SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, September 8, 2024

Dear Friends in Jesus –

When my family and I arrived at Second Church, the first Sunday after Labor Day was ‘Rally Day’ as observed by many churches – a day to reconvene after summer, to celebrate a new start of the program year. But Rebecca and I attended a church that celebrated ‘Homecoming’. The idea of returning home added a lovely dimension.

Dr. Scott Black of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church where we had attended asks: Where is home?

Is home where you were born? Or is home is where you pick up your mail? Is it where your parents live? Is it where you know the rules and crave the local barbeque?

I ask: Is home the place where you belong?

Near the end of his life, the prophet Moses was traveling through the wilderness with people who had recently escaped from slavery. As they moved through the desert, the people kept asking their leader: Where’s home? Where’s this land you have been promising us?

Responding, Moses assured them, “the eternal God is thy dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (KJV, Deut. 33:27).

When people of faith look for home, our tradition points to God. God is home.

This Sunday is Homecoming Sunday at Second Church. We’ll sing, "All Hail the Power", hug those whom we’ve missed, welcome new folk to experience the love of Jesus, and be surrounded by God’s everlasting arms.

See you at home –