Mindset: Grace & God's Kingdom

Speaker:
Series
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Mindset
9.13.20

Well, good morning Southeast Christian Church. How are y'all today? All right. Okay, there we go. I like it. I like it. So I am from South Carolina. So you're going to hear a couple y'alls thrown in there today. Is that okay? Amen. Awesome. Y'all’s -- love it. My family just moved here two months ago down to Castle Rock. I’d love to show you a picture of our, of our crew here. There we are. We all just arrived straight out of the Penske truck there. My son, Bruce is definitely ready to get out. So a 24 hour drive from South Carolina to here with a seven year old, a five year old, a three year old and a one year old. And my wife. So we made it, we made it. And man, it has been so awesome being here already. We said goodbye to the humidity in South Carolina. Amen. And we came to Colorado to pick up our chapstick and our lotion that we're getting used to. But man, we absolutely love it. And God has called us here to this area, to Castle Rock, to plant a church and we're starting Meadows Church. And some have asked, Hey, why? You know why now? It's kind of a crazy season in life in this world. We got COVID going on. There's tons of stuff going on. Is it really the right time to plant a church? And what's interesting is, in the corridor from Fort Collins down south to castle rock, statistics would say about 93% of people don't go to church. 93 out of a hundred people don't go to church. So the answer to the question, is it the right time? Yes, it's exactly the right time. And God has brought us here and lined us up. And in fact, I've gotten to meet some wonderful people, especially here already at Southeast Christian Church. I absolutely love this church. I know the pastor, Aaron, and we've been great friends for a number of years and I've gotten to come alongside and sit in on some staff meetings. I get to come here every Wednesday and just try to soak in, learn some things, ask questions as our church is getting ready to begin, ready to launch. And let me just say that the staff – you have an amazing staff and the staff absolutely loves you. I hear celebration stories every week of things God is doing in life groups and during services on Sunday on teams and then all sorts of things. They celebrate stories and sometimes share names, sometimes share stories, and then we get to celebrate all that God is doing with your staff. You all are so blessed to have a staff that absolutely loves you.  You can we give it up for the staff? Let's give it up to the staff. You have a tremendous, your staff has blessed me. And let me, let me just let you in on a secret, the staff has told me that the 11:30 service is their favorite 11:30 service is their favorite. So just want to, let ya’ll in on that. It's the best service there is. But man, I have a ton of respect for your pastor. Total respect for the wisdom that he shares, the insights that he provides. The laughs that he brings. I love spending time with him. I respect him so much, he's probably the smartest person that I know. He's probably the smartest person that I know. Again, I am from South Carolina. So take that into consideration, but I absolutely love him. I appreciate the chance to be with you today here at Southeast. 

 So, we've been in a series called Mindset the last several weeks. Today, we're going to take a quick pause on that stage. And we're going to talk about two of my favorite things, two of my favorite things, and that is grace and the kingdom of God, grace and the kingdom of God. And that's the title of the sermon. So, grace is awesome. It's amazing. Someone should write a song about that probably. We are so good at, perhaps professionals at, receiving grace. Think about the last time you sinned, you messed up. You said something you shouldn't have said did something you shouldn't have done. You go to the Lord and say, Lord, forgive me. I need grace. He is good to do that. He provides grace for us again and again and again and yet just like we're professionals --I know I am -- at receiving grace, getting grace, sometimes the challenge comes when we are called to give it away. Think about the last person that sinned against you. Said something wrong towards you in front of your face or behind your back. Did something to you that was just wrong. Made you angry, just made you mad. And yet, the grace that we love to receive from God, sometimes it's hard to think to give that away, give that to someone else. Do you know what they did to me? Do you know what they said to me? Forgiving someone is a very difficult task. And in fact, this is not a new thing for us. This is not a problem that we stepped into, this is stuff that's been going on for a long time. And in fact, in Jesus's time, as he walked the earth, he dealt with people that had the same struggle and they loved to receive grace and go to God and receive it. God, thank you for the grace upon my life as I've sinned. And yet the very same people that struggle the same way that we do. Just have a hard time to give it away, to forgive someone else, to show grace to someone else when they've sinned against us. So, Jesus does what he does quite often. He tells a story. He tells a parable that he does quite often to make a point. And so the scripture today, we're going to be looking at Matthew 20:1-16 and as Jesus tells parables, what he does is brilliant. He looks around the setting that's going on, the geography, the people, and it helps put a story together so that the people that he's telling the story to can understand what he's talking about. Jesus was a master at this. And so with your permission, I'd love to kind of take this story and modernize it a little bit for us here in Colorado, Colorado as I've been learning. 

