One of my favourite stories in the bible is the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). In particular, I love how the father is daily scanning the horizon, longing for his son to come home. Then one day, he sees him returning from a distance and can’t contain his compassion, so he runs to his son and embraces him. Then he throws an extravagant party to celebrate that his lost son is now found and home.

If there’s a story that describes the kind of church I’ve always wanted The Grove to be like, its that’s one. Maybe because I was also like that lost son who ran away, but was welcomed home by God and into a local church. My life changed, and pretty quickly I became part of the team that welcomed others to church. One day that same church, Bridgeman Baptist, called me to be a Pastor, and sent Leanne and I to plant The Grove. It’s been 32 years since I was welcomed home, and I believe more than ever that a church must reflect the welcoming heart of the Father, and throw homecoming parties. How do we do that? Celebrating baptisms! 

Last week I was thrilled to meet Calum. A young man in our neighbourhood who emailed me to ask if he could be baptised. Calum came to church last Sunday, was warmly welcomed, and after hearing his story and Jesus call on his life, we are excited to fill up the pool this Sunday for him. In fact, we will be celebrating baptisms over the next three Sundays. Praise God!

Prodigals are coming home, so Grovers, let’s get ready to welcome them. I remember Peter Sweetman, the founding pastor at Bridgeman Baptist once said, that the effectiveness of a churches mission is directly related to their capacity to welcome people. I totally agree. Our welcome is a person’s first impression of what God might be like. May we always reflect the heart of the Father in that most wonderful of all parables. 

While welcoming is something for all of us to be involved in, I am praying we could increase the size of our welcome team. Our team is currently quite small which limits the breadth of our welcome. I would love to see more people on carpark, on the door and ushering in the auditorium. Friendly faces who welcome others as they arrive, and coming soon, in newly designed welcome T-shirts. 

This Sunday at 3pm you are so welcome to come to our welcoming training session here at church. Its for those in the team, and for all who would like to join or explore being on team. Maybe as you are reading this, Jesus is warming your heart to be a welcomer of all who he is calling to come home this year. 

You’re welcome here, Marty