Something to think about While taking the Lord's Supper

 I gave these thoughts during Communion Time, January 29, 2023 at Legacy Christian Church. We take the Lord's supper every week, together.

Devoting Yourself

My second favorite book of the Bible is the Book of Acts. I love reading the history of the early church, seeing how they struggled with some of the same issues we have in church, and hopefully, learning the lessons they are trying to teach today. Even from the Church’s earliest days, we learn some important lessons. Read with me in Acts Chapter 2 beginning with verse 42:

Act 2:42-47  And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.  (43)  And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.  (44)  And all who believed were together and had all things in common.  (45)  And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.  (46)  And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,  (47)  praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Very quickly, I want us to look at four things the early church did as it was being established.

1.      1. They devoted themselves to learning from the right place. They witnessed the miraculous power of God demonstrated by the Apostles, and then listened to them teach about Jesus. This gave them the information they needed for the new life they embraced.

2.      2. Fellowship: It’s so important to get together. They needed it especially because many of them were far from home. They celebrated Pentecost and in the process, found out about Jesus. Eager to learn, they needed physical support as well as spiritual while they were learning about the Way

3.      3. They broke bread together like we’re doing now! Jesus gave us a meal to eat together and remember Him. They did it every day, but we do it every week.

4.      4. They prayed. Prayer changes the one praying, and it can change outcomes. It aligns us with God especially when we pray as we study the Apostles’ teaching, or fellowship together, or when we break bread!

When we do these things, we are transformed, made ready to do the good things that God has prepared in advance for us to do. Will you join me in prayer, to thank Him for His wonderful mercy, His eternal Son, and the Hope we have for resurrection.

Turn the Light On!

 James "The Gravy" McCrickard and I have created a podcast we call "Turn the Light On"

You should check it out:

Anchor:

https://anchor.fm/turn-the-light-on

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/5AY2cGtLcTRpwuT3MRrCh6

Stitcher:

https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=559368&refid=stpr

Google Podcasts:

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8yZDU2MTU2Yy9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw

Apple iTunes:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/turn-the-light-on/id1525392943

#lightwins

John 1:5

 

So far we have 3 episodes.

Eventually we'll have our own blog for it.

for now, there's here!

Episodes in order of appearance:

"The Light Shines in the Darkness" https://anchor.fm/turn-the-light-on/episodes/The-Light-Shines-in-the-Darkness-eh4dmm

"Blind Man Sees the Light" https://anchor.fm/turn-the-light-on/episodes/Blind-Man-Sees-the-Light-ehe1lr 

we're encouraging everyone to use the hashtag #lightwins to promote this endevour.

Enjoy! Share! Comment! Like!

Annoyed, Mildly Disturbed

I'm annoyed a little bit.

I seriously consider arguing to the point of losing friends/damaging relationships every time some says something to the effect of "It doesn't matter if I go to church or not, as long as I have a relationship with God."
There's so much wrong with that, I can't even.
First off, there's the idea of what the church IS.
IT IS:

• The Body of Christ
• The Bride of Christ
• The "Called out" of God
• a Body of Believers

Then we have the idea of what the church is TO DO:

• Proclaim the death and ressurection of Jesus through Communion
• Encourage one another to do good works
• Stand firm against the world.

Why on earth would you not want to be a part of this?!?

Maybe it's because of what else the church IS:

• A group of Sinners with problems
• An exclusive group
• People who don't live up to their expectations

And sometimes we DO these things:

• Keep people out
• "Forgive" without accountability
• Insist on keeping rules

First, let's realize something about The End¹:
I've heard some people compare the search for God/Purpose/Meaning to life to a journey, and on this journey it is said: "There's more than one path up Mt Fuji."
or "All Dogs Go to Heaven"
some variation on the idea that All-Loving-Powerful-Knowledgeful, etc God will accept Your Best as Good Enough to get by, and this is how we can all make it to heaven.
Simply put that's not something I can believe, given the truth of scripture, and what it's got to say. Scripture says God is one, and He is Holy. This means that I'm not going to the top of Mt Fuji. Mt Fuji is on earth, it's end is the same as the rest of the planet. I'm going somewhere fundamentally different than this earth. This earth is not The End. It will be remade into something it's not right now, but that Coming Thing is so vastly different than what's here right now, I can only barely glimpse at it. I know there's no crying or death there, but I don't know what that means. I know that I will see God, and that the Tree of Life is there, but I don't know what that means.
You say you don't go to church because your way is good enough, that there's more than one way up mt Fuji.
I'm not going there, and I don't want to. Mt Fuji is here, I want to go Over There.
To get over there I need help, and so do you.
That's why the Church is here.