So I'm going to tell this story a little bit modern from Colorado here in 2020. And let's tell this story that Jesus told. So one thing I've noticed around this area, maybe you have to, there's a lot of big plots of dirt where a neighborhood is going. Anybody's seeing a new neighborhood popping up. Yeah, I live in one. Maybe you live in one too. If you haven't, you driven past one, they're all over the place. People are moving here every single day. Once again, another reason to start a church to reach new people. So, the interesting thing that I've noticed here in South Carolina in our yards, we had this stuff it's called grass in our yards. Um, Colorado. What I've noticed is mostly just rocks in the yard. Ya’ll notice this? It is one of the things that have stood out to me is just rocks, rocks, a little patch of grass, you know, just big enough for like a plant, most of it’s rocks. So we've got this project manager and his helper and they're working in this new neighborhood. We've got a picture here. This is where I get to live. That's amazing. So glad that God called me here. Beautiful. So think about this new neighborhood. We got to finish this project and this guy has to finish the exterior of the home, the landscape. And so his job is to spread the rocks out for the yard. Remember not grass -- rocks. Okay. So he does what any good manager would do. He gets up early on a Saturday morning to find some workers. Now, first thing he does him and his helper hop in the truck and they drive down to the Lowe's parking lot. Now why did I pick Lowe’ss? I actually have a part time job at Lowe's gotta pay the bills. You know, you gotta pay the bills. So I worked there every morning from 5:00 AM to 10:00 AM. 5:00 AM is, has been, has been early. I'll be honest with you. It's an early morning. Uh, but this guy, the project manager drives to Lowe’s. Cause sometimes you may even notice this -- in the back of the Lowe's parking lot, sometimes there's some guys gals hanging out, looking for work. Maybe someone's working on a project and they hope to hope to get hired. I hope to join in the job and get hired and make some money. So he drives there. He hops out at 6:00 AM. It's early at 6:00 AM. Again, I'm inside working already an hour, but he drives there at 6:00 AM. Hops out, looks at the guys, Hey, we've got a project. We got to finish this house in this new neighborhood. I'm going to pay you a fair wage for the day's work. I'm going to pay you $200. Are you in? And they're like, absolutely hop in the truck, drive to the project. So get to the house and they get their shovel. And there's a pile of rocks. There's no wheelbarrows around. So they're just spreading the rocks. So they jump in working. And these, you know, I've learned thus far I was told to Colorado was cold sometimes. It's been pretty hot thus far. And then all of a sudden it snowed. And then now it's, you know, 90 degrees again. So Colorado is figuring itself out. But for this story, it's a hot day. It's 6:00 AM, right? So these guys just started working hard. They got to get the rocks from the pile, which unfortunately wasn't closer. But they got to get the rocks around in his yard. They're working hard. You know, it's hard to breathe. I moved here and I'm out of shape to start. And then there's no oxygen here in Colorado and now there's smoke everywhere. These guys are working hard. And three hours go by -- three hours, which is a lot of shoveling. Project manager walks out, observes the situation and says, you know what? We need some more workers. We need some more workers. Let's go get them, him and his helper hop in the truck, drive back down to Lowe’s. Some more guys hanging out there. So it's been three hours. So what time is it? Nine, 9:00 AM. It's still early, early ish  -- guys are hanging out in the parking lot. Hey, listen, we've got a project we got to finish in this neighborhood. I'm going to pay you a fair wage. You want to come work? Absolutely. Hop in the truck, drive back to the site and they get their shovel and they join in. 

So remember there's guys that have been there since 6:00 AM. So three hours working hard and these guys just join right in, and they get their shovel’s going. And they're just working. You know, it's starting to get a little warmer right now. Humidit, I've learned. There's no humidity here, but we're a lot closer to the sun. Apparently, it still gets hot. As you all know, working hard with the crew, you've got the 6:00 AM workers and then you got the 9:00 AM workers. So, they've been working hard. Now three more hours, go by. Let me finish this one. Three more hours go by. What time is it now? Noon. Project manager walks out. We need more workers. We got to have some more help. We got to find some more people to work. We got to finish this project. We got to get some more people. Hop back in the truck, drives back down, back in the Lowe’s parking lot. I know it's noon, but we got to finish a project today. We've got some work to do. I'm going to pay you a fair wage. They hop in the truck. Drive off to the site, grab a shovel. One of these trips to Lowe's they should have bought a wheelbarrow. So they join in, they are working.

