Sent from the Welcome Table

Encounter: The underlined elements are taken from Seeking God’s Face: Praying with the Bible through the Year.

Invitation: 

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’”

~Isaiah 52:7

Bible Song: 

The Lord is king! He is robed in 

majesty.

Indeed, the Lord is robed in

majesty 

and armed with strength.

The world stands firm

and cannot be shaken.

Your throne, O LORD, has stood from time immemorial. You yourself are from the everlasting past.

The floods have risen up, O LORD. The floods have roared like thunder; the floods have lifted their pounding waves.

But mightier than the violent raging of the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore -

the LORD above is mightier than these! Your royal laws cannot be changed. Your reign, O LORD, is holy forever and ever.

~Psalm 93

Bible Reading: 

“And I saw another angel flying through the sky, carrying the eternal Good News to proclaim to the people who belong to this world—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. ‘Fear God,’ he shouted. ‘Give glory to him. For the time has come when he will sit as judge. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all the springs of water.’”

~‭‭Revelation‬ ‭14‬:‭6‬-‭7‬

Pause: Leisurely read again…is there a word or idea that stirred within you? Linger over it and give it your attention…is there something about the reading you’d like to ask God about? Pray your life to God…take a moment to rest in God’s presence.

Reflect:

The Christian faith is one so full of symbols. These symbols serve to remind us of the realities of eternity played out in our everyday lives. One of those symbols that I hadn't fully appreciated until Christmas Eve this year was the manger. During our Christmas Eve service, Pastor Tammy laid the communion bread in the manger on our Welcome Table. I have to admit, it felt strange to me at first. I thought, I get that Jesus is the Bread of Life and that He was born in a manger, but that just doesn't seem right to me. It wasn't until Pastor Tammy later explained that the symbolism was perfect; the Bread of Life being born in a feeding trough serves to remind us that Jesus is our sustenance, our daily bread. Jesus and His life lived out through His teachings are like food that people feast on; the Good News, the Gospel sustains the soul in the same way food sustains the body.

As we enter into the last few days of the year and look ahead to the new year before us, how does the reality of this symbolism encourage, motivate, and perhaps even challenge us in how we live as those sustained by the Bread of the manger?

The book of Revelation at times gives both very clear and very mysterious glimpses into the eternal realities of life with God. Some of the clearer pictures we see in our 730 Challenge readings from this week pertain to the reign of God, His Lordship, His majesty, and His glory.

In the grand story of God throughout the Bible, we see an invitation to relationship. In Genesis, God invites Adam and Eve to live alongside Him, and although they chose themselves over God, God continued to pursue His people. Now, as we make our way through Revelation, we continue to see God’s invitation into relationship with Him. It is Good News not just for you and I but for the whole world - for people from every nation, language and tribe!

How does the Welcome Table serve as God’s invitation for us to love Jesus and live like Jesus as we extend the hospitality, generosity, and familial spirit of God’s table with anyone and everyone we encounter? This Sunday, we listen for that invitation through God’s Word so that we may go out from the Welcome Table as ones sent with the Good News, peace, good tidings, and the message of salvation in Jesus.

Receiving and extending the invitation with you, Pastor Matt

Spiritual Practice:

Free Prayer:

Free prayer is a time of simply speaking your heart to God while also contending and advocating before the Lord for those around you.

• Free prayer

  • for the call to follow Christ in your home, neighborhood, and workplace

  • to increase our capacity to serve the common good

  • for those who are working during the holiday season

    
    

Gather:

As we make our way through this holiday season, remembering the love of our Savior through our Christmas celebrations, closing out another year, and looking forward to the new year ahead, may our considerations for gathering together extend beyond those with whom we are most familiar and include those that perhaps we’ve overlooked or deemed unworthy of our time and attention. As you gather with family, friends, small groups, triads, etc. take a moment to pause together to offer up silent (or spoken, if appropriate) prayers to God for people all over the world - every nation, tribe, language, and people.