Take Part, and Hope

Communion after preaching on Noah sending out the dove.

This table points to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. It is why I break bread and pour wine every week. We are showing you the sacrifice, symbolically. The main point of this meal is to remember – that’s what Jesus said. Sometimes we think a better way would be to watch a movie of the crucifixion, if we are to remember what happened. But we are also to participate in His death. The main thing isn’t the breaking, the pouring or the gory details. The main thing is our eating and drinking with faith in our hearts.

At the cross God was pleased with a sweet-smell. At this table, as we trust in the sacrifice at the cross, God smiles on you. He is pleased with You in Christ.

Here at this table is your olive branch from God, your sign that the earth will be renewed, that you will be renewed. God gives you a symbol of hope amidst death. Even as the carnage comes into sight, as the waters go away, new life comes into sight, too. Remember that dove, hovering over the waters.  The Holy Spirit hovers here, offering you God’s peace instead of punishment.

This is your sign that God has remembered you, and it is the way God has given you to remember Him.

2/23/14