Now, remember you got some guys that’ve been there since 6 am you got another crew that got there at nine. Now this crew has started at noon. They are doing great. Fantastic. They've been working hard. Now it's really starting to get hot. Sun's out overhead. The heat of the day, little sweat going on. Here we go. Three more hours go by. Three more hours -- so remember you got guys from six am, some from am, guys from noon. So now what time is it? Three o'clock. I mean, it's three o’clock! A lot of the day already gone by, you know, the sun's way, way out. It's on its way down. Now a lot of the days gone, but the project manager walks out. We need more workers. The guys are going like, no, we feel like we’re fine. The project manager is like, no, we need some more workers. We got to finish up this project. We got some work to do. So, project manager and his assistant hop back in the truck, drive back down to Lowe's parking lot. I know it's three, a lot of day’s gone by, but we've got to finish this project back in the new neighborhood. We got to get these rocks out so this new family can move into the house. We got to finish the yard. Come help me work. I'm going to pay you a fair wage. So they hop in the truck and go back to the site. They grab a shovel, join the crew, joined the workers. Not a lot of instruction needed. Just shovel the rocks from here to the yard. Now, I'm doing more than making a pile here-- in case you think-- I'm spreading those out. So these guys are working hard and it's hot. It's three o'clock. But don't forget. There's been workers that have been doing the same thing since 6am and another crew that's been there since nine doing the same thing, working hard. Those guys are definitely covered in sweat. Just hard work. Then you got another crew that got there at noon. And then this last crew they got here at three o'clock. So they've been working hard, man. Let me get one more, one more thing. Two more hours go by. We'll change it to two hours go by. So what time are we at? Five o'clock. Five o'clock the day is pretty much done. If I’m working til 6, I'm going to start slowly packing up my lunch box. Get my coat. I'm ready to go. Project manager walks out. You never guess what he says? We gotta get more workers. We gotta get, we gotta finish this up. We need some more workers. They go back down. They get to Lowe’s to get more help. There's some guys there. And the project managers like why are you even still here? And they said, no, one's hired us, nobody wanted us, nobody's needed us. So we're still here. Well, he says, I need you. I'm going to pay you a fair wage. You got to finish the project. Let's do it. Let's hop in the truck and join the crew. They grab their shovels, I mean, the line is already going, people are just shoveling rocks, right?

And they join this crew of workers that have been working hard since 6 in the morning. Anybody ever shoveled for 12 hours? It's a long time, but they're working hard. It's hard work. Then you got a crew that's been there since nine.  It's been a long time for them, to be honest. Another crew that got there at noon, definitely missed lunch, for sure. So they're hungry and they're working hard, but they've been there since noon. So it's been awhile. Then you got this crew that came in at three – the heat of the day -- three o'clock they joined in and they'd been working for two hours. And then you got this last crew. They got there at 5:00 PM and they've been working for an hour, one hour. Really not even sweating that much. One hour goes by, the project manager looks out, sends his helper down to the crew. The helper walks down says, circle up and he's walking down. And what’s he got with him? Envelopes? The helper says, listen, I'm going to pay those that have been here the least amount of time, first. And then we'll work our way back. Make sense, following along? So the 5pm workers are first, go get their envelope, back to the circle. Next got 3:00 PM workers. They come in and they all get their envelopes. We got the noon workers. They come and get their envelope. Thank you, sir. Thanks. We got the 9:00 AM workers. They come up to get their envelope. Now, as this is going on, something interesting happened. This 5:00 PM worker does one of these, one of these glances, peeks in that envelope kinda like if someone gives you a birthday card and you want to know if there's money in there so you can toss the card away, get the money. What does he see? The 5 pm worker looks in there and guess what he sees $200 in the envelope. He's like, this has gotta be a mistake, but I'm not going to tell anybody that, let me just put it I my pocket. But people start to catch on and start to see it. So word gets around and this 6:00 AM worker who's up next has caught wind that this guy got $200. We're getting paid $200 an hour. So he gets this calculator out. I'm going to get 2,400 bucks, everybody.  He is happy. He comes into the circle, comes out from the helper with his envelope.  He glances in and you won't believe what's in there -- $200! He says I must have gotten the wrong envelope. No that's the right one. Well, I've been here since 6 am. I've been here all day working. It's only $200 right? Yes, that’s right. Now he’s starting to get upset. Listen, I've been here working all day, hard for you, all day long. And you're going to pay me the same amount of money that you just paid this guy that just got here? We're going to get paid the same? Project Manager overhear’s the commotion. Is there a problem? Yes, there's a problem. I only got paid $200. Project manager reminds him. What did you agree to work for today? What was that fair wage? $200. Have I treated you unfairly?

