Dear Family at Christ Community,

     We will begin our Easter Series on Sunday in Matthew 26:17-46 and with the Lord’s Table. In both, God will declare that it is He who has first and lavishly loved us. In both, Jesus will welcome us to feast on the Word being nourished by all its benefits. In both, the Spirit will empower us to worship the Lord our God and love those around us as we have been so gloriously loved.     Augustine in his commentary John’s Gospel powerfully captures the heart of the Easter season and the gift of the Lord’s Table with these words:

God’s love is incomprehensible and unchangeable. For it was not after we were reconciled to him through the blood of his Son that he began to love us. Rather, he has loved us before the world was created….The fact that we were reconciled through Christ’s death must not be understood as if his Son reconciled us to him so that he might begin to love those whom he had hated. Rather, we have already been reconciled to him who loves us, with whom we were enemies on account of sin. The apostle will testify whether I am speaking the truth: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” [Rom. 5:8]. Therefore he loved us even when we practiced enmity toward him and committed wickedness.

Take the time to read these words several times as they seem almost too good to be true! Consider how impossible this kind of love is for us apart from God’s grace in Christ alone. Allow your heart to rejoice in its applied truth to your life without the haunting memories or excuses that cause you to turn your gaze from the Father’s love to say, “But, I don’t deserve it for these reasons…” Share this great news with those around you who need to hear it again and again and again as the powers of darkness are so persistent in trying to overcome this marvelous light. Come to worship prepared to express the joy of your salvation with your brothers and sisters who have been reconciled to our Abba Father who has loved us from before the foundation of the world!

In Christ,
Cameron