In God We Trust

In God We Trust
By Rev. Robert P. Elkins
All Scripture verse taken from the NIV Bible unless otherwise noted
Psalm 146: 1-4
“Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.”
The Living Bible translates this as; “Praise the Lord! Yes really praise him! I will praise him as long as I live, yes, even with my dying breath. Don’t look to men for help: their greatest leaders fail; for every man must die. His breathing stops, life ends, and in a moment all he planned for himself is ended.”

Look at our currency, coin or paper; and you are going to see the words “In God We Trust”. That statement meant so much to our Founding Fathers that they made sure it was placed on the one thing everyone would carry. Did the founders of this great nation believe in the Bible? You bet they did! But they set up our constitution in a manner that in the event you didn’t want to carry the Bible around with you; you had the freedom not to do so. If you didn’t want to carry the Bible or profess what it says you didn’t have to but you would still carry a public statement which carried a nations belief in the one true Supreme Deity everywhere you went. You see our Founding Fathers knew that although they had a firm conviction that this was to be a Christian nation, they also knew that they had to set up this nations constitution in a fashion that would honor the few misguided souls who didn’t believe in God as well. Our Founding Fathers understood that being a Christian wasn’t about forcing the Christian belief on people, it was presenting the Christian belief to the people and allowing the Holy Spirit to do the work of convincing them.

And how do you go about doing something like this? Take a statement of faith, something like “In God We Trust”, put that statement on the currency of your nation and there it is! Right there for everyone to see, every time you handle the money you also see that statement of faith. The bearer of the currency may not notice that statement, it may not register just what they were looking at all the time but it was there and it was recorded someplace in the minds eye. The American dollar is desired in just about every nation, and by just about every people on this planet. And everywhere the dollar goes so goes that statement of faith, “In God We Trust”. I have to acknowledge that there are a few, and mind you I said a few; not the majority, that would like to see that proclamation removed. They make a lot more noise about their misguided belief than the believers do; we sit idly by and watch the minority remove the majority’s core value of belief because we don’t want to “offend anyone”. We watch our core values plunge in the depths and say nothing until it’s gone and even then we say to little because we are afraid to “offend someone”. And do you know what? They have their right to voice that concern, they have the right to be able to say that they want it removed, our Constitution gives them that right. But we as Christians also have our rights as well, and like it or not they have to listen to what we have to say too, our Constitution guarantees that right to us, it goes both ways, this isn’t a one way street my friends. They have the right to voice their opinion, we have the right to voice ours, but as long as any form of conscience remains in the hearts of the American public this movement to eradicate not only our statement of faith in God but God Himself will never happen. But it could if we let it, I know I’m not bashful in voicing my opinion, I’m not bashful in “offending someone” if they are attacking my rights, as I said, they have their rights and I have mine. For two hundred years in this nation we could mix those rights and no one got really bent out of shape but that’s not the case any longer because as one group becomes more vocal the other becomes more docile, afraid to “offend someone”. We need to turn the corner and get back to where we were once, which is where we started when those wonderful words were first thought of and placed on the currency. Just a little something to think about.

And now I would like to really exercise my right to express my own opinion as guaranteed under our Constitution. I think #1, all this hype about this foolishness of removing God from our nation is generated more by the manipulative and controlling news media than the few misguided souls who actually have an interest in this silly cause. We have a “News Media Mega Machine” that is no longer interested in reporting the news and presenting the facts to the people. This Mega Machine is now more interested in creating the news rather than just reporting it by wasting thousands of hours and millions of dollars following the foolish and small minority seeking the removal of God from this nation. And in doing so the news media is making it sound as if this small minority of misguided souls is the majority, which by the way, they are not! I firmly believe that it is the news media by their constant coverage and misleading story telling that is blowing things out of proportion, taking the picture or viewpoint of a minority group and presenting it as a huge majority, in essence feeding the public a lie to manipulate the facts and keep the foolishness alive when if left alone it would die from it’s own stupidity.

My belief #2, if this foolish minority does feel this strongly about separating themselves from God, do so by leaving the Christian nation that enables you to voice that opinion! If you feel that strongly about not wanting to have the presence or personhood of God presented to you pack up your spouse, your kids, you possessions and move to any of the godless nations that exist in the world. If these people truly feel that life would be so much better without the presence of God in their lives then by all means exercise your right and go where God isn’t acknowledged by the people living there. There are places on this earth where you can go and live with other like-minded people, where you can find people that don’t want to acknowledge God’s reality. If you want to think like that then go live with those like-minded people. But don’t stand in the middle of my Christian nation and try to tell me that God has to go. Don’t stand in the middle of the greatest gathering of Christians on the face of this planet and try to tell us that everything we believe in and everything we respect has to be changed because you don’t like the way things are. America is a Christian nation, founded by Christians… for Christians… so that they could worship as they pleased without fear of persecution from some radical few and friend I’m here to tell you that it isn’t going to change now. Don’t try to force your twisted desires on me because of the way you think! I’m a Christian because I want to be one, and I live in a Christian nation because I want to live there. If I wanted to live in a nation where everyone spoke French I wouldn’t move to a place where everyone spoke Italian and then demand that they change their language. If I wanted nothing but clean air I wouldn’t move next to an oil refinery and then complain that the place smelled like gasoline. If I wanted peace and quiet all the time I wouldn’t build my house under the glide path of a major airport and then complain about the sound of jets coming and going all the time. Sometimes you have to use a little common sense, if you live on a houseboat out on the water you’re not going to get much use out of having a riding lawnmower.

If any person thinks that their life would be so much better in an anti-god environment by all means move to one and do so with my blessing. But whatever you do; don’t try to force your twisted ungodly desires on me. I am a Christian, it is by my choice that I live in this lifestyle of my choice, and in the beliefs that I have and I just so happen to live in a Christian nation with a Constitution that says I have that right to do so and I want to keep it that way!

