Every week at Grace, near the end of our worship services, we celebrate holy communion. Recently, I read an article about how we approach holy communion in light of Paul’s admonition from 1 Corinthians to “let a person examine himself.” The meaning of this line, in context, is not to examine whether we are morally worthy to receive the gift of holy communion, because none of us is worthy. Rather, the call to examine ourselves is a call to reflect upon the meaning of communion as a communal act that proclaims the death and resurrection of Jesus. It seems the folks in Corinth were treating communion like any other meal, rather than a holy event that Jesus calls us to enact to remind us that He lives within us all, through the Holy Spirit. Let’s plan to ponder this truth this Sunday during communion. If Christ lives within us, we have a new perspective.
I know that many of you have expressed appreciation for our “Hymn Sing” Sundays which are part of our 9:00am worship every fifth Sunday. Well, this Sunday is the fifth Sunday in July, so come to worship and enjoy singing some familiar hymns. This is a great opportunity to think about the words and meaning of the hymns and how they might instruct us to live today as Christ’s ambassadors.
The scripture passage for Sunday is Genesis 37: 3-4. Pastor Gary will be continuing in our series on Genesis, and his message Sunday is entitled, “The Good and Bad of It: Joseph.” You will see that the scripture passage is about Joseph’s coat of many colors and how his brothers reacted to Jacob’s (Israel’s) gift of the coat to Joseph. This message is sure to address the common human problems of jealousy and resentment.
Friends, Colleen and I sincerely appreciate your prayers, cards, and condolences in the aftermath of Colleen’s brother Don’s death. We love and appreciate you all. Don fought a heroic fight against esophageal cancer for over three years. Now his pain is over, and we are grateful for his example of a life lived with persistent faith amidst many challenges.
I look forward to seeing you all and worshipping together this Sunday!
Steve Hart