I recently read John Mark Hicks "Come to the Table; Revisioning the Lord's Supper". Having grown up in the Catholic tradition, I have always found myself focused on Jesus crucifixion. John Mark has helped me to find Sunday, and for that I thank him. Many of the thoughts I express in this post are directly from his book, so if you have read it, they may look familiar to you....
I have a question for you. Do you live on Friday or on Sunday? That might seem like a weird question, I’ll come back to that in a minute.
Jesus is with us when we break bread together at His table. He isn’t present in the sense that He is literally the bread that we eat, but He is present as the host of the supper. The cup doesn’t contain His spilled blood, but it does represent the cost that was paid by God in order for us to be forgiven.
Jesus hosts the meal for us so that we’re able to participate in communion with God. His death allows us to live forever; He sacrificed Himself so that we could be saved. But why? Who are we that God would allow Himself to be humiliated, beaten, and crucified just so we could live?
God pursues us. He wants to fellowship with us. When we come to the table, we are eating at the table of the living God. He isn’t just the host of the table, He is an active participant. He gives us a glimpse of the future at this table today. We’re able to get a little taste, even though it may just be a dry cracker and a thimble of juice, we get a taste of the heavenly banquet Christ is preparing for us.
John Calvin put it this way; he said “The Spirit lifts us up into the presence of Christ to sit at His table. Through the Spirit, by eating and drinking, we sit at the Heavenly Banquet Table of God.”
Until recently, I lived on Friday. What I mean by that is when I thought of Jesus, I focused on His crucifixion, His suffering, His pain, His death. Don’t misunderstand me, it’s good to think about those things, we should remember the sacrifice He made for us.
But it isn’t Friday anymore. Now, I am learning to live on Sunday. What day do you live on? Do you live on Friday, with a dead Jesus hanging on the cross, His body broken, His blood flowing down? Or do you live on Sunday, with Jesus resurrected, seated at the right hand of the Father, preparing a heavenly banquet to share with us? This isn’t a time of sorrow and pain, it’s a time to rejoice and be glad because Jesus isn’t dead, today is Sunday and He is ALIVE!
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Monday, February 27, 2006
Tithing our Time
Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; Shout for joy to the LORD , all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the LORD - shout for joy before the LORD , the King. Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the LORD Psalm 98:1, 4-5, 7-9
In the Book of Numbers, we are told to be patient, to wait for God’s guidance and for His leading in our lives. But we are also taught to act on that leading once He makes His will known to us. We are taught to be committed to God.
Every Sunday morning we gather together and worship God. We praise Him for the marvelous things He has done, we burst into jubilant song before Him, and we shout for joy to our Lord, to our King.
God doesn’t want or need our money. What He really wants is our hearts. He wants us to be committed to following His leading in our lives. I heard Tim Woodroof say something like this in a sermon once, “There are 168 hours in each week. Most of us spend an average of about 56 of those hours sleeping. That leaves us with 112 hours of time spent awake most weeks. Do we tithe that time back to the Lord? Do we give God 11 hours each week?”
We spend a few hours at church each Sunday, another couple of hours on Wednesday night, but what about the other 6 or 7 hours that we owe to the Lord each week? Do you contribute your time back to God, either through prayer, in study, or in service to Him in some way?
I’m going to challenge us all to do just that. Try giving God at least His 11 hours this week and see what happens. I think we will discover that when we turn ours lives over to God, when we commit ourselves completely to His will for us, we will recognize that everything we have, everything we earn and everything we are has been given to us as a generous gift from God. What we give back to Him each week, both in time and money is an expression of our gratefulness to Him for all these wonderful blessings.
“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16
In the Book of Numbers, we are told to be patient, to wait for God’s guidance and for His leading in our lives. But we are also taught to act on that leading once He makes His will known to us. We are taught to be committed to God.
Every Sunday morning we gather together and worship God. We praise Him for the marvelous things He has done, we burst into jubilant song before Him, and we shout for joy to our Lord, to our King.
God doesn’t want or need our money. What He really wants is our hearts. He wants us to be committed to following His leading in our lives. I heard Tim Woodroof say something like this in a sermon once, “There are 168 hours in each week. Most of us spend an average of about 56 of those hours sleeping. That leaves us with 112 hours of time spent awake most weeks. Do we tithe that time back to the Lord? Do we give God 11 hours each week?”
We spend a few hours at church each Sunday, another couple of hours on Wednesday night, but what about the other 6 or 7 hours that we owe to the Lord each week? Do you contribute your time back to God, either through prayer, in study, or in service to Him in some way?
I’m going to challenge us all to do just that. Try giving God at least His 11 hours this week and see what happens. I think we will discover that when we turn ours lives over to God, when we commit ourselves completely to His will for us, we will recognize that everything we have, everything we earn and everything we are has been given to us as a generous gift from God. What we give back to Him each week, both in time and money is an expression of our gratefulness to Him for all these wonderful blessings.
“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Welcome to Zeteo!
I am new to blogging, so bear with me. The purpose of this blog is to seek out the Truth that God has in store for me, and to share that search with others. I don't know how often I will post to this blog, but I want to share any new thoughts or ideas that I come across through my daily reading, study of Scripture, and everyday life. I hope you enjoy this searcher's journey. I am in no way a professional writer of any kind, so please don't hold me to anything higher than your LOWEST standards. I will always welcome comments and discussion, so please feel free to join in whenever the Lord moves you to. Thanks for checking out my blog. Now let the journey begin.........Al
"Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." Colossians 3:16
"Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." Colossians 3:16
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)