Via the much loved news media, I’ve seen millions of people trying to gain entrance to this Christian nation, through whatever means they can, be it legal or illegal, just so they can enjoy the blessings of living in a Christian nation. I don’t recall seeing anything about the heathen nations having a problem with people flocking to their borders trying to get in where there is no God. In those nations there are millions trying to get out, not in, and most are trying to get here! Now what do you think the reason for that is? If anyone wants to live in this nation and reject the concept of an Almighty Creator please feel free to do so. But keep your opinion to yourself because it’s the Christians that founded this great nation, it’s the Christians that feed and fuel this great nation with our industry and agriculture that makes it so appealing to be here and we can band together when riled and will if need be.

In God We Trust. Carried by every person in pocket or purse, everywhere in this nation, it’s embossed right there on the currency for all to see. Actually in today’s society we should have that embossed on our charge cards as well. If we exhausted more energy in trying to please God and less on trying to remove God and please ourselves I think our nation would be in far less financial turmoil than we are experiencing today. If we were focusing more on God and less on self interest the average working person in America wouldn’t be in dept up to their eyeballs and even higher. Enough said on that, I think you know where I stand on that subject.

The question I place before you now is, do we really trust God to meet our needs or are we abandoning God and placing our reliance more and more upon other means, mainly government? Have we abandoned our faith in God and His provision and are we looking more and more toward man and his intervention with government to provide our daily needs? It’s sad to say but reality deems I must, today in our society there is a huge number of souls who are more and more turning to government to provide for them and less and less turning to God. There are more and more people looking to the government and at the same time turning their backs on God, placing man above God as their means of security and provision.

This is not a new trend, it has happened quite often over the eons of time and it’s been recorded in the Bible. If you do a study of the Scriptures starting in the book of Genesis and reading up to the book of 1st Samuel you’ll see that the people Israel, the Hebrew nation; are somewhat content to be ruled by God as their King and leader. Granted the people faltered and fell on their faces quite a few times every so many years but for the most part they were content to be ruled by God who spoke through his priests and prophets. And throughout all of this time frame of Genesis to Samuel God provided all of their needs, water from a rock, manna from the heavens, and so much quail that they were ready to gag if they ate one more piece of Rabbi Sanderstein’s Hebrew Fried Chicken. God parted seas for them, gave them pillars of fire in the night for heat and pillars of clouds in the daytime for shade in the heat of the desert. He allowed them to conquer every nation that opposed them or stood in their way, He allowed them to occupy land that He had promised to them and in short God did just about every common day miracle they needed just for the privilege of being their God and letting them know that He loved them.
So, lets see how the people of Israel are doing with God as their leader. They are living a good life, their nation has a good economy, and their borders are secure against the other godless nations around them because these godless nations know that God is their protection and provider. I guess you could say that all in all things were pretty good. And then all of a sudden out of the clear blue sky someone comes up with a new and wonderful idea. “Lets reject God and do what everyone else is doing! Lets toss God out and go it alone”! Mind you now these people had it pretty good, they had all the bases covered, food, protection, blessings, security, they had the entire package. And then some pea brain comes up with “Enough already! I’m tired of having it all. Lets get rid of God and leap out there on our own. We don’t need no God, we have each other”. Is this starting to sound familiar to anyone out there? If I hadn’t forewarned you that I was talking about Israel what country would you think I was talking about? Guess what people; this is a wake up call! What are we hearing today? “Enough already, I’m tired of having all the blessings; lets toss out God and go it alone. Lets remove God from our money; lets remove God from our schools, out of our businesses, out of our governments and out of our lives. Lets force people to be afraid to pray in public or we’ll file a lawsuit against them. Don’t mention God in a government building or a school, strip God’s name from our heritage and our history. Come on contented people, let’s toss God out and go it alone.” People we’ve been down this road before. Look at (1st Samuel chapter 8:1-22) “1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.
4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have."
6 But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."
10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."
21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king." Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Everyone go back to his town."

So the people reject God and all of His provision, they reject God and all of his protection and rather than live under a God that cares and loves them, they accept a form of government like all of the peoples around them. Now they have a king and now they are like everyone else. O happy day! From this point on the people of Israel have wars, famine, captivity, oppression, slavery and suffering. Not only did these disasters come from the nations around them but it also came from within. Not only did they have an overburdening set of neighbors who made their lives miserable but also their own internal government did the same thing to them. Taxation and indentured servitude, everything that God had warned them came to be. The people appeared content on the surface but their kings cost them dearly. Read the account of King Solomon, was he loved by his people? O yes, but he just about drove the nation bankrupt with his building projects. The rich nation of Israel was just about broke by the time Solomon finished his palace and the temple.

Solomon also practiced politics or government, as we know it today. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. And Solomon scratched a lot of backs. Solomon wanted the services of Hiram King of Tyre, and as partial payment he gave Hiram 20 towns in Galilee. Turning parts of your country over to foreign governments isn’t anything new; it’s been going on for a long time. We won’t go into it today but read 1st Kings some day to see what the daily requirement of goods was to keep Solomon’s government up and running, the numbers are mind boggling.
And just a little side note about the first king of Israel, King Saul. He wasn’t a very good king; he did things that were should we say a little un-kingly. But what were his prerequisites to being king? Look in 1st Samuel chapters nine and ten, it’s in both chapters, Saul was tall and good-looking. Because Saul was tall and good-looking he got to be king. Does this sound like anyone we had as president of this country in the not so distant past? Someone who was tall and good-looking but was a disgrace to the office of the presidency?

