Communion Meditations Archives | Page 23 of 35 | Christian Standard

December 28, 2017

Christian Standard

Christian Living

Memory Is Essential

By Jim Nieman The end of the year is when people typically look back with fondness, regret, happiness, or mournfulness the events and changes that have taken place in their lives during the past 12 months. But imagine we had no memories at all. What would we talk about? What basis would we have for making decisions? We would be adrift, vulnerable, and unable to learn from past successes or mistakes. Memory is essential. Without it, life is empty and living can be dangerous. Jesus held up a piece of broken bread and said, “”˜This is my body given for

December 22, 2017

Keeping Down Appearances

By Doug Redford Some years ago an article in the Cincinnati Enquirer featured this headline: “Appearance Counts When Wrapping Holiday Gifts.” Said one employee at a luxury goods store in San Antonio, Texas, “The biggest thing I”ve seen through the years is that the wrapping is just as important as what”s on the inside. You can take a $5 item and make it look like a million bucks.” Another person quoted in the article noted, “Packaging will make a whole lot of difference, and it will make the gift special.” On the other hand, there are occasions when the lack

December 14, 2017

Irreplaceable

By Doug Redford Every Christmas season a funeral home not far from where I live sets up a nativity scene in the front of its property. Live animals are part of the scene, and the people are represented by wax figurines made by the director of the funeral home. Each includes glass eyes and real hair, and a few (including the baby Jesus) have been sculpted after the likeness of the director”s family members. Just a few days after Christmas in 2002, someone vandalized the nativity set, stealing the Christ child figurine and replacing it with a stuffed monkey. The

December 7, 2017

The Other “˜Silent Night’

By Doug Redford “Silent Night” remains one of the most beloved of the traditional Christmas carols. The words, the tune, the message are all so simple yet so unforgettable (which is true of the Christmas message itself). The picture of the Christ child sleeping “in heavenly peace” amid less than ideal surroundings is one that beckons us during a season when crowds and commotion are all too common. “Silent night” also describes an evening that took place, ironically, near the end of Jesus” earthly life. That was the night of his betrayal and so-called trial””the series of events that led

November 30, 2017

Christian Standard

Good News

By Greg Swinney Bad news shouts at us from the television, newspaper, doctor”s office, and our checkbook registers. Some days we seem to wake up and find ourselves plodding through our routine in quiet desperation. We secretly just want to hear some good news. Please, just some good news that offers a little hope. Anne Murray sang a song with the recurring line, “We sure could use a little good news today.” Her words, although more than 20 years old, ring true even today . . . especially today. All we want is some good news. The war is ended,

November 23, 2017

Christian Standard

All in the Family

By Daniel Schantz “Seven times a day I praise you” (Psalm 119:164). It”s Thanksgiving season, the perfect time to give thanks for the family of God. The Father””We can be thankful that God, the Father, let his Son make the trip to earth. Letting go of our children when they grow up is the hardest thing a parent ever does. We know what they will have to face, but holding them back is selfish and weakens them. How did God, the Father, find the strength to stand by while the Jewish leaders slimed his Son, kicked him around, and then

November 16, 2017

Christian Standard

New Testament Theology & Bible

Incarnation and Resurrection

By Teresa D. Welch Strips of cloth, angels, a man named Joseph, a bed, spices, an angel”s “do not be afraid” message, and a group rushing to tell others the good news. In the context of December, with decorated trees and carolers singing “fa-la-la-la-la,” you most likely associated those items with the story found in Luke 2: “And she [Mary] gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed in him a manager” (v. 7). But these elements of the Christmas story also appear in a different story about Christ. The story of Christmas reminds

November 15, 2017

Christian Standard

Christian Living

The Past, Our Greatest Enemy

By Charles Gerber Everything changes. If you put macaroni and cheese in a refrigerator for a month, it becomes green and fuzzy. It changes into something unhealthy and nonnutritious. But, while most food items will spoil over time, our past has no expiration date! Everyone wrestles with his past. Oscar Wilde said, “No man is rich enough to buy back his past.” But regret is sometimes the reason we try. Juan Ponce de LeÃ³n was a Spanish explorer whose quest was to find the fountain of youth. Was he looking to undo his past mistakes by regaining his youth? The