Let’s read the end of this parable together. Matthew 20:14-16. He says, take what belongs to you and go (this is the project manager talking). I chose to give to the last worker to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first and the first will be last. So Jesus told this parable to this group that's sitting here probably just kind of scratching their heads going. What are you talking about, Jesus? What is this parable supposed to be? This is supposed to be like the kingdom of God you said, is that right? Are you sure? Did you mess up a detail here? Does it? It doesn't seem fair. Doesn't seem fair. Maybe, maybe you're in the same place, kind of left scratching your head. So Jesus had told this parable and in the story, you can go back and read -- you won't find a project manager, but you'll find a vineyard owner and you'll find vineyard workers, and it's not $200 cash, it's a little different monetary system -- but that's what goes down. And Jesus ends the story this way. And people are kind of left scratching their heads. But the whole reason that he tells this story is to say, this is what God's kingdom is like. This is what God's kingdom is like and he tells a story.

So what are we supposed to do with this story? What are we supposed to take home from this story? Two things I think we can learn. Number one, God wants to use us for his kingdom. God wants to use us for his kingdom. What does God – you see the project manager or the vineyard owner is the same person in the story -- what was that person obsessed with doing throughout the whole story over and over and over again? We need to get more people, we've got to go get more workers. He did it at 6,  then 9, then 12 and then 3 and then 5. And the workers are like, I think we're fine by now. But no, the project manager kept coming out saying we need to get more people. We need to get more workers. And a lot of times today, in Christianity and the church, as we, join into this kingdom of God, maybe we struggle with forgetting that it's a mission, a work to be done. And instead we are comfortable just sitting back, just sitting and receiving. Someone else is going to serve on the team. Someone else is going to lead the life group. Someone else can watch the babies in the nursery and help park cars, help run slides in the production team or sing a song on stage. Someone else can do that. I'm just happy to kind of sit back. And I believe what God is saying to us today is my kingdom work, my mission is going to call you to do a little work, to serve a little, to give your life away. It's a mission that he calls us to that's greater than ourselves. And it's much more than just sitting back and taking In, sitting back and relaxing and sitting back and receiving. But more than that, perhaps today you feel like you're not wanted by God to join his kingdom. If God knew what I had done and what I had said, preacher, if you knew the things that I've done, the addictions that I've had, the struggles that I've had, the person that I really am, then you would really know that God doesn't want me. God doesn't want to use me for his kingdom. No way, no way. 

