Dear Family at Christ Community,

     This Sunday we will be reminded of Christ’s work to make us God’s people though we were once not God’s people as we receive the elements from the Lord’s Table. We, like we will read and hear from Hosea 1:2-11, once forsook God’s historical warnings, offered mercy, and covenant love as we declared that we were not His people and He is not our God. However, we will also read and hear from 1 Peter 2:9-10 that by God’s grace alone through the person and work of Christ alone that we have become His people alone by faith. The broken bread and offered cup will again proclaim to us that Christ’s broken body received the sin and just wrath that made us not God’s people and that His shed blood covers us and declares us God’s people. Praise God that we are now a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation called to proclaim the excellencies of the God who called us out of our various darknesses into His marvelous light together as one family!

     So often we approach the Lord’s Table as a loose collective of individuals who only consider themselves individually and neglect the celebration of a bigger family and purpose signified and sealed in the elements. We fail to appreciate the fact that we are taking these elements together as a miraculous family that is only possible through Christ. We should take great joy in and celebrate the fact that God has brought us together in Christ to glorify Him through the love that we show for one another and for our neighbors. Edmund Clowney captures the gravity of this in The Message of 1 Peter when he writes:

Church fellowship is not an optional advantage to be chosen or ignored, like membership in a social club. It is the calling of every Christian. There is a spiritual ‘ethnicity’ to the church of Christ; Christians are blood relatives, joined by the blood of Jesus Christ.

While being a part of a family with varied baggage and backgrounds is not always easy, it will always be a gift in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

     In preparing for the Table this Sunday, reflect on how God has specifically blessed you through making you a part of His people. Share with someone how they have been a blessing to you as a brother or sister in Christ. Seek to be reconciled to any of God’s family that you are currently at odds with asking for forgiveness for your part and offering forgiveness if necessary for theirs. Ask the Spirit to help you grow in participating in and appreciating your growing family in Christ. Celebrate the Lord’s redemptive justice and faithful covenant love together with God’s people considering not only yourself but the gift of those around you!

In Christ,
Cameron