Tag: communion

Pastor’s Notes 10/3/2025

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?  Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. –1 Corinthians 10:16-17

This coming Sunday, October 5, we will join with Christians all around the world in celebrating World Communion Sunday. It is one of those holy days that reminds us we are a part of something greater. It is a day when our table feels a little bigger, our prayers reach a little farther, and our fellowship stretches across languages, cultures, and traditions. It is the one Sunday a year when Christians, no matter our denominational or local church practice, take Holy Communion.

Our scriptures for Sunday, 1 Corinthians 10:16–17 and Matthew 13:1–9,  help set the tone for our belonging and connection together. Fittingly, our choir ensemble will offer the hymn Seed, Scattered and Sown as special music. This hymn, written by Dan Feiten in 1987, was inspired by these very passages of scripture. It poetically ties together Jesus’ parable of the sower with Paul’s teaching about the unity of the church through bread and cup. The hymn invites us to see ourselves as seeds scattered throughout the world, yet brought together as “one bread, one body.” Its imagery reminds us that while we come from many places and experiences, at Christ’s table we are gathered and made whole.

On World Communion Sunday, we will break bread and share the cup with the awareness that we are part of something larger than ourselves. From small congregations in rural villages to large cathedrals in bustling cities, believers everywhere will echo the same words of blessing, share the same bread of life, and drink from the same cup of blessing.

Let us prepare our hearts this week to come to the table with gratitude, humility, and joy—remembering that in Christ, we are never just scattered, but always gathered and bound together in love. I look forward to meeting you at table in the sanctuary or on YouTube.

Brett

Sermon 6/4/2023

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

If I were to ask you to think about a table that has been significant in your life, where does your mind go first?

I have a feeling that if I were to ask you to think about various kinds of tables, a fairly clear picture will come to mind as well as a flood of memories and experiences. Take a few moments and think about each of these tables and what triggers your memory:

  • kitchen table
  • dining room table
  • craft or hobby table
  • work table
  • Communion table

We, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) are a people of the table. First and foremost, we refer to the Holy Table of Communion. The Lord’s table is a place where Jesus welcomes all as equally worthy to receive, as well as to go forth and serve another. Each time we gather at this table, it is a unique experience unto the moment. It is a communal encounter shaped by those present.

We are also people of other significant tables. Disciples love to eat. There is something about food on a table to bring us together in conversation and fellowship. Also, at table we study, pray, create, and provide in ways that build up the reign of God in our midst. Community happens at and because of the table.

The text for Sunday is Luke 22:23-30. A dispute has broken out amongst Jesus’ followers regarding which of them could be regarded as the greatest. In verse 27 Jesus gives us another of his patented, ‘yes and’ answers when he replies: “For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.”

We seek to understand what Jesus meant and to explore in greater detail how we are truly people of the table.