Dear Family at Christ Community,

   This coming Sunday we have the opportunity to again partake of the Lord’s Table. In the bread and cup God has provided for us a sign and seal of the work of Christ on our behalf. It is a reminder and a ratification of the redemption secured for us by Jesus’s death and resurrection. By this means of grace God renews and strengthens our faith in Him—faith which is never so strong that it does not continually need to be nourished by the promises of the gospel preached from God’s Word and made visible to us in communion.

   As we begin the Advent season by hearing from the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, we will be reminded at every turn that God has employed every method to direct our gaze away from ourselves and our pride, doubt, and fear, and toward Jesus. In the certainty of His Word; in the prophecy of the birth of John the Baptist to parents in their old age; in the fulfillment of that prophecy despite the struggle of John’s father Zechariah to believe; and in a thousand other ways, God proves Himself to be the faithful One who alone can save His people. So too in communion, we have God’s declaration in the broken bread that we have been saved from the slavery of sin, and the judgment our sin deserved, through the broken body of Jesus. In the cup, we have God’s declaration that we are raised to walk in New Covenant life through the blood of Jesus poured out for us. Again and again, God comforts us in our weakness and empowers us to live for Him in the strength that He alone supplies.

John Calvin succinctly captures this idea in his commentary on Luke. Calvin reminds us:

“For they are greatly mistaken who, in order to enjoy peace, hide themselves from the face of God, whereas we ought to acquaint ourselves with Him, and be at peace.”

   As we prepare to partake of the Table, let us be reminded that we have no hope of drawing near to God apart from His mercy and grace extended to us in the gospel. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to give us a renewed sense of wonder and delight in the gospel—the power of God for our salvation. Let us reflect upon the goodness and love of God; who not only redeemed us from the power sin, but helps us to persevere in the walk of obedient faith in this life so that we may at last enjoy uninhibited fellowship with Him in the age to come.

In Christ,
Robby