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Home is where the heart is

The church is a family and a place to call home

God, you are Love and wherever you are, love is. 

Wherever we share your love in the unity of our hearts, we find “home.”  

These thoughts came to me early this morning as a prayer that rode in on the wings of remembrance. The previous night we said goodbye to our dear friends from Canada who were visiting us here in Australia. As we prayed together on this final evening, we shared the kind of fellowship that only brothers and sisters of faith can have. We were full of joy that although we were shortly to be separated again by an ocean, we were completely united by God’s Love. And this felt like HOME. We forgot that we currently lived on two different continents. We could have been anywhere.

We are a church without borders

Christians are people without borders, who can find security and belonging in one another. When we are together the love of God fills us with love, joy, and peace – and reminds us that we are a family with a loving Father. The belonging that we feel creates community and fellowship wherever we are in the world.

Where two or three are

Dancing in worship of God in Fiji church

“For where two or three come together in My name, I am there with them.” Matthew 18:20

Our home is not defined by a building or a country

We are so blessed to have experienced this extraordinary presence of loving community and “home” even while living or traveling in several different countries – Australia, Canada, United States, and across Europe.  We know that one day there will be only “one country” and “one home” and we will all be citizens of it. Yet even now, because of the presence of God in our hearts, we are experiencing a foretaste of heaven’s joy.

Thinking of this gives me both joy and peace and calms the restless fears of change. In each location of the globe we have an opportunity to meet more family members and to experience “home:”

This is kingdom life

  • A meal shared – and it is communion
  • A prayer prayed – and the Lord is there
  • Laughter, singing, conversation – and there is joy, encouragement, and comfort…

I am a contributor to Sweet Jesus Ministries. Recently, I wrote a post called No man (or Woman) is an Island to Themselves.”

In this, I wrote that there is an awesome eternal bond that is forged when we are re-born into the family of God. This bond unites us so that we can pursue this kingdom life together for our mutual benefit.  Our unified and loving relationships with each other are meant to demonstrate to the world that we are His.

As much as we need our own times of solitude and one on one time with God in order to grow spiritually strong, we also need time of fellowship with other believers to grow spiritually strong.

“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” Hebrews 10:25

Looking Forward to a Home Yet to Come

In the great faith chapter – Hebrews 11, we are told that it was an act of faith for Abraham to leave his home and go to another land. When he arrived there he lived by faith and confidently looked forward to a city (home) with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God!

While we may not be called to travel as a nomad to another country, we do need to remind ourselves that we are sojourners on earth, and as such, our place of security and belonging is with God as our Father and with other believers in Jesus as our brothers and sisters. Our home together transcends place and time.

For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.” Hebrews 13:14

In Light of This...

Have you traveled to other places and found a home for your heart, even if your stay in that place is temporary?

I would love to hear about your own experiences! Please share them in the comment section.