Dear Family at Christ Community,

     We begin our journey in the book of Ruth this Sunday. As part of our worship in Ruth 1:1-5, we will seek nourishment from the Lord’s Table to help us experience the love of Jesus whom Ruth points forward to. Consider this quote from John Currid in Ruth: From Bitter to Sweet to help prepare you for the table:

May we grasp the truth that God will use his people despite their sin. That, of course, does not give anyone a license to sin, but it underscores the reality that God employs frail and weak vessels to proclaim the truth. God uses his people, despite their feebleness, debility, and transgressions, for his glory and purposes. This is what happens in the book of Ruth. As has already been suggested, the act of Elimelech to move his family to Moab because of a famine in Israel was not the right response to adversity. He should have trusted in the Lord’s provision and remained steadfast in the land of his inheritance.

        I hope Currid’s words will remind us of who we were apart from Jesus so that God’s grace in redeeming us despite our sinfulness and separation would taste all the sweeter to us. I also hope they will help us to see where we need to repent of our current failings to trust what the Lord has provided, is providing, and will provide for us according to His steadfast love. May we bear fruits in keeping with repentance by remaining steadfast in Christ for God’s glory despite our doubts and desires for the offerings of a far country.

In Christ,
Cameron