Dear Family at Christ Community,

     
     This Sunday we will begin our Easter Season series with Revelation 19:1-10 in which we will hear the heavenly hallelujah chorus of the multitude gathered in worship of our gracious and just God. The heavenly multitude also celebrates the readiness of the gorgeously arrayed Bride of Christ to come forward to be finally wed to the Conquering Lamb. These words of the Lord should spark a yearning within us to be present at the marriage supper of the Lamb. To help us cultivate this yearning, we will participate in the Lord’s Supper as a foretaste of this blessed festal gathering. The bread broken for us reminds us of Christ’s loving sacrifice to break the bonds of sin and death for us His Bride. The overflowing cup fills us with the joy of newness of life through the resurrection gifted to us by our Bridegroom. The Holy  Spirit uses these elements to nourish and sustain us in union with Christ in a fallen world until His return to claim us for His Bride when He will make all things new. William Hendriksen in More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation captures the eternity spanning beauty of the marital motif that is worthy of our meditation:

In Christ, the bride was chosen from eternity. Throughout the entire Old Testament dispensation the wedding was announced. Next, the Son of God assumed our flesh and blood: the betrothal took place. The price—the dowry—was paid on Calvary. And now, after an interval which in the eyes of God is but a little while, the Bridegroom returns and ‘It has come, the wedding of the Lamb’. The Church on earth yearns for this moment, so does the Church in heaven. Then we shall all be with Him for evermore. It will be a holy, blessed, everlasting fellowship: the fullest realization of all the promises of the gospel.

     Pray for the Holy Spirit to fashion our union with Christ further into a sacred canopy through the means of grace for the life of the world. Ask the Spirit to nourish your desire and wisdom for reconciliation with those whom you have offended or have offended you. Invite others to join us at the table through evangelism and compassionate hospitality. Come boldly expecting to taste and see that the Lord has been, is, and will be good throughout eternity!

In Christ,
Cameron