The Heroes I Spend Sundays With

You want to know who my biggest heroes are? It's not some great preacher like Spurgeon or Moody. It's not a great writer like C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien. It's not a great theologian like Jonathan Edwards or Martin Luther. Nor is it even a great missionary like William Carey or Hudson Taylor.

Rather, my heroes are...

-The ten year old girl who makes a point of saying "Good luck, Josh" before every time I preach.
-The woman sitting behind me who sings like she actually means what she's saying.
-The man sitting in front of me who often can't finish the hymns because the truthful words are too powerful.
-The newly saved man who (being unaware of all the "rules" we've associated with prayer) simply talks to his Daddy.
-The 80+ year old who has more energy than I do.
-All the people who know me so well but love me anyway.
-The "old folk" who are willing to hangout with the teens.
-The teens who don't act like teens.
-The young men who act like men.
-The young women who act like women.
-The young lady who always knows and cares about what's going on in my life.
-The "kindred spirits" that help me see myself honestly.
-Young people are not only willing but eager to discuss spiritual things.
-A pastor who loves the Word and love people.
-People courageous and loving enough to point out my faults.
-The older woman how knows everyone's name.
-The lady who embodies servanthood.
-The man who can always be counted on to do anything.
-The older men who make a point of passing on the torch.
-The people I spend Sundays with.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why we need the local church.

Thursday: In Remembrance of Him

Having grown up in "Church culture" all my life, communion was one of those events that I always chalked up as "something we do just because." I never really got it. I mean, sure, I knew the correct Sunday school answer. We do this in remembrance of Christ. But, especially when I was younger, I always dreaded communion services. It seemed so dry and, well, religious.

But, the more I've begun to contemplate communion, the more it's beginning to make sense. Sure, we've reduced it a mere ritual, but it doesn't have to be that way. You see, God knows we're idiots and have a tendency to forget how good He is to us. So, whether it's the rainbow in the days of Noah, or the memorial feasts of the Old Testament, or the two ordinances of the Church age, God has given us little reminders of His faithfulness.

This week, people are going to talk about Good Friday and make a fuss about Resurrection Sunday - and rightly so. But I think it'd be unwise to forget what happened on Thursday. I encourage you to read Luke 22:7-53 today. It tells of what happened on that fateful Thursday before our Master's crucifixion.

I'll give you the highlights:

Jesus has a Passover meal with His disciples. There, He introduces the Lord's Supper. It is a testament to Christ's love and patience that He gave us a visual aid to help us remember all that He's done for us. The bread is His broken body, a testament that God became man; the Creator became a creature; a Spirit became flesh; the Holy One became sin for us.

The wine is His blood. To the Jews, there was something very sacred about blood. To have your blood spilled was a sign of God's wrath. Our Holy Brother was crushed in the winepress of God's anger for us.

But thankfully there's more. The sharing of the bread and cup is a foreshadowing of things to come. One day, when Christ comes, there will be no more need for communion for we shall share in the glorious Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Our communion with Christ and His Body, now imperfect, will be made all the more glorious.

Thursday is also a testament to humility. While the disciples were arguing about who should be the greatest, the King of kings wept before His Father and humbly proclaimed, "Not my will but Thine."

Thursday is a day to remember that Christ lived and died and lives forever more that we might be joint heir with Him. Take some time to thank Him for that today. :-)