Sunday morning retuning: Following Jesus id
demanding? Did you know Jesus has some
expectations of you? We saw a few in
Luke 9:51-62 on Sunday: mercy and
commitment. Remember the story of
William Borden? “No reserves. No retreat.
No regrets.” Jesus help us live
this way.
A few months ago I shared some thoughts about Communion in our
Inspire Service. They came to mind as I
was preparing for this weekend. In our
Engage services we are going to celebrate Communion a little differently. It will be new.
My thoughts revolved around the verse in the Bible’s ending
book. In Revelation 21 I was struck by
verse 5, "He
who sits on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'"
Note that he says, "all things new," and not "all new
things." There is some continuity implied. In other words, He is not making from nothing
things that are all new, though He is perfectly capable of doing that, like at
the beginning, but rather here at the end is making existing things new.
It implies that He will not be starting over, but rather will take
what is here, existent, and remaking it in such a way that it will actually be
new. I am not talking about s omething used that you buy on Amazon that s ays “Like New”.
Oh no! He is making all
things…NEW! I do not understand it, but
I believe it will be. I can not fathom
what that will look like or feel like, but I believe it is true.
And that is really our hope, isn’t it? An “all-new” you, not a “like new” you. I need to be remade to be able to really
enjoy all that God promises us in this New
Heaven and New Earth. I love
thinking about that. I hope you do to,
but enough on that for now…on to Sunday.
I mention it because I want to encourage you to pray. Anytime there is something new, leaders have
to try to communicate clearer so as to reduce misunderstanding and
confusion. We will celebrate Communion
in the body of the singing, about 15-20 minutes into the service as opposed to
the end. The young children will be
dismissed and instruction will be given.
Then the choir will sing to provide time for reflection as is our
custom. We will then sing and respond,
then approach the Word.
I am excited about our encounter and want to ask you to join me as
we pray through this and other new things, like our shift in paradigm for
worship bands. Jesus is on the move and
we want to stay one step behind Him, in all things…old and new.
Jesus, we long for the all when you will make all things
new, including us. Give us a taste of
that in our lives today, and help us to look forward to more tomorrow and every
day afterwards. In Jesus name. Amen.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy
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