Mamre Homecoming 2026

wine on the sign by the way it's ralph did that

and then he left and we can't change the signs

it is justin wine and i first met justin actually

through john paul and the wines and the pattersons

became very good friends and they moved to gallipolis

and were attending faith baptist where john paul

was pastoring there and so john said hey you've

got to meet this guy justin you guys have a lot

in common i think he just meant the haircut was

what we had a lot in common but um So I got to

know Justin. He's true. He's a like -minded brother,

a dear friend. And he had served as a chaplain

in the Air Force, and he retired from the Air

Force. He is now serving as a chaplain at the

VA. And he's also, he and his family are members

there at Vinton Baptist. And so it's a real treat

for us to have this morning Brother Justin Wine,

if you would come. Good morning. It's okay about

the Jason thing. My grandma has called me Jason

over the years, too. I don't take any offense

to it, but man, it is good to be here this morning.

Mamrie feels like home, and like Ryan said, Mamrie's

played a significant role in my spiritual journey,

mine and my family's, in a large part through

John, Paul, and Katie and their family, but also

through Ryan. Sandy and their family as well.

And so it's just a joy to be here this morning.

And Ryan, I just thank you for inviting me and

giving me the opportunity to open God's word

with you all this morning and worship him together.

So thank you. As I was coming in, I heard the

music playing in the background. It was great

is your faithfulness. Great is your faithfulness,

O God our Father. There is no shadow of turning

with thee. All I have needed thy hands have provided.

Great is your faithfulness, Lord, unto me. And

that goes right along with the message this morning.

And I pray that you're able to say that with

sincerity of heart. Let's go to the Lord in prayer.

O Lord God, in the wilderness you gave your people

bread from heaven for their hunger and brought

water for them out of the rock for their thirst.

Feed your people today with your word and satiate

their thirst with living water. Strengthen us

with your presence. We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen. We're going to be in Psalm 131 this morning.

I'm going to go ahead and read that if you want

to turn there. And I'm reading from, I'm preaching

from the KJV today. So Psalm 131, a song of degrees

of David. Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor

mine eyes lofty. Neither do I exercise myself

in great matters or in things too high for me.

Surely I have behaved and quieted myself as a

child that is weaned of his mother. my soul even

as a weaned child. Let Israel hope in the Lord

from henceforth and forever. May the Lord bless

the reading of his word. The title of the sermon

this morning is The Weaned Soul, Humility, Quietness,

and Hope. There's something special about homecoming.

It's not merely an annual gathering or a sentimental

tradition. But it's a moment where the people

of God pause to reflect. We remember where we've

been. We celebrate God's faithfulness. And we

renew our commitment to journey forward together

as a family of God. Even if we aren't all members

of the same local congregation, we belong to

one body, the body of Christ. And that creates

an immediate sense of belonging. We just went

on vacation to Florida not long ago. Kristen

and I and the girls visited a church there on

the Sunday we got there. And man, it just immediately

felt like home. It's brothers and sisters in

Christ. We have everything in the world in common.

That's why I feel at home here among you at Mamre.

You're my brothers and sisters in Christ, joined

together by an unbreakable bond that guarantees

a final homecoming celebration that no one will

ever depart from. Scripture reminds us that right

now we are sojourners. We're pilgrims in a foreign

land headed toward a promised home. John Bunyan,

in his book, The Pilgrim's Progress, called it

the celestial city. It's a place where we're

told in Revelation that God will wipe away every

tear from our eyes and where there will be no

more death or mourning. or crying, or pain. But

until then, God has given us the church, the

body of Christ as a refuge, a place of comfort,

support, correction, encouragement, and fellowship.

The songs of ascent, Psalms 120 to 134, were

pilgrim songs for travelers heading up to Jerusalem

for worship. They reflect the journey of faith,

trouble and deliverance, Sorrow and hope, community

and praise, Psalm 131 stands out among them.

It's short, quiet, humble, and yet deeply profound.

Charles Spurgeon referred to this psalm as a

ladder that we climb slowly and notes that though

brief, it takes a lifetime to learn its quiet

wisdom. He likens it to a pearl that's simple

and small but of great worth. And in this small

psalm, God invites us to three things. One, to

humble our hearts. Two, to quiet our souls. And

three, to foster a community grounded in enduring

hope. David starts off this psalm in verse 1

by saying, Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor

mine eyes lofty. Neither do I exercise myself

in great matters or in things too high for me.

