Believers of all ages call specific places their “church home”.  We might move across the country; but the place where we first accepted Jesus as Savior and learned to surrender to Him as Lord of our lives is “home” to us. I vividly remember my mom leading me to the altar as an elementary student to accept Jesus as my Savior for the first time.  I only had to look at her and she knew to guide me in that moment.  I am forever grateful for my mom who knew Jesus and was led by God’s Holy Spirit.

But, I wonder, as I listen to the stories of others, why the sentiment is so deeply embedded within us of our first church home?  Is the place, the people, or merely because it was there that we met God for the first time? Some people revere a place in the country called church camp as their “home” of endearment because as a child they were led to the Lord in that place.  “There’s no other place like church camp”, I’ve heard people say as if it were the only place to meet God.  But is it the place, the people, the lack of interruptions of our normal noisy lives; or is it truly about God who met us there with His gift of salvation that made the significant difference in our lives?

The difference made is upon leaving our “places” is reflected by what we internalized. When we left the place; did God go with us? Could others see the glory of God on our faces when we returned?  Did meeting with God change how we walked daily with Him?  Did our language change? Or did we return to conform to the world around us so no one knew what happened in us? Just wondering…

This is another psalm that extols the glory of Mount Zion—God’s home to the people of Israel. The songwriter was not seeking to make a political statement with arrogant nationalism in this passage; He was seeking to glorify the God of Israel and the blessings He bestows upon His people. Warren Wiersbe comments that this psalm “must be read on two levels. It is a prophecy of the future kingdom, when all nations will come to Jerusalem to worship (Psalm 86:9; Isaiah 2:1–5), and it is also a picture of the heavenly Zion, where the children of God have their spiritual citizenship” as written in Hebrews 12:18–24.” –Wiersbe Study Bible

In other words, to us Zion is known as heaven.  The writer of Hebrews 12:18-24 states:

“You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.’The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

The writer drives the point home about how we receive and revere God in His Home;

“See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”—Hebrews 12:25-29, NIV

Psalm 87, The Message

Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. A song.

^1-3 He founded Zion on the Holy Mountain—
    and oh, how God loves his home!
Loves it far better than all
    the homes of Jacob put together!
God’s hometown—oh!
    everyone there is talking about you!

⁴ I name them off, those among whom I’m famous:
    Egypt and Babylon,
    also Philistia,
    even Tyre, along with Cush.
Word’s getting around; they point them out:
    “This one was born again here!”

⁵ The word’s getting out on Zion:
    “Men and women, right and left,
    get born again in her!”

⁶ God registers their names in his book:
    “This one, this one, and this one—
    born again, right here.”

⁷ Singers and dancers give credit to Zion:
    “All my springs are in you!”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

I have more questions; How grateful are we for our “church homes” that you are probably remembering as you read this? What was it about that place and time that causes us to remember with fondness and puts smiles on our faces?  On the other hand, what drove us to seek another church home when God seemed distant in the place we left? Was it us? Did God lead the leaving? That’s between the Lord and the one relocating.

But know this; at God’s leading, it is okay with God to seek a place where He is at work among His people, a place where He is active and alive among and within His people, where He alone is worshipped as the One and Only God, where Jesus is called Savior and the church gathered are taught to follow and imitate Him as Lord, where God’s Word is taught through men and women led by His Holy Spirit as the inspired absolute Truth. Seek a church home where God obviously dwells among His People and His Holy Spirit is welcomed as their Guide to Life.  Leave places led by arrogant men and women seeking places with praise and positions that honor them. 

Find Zion—A church home is where God resides and Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church Body. Love God. Love each other.  Obey these two commands first and our world could be revolutionized by our God who lives in us—our personal Zion! 

Keep Zion free from the world’s influence.  Our personal Zion needs a daily dose of surrender to the One who resides with us.  (Romans 12:1-2) Do this and the power of God within us helps us!  The prophet Isaiah speaks of God’s help;

“Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,            But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:38-41 NKJV

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV

Living resurrected, powerful lives does not come from a physical place but from our God of power, majesty, and strength living and working in us—”This is the secret:, Paul writes to God’s church!  “Jesus Christ in us” (1 Corinthians 1:27) 

Praise Him in all His Glory! Come to God with thanksgiving!

Lord,

I surrender all.  All to thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all of me for all of you. Lead me, Lord. 

In Jesus Name, Amen