Bread and Wine

Bread and Wine by Kjersti Timenes

When we receive communion at St James' the invitation often used to invite us to take part in this act of worship is...
Come to this table, not because you are strong, but because you are weak; Come, not because any goodness of your own gives you a right to come, But because you need mercy and help; Come, because you love the Lord a little and would like to love him more; Come, not because you are worthy to approach him, But, because he died for sinners; Come, because he loved you and gave himself for you.
I always find this invitation so encouraging and at the same time full of grace and truth.
Encouraging because it draws me to partake no matter how unworthy I feel I am, no matter how far away from God I think I am - the faint echo of truth in my spirit of how I do love the Lord a little is engaged. I step forward to receive the bread and the wine and this in itself is an act to demonstrate that I want to love the Lord more.
It is full of grace and truth because it is honest about the reality that no matter how I feel or how good or bad I have been or indeed anyone else in the room, we are all sinners and none of us is worthy to approach Him, And yet He died for sinners and because He loved me he gave himself up for me.
It is good to be in a church where the sacrament of communion is served regularly (every other week) and as I get older I see the depth of the liturgy, it is not cold and lifeless but rather a pathway that can bring us into a place of the reality of God.

Introductions and Communion

This post is for preachers, worship leaders, and church leaders but hopefully of interest to the rest of us.

How you introduce anything sets the scene, gives it its foundation and hopefully captures the attention and interest of those being spoken to. I believe Rob Bell is a master at this and below is an audio clip (6 minutes) from his last message at his church, Mars Hill Bible Church*. He does a number of things in this introduction. - welcomes people, tells them what he will be preaching on, uses humour to engage people - but most importantly he talks about the communion they will take at the end of meeting (0:57-2:52).



I've heard Rob introducing communion before usually at the end of a message leading to a time of ministry, which he does at the end of this message as well. This time he shares the centrality of communion to Mars Hill and the importance they give it. What struck me personally is the depth this act can bring us into God's love. I found myself wanting to respond to invitation. It made me think do we just go through the motions with communion, should it have a higher place in our gatherings?

So if you are a preacher, worship or church leader why not listen to this clip a few times, if only as exercise in learning from a great communicator (listen to the wonderful prayer he says before he starts the message 4:16-5:44). I pray that we would all see more and more of the depth of this great sacrament that we have been given.

* no the other Mars Hill, yes there are two!