Welcome Home: First Sunday in Our New Church Building

  “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it.” – Psalm 127:1

Today we walked through brand-new doors to us, sat in brand-new chairs, and lifted our voices under a roof and in an auditorium that still smells like fresh paint and answered prayer. After years of someone else's sound system, folding tables and chairs, baptizing folks in borrowed horse troughs and ponds, God has given us a permanent place to call home.

But let’s be crystal-clear from day one: this building is not the church. You are. I am. The blood-bought, born-again believers gathered around the Word and the Table—that’s the church Jesus is building. The bricks are just a tool in His hand.

1. A Monument to God’s Faithfulness  

Some of you sold hay bales, held yard sales, skipped vacations, and gave when the offering plate looked empty felt heavier than when it was full. Some of you prayed until your knees left permanent dents in the carpet. Some of you lost sleep over permits and interest rates.  

And here we are. Not because we’re clever or prosperous, but because “the LORD was with us.” Every time someone asks, “How did y’all build this?” let the answer always be the same: “A great God did great things, and we are glad.”


 2. A Memorial to the Blood of Christ  

We could have built the prettiest building in the county and still been Ichabod (“the glory has departed”) if the gospel isn’t preached here without apology.  

So we nailed our colors to the mast this morning:  

- The Bible (66 books, inerrant, sufficient) is our only rule.  

- Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.  

- The pulpit will stay hot with cross-centered preaching.  

- The baptistry will stay warm with repentant sinners.  

- The Lord’s Table will stay front-and-center reminding us we are beggars who found Bread.


 3. A House of Prayer and Warfare  

Jesus cleansed the temple because it had become a marketplace instead of a house of prayer. We will not repeat that tragedy.  

Let the midweek prayer meeting outdraw every other event on the calendar. Let the altar rail be worn smooth by tears of repentance and burden-bearing. Let’s keep short accounts with God and with each other.


4. A Launchpad, Not a Lounge  

Beautiful buildings can become spiritual cul-de-sacs where the saints park and polish their halos. Not here.  

This place exists to fill the chairs on Sunday and empty them on Monday. We will train soul-winners, send church-planters, support missionaries, and preach Christ in the highways and hedges until He returns.


A Personal Word to Every Reader


- Veteran saint: Your race isn’t over. The best souls you’ll ever win might walk through these doors next Sunday.  

- Young person: These walls will echo with your children’s children singing “Amazing Grace” if you stay faithful.  

- Struggling sinner: There’s a chair with your name on it and a Savior with arms wide open. Come home.  

- Online skeptic: Drive by anytime. The door’s unlocked and the coffee’s hot.

We didn’t build a monument to ourselves. We built a lighthouse.  

May the gospel beam from this corner until Jesus splits the sky.

Now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy—to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.


Welcome home, church.  

The best is yet to come


DMMC 

11-24-25



Location: Mexico, IN, USA

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