When I was in third grade. My family moved from Tennessee to Mississippi. Now, I know, both of those are far off from here, but that was a whole different world. I left my family behind -- all my cousins, my friends, my neighbors on the streets, the people on my baseball team. I moved to a new state altogether and I knew nobody. I was just a new kid. Anybody ever been the new kid? The new kid, God bless you. No fun being the new kid. And here I am as the new kid in third grade, I've got no friends. I live in Mississippi and I'm struggling. And so here's my bright idea. I'm gonna make some friends because I'm good at sports. Don't let my love handles fool you today. I used to be really good at sports. I would play football and basketball and baseball, and I’d make the all star teams. And that makes friends with those guys. And I was like, listen, I'm in this new place. I'm going to, I'm going to play some sports and have some friends and make some friends that way. Right? It's a great idea. First day, first week come out to recess and you'll never believe what they were doing. They were playing soccer, right? Exactly. I’ve never played soccer in my life and they're playing soccer. So here I am. I'd like to kick the ball this way and it's going to go this way or this way or I'll miss it altogether. I wasn't good. I didn't even know how to play. I didn't know the rules, nothing about soccer. You come out on recess and how does it go? Everybody gets on the wall because you got to pick teams. You already know where the story's going. The new kid that doesn’t know anybody and can't play soccer. And the last pick you really don't even get picked. It's just like, okay, come on. We'll take him. Okay. Over and over and over. And in third grade, that's tough. That's tough. Nobody wanted me. Nobody liked me. I wasn't needed, I had no value. That was my world, but I'll never forget what happened. A few weeks into school. There was this guy, David, that I tried to become friends with. I tried to talk to him some in class and his name was David. And he was just this all star guy. He could dribble the ball and he could, he could kick it like, you know, over and over again, do one of those, like, what's it called? Rainbow? What's it called? Rainbow. I never got better at soccer. That's not the point of the story. He was good and everybody liked him. He was the best. And he was the captain he's picking the team. So David’s up front. I come out for recess. I get on the wall -- I'm 35 years old now and this was in third grade and I've never forgotten -- he looked at me and he said, I got Chris. I looked around. Was there another Chris here? He said, I've got Chris. I walked up. I joined the team. I was the first pick. I had not done anything to earn that pick to deserve that pick. But he chose me to be on his team. And the way that, that made me feel, it stuck with me forever all the way up until this day. And it'll alter the rest of my life -- of being wanted and valued and chosen and picked. And if you hear nothing else today, I want you to know that right now, as God looks at your life no matter what you've been doing and where you are, the struggles that you have, the addiction you struggle with the people in your life that you have issues with. God is looking at you right now. 
And he’s saying I want you. I got you back there. I got you. I want you. I want you. I'll take you. I got you. That's what God says. I want you to just feel that for a second. He wants you. God wants to use us. God has a mission to save this world. And he wants to use us to help do it, to help bring healing, to help serve and to love, to give our lives away, to work hard, to get in the game and not just sit back and receive that grace, that forgiveness, and to jump in, to get involved with that team. I wasn’t picked to just sit down. I was picked to get in the game and God is looking at you right now saying, I want you. I want to use you. I got work for you. 

Let’s talk about number two: One, God wants to use us. Number two, grace changes us. Grace. When we receive grace, we're changed. We’re new people. Jesus told many parables. In fact, probably his most famous parable was when he told about a prodigal son. Anybody ever heard that parable? Y'all heard that one? He told a story about the prodigal son, but I would submit to you that the prodigal son, the younger son was not, in fact, the main character of that story. The main character was this older brother that was faithfully working at the house for his father, working hard, working hard. He probably started working at let's say 6:00 AM. He's been there working, working hard since 6:00 AM. So, as his younger brother comes home, his father runs out and shows grace. Welcome back. I forgive you. Let's throw a party. And the older brother is left out here and hears what's going on. And this grace that’s been shown changes this brother, but it's not in a way that's a good thing. It changes him into a place to where his heart is hardened. And he starts thinking just like that sis am worker-- I've been working here all my life. I've been working hard. I've been serving you faithfully father, how are you going to show grace to this guy? He just got here? And we fall into this trap where we start to feel like we earned this grace. I've worked hard for this. I've been coming to church my whole life. I worked hard. I earned that grace! I can relate a lot with this older brother. I was privileged to grow up in a Christian home with parents that took me to church every week. I walked down the aisle, giving my life to Jesus when I was eight years old. And I've been following Jesus ever since. As I grew older and began to see as different person after different person that would leave the church, leave the faith, walk away. They're not interested in the things of Jesus. They're not interested in the church. Not interested in all the things that were important to me. And the grace that I received from God, in the meantime, I started to feel in some ways I kind of had worked for it and therefore I had earned it. And when you feel like you've earned it, that means you want to hold on to it. And instead of giving it away, you keep it just for yourself. You don't give it away. My heart was hardened like this older brother. As people would come back to church. I didn't believe it, I didn't like it. Is said, you’re not ready. You know how long I've been here? You know how long I've been serving on this team? You know how long I've been attending Southeast Christian Church, been leading a life group. Do you want to come in here and think you're going to get the same as me? And there's this slippery slope. This trap that we fall into, where we feel as though we've earned this grace.