We’ve looked at the Bible and the history in the Bible, but now we need to bring this Bible teaching up to the present day. All of these stories are good and wonderful, our children need to be told these things, they need to hear these stories and we need to pass along the oral traditions of the Bible to the young and future Christian leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ. Younger Christians, regardless of age need to be encouraged to read these things for themselves. But to really make the Bible alive in our lives we need to place it’s teachings in juxtapose or comparison to life today so as to enable us to look at the Scriptures of past days and compare them to today. This will enable us to see how they are a timeless truth that is always relevant to the here and now we live in.

“Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.”
Our currency says we trust in God, but do we? Do we trust in God or do we put our trust in the government? The NIV translation says that we aren’t to place our trust in men; the KJ translation says “a son of man”. Either way they both are saying the same thing, man; men a person or people, it all comes out to be government or some other form of leadership other than God in the end. As a people we have become more and more dependent upon government to provide our needs and at the same time we place less and less emphasis on God. I’m not talking solely about America now because most world nations and peoples in general have become dependent upon some form of government and independent of the one true God. But since I am an American and I’m talking mainly to an American audience I would think I’ll contain my comments to the American culture. I want to talk for a moment about how we have wandered away from our God and heavenly provider and how much like a drug user who becomes dependent upon their drug of choice we have become dependent upon our government.
When a drug user first starts to dabble in their drug of choice they aren’t addicted or totally dependent upon that drug in the beginning. But over time, with regular use, the more they use that drug; the more dependent they become. The more they use that drug the more they desire its effects until finally they are completely addicted and are unable to function without that drug that now has control of their life.

For many Americans this principle of addiction to government has the same effect on them as the drug addiction has. Without a constant and continual injection of government assistance they are unable to function on their own any longer. Without the regular injection of government assistance they can no longer maintain life of any kind by themselves.

At one point in my life not so long ago I decided to sit down and read our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America. And after reading these two great documents it dawned on me that we really have twisted out of shape what these documents have to say in order that we may make them read in a way we want them to read rather than in allowing them to read as they were written, at face value, accepting them for what they are. The Declaration of Independence says in part; “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”.

Now if I’m reading this right, what it’s saying is that it’s quite evident or obvious that everyone is created equal. That no one is special, and that we are endowed or gifted by our Creator, there’s that God thing again that we say doesn’t exist in our government. That God has gifted us with certain unalienable rights, or rights that can’t be removed or replaced. So God has said that these rights belong to you and me regardless of who we are, that we have a right to them. And then they list what there rights are, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

What I want to draw your attention to, is not what is listed, but rather what isn’t listed. It doesn’t say that as part of our rights the government is supposed to give us food. It doesn’t say that the government is supposed to give us spending money. It doesn’t say that the government is supposed to give us free medical care or free medicine, a place to live, free heat, water, electric, an education or a car to drive. As a matter of fact if you look at this document it doesn’t say the government is supposed to give us anything. What it does say is that #1 we have the right to expect life and #2 we have the right to expect to life freely and #3 we have the right to pursue happiness. If we want food, water, clothing, housing, education, prescription medications, and spending money and these things make us happy, we have the right to pursue them, we have the right to try to obtain them on our own. You see the government isn’t supposed to give these things to us, we are supposed to get them on our own, and it’s God, there’s that pesky God thing again, that affords us the opportunity to do so. It’s the one and the same God that little minority of misguided souls is trying to remove from our public awareness.

So now you’re saying, “okay, it’s not in the Declaration of Independence but it is in the Constitution. It has to be in the Constitution where it says everything is handed to us”. Sorry but no. Actually what the Constitution says in part is;
“We the People of the United States in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessing of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America”.
Notice what it says now people, what is the government supposed to provide and what is it supposed to promote? There’s only one thing mentioned here that the government is supposed to provide, the government is supposed to provide “Defense”. The government is supposed to provide a means of defending our shores, defending its people. If you go on and read the rest of the Constitution it does say that it is the government’s responsibility to set up our political system, build our road system, develop a army and navy, defend our borders, and provide a postal system to deliver the mail! That’s a long cry from what people are demanding today. There is nothing that says, “give them the food, the clothing, the medicines, the education and the whole list of government handouts so many are so dependent upon. All of that was extracted from the little phrase, “promote the general welfare”. Friend “promote” doesn’t mean to “give”, it means, “to help bring about or further the growth of”. Government is to encourage us in our development of these wonderful things we like so much, but it’s not to be the administrator or provider of them.

I would imagine by now I may have ruffled a few feathers with some of you reading or hearing this. You are most likely saying to yourself, “I know I’ve read someplace that I’m supposed to get governmental assistance when I need it. I know I’ve seen someplace that if I can’t do it myself I’m supposed to get the help I need. I know it has to be in an document someplace, I just know it”. So if you’re one of the people thinking along these lines I’ve got some news for you. You’re right! You have read that, it is out there in print, but it’s not in the Constitution, and you won’t find it in the Declaration of Independence. You won’t find this in either of these wonderful documents but you will find it in the most important writing to be found in America or for that matter the most important document to be found anywhere in the world, it in the Bible!
Everything we talked about is in the Bible. Feed the hungry, it’s in the Bible, take care or the widows and orphans, it’s in the Bible. Educate the people, it’s in the Bible, provide housing, cloth the naked, minister to the peoples needs, it’s in the Bible. Take care of the sick, take care of the homeless, assist your brother and sister when they need it even if it’s just offering a supportive and listening ear, it’s in the Bible. I don’t care what it is, if it’s talking about meeting the needs of the people, it’s found in the Bible someplace. God wanted to establish these principles, these principles are found in the words of Jesus. You see friends it’s not supposed to be government ministering to people, it’s supposed to be people ministering to people. And we call that body of people the church of Jesus Christ. It’s the church of Jesus Christ that is supposed to be feeding the hungry, not the government, it’s the church that’s supposed to be caring and blessing and ministering to the people, not the government. The government collects taxes, provides secure borders and makes sure you get your mail, even the junk mail. But ministering to the needs of the people comes from the church. It’s all laid out in the Bible for us, I’m not making this up. Go to the book of Genesis in the 41st chapter.

