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Hi Friends, When we were on our “church tour” about a year and a half ago, something stood out to us. With all the different expressions and traditions that have been handed down through different Christian denominations, there are a few practices they hold in common. One of those practices is communion. In some churches you kneel. In others you’re handed the bread. In some places you pass bits of crackers down the aisle. Some churches do it weekly, others less often, but I have yet to see a church that doesn’t take communion together. Jesus expressly asked us to remember Him in this way. He said a thousand wise things and performed hundreds of miraculous signs. His every word and movement revealed the Father to us. Yet in all the ways He could have asked to be remembered, He chose this one — that we do it with bread and wine. He said to do this: Be filled as you remember Me. Filled, sustained, loved, freed. What a beautiful gift He’s given us in the simple command to remember Him in this way. – Anna |
I am a singer, songwriter, wife, mother, Jesus follower. I send out a 2-minute read every Tuesday about Jesus and life in God.
Hi Friends, Last night I stepped out onto the back deck. To be honest, I was escaping the thunderous noise (oh the noise!) of three boys who felt bedtime looming and were attempting to squeeze just a few more minutes of play out the day. I stepped out into what has been one of the first warm evenings of the year, heard the birds singing in the forest beyond our yard, and I had what felt like an involuntary reaction. It felt like when the doctor hits your knee just right and you get surprised...
Hi Friends, I’ll never forget it. I showed up for class in college, slid into my seat, and noticed the girl on my left had a large smudge on her forehead. She was an acquaintance, and in my earnestness to be a “real friend”, I pointed it out. “You have something on your forehead”, I said, gesturing to her as if wiping at my face. “It’s Ash Wednesday,” she said, turning in her seat. Whoops! Neither my husband nor I grew up in churches that followed the church calendar or included liturgy. So...
Hi Friends, Last week we talked about finding every last bit of our ordinary lives in the grand storyline of God. This week, let’s look at how we help one another do just that. When Eugene Peterson counseled pastors on how to help their parishioners find themselves in God’s story, he said, “Listening is the first step. It is the precondition for… making the transition from what a person perceives as alienation and experiences as a jumble of unrelated irrelevancies to a sense of coherence and...