Many moons ago, over Christmas break, I went skiing with a few high school friends. We all piled into one of our friend’s mini-vans and began driving toward Colorado. As we passed Wichita, heading north on I-35, something didn’t seem right. Though I had ridden to Colorado a handful of times, I had never been the driver, yet as we went north out of Wichita, the road did not look familiar.

Back in 1992, we did not have electronic navigation or smart phones. If you needed directions, you had to count on Rand McNally and their massive book of maps. I asked our navigator to check the atlas and let me know if I was on the correct road.

“I-35?” I asked.

“Yes, I-35,” was the response.

So we kept going on that Interstate … headed toward Kansas City! Now I was not a geography major, but I knew enough to understand that Kansas City was to the east, and I knew we needed (ultimately) to go west. We pulled over and looked at the map again. A simple mistake had been made … on the map, it said 135 … but our navigator mistook the “1” for an “I.” Could have happened to any of us. Interpreting the map correctly, we were able to turn around, and get back on the right track.

When we were in the car that day, all of us knew where we wanted to go. We had a common and determined destination: Copper Mountain. We also had a guide to help us get there: an up to date copy of a Rand McNally atlas. But simply having a desire and owning an atlas were not enough to get us there. We had to properly INTERPRET the atlas, then obey its directions. Only then would we arrive at our destination.

I was thinking about this today as I prepared for Sunday’s sermon. We are currently in a series called “roundtrip: coming back home to worship.” In this series, we are scanning the books of Ezra, Haggai, and Nehemiah to see if it is possible for someone who has walked away from God to come back home to Him. We saw in week 1, that because we have a God who loves us and desires fellowship with us, it is possible to come home to Him! But what does it look like for the one who is coming home? How can we tell if our hearts are truly coming back to Him? Well, last week, we saw that part of what it looks like is that the trajectory of the returning prodigal prioritizes the worship of God. But is that all?

In this week’s message (part 3 of our series), we will look at Ezra 7:1-10 and Nehemiah 8:1-8 to see that coming back home to Him also involves us coming back TO and UNDER His Word. It is not enough to simply say that we desire to come back to God or that we own a Bible – just as it is not enough to WANT to get to Copper Mountain and HAVE an atlas in the van. We need to understand what the Scripture actually says, and then obey it!

Certainly, we do not and cannot earn our way home with our obedience (it is by grace that we have been saved), but the heart of the Christian longs to know God’s Word, and seeks to follow it in faith and action. In this way, we return NOT just to WORSHIP, but also to the WORD. One of the tell tale signs of Christians is their growing understanding of and obedience to God’s Word.

Join us Sunday in our 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00 services at Wildwood as we explore this more from these great Old Testament texts, supported by New Testament themes. See you Sunday … and bring friends!!

In less than one month thousands of college students will come back to Norman.  Yes, it will take twice as long to get through the War Mart check out line, and no, I will no longer be able to cut through campus on my drive home due to increased traffic … but I don’t care.

I. CANNOT.  WAIT.

I love the University.  I am so thankful for the opportunity we have as a church family to welcome these students to our community each year, and invite them to follow Jesus with us and live for His glory.  It is one of the main reasons (humanly speaking) I am in Norman, OK!

But as I was walking through Target today (enjoying the calm before the storm), I had this thought:  what REALLY makes someone an OU student?  How do I know who the real college students are?

Well, we might be tempted to think that every young person wearing an OU T-shirt and Crocs walking through Target is an OU student, but that would be a rather superficial understanding.  After all, MANY young people who live in Cleveland County, don’t go to OU.  And, they will sell OU T-shirts to anyone who will buy one; you don’t have to show a student ID to purchase.  So what makes an OU student an OU student?

THEY ARE CURRENTLY TAKING CLASSES AT OU!

(NOTE: Thanks for tuning in for insight this profound … I appreciate you coming to my TED talk!)

Not all wearing OU T-shirts are students and not all students wear OU T-shirts, but all students are students!  The proof is in the pudding.

Now, I say this as we approach week 2 of our July sermon series “roundtrip.”  Last week we asked the question, “Is it possible for someone who once followed Jesus, but now no longer does, to come back home to Him?”  From Jeremiah 29:11 and Luke 15:11-32, we found the answer is an emphatic YES!  In fact, our God longs for all His prodigal sons and daughters to come home.  But we ended last week’s message with a question … “what does coming home to Jesus look like?”