We’ve all heard the story of Joseph and how his brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt and how through a long chain of events that perfected Joseph’s leadership abilities he came to be called before Pharaoh to interpret a dream Pharaoh had. So now we’re in the 41st chapter, Joseph is telling Pharaoh what his dream means and we will start reading with verse 34. “Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. (There’s the collection of taxes principle) they should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. (Notice what it says, under the authority of Pharaoh, that’s the principle of under the authority of the government) This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.” (There’s the principle of protection of the country by the government)

So Joseph finishes telling Pharaoh the rest of what his dream means and Pharaoh says I like what you’ve said and to reward you for your services you get the job of heading up my tax collection department, or in this case grain collection department. So Joseph gets some fine robes to wear, the king’s ring to use, a gold chain and a chariot to use. Today we’d say he got some cool clothes, some slick jewelry and a company car. Now we are going to jump down to verse 47.

“During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.” So Joseph has collected the grains, or he’s collected the taxes, the government has done its task of collection. But what does the government do with it? Go down now to verse 53. “The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food. When all Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food. (Notice now, the people are saying `where’s the government hand out program’) Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, `Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.’ (Okay now people, here’s where we see the role of government in this food program) When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt.”
Did you see the role of government there? The government s-o-l-d the grain to the people, there wasn’t a free handout to anyone; it was a cash transaction. Today our government should be giving out low interest loans but not handouts free of charge. Free handouts lead to complacency not self-directed productivity. Now we need to tie this into the New Testament.

Jesus didn’t tell his disciples to go to the government and ask for bread to feed the multitudes. He said to his disciples “you go get the bread from the people that have it”, that’s the church collecting tithes and offerings, that’s the church giving to the people in need, “and then I’ll bless the food and we (the church) will then feed the hungry people”. In the 6th chapter of John we read in part, “When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him he said to Philip “Where shall we buy bread for these people?” Jesus asked this of Philip only to test him; Jesus knew there wasn’t anyplace to purchase bread in that location but he also knew that it wouldn’t be needed. Jesus knew it was God’s responsibility to feed the people, providing is what God loves to do, and Jesus knew the way God works through his people to carry out God’s plan. And why wouldn’t he? He’s God! You see God wants us to be dependent upon him and not upon our forms of government. When Jesus had his disciples go out and gather the pieces of bread he was setting before us a principle of praying and depending upon God; but layered within that principle was the fact that the people, in this case the disciples, had to do the gathering, and the person, the one who gave, had to do his part at well. Jesus was placing in our lives the principle that ministry and provision come through God via men and women helping men and women. This is showing care and concern for our fellow man through God’s church. This is an object lesson that Jesus did over and over again throughout the gospels. Care, prayer and share, it comes to people through the church.

When Jesus healed the sick he did it through prayer and told his disciples that they would do all that he had done and even more. He gave the gift of healing to his church; care, prayer and share, it comes through God’s Holy Spirit. Care, prayer and share, it comes through the church, it’s people helping people, and it’s where we need to place our trust, not in the government but in God. Jesus showed special concern for the little children, care, prayer and share, care of children comes through the church, trusting in God not trusting in government to meet the needs of children. Jesus showed special concern for women, care, prayer and share, trusting in God not government to meet the needs of women. Trusting in God to provide, looking to God for our needs, not looking to government for assistance or government handouts. I could spend the next hour taking you to places where Jesus showed his concern for his people and meeting their needs but I won’t. The people were looking to Jesus to heal them and he did, they were trusting on God not looking to the government. Look at the healing ministry of Jesus, after the healing took place it says the people praised God for his healing; they didn’t turn around and praise the government of Israel or the religious leaders of the day.

I don’t doubt that there are at least a few hearing or reading this that are saying to themselves, “This all sounds good but to do this it takes money! This all sounds like a nice way for God to work through his people but the people have to provide the funding for these kind of programs and the church doesn’t have the resources. The government on the other hand levies taxes on the people and can come up with the resources to take care of the people. Where is the church supposed to come up with that kind of money”? And in response to that question I propose to answer with another question, what is the theme of this teaching? Trust in God! The church needs to develop the same kind of dependency in God that we’ve transferred over to the dependency on government. It’s time the church of Jesus Christ turns back to looking to God and trusting in him for our needs and less time looking to the government to provide for us. This government we have is great but in due time it is going to fall apart, every government does. But God will always be there. The government can only sustain so many draws upon it’s resources until eventually it will collapse from the great weight. God on the other hand will never be without the ability to come to the needs of his people. Throughout the Bible we see God promising to meet the needs of the people, God is constantly telling his people to depend on him, he is constantly saying that he’s a loving God, that he wants to bless them, that he wants to care for them. God is constantly saying; “I love you, I want to be your provider, your blessing, and all you have to do is ask of me, trust in me and allow my Spirit to do his work through each of you”. One of the names of God is Jehovah Yireh, meaning The Lord will Provide.

We may have “In God We Trust” embossed on our money but we no longer have it embossed on our hearts, and now is the time to start going back to where we were so long ago when America was first founded. We as the church of Jesus Christ need to start looking to God in stronger ways of dependency and allow him to witness to us through his might and power in providing. And once we rekindle the flame of “In God We Trust” in our hearts then we can pass that flame on to our communities and the people in those communities. Once we start to develop that “In God We Trust” mentality again it will be easy to pass it along to others. Once we allow God to bless us we can then bless others and it won’t be long before other people will see, believe and grab hold of that spirit of belief and stop being so dependent upon governments that will only let them down.