David begins with humility. He's not pretending

to be humble. He's not performing humility. We've

all probably seen that at some point. Maybe we've

done that at some point. But instead, David is

confessing before God, with God as his witness,

that his heart has been softened and lowered

under the hand of the Lord. I think humility

is so often misrepresented and misunderstood

today, much like the word love. So often love

is bantered about as something that's just a

warm and fuzzy feeling, butterflies in our stomach.

But we know that that's not what Scripture says

that love is. In fact, I think there's a lot

of overlap between... the definition that Scripture

gives us of love and really the definition of

humility. Humility is not weakness. Humility

is not being a doormat. Humility is not never

speaking up and never standing firm. Humility

is not cowardice. And I think we see probably

our greatest picture of humility, well, no doubt

our greatest picture of humility in our Lord

Jesus Christ. Certainly he was meek and mild,

but he was not weak in any sense of the word.

And so as we go, I want to look at 1 Corinthians

13, a familiar passage, but as we think about

humility and what it is, I think it's helpful

to think about these words of the Apostle Paul.

He says, charity or love suffereth long and is

kind. Charity envieth not. Charity vaunteth not

itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself

unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily

provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in

iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth

all things, believeth all things, hopeth all

things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth.

According to Scripture, humility is rightly seeing

oneself in light of who God is. Proverbs even

equates humility with the fear of the Lord. Proverbs

22 .4. It's the recognition that God alone is

sovereign, wise, and worthy of trust. Humility

says God's wisdom is better than mine. God's

timing is better than mine. God's evaluation.

is more accurate than mine. God's plan, no matter

what that plan looks like to us, is safer than

mine. Humility says, not my will, O God, but

thine be done. David demonstrated humility through

integrity. Integrity means doing the right thing

before God, even when no one is watching, even

when no one understands, even when no one approves.

Integrity means fearing God more than fearing

people. Brothers and sisters, when we fear men

more than God, sin and all of its consequences

abound. There's a great book by a biblical counselor

named Ed Welch. It's called When People Are Big

and God Is Small. It's a great book. I'd encourage

you to consider getting it and reading it. David

didn't appeal to his reputation among men. He

appealed to God who sees the heart. David says

that his eyes are not lofty. He's not looking

down on others. Humility ultimately helps us,

I think we see in Psalm 131, avoid at least three

things. The first is arrogance. Thinking of oneself

as superior. Thinking of oneself as deserving

more. Thinking of oneself as being self -made.

Thinking that you're better than you are. This

could be contrasted with confidence. Sometimes

people who are confident get accused of being

arrogant. The two things are very different.

The person who's acting in confidence is acting

with faith, confidence, confide, with faith.

They know what they know, they know how to execute

it, and they do it with faith, with confidence.

They don't think that they're better than what

they are. but they do recognize their God -given

gifts, and they want to be good stewards of those

gifts and use them. The second thing that humility

avoids is envy, resenting others' blessings as

though God has somehow failed us, thinking that

they don't deserve the blessings that God has

given them, that we deserve them more. We're

not to envy. It teaches us to avoid disdain.

Looking down on other people. Arrogance is looking

up. Arrogance is looking so far up that you don't

see any other people. Disdain is the opposite.

Disdain is looking down upon other people and

judging them according to our own standards and

placing ourselves above them. Listen, David recognizes

that everything he has, his talent, his calling,

his anointing, and even his breath comes from

God. I think David can say with the Apostle Paul,

what do you have that you did not receive? The

answer is nothing. We have nothing apart from

God. Our only boast is in Jesus Christ. David

continues by saying, I do not exercise myself

in great matters. He's saying, I don't try to

run the universe. I don't insist on answers that

God has withheld. I don't try to control what

God has reserved for himself. Brothers and sisters,

how often do we carry burdens that God never

intended us to carry? Self -inflicted burdens.

Listen, I'm preaching to myself often. We spend

hours worrying about national events we cannot

change. political conflicts that we can't resolve,

or controversies that do not belong to our sphere

of influence. Meanwhile, the things that God

has placed within our reach, the things that

God has put within our sphere of influence, our

marriages, our children, our church, our own

spiritual walk, receive far less concern and

are often altogether neglected. Think about this.

As I was preparing for this, even in the small

things, the Scripture teaches us that all authority

comes from God. That He has ordained all authority.

Yet how often are we always trying to overstep

the bounds that God has put us within? I just

think about the speed limit. The speed limit

is 55. But what do most of us try to go? 60,

maybe 64. And then when we can't... Pay our bills

because we got a speeding ticket. We wonder why.

And we gripe and we complain. I think about debt.

