Chase Riebel gave the Communion Meditation, reminding us of the gift we get through the body and blood of Jesus. We often put a lot of importance on “things,” that is, the bread and wine/juice, and miss the significance behind these material items. There were many imperfect things done to the perfect body of Christ, but the true gift of Jesus is that our soul doesn’t stay here on earth with our body when we die. The blood of Jesus was the final sacrifice for our salvation.
Pastor Chase Riebel gave the sermon “The Journey Continues,” over Acts 13:44-52. There are 3 main points to remember on our journey through life: 1. Watch out for jealousy that resides in you, 2. Jesus is the Light and we want to reflect his light, 3. Dusting off our feet does not mean defeat. The Jews became jealous of Paul when he came to preach to them because of the attention he was receiving, but they were also jealous because he was preaching to the Gentiles about receiving salvation through Jesus. After all, they were God’s chosen people. They didn’t feel like the Gentiles should receive this gift as well, but salvation is for sinners. We don’t need to get right with God before coming to him, he makes us right when we come. We should want everyone to have the hope that we have of eternal life. And we shouldn’t hide the light of Jesus from others. We should shine his light everywhere we go and to everyone we see, that way they can see that we are different. Maybe they’ll wonder what this difference is and it’ll make it easier to share this hope with them. Jesus’ light exposes the darkness within all of us, and our only hope is through following him. But if others reject you because you try to share this hope, shake the dust from your feet and keep going. You might have been the one to plant a seed in their hearts, and God will bring others into their lives to water that seed and help it grow.
