There is nothing else that can take His place.  It starts with Jesus and it ends with Jesus. Will you look at Him today and ask Him to save your soul?  Will you ask Him to give you strength and power to overcome every obstacle?    Will you say, “Lord, I give myself to you wholly and completely.”

“Lord I’m Coming Home.”  Are you really coming home? 

Sermon edited by Mary King