Remember when we went through that “What Would Jesus Do” trend? We really need to start thinking just like that all over again; we need to ask the same thing, what would Jesus do? And the answer to that is he didn’t look to the Roman government to provide, he didn’t look to the temple leaders to provide, he looked to the Father to provide. He did it by caring and sharing and praying to the Father. Jesus trusted in the Father and so must we. Jesus tapped into the abundance of God and that same abundance is still there if we reconnect to God and seek it. The people in the church need to become more dependent upon God and less on the government, we need to acknowledge God’s love, acknowledge God as the provider and to rely on the reliable one instead of relying on the government. Remember our opening Scripture? God’s word tells no lies. Men and their governments are going to pass away at some point and when they do all of their programs and means of provision are going to pass away as well. I want to read you something I found not so long ago, it really ties in well with this message.

About the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.""The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage.”

There was a time in history not so long ago when the church of Jesus Christ better understood the principle of dependence and trust in God for all it needed, and God was happy to fill all those needs. We’ve wandered away from that mindset; we’ve lost the flame that once burned bright. We’ve transferred our dependence from God to men and today would be a good day to start to reclaim what once was ours to be had. “In God We Trust” is a powerful statement but we need to carry it one step further, we need to make it a reality not just four empty words. Join with me today and rededicate ourselves back to dependence upon our God. Don’t misread what I’ve been saying as unpatriotic, I love the Constitution of this country, I love the Declaration of Independence and I will always love our flag. But my dependence is upon God to meet my needs because I understand the difference between the role of God and government. I love our form of government and always will but I can say with pride and no conviction, for me

“IN GOD I TRUST".

