This week’s theme: Imperfection
This week as we participate in World Communion Sunday with many other Christians around the globe, we will be looking at the ways we are different and our ongoing struggle to be perfect in the eyes of others. It is always a challenge, as Christians, to not judge the actions of others for fear of being judged ourselves. It feels like we must be perfect, yet Jesus knew that there is no way we can be. On this day of togetherness let us celebrate the differences rather than finding fault in them.
This week’s Scripture reading: Luke 19:4-10
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Communion at St. Andrew’s
Throughout the school year we celebrate Holy Communion on the first Sunday of the month.
It is the tradition in our congregation to pass a common plate from which everyone takes a small piece of bread. You have the option to take a pre-cut cube, or to tear a piece off the loaf which the minister has broken. (There are also some gluten free wafers on the plate). We then wait until everyone has been served, including the minister and elders up front, and then partake together. Following the bread we pass a tray with individual goblets of grape juice. Again, we wait until all participants have a cup, and then partake together. There is a small bracket on the back of the pew in front of you where you can place your empty cup.
Questions to ask yourself about Holy Communion:
- How does participating in communion strengthen faith and provide spiritual nourishment for the soul?
- In what ways does communion represent unity within the church, and how can celebrations foster deeper communal bonds?
- How can communion be made more personal while also being a communal act that reflects the church in all times and places?
This week’s Bulletin