Dear Family at Christ Community,

     Next Sunday we will celebrate the Lord’s Table as part of our Advent worship in John 1:4-13. Advent can be a difficult season for many of us as we deal with the various burdens that come with the holidays that often lead us away from the comforting light of the Gospel. It can feel like we are caught in a whirlwind and can’t seem to catch up given all of the activities and competing financial constraints. Family issues often become more emotional and particularly difficult. Past mistakes can cast long shadows over the glowing opportunities for cheer and joy. The broken bread and overflowing cup grant us the opportunity to pause to remember and be nourished by the great Gospel truths proclaimed in the Advent Season. The elements declare that the Creator of all things has come in common flesh to display the fullness of the glory and attributes of God for the purpose of saving His children. The bread broken declares that the death of Christ in His humanity transforms our fear of God’s wrath and shame from our sin into the glory of adoption as sons and daughters. The cup overflowing nourishes our ability to bear witness to and display the glory and attributes of God in our resurrected union with Christ.

     As part of your preparation for the Lord’s Table, consider the comforting words of Reverend J.T. Nottidge quoted in Psalm 119: An Exposition  by Charles Bridges:

How often, when I have formerly been upon the brink of giving up all for lost, and of saying — “Evil, be thou my good” — the thought has perhaps struck me, that, while I am struggling between despondency and rebellion, and too hard, too cold, too discouraged to look up to him, the blessed Redeemer is pitying the struggle of my soul; and it has kept me where I was, led me to put off despair at least till to-morrow; and then before tomorrow I have seen something of the grace and glory of the Gospel.

Confess your particular struggles during this Advent season that have led or may lead you into the struggle between despondency and rebellion. Give thanks for the Redeemer who has taken pity on the struggle of our souls and provides the nourishment necessary to bring us out of the darkness of despair into His glorious light. Seek the guiding light of the grace of the glory of the Gospel through God’s word in the power of the Spirit.  

In Christ,
Cameron