Grace & peace

Do This in Remembrance of me
By Rev. Robert P. Elkins
All Scripture verse taken from the NIV Bible unless otherwise noted
Luke 22:14-20
“When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you, do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
This sermon brings out the preacher/teacher in me, the calling our Lord has placed on my heart. It is my prayer that after you have read this you have a fuller understanding of not only what the history of this tradition of Communion is, but how it came to be what we celebrate in the church today and why. It is my prayer that this will add a little light to your understanding the questions of “What is communion, what does it mean to us as the body of believers and what does “Do this in remembrance of me” mean? Another question we’ll try to answer today is “what are some of the beliefs that have been passed on to us through the ages over this “Last Supper” observance”.
The Lords supper indeed, that of course is dependent upon what church you are at or what denomination you are attending on any given day for communion, because the name of the celebration can change from church to church. It may be called “The Lord’s Supper”, “The Lord’s Table” or just simply “Communion”. Regardless of what it’s called, it’s a time when the body of Christian believers gather together to not only celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but to commemorate the awesome sacrifice our Lord made by the shedding of his blood and the offering of his body as the last and final sacrifice for all sin. It was through this last and final sacrifice that the requirements for sin were met allowing salvation of the spirit to come to all men and women. Something that prior to this time had been tried over and over again through the keeping of the law and without much success. So Father God in his infinite love for us sent his Son to be the ultimate sacrifice that would be acceptable and worthy in the sight of God. So regardless of the name we use for this celebration meal, the meaning is the same.
Likewise, the elements used in this commemorative act may be called the bread and wine, the communion wafer, or the Eucharist, and again this is dependent upon the church in which you are in attendance at. What I’d like to do today is look at some of the religious rites that surround this Holy celebration. Maybe answer some questions you may have asked in regards to this solemn act of faith and hopefully deepen your faith in what we do and why we do it when we partake in this celebration we call “Communion”.
The word communion with-in our church setting has more that just one meaning. It can mean the consecration of bread and wine, as in our communion service. When we consecrate the elements it means we have set them apart as holy or declare them holy for religious use. This less so in the Protestant church than in the Roman Catholic Church. Although both the Roman Catholic and the Protestant believers look upon the bread and wine as something holy and set apart for our use in worship I feel that the Catholics place a more proper or formal veneration to these items or elements if you will.
Another use of the term “communion” is to have fellowship with one another. Think back to the Apostles Creed, and a little phrase that is found within. When repeating this declaration of faith we say that, “we believe in the communion of saints”. This isn’t talking about the sharing of the bread and wine. This communion is the fellowship of the believers. When we have communion with the other believers we acknowledge that this gathering, this fellowship is special, that this communion is of a deeper understanding or a more intimate relationship with another person or persons. Whether you realize it or not, many of us have communion with each other every Sunday when they attend Sunday school. We are having communion when we are sharing ideas, thoughts and emotions with each other.
To begin with, the elements of bread and wine are of most interest. Have you ever wondered why Jesus used these two items to portray his body and blood to the people? Scripture doesn’t say this but it’s my thought that Jesus used these two elements, the bread and the wine because they are so universal in nature. There are very few societies in the world that don’t have bread and wine in their culture as a part of the mainstay of their food source. With the exception of maybe the peoples that live in the arctic regions I believe almost all of the world’s populations have some type of ground kernel be it wheat or corn or some type of grain like item used in making a bread type product. And I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to find out that the peoples in the arctic regions didn’t have something in their diet that replicates bread. And almost every civilization or society has some type of wine product made from the fruit of the vine or a similar plant. It is indeed rare if they do not. In using bread and wine as the symbols of his body and blood, Jesus used a metaphor that the vast majority of the world could relate to.
Bread has always been a staple of life, in many regions of the world people live mainly on bread with little else to sustain them. Even in the place where I work, the prisons of New York State, we use a bread type substance to feed the truly unruly. And an inmate is known to exist for a long period of time on this special diet, at least until we gain compliance to the desired condition of the inmate that the state is looking for. In New York State, if we have an inmate that has a history of throwing body waste at the officers as we pass his cell we place the person in the special housing unit, the SHU, better known as the “shoe” or the “box”. Next we cover the cell door with Plexiglas and then he or she as the case may be, the troublemaker, is placed on a diet of water and a bread type substance made from flour and cabbage. I’m not so sure of what it taste like but it’s high in nutrients, meets all the requirements for state and federal guidelines of nutrition and the inmate will not have a solid waste product to pick up and throw. I think you get the picture.
So by using bread to symbolize his body, Jesus was saying, “I can give you life and sustain you with spiritual nourishment that leads to eternal life.” If we think back to the book of Exodus, God gave the people Israel manna, a form of bread to sustain them in the wilderness. Each day they could gather what they needed of this manna, this bread type item and it was sufficient to sustain them in the wilderness. God knew what the people needed and he provided for them. God told them that each day they were to go and gather what was needed for that day and no more. If they gathered too much it rotted. But for the Sabbath, they could gather twice as much as then needed the day before ensuring that they had enough for the day they gathered the Manna and enough to keep them from working on God’s day of rest. When they did as directed by God the extra they gathered didn’t rot as it did on the other days, isn’t God great? He knows what we need and he knows what we don’t need.
Jesus also knew and informed Satan that man does not live on bread alone. We find this in [Matthew 4:1-4], “1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." 4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Notice how Jesus clarifies that although man does need bread to have nourishment for the body he also needed the Word of God as well to feed the spirit. And so we can see that bread for the body is important but more so bread for the soul is of more importance. The body is here for a short duration, physical bread will help keep the body fit and active along with other nutrients, but the spirit is here for eternity and it too needs a healthy diet to keep it well. The spirit needs to be feed on the bread that is the word of God, it needs to be filled on a regular basis on the living word of God as found in the Bible, and there my friend is real nourishment.
But now it’s time to move on. In the context of this sermon I’m going to add something else to the bread, now we look at the wine, the fruit of the vine. Another universally recognized symbol. Without liquids we would perish quite quickly. By selecting wine Jesus was saying, “I am the vine that brings life, through me, the vine and my connection to Father God comes to you, my believers, all you need to grow and flourish.”
Visualize if you will a vine not rooted in the ground, but rooted in the Father in heaven. And Jesus is the vine that comes out of heaven and travels down to earth to carry nourishment in the form of God’s word. Jesus is the channel through which this life giving flow of nourishment travels to feed into the grapes, the grapes that are the fruit of the vine. And the Holy Spirit is the grape, the fruit from which the wine comes. Jesus is the source of this life sustaining flow, the Holy Spirit is the fruit and the wine of the Spirit is something from which we can drink deeply quenching the thirst for the life flow from God. [Ephesians 5:18] says, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the Spirit”. This wine of the Spirit offers joy and peace and contentment and we can drink of it often. Drink deeply of the Spirit! Partake in the body and the blood of Jesus, the bread and the wine used as the symbols of our Lord and the sacrifice he made on our behalf.
