Friday, June 17, 2005

Good Morning!

Note that I won't be at church this Sunday (unless it rains). Need someone to help lead the discussion.

The new unit for this week is Unit 7 , The Lord's Supper

Focus Scripture for the Week: Acts 2:42

They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Today's scripture: 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, John 6:25-41, Mark 14:12-25

-- the three scriptures that close this week's lesson have very different points.

-- the Corinthians passage is about Paul rebuking a congregation for their lack of respect for the Lord's Supper and what it represents. They were, in particular, missing the symbolism of the unity of the church that the supper represents. I will say that my understanding of Communion has been expanded this week, because I was always focused on the rememberance portion of Communion -- "do this in rememberance of me". The idea that Communion also represents the unity of the church, and is something that we should rally around as a unifying practice, hasn't been something that has been a major part of my understanding.

-- Question for Sunday would be -- Paul is also knocking them for the lack of preparation to take communion. How should we prepare mentally and spirtually for communion?

-- To me, John's scripture is about reinforcing the idea that Jesus is the bread of life. Oddly, I hadn't really made the connection to the Jesus's earlier pronouncements that he was the bread of life and the Lord's Supper comments that the bread is his body. In thinking about it, bread = body of Christ is a thought that runs throughout the Gospels, not just at the last supper.

-- Mark's scripture takes us back to the start of the week, with his version of the Lord's Supper. This version varies a little from the earlier one we read because of a more detailed mention of Jesus discussing his betrayal. In this instance, there is the idea that someone who was sharing a meal with Jesus had already commited to betraying him, and Jesus says that it would be better for him if he had never been born. Connecting back to the Corinthians' scripture, if we are are not living and preparing appropriately, our presence at Communion could be much like Judas's -- someone sharing a meal at Jesus's table but already carrying around plans to betray him in our hearts. We need to remember that Communion is a symbolic event, but not an empty one. There is meaning and responsibility attached to it.

-- A question for Sunday would be the idea of the open table, in the Methodist church, which is different than other traditions, such as the Catholic church. Bobby could discuss the differences I think.

Today's prayer request: Nelson Ferreiro, a family friend of Megan Douglas

Nelson was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, and had surgery to remove the tumor. However, they could not remove all of it, and he was given 2 - 6 months to live. We need to pray for him and his family

Today's class member prayer:

Chris Wesson

Have a great day.

Jay

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Good Morning!

Hope you are doing well this week. Note that I won't be at church this Sunday (unless it rains). Need someone to help lead the discussion. I'll have some questions today and tomorrow to help.

The new unit for this week is Unit 7 , The Lord's Supper

Focus Scripture for the Week: Acts 2:42

They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Today's scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:14-22

-- there are a couple of thoughts we should take away from this scripture.

-- one is the reinforcement of the idea outlined in the Reflections section of our study -- the idea of the Lord's Supper as being symbolic of the unity of the church. We should feel a connection, not just with the members of our own local church, but connected to Christians across the world. And that unity, that connection, shouldn't be just with young, white, middle-class, suburban Methodists like ourselves. It should cut across all boundries of age, income and race.

-- I think that part of that unity should stem from not just the acknowledgement that we are Christians, but from the ritual of the Lord's Supper itself -- that we all take - in some form - the bread and wine. World Communion Sunday -- held in early November, I think -- especially gives us a sense of unity, knowing that other Christians around the world on the same day are sharing in the same ritual.

-- the second thought is the idea that we can't pledge allegiance to both the God and Satan; we can't be at one with the church and in unity with evil at the same time. The scripture has a nice symbolic phrase to make that point -- "you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons, too". In practical terms, I think that this is about the kind of lives we are living before we come to communion and when we leave -- beyond the altar rail. How we are living beyond the altar rail dictates whether our taking communion is symbolic of our unity with Christ and his people, or an empty, meaningless ritual.

Today's prayer request: Natalee Holloway's family.

I think that today is day 17 of this, and I think everyone knows what the ultimate resolution of this mystery will be. Let's pray that it be resolved soon, and give the family strength to get through this ordeal.

Today's class member prayer:

Krystle Hatton

Have a great day.

Jay

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Good Morning!

Email/internet problems this morning, so coming out late today.

