Each Sunday, our service culminates in a meal. It is a family meal, it is a royal feast, and it is a spiritual meal. Let me explain each of those.
First, God has adopted you into His family. If you’ve been baptized into Christ by faith, God owns you as His beloved son or daughter. He’s your Father. As the Father of fathers, He nourishes His children. This meal nourishes your faith by assuring you of Christ indwelling you by His Spirit. It sustains you until at last you reach your heavenly rest. Our Brother brings us here so that the Father might nourish our faith, giving us grace to enjoy true unity and fellowship with Him and all those who are born of God our Father. That is why this is a family meal.
But it’s also a royal feast. Here is the broken body and the spilled blood of the Anointed Hero. Broken and bloody He died––not in defeat––but because by His death He conquered the devil, that murderer from the beginning. The victorious King has now spread this royal table, spread it with the richest of fare, and invited His guests to gather around to celebrate the peace His war has won. Our enemies are conquered. So eat with jubilant gratitude, for you are in fact citizens of the kingdom won by Christ’s body and blood.
Finally, this is a spiritual meal. We take it by faith. We trust that all the spiritual realities of our adoption by Christ and our conquest in Christ are present here. Here we receive rich promises. Here we taste true joy. Here we partake of true unity. Here is Christ, all of Christ, given for you. You are made a son or daughter of God. You are reckoned as a citizen of His endless kingdom.
So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…
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