Here's How (Part 5): Here's How To Come Home

TO START

This week, our Lead Preaching Minister, Zane, invited us into the fifth part of a series called Here’s How, a series that invites us to live out our mission to Live Love together through our 7 core behaviors. This week, we leaned into one of the seven ways we practice living love: being a reason for someone to come home.

  • How have you seen the practice of being a reason for someone to come home  in action in your life? What did it look like? How did it make you feel? (Encourage your group to share how they’ve seen it in this group if they have an example) . 

TO DISCUSS

To begin Zane’s sermon, he pointed us to the reality that we long to be a church which is a place where anyone can feel at home not only with us but with God. 

  • When you think of being at home, what are the first words and images that come to mind?

In order to get to the heart of the posture of welcome & hospitality that God invites us to.  Read Luke 15:11-21

  • Zane argues that the story shows us two ways we tend to miss God. How do you tend to miss the God who calls us home? By distancing yourself from God physically and relationally like the younger son OR by the way you act towards and think about those who are coming home to God like the older son?

Zane mentions that one of the beautiful aspects of God which is made evident in the story is that the Father doesn’t rebuke, manipulate, or coerce the young son into coming home. Rather, God is good with any reason as long as it means we come home BUT this is often hard for us. We often feel like we have to do something before coming back to God. 

  • Have you ever wrestled with this feeling? In other words, do you struggle to accept the fact that God simply wants you to come home without caveats? Do you often feel like when you’ve strayed away that you have to do something for God to accept you?

In talking about the heart of God, the prodigal story shows us that those of us who are home with God must sacrifice for those who don’t know God. We can’t just be okay that people are coming home, we have to go out of our way for people to come home. 

  • How much is your heart concerned about those who are far from home? What do you let distract you from welcoming people home? What’s your reaction to any action that’s focused on those who are far from God?

  • What ways do you think we as a church could go out of our way even more to welcome people home? 

TO CLOSE

As a group, pray for the Holy Spirit to enliven y’all to how God is calling them to be a reason to come home on an individual and collective level. Invite your group to share one way they have failed to be a reason for someone to come home . And then close with this prayer: 

God, we acknowledge there have been moments,

 where we have been obstacles for those who want to come home to You,

We repent for those moments, 

God, we want to be a church who continues to be concerned about those who You are concerned about,

We want to be a place where anyone can find a home. 

And we pray that when we gather, 

People will know that if they miss God, God misses them.

God, help us to be a church where You can welcome people home.

People with questions, doubts & experiences that will never keep them from the arms of the Father.

AMEN.

Matt DeLano