Prayer Practice
Breath Prayer – Take 2-3 minutes today to pray a simple breath prayer. Get somewhere quiet and relaxing. Breathe in deeply, and then breathe out fully. As you breathe in, ask God to fill you with His presence, grace, love, peace, etc. Consider using the list of spiritual fruit in Galatians 5:22-23. As you breathe out, offer to God the things you need Him to take from you – sin, doubt, shame, anxiety, fear, etc. Pray this way for just a few minutes, trusting God to work, and then begin reading today’s Scripture.
DAILY READING
REFLECTION
Communion in Community
by Kelsey Bacon
Do you remember your First Communion? Maybe your church growing up didn't do First Communions, or maybe you became a believer as an adult and never went through the classes and had the special service. I remember being in 5th grade, wearing that special dress that I'd picked out with my mom, standing in front of the congregation and taking communion for the first time in church. I had waited and waited for this day. At that time, I didn't have the deep, grateful understanding of communion that would grow over the years and that I hope continues to grow throughout my life. But I was so excited to finally be a part of this thing that everyone did together. It felt like taking a step deeper into the church community.
Today's passage is a reminder not only to the Corinthians, but to us as well, about the importance of community in communion. Paul talks about the divisions within the Corinthian church, and how they must set aside those divisions and come to the table as one. Communion unifies us in Christ's saving power of forgiveness. It's not just a personal act, but a communal act. Even across screens and through computers, taking communion together matters. It brings us together as one body, submitting ourselves to Christ. For a moment, we all in unison take ourselves out of the center and recenter on Christ, acknowledging his sacrifice, his presence, and the power of his grace. It is the crying out of many voices, all together saying "Jesus! We need you! Come and wash us clean!" And in the humility we are unified in that God is God and we are not. Because from all the different walks, all the different stories, all the different places that we come when we enter worship on Sundays, we are one in Jesus.
Communion is something that can become rote, like muscle memory. It can become something we don't even think about. Sometimes we have seasons like this. But be encouraged in this: even when we come to communion not even thinking about it or feeling anything, Jesus is still present. Jesus still forgives. Jesus still loves you and cares for you.
This Sunday, when we take communion, whether you're at home online or in the building, take a moment to appreciate the mutual surrender of communion as a church body. Take a moment to pray and thank God for his Church. For it is only through him that our selfishness and divisions can become obsolete when we come to the table, and are received with nothing but mercy.
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