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A COMMUNION MESSAGE
I was sitting in my office on Thursday morning enjoying a fresh breeze blowing through my office, through the vestibule, through the auditorium, and through the whole set of buildings and out the chapel windows. After the hot and stuffy days don’t you enjoy it when the air cools and the fresh breeze blows?
So how is the air in here this morning?
Better yet, how is the spiritual air in here this morning?
Does the spiritual air around you ever get stuffy?
Ever come up against a smog bank of sin – it takes effort to take a deep spiritual breath when that rolls in.
Ever hit those hot times of testing of our faith – the air gets very stuffy – the body and spirit labor to take a deep spiritual breath when that is happening.
Ever tried to come up for air when the body of Christ is at war? Wow, how refreshing it is when the Lord lifts us up above the ever-flowing river of contention and debate as the church of Jesus Christ marches on.
“Like a mighty army moves the church of God, Brothers we are treading were the saints have trod, We are not divided, all one body we, One in hope and doctrine, one in charity.”
There are days when I think that Sabine Baring-Gould (the writer of the words for Onward Christian Soldiers) must have been from another planet than the one I’m living on.
The last time we were singing this song at the Care Center it must have been one of those weeks because I wanted to laugh out loud when we were singing that 3rd verse.
As we partake together in a service that demonstrates the sacrifice of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, lets take a look at what should be happening in this body.
If I could say it this way: How is the air in here today?
The Lord invites us to confess all the stale air that comes from our sin – God be merciful to me, I’m a sinner.
The Lord invites us to console ourselves in Him, if we need a breath of fresh air in our sorrow and suffering – O Lord My God, be my strength and shelter.
The Lord offers a breath freshener to all his children who have gotten bad spiritual breath – and have been breathing that heavily upon each other – Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
To create some good spiritual atmosphere we first have to take a look at our roots (Ephesians 3:14-21).
How do children of God get bad spiritual breath?
Mostly from the things that are going on below the surface.
Show the weeds I pulled on Thursday morning.
Notice Ephesians 3:14-21.
To create some good spiritual atmosphere we then have to take a look at what is above the ground (Ephesians 4:1-15).
Walk worthy (live a life worthy – peripateo same as “walk in the spirit”) of the calling you have received.
To create some good spiritual atmosphere we first have to take a look at our roots (Ephesians 3:14-21).
To create some good spiritual atmosphere we then have to take a look at what is above the ground (Ephesians 4:1-15).
Notice that it is not “work worthy”. We work very hard while we walk . . . but we are told to “walk worthy”.
This must be a continual challenge for the body of Christ – in Paul’s day and ours. Oswald Chambers said,
“The main thing about Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the atmosphere produced by that relationship” (Oswald Chambers 8/4).
So, if I dare ask once again, how is the air in here today? |
