A Place To Call Home
May 22nd, 2008
When I was a young boy, a great deal of my fondest memories happened at the house of my great-grandparents, down an old one-lane road in Anderson County. Everyone from my dad’s side of the family gathered at this house for the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, as well as for our annual Easter egg hunt.
I remember climbing trees in the side yard, and playing hide and seek out in the garden behind the house. I remember how when the house was full of people, they let us kids go in the back room and eat on the steps that led up to the upstairs part of the house, where none of us were allowed to go.
This isn’t to say that there were never any bad moments at this house. The truth is, we usually remember the not-so-good times as well as we do the good ones.
I remember the last moments getting to talk to my great-grandfather, as he battled prostate cancer and was confined to a wheelchair. I remember the Easter Sunday when the majority of the family ate outside on the front lawn because Grandma was sick and we didn’t want to make too much noise in the house.
Grandpa and Grandma’s house has long since been sold, and other families have made their memories there, but as I’m driving around the area, I still can’t help but see that old house and remember the memories made and the moments shared with my family.
What amazed me most about that house wasn’t the great places to hide Easter eggs or the big front yard that was perfect for playing baseball. Instead, what amazes me most was its ability to bring our whole extended family together.
Most holidays there would be forty or fifty people gathered in that small old house, some having traveled a long distance to get there. Our family, like all families, had its differences and arguments, but they never kept us from gathering together in that house.
When I read through the New Testament, it strikes me that this is how the church was meant to be.
Acts 2:46-47 has this to say about the early church: “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
When we meet together in the Lord’s house, it should be a family gathering. Too often we make it about getting things done and sitting on boards and committees, but the early church didn’t seem to be like that. Instead, they came together with glad hearts, to praise God and enjoy the favor of all the people.
God intended for the church to be a place for His family to meet together, just like that old house in the country was for our family. We should all have a place that we can call home, our spiritual home. The church, after all, was intended to act as a family.
Is this your view of the church? Are you at home in a church family? If not, I encourage you to seek one out. Take advantage of what God intended the church to be - a place for all of his children to be accepted and loved, a place we can call home.
And since we are talking about finding a church family, I want to encourage any of you reading that may not have a church home that you call your own to come and check us out. Stop by on a Sunday morning or Tuesday evening. Everyone is welcome, and I believe you’ll find a laid-back, welcoming environment where you may just feel at home.
Entry Filed under: Will's Blog