With-in the Roman Catholic faith, when they celebrate communion, when they celebrate the Lord’s Supper, with-in their religious belief they feel that they partake in what is known as “Transubstantiation”. It’s the Roman Catholic belief that through a miracle of God, at the moment the priest blesses or consecrates the elements of bread, the host or the Eucharist if you will and the wine, at that moment the elements literally become the body and blood of Jesus Christ. It is their belief that once the priest has consecrated the host and wine it is now literally the body and blood and it no longer is just bread and wine. It is their belief that at that point of consecration a metaphysical change occurs and the elements are transformed in a literal sense. They teach and believe that although the elements maintain their original appearance and taste, the inner essence or the metaphysical substance of the elements has been changed.
Also in the Roman Catholic tradition is the belief that any part of the bread not consumed remains the body of Christ and is thus sacred. The unused portion is then secured in a small chamber located on the church altar known as the Tabernacle. Thus the tradition of genuflection or dropping to one knee as a sign of reverence or respect came to be when crossing before the tabernacle’s presence. It is further believed that all of the wine must be consumed at that time, none to be left in the chalice. So after communion has been distributed to the people the chalice is then rinsed with water and the water drank as well by the priest.
Martin Luther, a Roman Catholic priest who later became the father of the Protestant reformation was unable to accept this belief in the doctrine of transubstantiation as practiced and taught by the Roman Catholics. When he first went to perform the communion ceremony as a young priest newly ordained he froze when he got to the wording used in the consecration that was supposed to transform the elements and bring about this metaphysical transformation. In his own words, and I quote, “utterly stupefied and terror stricken! Who am I, that I should lift up mine eyes or raise my hands to the Divine Majesty? Shall I a miserable pygmy, say; “I want this, I ask for that? For I am dust and ashes and full of sin and I am speaking to the Living Eternal and the True God.”
Luther felt that no human had the priestly power to bring about or even ask for the change in the elements of bread and wine to be transformed into the body and blood of Christ. It’s interesting to note that although he didn’t object to the notion of the transubstantiation, he always maintained that the elements did in deed change but that the change wasn’t brought about by or through the request or will of man. This doctrine became known as the “Consubstaniation doctrine”.
During this same time frame of Martin Luther there was another theologian by the name of “Huldriech Zwingli”. Mr. Zwingli developed a slightly different doctrine for the ordinance of communion that became known as the “Memorial View” of communion.
The Zwinglian doctrine expressed the position that during the celebration of communion the distribution of the elements was a rite that commemorated the Lords death and that it was a sign for believers pointing back to Calvary. For a man of his day he presented an option that rocked the boat of the religious world. He felt that during the communion ceremony Christ was indeed present spiritually but only to the body of believers and he totally rejected the belief of a transforming of the elements into the body and blood of Jesus. Although not as well known as some of the other views on communion, Mr. Zwingli’s thoughts did help the church to develop what we know as communion today.
And the final view in the history segment of this sermon is from the viewpoint of someone you have most likely heard of before today. John Calvin. His doctrine is known as the “Reformed or Calvinist Doctrine”. John Calvin like Mr. Zwingli, also rejected the metaphysical transformation of the Eucharist and like Mr. Zwingli, felt that Jesus Christ is present spiritually during the distribution of the communion elements. But Mr. Calvin added a new dimension to the communion equation; he felt that Christ’s spiritual presence was in the power and person of the Holy Spirit. Prior to this time the person of the Spirit had yet to be given consideration as being present during communion, and this being several generations after the time of Pentecost and the arrival of the Spirit upon men as promised by our Lord Jesus.
I’m not going to try to sway anyone to follow any of these beliefs we’ve just looked at, each of us has to follow our own heart and do as the Lord directs. But I will say that with-in the Pentecostal Church of today there is a blending or a strong following of a portion of each of the last two thoughts on the subject of communion. Those being of course the thought of the communion celebration as being a memorial remembrance pointing us back to Calvary and the presence of the Person of the Holy Spirit. And with that dear friends you have had an abbreviated history lesson in regards to the beliefs that have circulated over time about what communion is or should be. Do with it as you see fit. Don’t you feel better now, you wouldn’t believe how many hours of research and reading went into the preparation of this segment of the sermon just so that I might be able to edit it down to those last few sentences for the sake of time saved. As I stated in the beginning of this teaching, it was my prayer that you would learn something that you may not have known before, I hope so far you haven’t been disappointed. And I further hope that maybe you have been stimulated enough to do a little research on this subject on your own, you don’t have to take my word on this, look it up for yourself. You will find it rewarding.
And now part two. “Do This in Remembrance of Me”. When Jesus said these words, what did he mean? Was Jesus admonishing us to reflect back to the events of the Last Supper each time we gather at the Lords table for communion? And are we to remember with deep reverence the words he said at that Last Supper? Did he say this with direction pointing to the body of believers admonishing us to remember that he offered as a final and perfect sacrifice his body and blood as an atonement for our sins and the sins of the entire world? And that this atonement would be sufficient for all of history until he returns to rapture his church? I think my friends the answer to all of these questions is a resounding “YES” and much more. I think when Jesus said “Do This in Remembrance of Me” he was talking with a threefold purpose. The term “Do This in Remembrance of Me” has a connotation of “Past”, “Present”, and “Future”.
The Past. Each time we gather at the Lords Table for communion we should be ever mindful of what Jesus did for each of us when he offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Remember his words, “This is my body, given for you” … he gave us his human body solely for each and every one of us, knowing full well what was to lie ahead for him. Jesus knew of the pending torture, he knew of the pain and humiliation he would suffer. Jesus knew of the crown of thorns that awaited him, the nails that would rip through his flesh, piercing his flesh but not breaking a bone. He knew of his pending death on the cross and yet he gladly went the way of a sinner while yet sin free himself. And he did it for you and I and never once did he look back with any regret. And all he asks of us is that we remember what he did for us each time we break bread at his table. All he asks is that we remember what he gave for our sins because he loves us this much still today. He’s asking us to remember what he did in the past on that cursed cross so long ago. “Do This in Remembrance of Me.”
The Present. Each time we come together for communion, each time we assemble around the Lords Table we are proclaiming to the world and to each other just by our being here that we are celebrating not a dead hero but a risen and living Savior. Each time we gather together for communion we are acknowledging not only that following the Last Supper Jesus shed his blood for us and that he offered his body for us as well. But it doesn’t end there my friend, we are also acknowledging that this Jesus whom we worship and praise is no longer in the grave either. We are acknowledging that he’s risen from the grave, that he’s defeated the power of death and Satan. That God is supreme and Satan is a defeated foe. We’re acknowledging that the power of God the Father has brought Jesus up from the place of the dead and seated him above all things to rule and reign for all eternity. We’re acknowledging that the Lord God Almighty has raised his Son Jesus Christ, that he, this Glorious Jesus, has ascended into heaven with-in the full view of witnesses. And these same witnesses along with many others have recorded and testified that this Glorious Jesus has kept his word and sent his Spirit just as he promised before his death and resurrection. We are acknowledging that this beautiful person of the Holy Spirit is as promised, our comforter, our counselor, leading us in wisdom and knowledge. Showing us the will of him who sent his Spirit and has given us the authority to speak in his name and use his name as a sign to the entire world that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and that it will never change for all eternity, all praise be to God the Father Eternal. Amen! This my friend is what we are acknowledging each and every time we come to the communion table and accept the bread and wine, this we do in the present.
