Passing the Lord's Supper

I appreciate the elder having the Lord's Supper passed around. I think that COVID unintentionally hurt the Lord's Supper. I mean by that statement that at first churches were not meeting so everyone was taking the Lord's Supper from home. Then we were scared of passing COVID to each other so we did not want to pass the Lord's Supper. Since we were not passing the Lord's Supper, we cut that time out of our services. That, in turn, cut my reflection time way down. Someone might say, "What do you mean by reflection time?"

When we come together to take the Lord's Supper, it is not just a time to check off the face that we have taken unleavened bread and fruit of the vine but a time for us to reflect. 1 Corinthians 11:28 calls me to reflect or examine myself (23-26(. One of the way i examine myself is by looking back to what Jesus did on the cross. As i take the bread, I remember His body as it hung on the cross, and as i Partake of the fruit of the vine, I remember the blood that was shed for me. I am hopefully grateful for that great sacrifice and want to live to hone that sacrifice. So I examine my life: is it glorifying God? I am also reminded that Jesus is coming back (26). Am I living a life that reflects the fact that Jesus could come at any moment?

I am thankful for those men that get up before the Supper and try to focus our minds on what has happened and what is about to happen. It should be a very special and important time in our week. Not a time to text, balance our checkbook, or clip our finger nails. But a time to pause, strive to put other things out of our minds, and focus on our relationship with jesus. This will hopefully set the stage for the rest of my week. So i am thankful for a little more time during the Lord's Supper to refl

ect. I hope you are also.

- Chris

FREE AGENTS

Free Agency has already begun in the NFL. It is a time when those no longer under contract can sign a new contract with any team that offers them one they like. By now most of your big-name, highly-prized free agents have signed new contracts, and a lot of money has been given to men who play a sport for a living. Players claim to sign contracts for a multitude of reasons such as the money, the location, the other players on the team, or a change to win the Super Bowl. All this free agency news has me thinking, "If I were a free agent, what would I do?" In a sense I am a free agent. God has given me the freedom to chose to submit to Him or to reject Him. My eternity hangs on my decision. So Let's look at the two options.

The devil offers some intriguing options. He offers us things that appeal to our senses (1 John 2:16-17). You see an example of this in the

Garden of Eden. In Genesis chapter three we see Satan tempt Eve to eat from the tree that God had said not to eat from. Verse six says that she saw that the tree was good for food, a delight to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise so she took and ate. She, as well as Adam, chose to reject God and follow Satan.

Hebrews 11:24-26 shows us the other choice. Moses chose to reject the passing pleasures of sin for the reproach of Christ because he was looking to the reward. There is no doubt that the Christian life is the best life (John 10:10), but it can be tough to say "no" to our fleshly desires. When pleasing God and going to heaven are our goals, saying no to sin can be a little easier.

Matthew 16:26 asks us, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" What will your answer be?

SOW THE SEED

In Mark chapter 4 verses 1-25 cover the parable of the sower (soils). Then verses 26 -29 give us the parable of the seed which seems to be unique to Mark. And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows-how, he himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself; first the bad, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come" Mark 4:26-29.

This passage reminds me that gardens will soon be planted. Praise God for how wonderfully He made plants. A friend of ours gave us some purple okra. I would plant those little round seeds, and eventually those seeds would turn into produce that we could eat. I don't really understand how it all works, but it does. I think God is using that to teach us about His Word. As i mentioned, before this parable is the parable about the sower where verse 14 tells us, "The sower sows the word." So maybe in verse 27, the seed is the Word of God. I don't know how the Word of God works in people's lives, but I know that it can and does.

So what is a lesson for me? Sow the Word of God. Things I can do to help the seed grow: Make sure it is good seed. I mean, make sure it is God's Word and not my opinion, worldly philosophies, ect. Work the soil you are planting in. Love people and care for them. As the old saying goes, people do n't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Water the seed. Continue to teach and encourage. But ultimately it is God that gives increase (1 Corinthians 3:6). Let me challenge you to sow the seed.

~Chris