Brown's Daily Word 4-11-08

Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this Friday. Praise the Lord for the season of Easter. We are excited about the Five 4 Five Concert this evening, which will be held at 7 p.m. at the Sarah Jane Johnson Memorial United Methodist Church, 308 Main Street, Johnson City, New York.
The Johnson Family loved the Lord and loved children. The two sons of Sarah Jane loved the Lord, and they loved their mother. They built the church in memory of their beloved mother. This is a gothic Church built in a Cathedral motif with stone walls. The concert will be held in the sanctuary. We are praying the Lord would bless, touch, and save many young people today through the music and the message of Five 4 Five. Please pray for all the organizers, the band members, and the participants.
Today I will be conducting a service of death and resurrection for a dear woman whom I had known since 1990. She was one of nine children born of Czechoslovakian- Ukrainian immigrant parents. She loved the Lord, and I will be sharing about our eternal home in and because of Jesus the Risen One.
It has long been said, “Home is where the heart is.” What is home? Kentuckian John Ed Pearce, long-time writer for the Courier-Journal, stated, “Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to.” It has been said, “A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.” I believe people don’t really want houses; we want a home. Someone who once said, “All of life is a coming home,” also confessed how lost he felt. How many of us are searching for home, but we don’t know the way? Some of us are lost and we need a Guide – or a Savior – to lead us home. Others know the Guide and have caught a glimpse of home, In Hebrews 11:8 we read how Abraham journeyed toward his promised inheritance, not knowing exactly where he was going; he just got up and went. He was headed to a Promised Land, or a promised home. Back in the book of Genesis we discover that when Abraham journeyed he left something behind. In Genesis 12:1 God said, “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.” Abraham left behind his country, his family, and his father’s house. In other words he left all that he had grown up with, and all he had ever known. He had a home and he abandoned it at God’s command! Why? God promised him a better home! And in verse 15 we read, “Truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.” Abraham left behind the only home he ever knew, and if he thought back upon it he might have been tempted to return? Why? Because he desired a home just as we do! He desired a place to belong, and to fit in. Abraham was not alone in this feeling, for in verse 14 we read that all the fathers of faith declared that they sought a homeland. If Abraham had allowed memories of his childhood home to lure him to go back there, he would have missed something greater. God wanted to give his family a greater legacy – a spiritual and godly inheritance – but he had to leave the influence of his father’s household to receive it. We are told in verse 13 that the great fathers of faith all realized that the promise of home was far off, and not in this present life, and they “confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” They were looking for a heavenly country, or a heavenly home. Patch Adams said while searching for home he would eventually find the right path, but in the most unlikely place. Some of you here will discover home in what the world sees as an unlikely place – Jesus. And those who already know him need to understand that until we reach our home in heaven, Jesus is to be our home. Many Are Longing for Home (2 Corinthians 5:1-8) In verse 1 we read how our bodies are just an earthly house, or tent – just a temporary dwelling, and not our real home. Verse 6 speaks of being “at home in the body,” but our bodies are not truly our home. Our real home, according to verse 2 is our “habitation which is from heaven.” It is the place where, according to Revelation 21:4, there will be “no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying . . . [And] no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” If we have accepted Jesus into our heart, then we are keenly aware that something just doesn’t feel the same anymore – things have changed. In his book, "Lord of the Rings", Tolkien wrote, “Not all who wander are lost . . .” If you know Jesus you are not lost, but you are just sojourning. Our inner yearning for heaven causes many of us to feel as though we are wandering, when in reality we are on a “quest” to see Jesus. We are “pilgrims on the earth,” as Hebrews 11:13 states. 1 Peter 2:11 says we are “sojourners and pilgrims.” We are not wandering aimlessly, and we are not lost. We are on a journey, just passing through this life, and we have a Guide for the journey, which is Jesus the bright and morning star (2 Peter 1:19; Revelation 22:16). Jesus is our North Star and guiding light; however if we don’t know the Guide, or we cannot find him, then we really are lost. Jesus knows the way home, for he is the one who has prepared it (v. 2). He has already made the long journey and he has been there and seen it. Not only has he been there, he will make the journey back as well; therefore he knows the road very well, and has it memorized. In fact he tells us that we too should know the way (v. 4).
If you find that confusing then you are not alone, for Thomas was somewhat confused as well. He asked, “How can we know the way?” (v. 5). The answer is that though we don’t know the way in and of ourselves, we can come to know the one who does know the way, Jesus. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (v. 6). He is not only our Guide, but he is the “way,” the “road,” the “path,” the “gate” (Matthew 7:14), and the “door” (John 10:9). Jesus is “THE WAY.” Perhaps that’s why the first followers of Jesus were called “followers of the way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 24:14). He is the “only” road to our homeland in heaven. There is no other way, and no other religion, and no other work that will get us there. Jesus said, “No one comes to the father except through Me” (v. 6). Remember what Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me . . . My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23). We have a home in Jesus, when he makes his home in our heart. In Revelations 3:20 Jesus said to us, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him . . .”
In Him ,who is our Eternal Home,
Brown
Today, Friday, April 11 at 7:00 p.m. there will be a "Five 4 Five" concert. This concert will be held at Sarah Jane Memorial United Methodist Church, located at 308 Main St. Johnson City, NY. Five 4 Five is a national tour that features five bands in concert for just $5.

The bands are: DIZMAS, THE SEND, A DREAM TOO LATE, CHILDREN 18:3, AND CAYERIO.

The event is being sponsored by the Union Center, Boulevard, and Hawleyton United Methodist Churches, First Presbyterian Church of Endicott, and First Baptist Church of Owego.

Tickets are available at itickets.com or by calling 1-800-965-9324.
Tickets can be purchased from Arrowhead Christian Bookstore 607-798-1793
Union Center UMC—Pastor Brown, umcgospel@aol.com or by calling, 607-748-6329.
First Presbyterian Church—Jeremy Finn, JMFinn@hotmail.com or by calling 748-1544.
Hawleton United Methodist--Ray Haskell, wpuckey@stny.rr.com or by calling 669-4373.
First Baptist Church Owego--Rev Marlene Steenburg, mcsteenburg@aol.com or by calling 607-232-2302.
Boulevard United Methodist Church--Rev Tony, blvdumc@stny.rr.com or by calling 607-797-5675.
Sarah Jane Memorial United Methodist Church-Phone number is 797-3938