(This is a communion meditation shared at my local church. I hope it can encourage your heart with the gospel of grace in Jesus.)
When we think about Communion we often talk about who Jesus is and what he has done for us individually. In light of today’s message, we should also think about the corporate dimension we celebrate in communion. What promises does God make to us as a body when we eat and drink? What are we saying and acknowledging to one another when we partake?
It’s good to regularly set our mind on who Jesus is, who Jesus is for us, who we are in him, and what we have in him. For those whose life and identity has been united to Jesus by faith in him, here’s the tip of the iceberg of some things we’ve received in him from Romans 1-8.
(This is a meditation used at my local church to prepare our hearts for communion. I hope it encourages you with the good news of grace in Jesus.)
This morning, I want to remind us Jesus gave us the Lord’s Supper so we might feed on and be refreshed by him.
Continue reading Communion Meditation: Focusing on God’s Grace Rather Than Our Guilt
Everyday Church is a great-read, both on what it looks like to live as a community feeding one another with the gospel and building “mission” into the normal day-to-day experiences in life, rather than it being an extra add-on we do. Here are a couple helpful quotes on what it means to be an intentional community.
This is a great “practical” quote from NT Wright, who’s not always known for such things. This comes from his commentary on Col. 3:5ff.
I found this quote by Calvin helpful as our church studies Romans 9 together. Calvin’s emphasis on union with Christ throughout his writings again pays dividends as he reminds us to look to Christ to know that you are loved by God…and will be so forever. If we have been united to Christ by faith then we have no need to look into the past and be puzzled if God chose us. Christ is our assurance so we look at him.
But if we have been chosen in [Christ], we shall not find assurance of our election in ourselves; and not even God the Father, if we conceive of him as severed from his Son. Christ, then, is the mirror wherein we must, and without self-deception may, contemplate our own election. For since it is into his body the Father has destined those to be engrafted whom he has will from eternity to be his own…we have sufficiently clear and firm testimony that we have been inscribed in the book of life if we are in communion with Christ. (Calvin, Institutes, 3.24.5)
The Bible speaks about various positive outcomes to suffering, or reasons why we can rejoice in suffering. However, one which I think we often miss out on is that as we suffer Christ actually suffers with us. It’s not simply that we suffer like Christ or that we suffer in his name—although both are also true—but the NT offers tremendous encouragement in the mystery that Jesus actually in some way suffers with his church. This truth, forged in the OT with texts about God walking through the fire with us or being in the fire with us (cf. Is. 43; 63:9; Dan. 3:25; Ex. 33:14), is only ratcheted up in the NT through union with Christ.
Our church has been making our way through Romans and this week we begin 9 weeks on Romans 9-11. We should never shy away from God’s Word. In fact, many of the things that make us sheepish when we approach hard texts comes in part because we’re not fully getting the picture. Further study might not solve all your questions but it hopefully will help clear up initial misunderstandings that cause us to ask the kinds of questions that Paul responds to in Romans 9. Two quotes I came across this week provide helpful cautions.
To recall the first quote I actually did a search on my computer because it’s always stuck with me (at least the general idea has). Interestingly enough, I recorded this quote during the first week of March exactly ten years ago. It’s from R.C. Sproul’s book The Soul’s Quest For God.
The King James Version translates 1 Thessalonians 5:22 as “abstain from all appearance of evil.” While studying verses 16-22 in preparation of a sermon I came across this quote from Gary Shogren. Having been raised in a church culture where the appearance of holiness rivaled actual holiness, his remarks were a helpful antidote to obsession with any “appearance” of evil we might give off. Obviously this could be taken too far if we exercise no cautious wisdom at all when it comes to appearances of sin that might be detrimental, but his words are still worth considering.
Verse 22 clearly is instructing the church to test prophecies so that they hold onto what’s from the Spirit (5:21) and reject any evil, false prophecies not from the Spirit (5:22). That context shines light on what Paul is and isn’t saying in this text, which is why Shogren writes the following.
Continue reading Should the Perception of others be a driving force for ethics?
During Pastor Mark’s message this morning–which was a great one–he mentioned the connection between Romans 5 and Romans 8. Whereas some might use the language of bookends for these two chapters, he more aptly described Romans 5 as the foothills of Romans 8. As we noticed this morning, as we ascend up Romans 5 we’re stunned by the heights of glorious truth only to catch a glimpse of the towering mountain called Romans 8 just ahead. You could give me either chapter to live on and I think I’d be okay.
Continue reading Comparing Romans 5 to Romans 8
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