Dear Family at Christ Community,

     On Sunday, we will gather together for worship to celebrate Jesus’s Gospel as a beloved community that contributes to one another’s growth and service in Christ.  Paul details in Romans 16:1-16 many of those in the beloved community in Rome that have contributed to the Gospel’s flourishing there and beyond. For each of us, I’m sure we could list a host of names of fellow saints who have helped us to grow and serve in Christ. Many of these names would come from our participation in worship, service, and fellowship at Christ Community. Donald M. Baillie in his The Theology of the Sacraments and Other Papers helps us to see this reality reflected in our taking the Lord’s Supper together:

“When we Presbyterians celebrate communion we do not go up individually to the altar; we sit in our places together as at the Lord’s table. We are gathered at the family board for a feast in fellowship, we pass the bread and cup from hand to hand, receiving them from our neighbor and passing them on to our neighbor in the communion of the Lord’s supper. What excuse then have we for forgetting that this is indeed a corporate act, a meal in sacred fellowship, an anticipation of ‘the marriage supper of the Lamb’?”

     Please consider this Sunday as you pass the plates to your neighbors how their presence and friendship helps you to grow and serve in Christ. Consider also how your presence and friendship serve those around you in the same way. May the Lord fashion us further into a beloved community in Christ for His glory, our joy, and the life of the world!

In Christ,
Cameron