The future. “Do this in remembrance of me”, when Jesus said those words he was saying; “When you do this now remember not only what I did for you in the past, what I am doing right now for you in the present, but remember what is promised to you through my name in the future as well”. [Revelation 3:20] “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me”.
Visualize that if you will my friend, the promise of a meal with our Lord … and O what a fine fare it will be. At this not so far in the future supper my friend you will not find anything but the finest to be served at the meal of our Lord. You won’t find paper plates and plastic forks at this supper; the glory of the table of King Solomon will look poor in comparison to this table because we will be dining with the King of all kings. At this table you will find only the finest of linen napkins, gold plates, diamond glasses and all of it will be pale in comparison to he who will be sitting at the head of the table, our Lord himself, Jesus Christ!
“Do this in remembrance of me.” Past, present and future. Remember what has been, look at what is now and meditate on what will be to come. All of this is tied up in this simple little phrase. It’s like a little golden package that is opened in layers. Coming to the Lords Table not only brings us into a fellowship/relationship with our Lord but it carries us into a fellowship/relationship with each other. In the Bible the sharing of bread was a sign of an agreement or a covenant between two or more people. It’s called a “Salt Covenant”. By the sharing of salt, we’ve entered into covenant with each other; we’ve entered into agreement with each other. And this friend is something we do every time we share communion. Every time we gather together at the Lords Table we renew this covenant. Our Lord instituted this covenant in his church as a means of adding life to his church. The church Jesus established is to be a body of believers, united in purpose until Jesus returns. And in the words “Do this in remembrance of me” in the present is a constant reminder of this.
Each time we gather together the power of the cross is brought into remembrance as well. We have fellowship with God … the vertical connection … and we have fellowship with each other … the horizontal connection. What a powerful symbol this makes! Did you know that the symbol of the cross is the most recognized sign in the entire world? There’s a jeopardy answer for you. Question, the cross? Answer, “the most recognized sign in the world”. Anywhere you go, including the Muslim and Hindu nations, they will know the symbolism of the cross of Jesus Christ.
What does the sacrament of communion mean for the Pentecostal believer today? I guess another way to phrase this would be to ask, what does a body of believer’s gain from taking communion? And what does the church gain as a whole? Communion doesn’t have to be taken in church.
There have been many times when a brother or sister can’t attend church due to illness or the like. And I’ve taken the communion to them in the home or the hospital. Although they can’t share in the covenant with the other believers they can still share in the covenant with their God. Although we in most Assemblies of God churches only celebrate communion but once a month we could do so more often should we desire. That changes from church to church and from denomination to denomination. We read in the book of Acts that the early church celebrated communion every week in their church meetings. There are some believers who like the Quakers or the followers in the Salvation Army practice what is known as “Suspension”. Their belief is that the partaking of the communion was not to be a perpetual ordinance and/or that it was not to be a religious ceremony. Thus they do not celebrate communion at all.
Now I admit that I think it’s a bit strange that a body of believers would chose to reject what our Lord said to do. And whether we celebrate or not celebrate communion won’t alter our salvation. But why have hamburger when prime rib is on the table. I want all the blessings the Lord is offering. Amen?
So what are the advantages or blessings to the Pentecostal believer other than the intimate relationship with God. Like we really need something else! We have “Koinonia”. Okay we got it but what is it? Koinonia is the Greek word used in scripture, in the original manuscripts to denote communion. When we participate in communion we have unity through Christ. [Galatians3:28] “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus”. Paul is telling us that in Jesus there is no difference, and when doing so he used the word “Koinonia”. Paul’s saying that it doesn’t matter who your parents are, what your social or economic background is or where you come from. The bottom line is that we are all brothers and sisters in the eyes of God, every one of us is his individual child. God’s looking at the heart not the color of the skin. He’s looking at the heart not the denomination we belong to. And this friend is koinonia; this is unity through Jesus Christ. Are we ever going to get it perfect? No, not until we experience the Parousia, not until we see the second coming of our Lord, but that doesn’t mean we should stop trying. We aren’t going to see this perfection we would all love to see until Christ returns and the world is free of sin, but we can keep striving toward that goal until Jesus returns in all his glory.
By and through koinonia we will be sharing in and through a source of life. [Ephesians 4:16] “From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” This source of life can be personal, through koinonia we each grow in faith and love and Christian maturity to a higher level than we’ve ever experienced before.
But this koinonia can also be a source of life for the church as well. Look at the pericope we just read … “from him” … who’s the him? Jesus. The whole body, the entire body of believers, his church, are held together by the ligaments … that’s each of us with no one any better or worse than the other person. No one is in a higher or lower position, we are all on an equal plain, and we build off of each other in love when we are doing our part.
By and through koinonia we will be sharing an inheritance. [Galatians 3:29] “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise”. And if we were to do a study of scripture we’d find many verses that reinforce the concept of our adoption making us rightful and legal heirs to a full portion of God’s inheritance. But for times sake let this one verse be all we look at for now. If we belong to Christ, we, and that’s all of us functioning in communion with one another, will share in the greatest inheritance of all time. And this sharing in the inheritance is another blessing found in the fellowship of koinonia or communion.
By and through this koinonia, this communion, we share in spirit and blessing. [Ephesians 1:3] “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ”. Beloved notice the wording here … it’s who has blessed us and not who will. It’s not something that is going to happen it’s something that has already come to be. It’s not a promise of things to come it’s a promise of what has been already fulfilled, now, today. Can any of us think of a more spiritual blessing than sharing Jesus with each other, sharing in his communion, sharing at his table. “Do this in remembrance of me” the words of Jesus echo loud and clear.
By and through koinonia , by communion, we share in a hope that is common to the Christian believer. [Romans 5:1-2] “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” As his church we all share in the future hope of glory promised us. When we take communion together we get but a small taste of the future glory, but even a small taste of a fare so fine is sufficient for now. Try if you will to imagine the sensation each of us will experience when we will be standing in the very presence of Jesus through all eternity. A small foretaste of that experience is found now in the Lords communion, in this koinonia. And finally, by and through this koinonia or communion, we share in worship.
Beloved this is what worship is all about. It’s coming together in unison, praising God in our one voice made up of many voices. Singing praises in unison, giving offerings in unison, corporate prayer in unison, and celebration as one body of this church before Him, our Lord and Savior, before Him our King of kings. Remember, the sole purpose for this site is to present a godly message to you the reader until you feel comfortable returning to the church of your choice. It is not my intent to try to sway you to any one denomination, to any one church, that decision is to be between you and your Lord. But I hope that in some small way this has assisted you in filling the gap between then and now. I pray that you have been blessed by this message and that you return to this site again should the need arise.
Grace & peace