As a body of believers, we're ready to do what God's called us to do, and it doesn't matter what happens to us. God makes it a point to make sure that what is happening to us now works together for our Good.
We're blessed with the fellowship of other believers. Not everyone in the congregation where we worship is at the same level of spiritual maturity. Some people in church need milk, others can handle meatier doctrine. We all still have need for the blood of Christ to continually cleanse us. We remind each other where we're going and who we are.
That is what Church is FOR. We're on a journey, not to a place that is here, on this plane of existence, but rather we are going to the Throne room of the King, where our voices will join in the chorus: "HOLY HOLY HOLY is the Lord God Almighty!" Here we see in part, and know in part. Then we will be complete. You don't get there without being in the Church!
Joining the Church is the same as being saved from your sins. You can't have them washed away without God adding you to the Church.
It's a deluxe package deal.
Please stop climbing Mt Fuji, and start reaching out to God. You don't have to go far.
Repent of your sins, and confess that "Jesus is Lord". Join the church through the Grace² of God by your Faith³ during your baptism⁴. Please, if something is hard to understand, reach out to me here on the blog, or send me a message in email. We can help.
The important thing is to take the right step next.

---

¹ The End is the idea of Telos, or "purpose" not just "the end of the world", although that is part of it (briefly explored in a Sermon titled "Do You Really Want it All to Stop?") The idea is also a part of what's going on in your life to accomplish an end, it's not just God's End for the world, but His End for you as well. ²Grace: God's favor given to you by His Love. you don't earn it. ³Faith: Faith in the death of Jesus because of and in atonement for your sins. ⁴baptism: Immersion in water done in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to wash away your sins and raise you to new life.

"Falling" behind...

Just a lil' seasonal Joke about my updating habits!
So,
This has been an exciting fall if you are involved at all with BASIC! We Have had a lot of help this fall, and I would say, that if we had about $250 more dollars in support a month, we could keep doin' this sort of thing well.

Matt Walters and Jessica Brooks have been helping us out! They are a real blessing. I'll have more to say later, but wanted to post these prayer requests before I got too busy this week.

Prayer requests:

Marlyn Lucas => "Angela Joshua, granddaughter"
Victor Washington => "Prayer for Angle"
Andrew Cook => "For Love"
James Sanders => "Pray to get myself together need a place to rent"
Willie Williams => "Strength"
Leon Johnson => "To let go and let God for work, a good job so I can go indoors to live"
David Truhn => "Job"
Willie Sims => "To get off the street"
Orlando De Jesus => "Family"
Jack Bishop => "Everything"
Danny Paul => "Pray for me to get off drugs and alchohol!"
Gregory Scott => "Pray that I may come upon a regular job real soon ok"
Jesse Morris => "For Protection"

Thanks for praying!
GB HOYT

God Loves You, me, Tina, and Steve!

Back from downtown.
Here I am, I didn't get too worked up, but I did yell. I wonder if you can guess the parts of the sermon that I yelled. I'll give you a hint. I really don't think that some things are fair...
;-)
Anywho. I served about twenty-four people Sunday Nite, me and God, and some of them helped eveyone. Things went really well. I arrived about six downtown, and was done by seven. I call that a perfect plan, even though it rained lightly the entire time. Somehow, the rain was enough to feel appropriate considering the subject matter of the sermon.
Crazy...
Let me give you an interesting God story about today. In my travels, I have to decide by the time I get to the end of my street tolls or no tolls. Paying tolls means I save half an hour sometimes in travel time. Not paying tolls means I save about $3.50. Hmmm. It's not really an issue right now, because I don't have any toll money!!! :-D Hooray for simplicity!
In my simplicity, I prepared to exit highway 98 onto I-4, and I spied some hitch hikers. Two of them to be precise, a man and a woman.
WARNING!!! I am not about to advocate picking up hitch hikers. There are just too many way to creepy Urban Legends to just go picking them up. I knew them both!!! I also knew they were homeless I recognized Tina Bishop right away. She's small... I didn't recognize Steve first off though. They are the ones mentioned in the title of the post. They had come to Lakeland for the weekend to give Steve's Kids some good news and they were on their way back. Well, I was able to give them a ride to Orlando in the A/C. God has great timing.

So: Here are the prayer requests:
Jack Bishop: Everything
Adrian Hendy: Things get better
Cathy: Grandma
John Santrock: My Grandma
Nelson Daniels: Need Job, Place to stay.
Mona Thomas: To fight hunger and pneumonia while it continues to rain.
Steve: That we make it through another day.
David Fahrmer: For my mother and for our safety on the streets.
Robert Duncan: Pray for my mother.

Nearly fifty percent participation this week on the requests! Hey, that ain't bad...
So. Everyone have a good week, I'll have some more news later.
God Bless you!!
GB HOYT