Does it look like a facebook or Instagram declaration that you are with Jesus again?  Does it look like putting on a cross necklace or downloading the YouVersion Bible app?  Well, these things are certainly not BAD AT ALL (in fact they might be great!) but they are not the strongest indicators of a heart that has truly turned back to Christ.  Social media reposts and Christian things CAN BE indicators of a changed life, but we all know those who make bold internet claims, without a life direction that backs it up … and we all know that not everyone who wears a cross or has certain apps is truly following Jesus.  So what is it that makes a Christian a Christian?

THEY ARE CURRENTLY FINDING THEIR ALL IN ALL IN CHRIST!

Christians are people who have made Jesus their home, not their vacation spot or status symbol or sometimes (when it is convenient) fashion.  This Sunday at Wildwood Community Church in our 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00 worship services, we will look to Ezra 1-6 and the book of Haggai to see what a previous generation learned about what it looks like to go roundtrip back to God and demonstrate that with a priority on worship.

Hope you make plans to be with us Sunday for this study as we worship together, celebrate the Lord’s Supper together, and follow Jesus together for the glory of God.  Hope to see you Sunday … and bring friends!!!!!

Going home.  This is something that many of us do at the end of the day.  After a day of work or school, we head back to a place that represents (at least a portion of) our identity and is occupied by those with whom we have our closest connections (family).

But for some, one day, they simply do not come home.  I am referring to those who have, left their home through neglect or rebellion.  I am thinking of the spouse who leaves their family in the sinful pursuit of an affair, or a prodigal child who runs off with their inheritance even while their parents are still living. When someone leaves like this, we often wonder … can they EVER go home?  I mean, what happens if they (like the prodigal son of Luke 15) “come to their senses” and want to return … will there be a home that has left a light on for them?

And what if the “home” is the church?  What about those who were once active participants in a local church, but who no longer attend?  Can they ever come home?  According to recent Gallup surveys, 40 million Americans currently USED to attend church, but no longer do … a whopping 16% of the population.  According to the book “The Great DeChurching,” this exodus has contributed to our current era where American NON-CHURCH ATTENDERS outnumber church attenders.

Why did they leave?  For many reasons.  Some have been hurt deeply by those inside the church and have left due to lack of trust or self-protection.  Others have left to pursue a lifestyle that Scripture condemns – leaving the church to live a different way.  Still others, however, have not left because of hurt or rebellion … they simply drifted away.

Some who drifted away have prioritized weekend events for themselves or their children over regular church attendance.  Others moved to a new town and never restarted attending church … maybe watching a livestream or listening to a podcast on occasion, but not re-engaging in rhythm relationally and in person with a local church.  Still others went to their residences during the pandemic and never came back.  These drifters did not leave angry, like the frog in the kettle, they simply looked up one day and it had been years since they were a part of a church.

If there are 40 million of these de-churched Americans in our country, my guess is there are at least several thousand in Cleveland County.  If this describes you, let me personally invite you to join me at Wildwood Community Church this Sunday morning as we kick off a new sermon series called “roundtrip.”

Who says you can’t go home again?  Not God!  He has left a light on for us!  In fact, about 400 years before the birth of Jesus, God’s people found themselves far from home.  Like the prodigal son, a disobedient Israel found themselves in exile in a foreign land.  But God, in His mercy, purchased them a return trip to their homeland.  The story of the final leg of this roundtrip is told in the Old Testament books of Ezra, Haggai, and Nehemiah.  Over 4 weeks in July, we will look to this historical account to see if there is hope for people today who may have grown up in the church, but now have found themselves far from the faith of their “home.”

God has left His light on for you … He has purchased your ticket home … will you make your journey roundtrip?

AND (and this is really important) – this series will help you begin to follow Jesus, even if this is the beginning of your relationship with Christ, not a return to it.

We all know someone for whom this series would be a benefit, so invite them to join us THIS WEEKEND at Wildwood (July 7) in our 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 service as we kick off this series looking at one of the most often quoted verses in the Old Testament – Jeremiah 29:11.  See you then!!!

NOTE:  This Sunday is an ALL IN Sunday at Wildwood … so, no adult, student, or children classes meeting, but all will meet together in the worship services this weekend.  All classes return the following weekend, July 14.