Sunday Scripture

Greetings my extended church body – my brothers and sisters in Christ worldwide. It’s Sunday September 13TH 2020, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us celebrate this day and each new day that God grants us on His fantastic journey for us.

Last Sunday morning when I arrived at my church sanctuary about 45 minutes prior to the start of the service I saw this to my surprise:

That’s our Communion table – front-and-center. I wasn’t expecting it there. You see for the past 4 years I’ve been in charge of Communion. I schedule it (usually on the first Sunday of every month). I study for it. I pray about it. I prepare the elements. I place the table. I lead my church body in Holy Communion. I did that every month from August 2016 to March 2020, and then COVID-19 hit.

We resumed regular weekly in-person services on Sunday May 31ST, but Communion was not part of the service due to COVID concerns. In June, July, and August I told my church body that eventually we would return to observing and celebrating Communion at the start of every month – once we figure out how to do it safely.

Well our Lead Pastor figured out a way to do it safely. He actually setup that Communion table, and it looked beautiful too. Once I saw that I had less than 45 minutes to study for it and pray about it. A nicety with modern technology is the fact that I had almost my entire history of Communions on a Cloud – accessible via my iPhone. I went to work to find one that was perfect for the day. Once I found it I updated it for the day. I prayed about it. I enhanced it further. I prayed about it some more. I essentially did what usually takes me much of Saturday to do at my traditional computer at home – in less than 45 minutes on my iPhone.

Our Lead Pastor delivered his message titled, “What Is The Day Of The LORD ?”, and then he called me up to lead Communion. It went rather smoothly, and it actually flowed perfectly as a nice continuation of his sermon. (That was a “God-wink” moment there.)

My Communion was based on 1 John 5:1-6:

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves His children too. We know we love God’s children – if we love God and obey His commandments. Loving God means keeping His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world ? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by His baptism in water, and by shedding His blood on the cross. And the Spirit – who is truth – confirms it with His testimony.

EPILOGUE: You know I’m not big into surprises. I prefer the status quo. I prefer the way that it’s always been done. But you know – I’ve come to expect God’s surprises over the past 14 years, and I love them. Our God didn’t create this fantastic journey for us to live a routine – mundane – monotonous life. He created this journey for adventure and excitement. He died for us so that we can live – live the life that He intended us to live when He created us – a life with purpose – a life with potential to change the world. There are surprises with each new curve along the journey. Grab them, and make the most of them !