How often do we burden ourselves with debt? Because

we're not content with what the Lord has provided

us. And so we burden ourselves with worries that

we were never meant to have. God knows what his

children needs. He provides what his children

needs. The scripture says, and I think this is

one of John Paul's favorite verses, I hear him

quote it often, probably because they have so

many kids, but the Lord's people have never been

seen begging bread. The Lord provides what we

need. Spurgeon warned that too often we try to

run the world from our bedroom. When we humble

ourselves and accept our limits, something beautiful

happens. The soul begins to quiet down. That's

what we see here from David in verse 2. He says,

Surely I have behaved and quieted myself as a

child that is weaned of his mother. My soul was

even as a weaned child. David uses one of the

most tender images in Scripture. A child weaned

from his mother's milk. An unweaned child is

restless. demanding, crying for immediate comfort.

But a weaned child has learned trust. The relationship

is no longer about craving nourishment, but instead

it's about resting in presence. Just think about

your kids when they get to the point where they

just want to be around you. They don't need anything.

They ask you to play. They really don't want

you to play. They really just want you to sit

there and watch them play. Why? Because they

find comfort in your presence. And that's what

David is saying that he's found here. He's just

found comfort in the presence of God. He's found,

he's recognized that God has met his every need.

And he's resting in God's presence. David is

saying, my soul used to be restless. My soul

used to crave control. My soul used to demand

answers. But now... I've learned to rest in God.

The picture of David in this psalm is not a picture

of a weaning child, but a picture of a weaned

child. There's a big difference between the two.

David was anointed to be king. He had a promise.

And we see in 1 Samuel 24 that he had an opportunity

to seize that promise early by killing... Saul,

I'm going to turn there and read just a brief

portion of 1 Samuel 24. It says, And it came

to pass when Saul was returned from following

the Philistines that it was told him, saying,

Behold, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi.

Then Saul took 3 ,000 chosen men out of all Israel

and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks

of the wild goats. And he came to the sheepcoats

by the way where was a cave. And Saul went in

to cover his feet, a .k .a. to use the restroom.

And David and his men remained in the sides of

the cave. And the men of David said unto him,

Behold the day which the Lord said unto thee,

Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine

hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall

seem good unto thee. And then David arose, and

he cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily.

And it came to pass afterward that David's heart

smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt.

And he said unto his men, The Lord forbid that

I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord's

anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against

him, seeing that he is the anointed of the Lord.

So David stayed his servants with these words,

and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But

Saul rose up out of the cave and went on his

way. Again, at this point, David was anointed

to be king. He had a promise. And he had an opportunity

to seize that promise early by killing Saul.

But brothers and sisters, just because we have

an opportunity doesn't mean that we should always

take it. If taking the opportunity causes us

to compromise our integrity, then it's not the

time to seize the opportunity. Wise words that

I have received are just, and just because you

can do something does not mean that you need

to. And that is true. If David had been spiritually

unweaned, he would have taken matters into his

own hands. In fact, in a sense, he kind of did,

and he immediately repented of it. Cutting off

the corner of Saul's robe, which represented

Saul's authority, really was... Already David's

stepping out of line with God's will. And he

repents of that. He seeks forgiveness for that.

His men even encouraged him to do this. And maybe

we have people around us who are encouraging

us to take the shortcut. To look out for number

one. To get what's coming to us. But David's

soul was quiet enough to trust God's timing.

He refused to grasp. what God had not yet given.

He could say, far be it from me, because his

soul was at rest. We're born craving comfort,

recognition, affirmation, control. We're born

with sinful natures that have carnal desires,

just like an infant craves milk. And so what

does God do? God lovingly weans us from those

things, sometimes through disappointment, Sometimes

through unanswered prayers. Sometimes through

loss. Sometimes through closed doors. And sometimes

through seasons of waiting. Why? Not because

He's cruel, but because He's good. Because milk

is not enough for us, and He knows it. And He

knows that solid food is coming. We're told in

Scripture that God chastises and disciplines

those whom He loves. Why? so that He can conform

us to the image of His Son for our good and for

His glory. As Matthew Henry said, God often puts

wormwood on the breast so that we stop clinging

to lesser comforts and begin to cling to Him.

I was thinking even Garth Brooks touched on this

truth when he sang what? Some of God's greatest

gifts are unanswered prayers. And what we know

is that God is praying for us. I mean, in a sense,

there's no such thing as an unanswered prayer

for the believer. God, the Holy Spirit, is praying

for us when we don't know what to pray for. And

we're told that Jesus Christ is seated at the

right hand of the Father making intercession

for us right now. He knows what we need way better

than what we do. Are we trusting Him for that?

