I. SERMON NOTES​

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Facilitator's Note: Introduce the message naturally in your own words. A brief recap, a thoughtful question, or an everyday situation can help. The aim is to help the group engage the passage afresh, rather than simply repeat the sermon.

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God Has Made His Home With Us

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Introduction: Where Does Our Sense of Security Come From?

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Much of life is spent building security—studying, working, saving, and planning for children and retirement. Yet even our homes have an expiry. Beneath our longing for a house is a deeper longing for somewhere safe, somewhere we belong, and somewhere that will last.

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A house can give us shelter. But it cannot give us the security our hearts are looking for. It is into this longing for home that Jesus speaks in John 14. It is the night before the cross. Jesus has become home to His disciples; with Him they are known and loved, and in Him they have found hope. Now He tells them He is leaving, and their hearts are troubled.

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Yet Jesus assures them:

• “I will not leave you as orphans” (John 14:18);

•  “I will come to you” (John 14:18); and

• “You are in me, and I am in you” (John 14:20).

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Most remarkably, He promises, “We will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23).

Confident faith therefore comes not from how secure the things around us appear, but from the God who has made His home with us.

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The sermon develops this through three movements:

• We Are Not Orphans; 

• God Makes His Home With Us; 

• We Learn to Live at Home.

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1. We Are Not Orphans

 

John 14:16–20

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Jesus promises to ask the Father to give His disciples another Advocate, the Spirit of truth, who will be with them forever (John 14:16–17). The Holy Spirit is not simply a force or influence, but God Himself, the third Person of the Trinity. Through the Spirit, the disciples would continue to know Jesus’ presence.

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Jesus says, “I will not leave you as orphans.” An orphan is without the presence and security of a parent. When people are unsure whether they are safe and loved, they may learn to hold on tightly, remain in control, and avoid depending on others. These fears can also affect our relationship with God.

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Yet Jesus does not simply tell us to trust God.  He shows us what the Father is like. Although He knew His disciples’ weaknesses, including Peter’s coming denial, He continued to love them, serve them and wash their feet (John 13:3–17), and would give Himself for them on the cross. “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

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Through the Spirit, we cry, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15)—not children on probation, but children at home.

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The illustration of a frightened child running to a parent during a thunderstorm reminds us that security is not knowing that everything will be all right, but knowing who is holding us when everything is not all right. And if home was not a safe place for you, look at Jesus. He shows us what the Father is like.

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When we are troubled, afraid or rejected, we can run home to God and pray: "Father, I belong to You. I am not an orphan. Teach me to live today as one who is loved."

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2. God Makes His Home With Us

 

John 14:23, 26

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Jesus promises, “We will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23). God does not merely bring us into His home (John 14:2-3); the Father and Son come and make their home with us.

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The sermon contrasts this with Mount Sinai, where God’s holy presence was accompanied by thunder, lightning, smoke and boundaries which the people could not cross (Exodus 19:12–24). In Christ, the holy God now promises to make His home with His people.

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This is possible not because we have made ourselves good enough, but because grace comes first. Jesus was going to the cross to deal with sin and open the way to the Father. He calls us to love and obey Him, but His welcome comes first.

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The Holy Spirit “will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26). The Spirit continually brings us back to Jesus, His words and His promises, teaching us to live from what is already true: “I am loved. I belong. I am not an orphan.”

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Spiritual practices do not make God come near. He already has. They help us become more attentive to His presence and to what He is doing in us.

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One simple practice is a prayerful review of the day, asking where we noticed God’s presence, when fear or the need for control took over, and how Jesus may be inviting us to respond tomorrow.

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3. We Learn to Live at Home

 

John 14:27, 29–31

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Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you” (John 14:27). His peace does not depend on circumstances becoming secure, but on the presence of the One who holds us secure. Difficulty may remain, but we do not face it without Him.

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As we become secure in God’s love, we need not protect or prove ourselves as much. The God who makes room for us begins to make room in us for others. We can listen, welcome and help others know that there is room for them among us. Sometimes making Christ known begins simply by making room for someone.

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This also applies to parenting. At an MGS Baccalaureate service, a teacher’s greatest wish for the graduating girls was Jesus. Parents cannot go everywhere their children will go, but they can help them know Jesus, the One who will. Children need to see faith at home—not perfect faith, but real faith. And part of being a parent is learning to entrust our children to the God who will go with them where we cannot.

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In a way, this is part of the spiritual journey for all of us. Much of early life teaches us how to build; ageing gradually teaches us how to release. Our deepest home was never the house we built; it is the God who has made His home with us. When we face death, grief is still real; Jesus Himself wept at His friend's grave (John 11:35). Yet even in death, Christians do not finally leave home, because Jesus promised, "I will come back and take you to be with me" (John 14:3).

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Conclusion

 

Jesus walked towards the cross in obedience and love, and through that cross sinners are brought home. We did not find our way home to God. Through the Son, by the Spirit, the Father has brought us home.

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Before our obedience, His obedience; before our love, His love; before our surrender, His surrender.

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So where does our security come from? Jesus says:

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“I will not leave you as orphans.”
“I will come to you.”
“You are in me, and I am in you.”
“We will come to them and make our home with them.”

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There may be times when God feels far away, but that does not mean He has left us. We still belong to Him.

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Confident faith can therefore say:

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“I do not know what tomorrow holds. But I know I am not an orphan. I know whose child I am. And I know Who has made His home with me.”