I went off to college feeling this call to ministry. I'm going to be a pastor. I'm going to be a preacher. God wants to use me in this kingdom. He wants to use me in full time ministry. I knew that was true. I felt that. But you see, I went to college and I failed out. In great shame, I moved home and I got a job at a warehouse, just working, got a job at a variety of places. I went back to community college and then I would quit -- drop out and I’d go back and work another place then I’d quit that again. And then I go back to school and try again. And then I'll drop out again, spiral into nowhere. I was a complete failure, a complete loser. My life was just broken. And I remember the person that showed me grace was the least likely of persons. All the while I was dating this girl, who’s now my wife, and her father would sit with me and pray with me and ask me how I'm doing and asked me about my call to ministry. The father-in-law, the one that should have been the first one to say, get out of here. My daughter, you're not good enough for my daughter, get out of here, showed me grace. I got back on my feet. I went back to school. I got involved in a church, again. I worked as an intern, cleaning out closets and washing coolers and mopping the floor and doing whatever I could do. And that path into ministry brought me back to the exact place where I am today. Now planting a church as a pastor. And along the way, as I stepped back, I had this realization that I think we all need to face. And that's that we're all just 5pm workers. I thought I was a 6am worker, I thought I had been working hard. I thought in some ways my efforts my working so faithfully, was earning God's grace. And in fact, all the while I was just a 5:00 PM worker that just made it. Just in the nick of time at the end of the work day when God went out just one more time and said I want you.

You see, grace changes us. It ca soften our heart or harden our heart. I believe there's two main positions in God's kingdom that we all fall into. There’s the greeter, maybe you see the greeter at the front door. They see you coming and say, hey, good morning, I’m so glad to see you this morning, come on in! Glad to have you! That’s a greeter. There’s a different position, called a bouncer. You know what a bouncer does? He’ll stand at the door with his list deciding whether you can come in or not. I’ve been here since 6 am. I’ve earned this. How dare you try to come in and get what’s mine! Your name’s not on the list. Wait your turn, bide your time. I want to tell you, God is always hiring for greeters and he has no use for bouncers. What is instead the 5pm worker, when he got his $200, the 6 am worker had said, Man, you got $200! How bout that! I can’t believe it, you got $200 and you’ve just been here one hour. Amazing! Wow!~ That’s awesome! What if the older brother who saw the younger brother coming back said, I’m so glad you’re back – I missed you! Let’s throw a party – I’m all about it. Grace will lead us to one or the other. Maybe its kept you keeping people at arm’s length. Maybe you feel that you’ve worked hard and you’ve earned this. We’re all just 5pm workers. What’s your next step? What does this mean? Do you walk away from the parable and wonder what needs to be different? Maybe you’ve been sitting in God’s kingdom – sitting and just receiving and you’ve decided I want to get into the game. God wants to use me and I want to get involved. I want to get involved in a life group. I want to serve on the team that holds doors and greets and do as great a job as anyone has ever seen. I want to park cars in the lot. I want to serve in kids ministry. I want to go talk to my neighbor and invite them to church. I want to be used by you God. Maybe you need to pray that God would soften your heart and that you would receive his grace. We receive grace so we can give it out. Maybe that’s your step today. Whatever it is, I pray that you would have the courage, the faith to take that step.

Jesus, we love you so much. Jesus we give this day to you. We thank. You for your grace. We thank you for dying on the cross so that we may be forgiven and cleansed of our own righteousness. God we thank you for the time and time and time again, that you show grace to us when we don’t deserve it. I pray that we would be know as a church that loves one another and give that grace away. That we don’t hold onto it like we earned it, but father, that we would give it away, share it! Father, make us be that kind of church. I pray that Southeast Christian Church would be that kind of church that Meadows Church would be that. Kind of church. That we’d be known for our love and that we would just give grace away. Father, help us to take that step that we need to take so you can empower us. Lord, we ask all these things in your name. Amen.

Jesus also tells us that the kingdom of God is like a table. A table he invites us to. I love that Southeast Christian Church takes communion every week. Love that. Because God’s kingdom is a table and he says I want you. I want you to come to my table. Did you deserve that or earn that? No. During this COVID time, we can’t physically come to a table, but you are invited to sit at this table. Let’s take our elements, today. On the night Jesus was betrayed, he took bread and said to his disciples, this is my body, which is broken for you. As often as you eat this, do so in remembrance of me.  And in the same way after dinner, he took the cup and said this is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for you. As often as you drink this, do so in remembrance of me.

Jesus, we give you our whole lives and whole heart to you and want to be used by you in the kingdom. God, get us off our seats and into the game. May we be known as the greeters as we give grace away every single day. Lord thank you for being with us. We pray these things in your name. Amen.