The new unit for this week is Unit 7 , The Lord's Supper

Focus Scripture for the Week: Acts 2:42

They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Today's scripture: Luke 22:14-30

-- this scripture is more focused on the actual event of the Lord's Supper, but there is the bit at the end about the disciples squabbling about who was the greatest. To me, that is the perfect proof that the disciples, in spite of what Jesus had been saying all along, and in spite of the words he had just said, had any idea of what was going to happen to Jesus. Certainly, you and I, knowing what we know now, would have not fallen into the same discussion.

-- Wesley's writings offer up an interesting dilemma, not just for our class, but for most Methodists - if Wesley thought that communion once a week was ideal, how can we aspire to follow that example? The Catholic Church has communion at every Mass, and some Catholics take communion every day. As aside, I remember that Mike Shula, who is Catholic, was a player at Alabama, he went to Commuion/Mass every morning. Anyway, this is a question that we can ask Bobby about.

Today's prayer request: Alex Lloyd, Monica's nephew

He is having major surgery to correct his hip joint problems -- he is still facing a sigificant amount of rehab time even after this surgery.

Today's class member prayer:

Michelle Ray

Have a great day.

Jay

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Good Morning!

The new unit for this week is Unit 7 , The Lord's Supper

Focus Scripture for the Week: Acts 2:42

hey devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Today's scripture: John 13:1-20

-- this scripture is not directly about the topic of the Lord's Supper, but it is an event that took place in conjunction with it.

-- the idea of footwashing as a practice of faith is something that, I at least, assign to rural or country churches. I don't know why that is -- it just a perception that I have - I can only think of one incidence in my church life where a church observed that particular ritual. From a look on the UMC web site, it seems like that foot washing is most likely to be included in a Maundy Thursday service -- during Holy Week observances.

-- Looking through all of the readings for this week, I don't really see any other references to the foot washing scripture in John, so there isn't any additional elaboration on this.

-- but all that said, the scripture in John is pretty clear -- John 13:15 -- "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." which strikes me as a challenge to all of us -- how do we respond to that call?

Today's prayer request: Nelson Ferreiro, a family friend of Megan Douglas

Nelson was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, and had surgery to remove the tumor. However, they could not remove all of it, and he was given 2 - 6 months to live. We need to pray for him and his family

Today's class member prayer:

Monica Harbarger

Have a great day.

Jay

Monday, June 13, 2005

Good Morning!

Thanks to everyone who was at class this past Sunday.

The new unit for this week is Unit 7 , The Lord's Supper

Focus Scripture for the Week: Acts 2:42

They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Today's scripture: Luke 22:1-13

-- today's scripture reading, and the next two, provide us the background on the Lord's Supper.

-- in this passage from Luke, we learn a couple of things - (1) the decision of Judas to betray Jesus and (2) the room arrangements. For the purposes of our topic this week, I'm not sure that the Judas information is important for what we are going to be focusing on. The second bit of information is also not exactly needed for the lesson topic, other than to provide us a complete picture of the communion story.

-- in the second portion of the scripture reading, we find out that Jesus and the disciples were celebrating the Jewish Passover feast. In our previous study on Luke, you'll recall some of the commentary by Barclay on this particular bit of scripture -- if we read the scripture as we find it here, our sense is that their was something otherworldly and/or supernatural (for lack of a better term) about the instructions that Jesus gave Peter and John -- which essentially were -- go into the city, you'll run into a certain man, follow him to his house and then tell him that I need a room, and it will turn out that he has one that he can lend us. My sense is that only an all-knowing God could have given those instructions, to know ahead of time who Peter and John would run into, and that they would have an open room.

-- There is some additional context to this story -- this was at Passover, and Jesus and his disciples were not the only ones from out of town in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover -- the city was filled with thousands of travelers who were having to do the very same thing -- find a place to celebrate the Passover meal. The idea that Peter and John could walk up on the day of Passover, walk right into town, and find a large, furnished room that was available is amazing.

-- Barclay's commentary, if you remember, was that Jesus, in three or four days before, had already gone and reserved the room, and that he was merely telling Peter and John where to find the room so that they could get started on the meal preparations. I don't believe that there is any scriptural basis for that thought, and it only serves to make Jesus look like he was smart and proactive rather than divine and all-knowing.

-- I think that the key word for this week as we read this is "communion". As we know and understand that word, we'll understand more about what is being offered to us with this sacrament.

Today's prayer request: Natalee Holloway and her family.

Natalee is the girl who has gone missing in Aruba. Pray for her safe return, and for strength and hope for her family and friends, during this time of not knowing but expecting the worst.

Today's class member prayer:

Brad Douglas

Have a great day.

Jay