Are we resting in Him? A quieted soul trusts

God's character. This is so important. It trusts

God's character when God's ways are confusing.

Scripture says that the secret things belong

to God. We're not meant to understand everything.

But what He has revealed to us is His character,

His love, His grace, His mercy, His sovereignty,

His providence. And that is never changing. Again,

going back to the psalm, great is thy faithfulness.

There is no shadow of turning in him. A quieted

soul trusts God's character. It rests in God's

timing, even when waiting is painful. It finds

contentment where it once found agitation. It

lets God lead rather than insisting on its own

way. Again, there's parallels here over and over

again to what Scripture tells us is the definition

of love. And if humility is the fear of the Lord,

what does the fear of the Lord ultimately look

like? It looks like loving the Lord our God with

all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength and

loving our neighbor as ourself. It stops fighting

providence and it starts submitting to it. Brothers

and sisters, this is Psalm 23 lived out. I'm

going to turn there and read that. Psalm 23,

a Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd, I

shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green

pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths

of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though

I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil. For thou art with me, thy

rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest

a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth

over. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow

me all the days of my life, and I will dwell

in the house of the Lord forever. That is our

promise. That is our hope. A quiet soul no longer

demands what God has withheld or clings desperately

to fading comforts, but instead it says, my soul

be still. God is enough. But there's one more

invitation in Psalm 131. David doesn't stop with

his own soul, and neither should we. He now turns

outward toward the people of God, and we too

are invited to foster a community grounded in

enduring hope. Verse 3, let Israel hope in the

Lord from henceforth and forever. When God quiets

David's soul, David immediately encourages others

to hope. A humble, quiet soul strengthens the

people around it. A restless, proud soul, however,

unsettles the people around it. I'm sure that

we have all experienced this. Ask yourself, do

people encounter peace when they encounter you?

Or do they encounter agitation, complaint? Fear,

frustration. We cannot call others to hope in

a God that we don't hope in ourselves. Our children,

our friends, our co -workers, our church, they

notice our posture toward God. David was able

to extort the nation to hope because he himself

hoped. And that was evident in his life. Brothers

and sisters, let us not be a stumbling block.

to those around us. When the people closest to

us see a lack of humility and a lack of quietness

in our soul and a lack of hope in the Lord and

they look at our lives and they see as much sin

there as they see in their own and sometimes

even more, how can we call them to hope in the

Lord? It's important to say that this is not

about perfection. David was not perfect. You

and I are not perfect. The only one who has ever

been perfect that has walked this earth is the

Lord Jesus Christ. That being said, the trajectory

of our lives should be one of increasing Christlikeness,

of increasing obedience to the Lord and trust

in Him. I even think about the Apostle Paul.

I think when we read this psalm, we get a sense

that David is coming to this. He's learning it.

And I think about Paul when he says, man, I don't

do the things that I want to do, and I do the

things I don't want to do. Wretched man am I.

And I think about Paul in Philippians 4 when

he says what? He says, I learn to be content.

I think we see the same thing from David here.

But again, what is the trajectory of our lives?

What is our desire? Matthew Henry encourages

us that even if we cannot yet recite this psalm

with full sincerity, we can recite it as instruction,

and we should, admonishing ourselves toward humility,

quietness, and hope. We sing it not because we've

arrived, but because we want to arrive, because

it's our heart's desire to arrive. In Pilgrim's

Progress, Christian, the main character of that

story, loses his burden at the cross. And soon

after, he reaches a hill called Difficulty. And

there he encounters two characters, one called

Formalist and one called Hypocrisy. And those

two characters are trying to convince Christian

to take a shortcut, to leave the narrow way.

And that's exactly what they do. They take shortcuts

and they perish. They didn't humble themselves

before God. They weren't obedient to God. Instead

of staying on the narrow way, they went to the

broad way that leads to destruction. But Christian

climbs that hill faithfully. Despite challenges,

it is the hill called difficulty. At the top

is a palace called beautiful, symbolizing the

church. And there Christian is encouraged, equipped,

armed. and giving companions for his journey.

Brothers and sisters, we need each other. We

need encouragement. We need correction. We need

fellowship. We need shared hope. People are looking

to you for hope. Ultimately, we know they look

to Christ for hope, but we are a representative

of Christ here. We are the body of Christ. We

are Christians, little Christs. David turns his

personal experience into communal exhortation.

Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and

forever. This isn't a temporary hope. It's not

a circumstantial hope. But it's an eternal hope

that is grounded again in God's unchanging character.

Regardless of circumstance, can we say that we

trust in the Lord? that we've humbled ourselves

before the Lord, that we're content in the Lord,

that we have quieted our souls before the Lord.

In conclusion, Psalm 131 gives us, again, a simple

yet profound invitation to humble our heart,

to let go of pride, to let go of comparison,

to let go of the illusion of control, to quiet

our souls. To let God wean us from lesser comforts

and teach us to rest in Him. And then to strengthen

the hope of others. To let our life become a

testimony of trust that draws others into deeper

faith. And so as we leave here this morning,

I want to encourage you to reflect upon these

questions. To meditate on this psalm. And to

ask the Lord, what is He showing you? Listen,

the Lord tells us that His Word doesn't return

void. It doesn't go out in vain, but it accomplishes

everything that He set it forth to accomplish.

And so there is no doubt in my mind that this

Word that we've heard this morning has pricked

your conscience in some way or another. I know

it certainly has mine, so please consider these

questions. Where do you sense God calling you

to humility? What is God weaning you from right

now? What makes quiet trust in the Lord difficult

in this season of your life? Are you hoping in

the Lord and in Him alone? Are you encouraging

others to hope in the Lord? Brothers and sisters,

may we be a people who walk with humble hearts,

with quiet souls, and with enduring hope, journeying

together toward our final homecoming with Christ.

And I'll leave you with these words from Psalm

133 and Psalm 134. Behold how good and how pleasant

it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

It is like the precious ointment upon the head

that runneth down upon the beard, even Aaron's

beard, that went down the skirts of his garments.

As the dew of Hermon and as the dew that descended

upon the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord

commanded the blessing, even life forevermore.

I read Psalm 134. Let me say this. We heard it

in the song that we sang this morning. I don't

know everyone's heart in here this morning. But

what I do know this is, regardless of who you

are, the invitation is the same. Matthew chapter

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

11, our Lord's words. Come unto me, all ye that

labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you

rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me.

In other words, humble yourself before me. For

I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find

rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and

my burden is light. If you find yourself this

morning, believer or unbeliever alike, with pride

in your heart, and a restlessness in your soul,

and no hope, or your hope is weaning, it's lacking,

repent, confess. We're told that if we confess

our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive

us our sin. He says, Come unto me, all ye who

are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you

rest. And that's my prayer for you this morning.

Psalm 134, Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye

servants of the Lord, which by night stand in

the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in

the sanctuary and bless the Lord, the Lord that

made heaven and earth. Bless thee out of Zion.

Amen. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father,

if we would grow in our understanding and have

perfect knowledge of who you are, we would have

completely contented souls. There would be nothing

disquieted within us at all. Lord, there would

not be a restlessness. Lord, we wouldn't feel

an angst. Lord, we live in an anxious culture,

fearful, polemical fighting, Lord, and brings

distractions, particularly inwardly, Lord. And

we have a very difficult time of centering ourselves

and stopping and being still before you, Lord.

Father, fighting for the illusion of control.

But Lord God, if we would stop for just a moment

and realize, Lord, we can trust the one who has

given your son for us, Lord. You delivered him

up. You did not spare your son. Lord, out of

love, you allowed your son to suffer the punishment

that was due us. He suffered. And Lord, in love,

Lord, if we could understand, Lord, this is the

God that we serve, whose ways are perfect, whose

wisdom is perfect, whose plan is perfect. Lord

God, if we would rest in that, we would have

complete peace in our souls. But we don't. And

so, Father, forgive us, Lord. Forgive me for

the fear, the anxiety, the control, Lord, that

I so desperately cling to. Would you help us

to learn to lean into you, to trust you more,

to follow the example of our Savior Christ, who,

Lord, absolutely rested in your plan and therefore

completely content. Lord God, would you teach

us, help us. Father, help your people, Lord.

There are many who are suffering, Lord. God's

suffering because, Lord, they're fighting, Lord,

emotionally, Lord, so very much because they've

not yet learned to really rest in you. Let us

hope thou in the Lord and be like that weaned

child. that has learned to be content. Father,

we ask this, Lord, as we prepare to go to communion,

that, Lord, we commune with the risen Christ.

We see there again the body of our Lord that

was given for us, the blood that was shed for

us. And there, Father, not only do we find salvation,

but we find peace. Lord, produce that in us,

we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Deacons, if you

would come to the table and prepare for communion.