November 8, 2017

Christian Standard

Embrace the Cross

By David Ray Born on an Indiana farm that had no electricity or indoor plumbing, John Wooden shot his first basketball through a hoop nailed to a barn hayloft. But he went on to lead his high school team to an Indiana state championship. Playing for Purdue, he was named All-American three times and his Boilermakers won the national championship during his senior year. Wooden”s greatest fame, though, came through a much-heralded coaching career. While leading the UCLA Bruins, he built one of the greatest sports dynasties of all time. Over 27 years, Wooden”s teams won 10 NCAA basketball championships,

November 1, 2017

Christian Standard

Christian Living

No One”s Perfect

By David Ray On June 2, 2010, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga was on the verge of pitching a perfect game””a feat so rare that, in all of baseball history, only 20 pitchers to that point had ever accomplished it. After retiring 26 consecutive Cleveland Indians batters, Galarraga was one out away from joining the rarified ranks. A frenzied crowd was on its feet, with players and coaches in both dugouts craning to see if history would be made. When Cleveland”s Jason Donald smacked a grounder between first and second, it happened. Galarraga raced to cover first and caught the

October 25, 2017

Christian Standard

Communion & Lord's Supper Theology & Bible

Discerning the Body

By Marsha Relyea MilesÂ If you were to worship with tribal Jesus followers in the jungle of Papua New Guinea, you might find yourself sitting on a rough-hewn log rather than a comfortable pew or chair. The typical church building has a thatched roof, woven bamboo walls, a dirt floor, and “windows” that are open to the jungle (no glass or screen); the church is graced with calls of tropical birds and shaded by giant palms and lush foliage.Â Â Imagine this setting . . . the sultry, equatorial breeze wafts in, carrying with it the sweetness of exquisite rainforest flowers.

October 18, 2017

Christian Standard

Christian Living

Lower Is Better

By Mandy Smith Mountaineer Joe Simpson tells his chilling story in the book and movie Touching the Void. Thousands of feet up the side of the 20,814-foot Siula Grande mountain, Joe”s safety line was cut, leaving him to slide, with a broken leg, into a deep crevasse. After several desperate attempts to climb up and out of the crevasse, he realized his injury made that impossible. And so, against all survival instinct, he made the excruciating choice to lower himself deeper into the crevasse, in the hope that there would be other exits further down. All the time he was

October 11, 2017

Christian Standard

Communion & Lord's Supper Theology & Bible

Ordinary Sacredness

By Mandy Smith We know Jesus instituted the Lord”s Supper during the Passover feast, which Jews have celebrated for generations. Passover is an annual festival remembering God”s salvation of his people from slavery in Egypt. Like all celebrations of annual holidays, it takes much preparation and is a turning point of the calendar. So, as good Jews, Jesus and his disciples prepared and celebrated this feast together. But Jesus knew this Passover would be different from all he”d celebrated before, because he knew his death was imminent. The food is a central part of the Passover feast, but so are

October 4, 2017

Christian Standard

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

Out of Our Depth

By Mandy Smith What makes you feel out of your depth? Starting a new job? Taking an exam? Having a child? So many situations in life force us to face the size of our own limitations. And when we do, we deal with those feelings of fear and inadequacy in our own ways””by running away, by working extra hard, by becoming anxious. Sometimes it”s not until after we”ve tried all those options that we finally stop to ask for help. But asking for help isn”t the first choice, because it requires us to admit to someone else, “I can”t

September 27, 2017

Christian Standard

“˜I Knew You Weren”t Dead”

By Mark S. Krause Shirley Temple was one of America”s greatest actors, winning a special Academy Award when she was just 6 years old. Her greatest film may have been The Little Princess. In the movie, Shirley plays Sarah, a young girl in London during Queen Victoria”s reign. Sarah”s mother is gone, and her father is sent away to war. A while later, her father is reported as missing in action, and some believe he is dead. With this, Sarah”s life takes a turn, and the cruel headmistress at her boarding school begins treating her badly. Sarah does not give

September 20, 2017

Christian Standard

Communion & Lord's Supper Theology & Bible

Come to the Table

By Mandy Smith The phrase “come to the table” can mean gathering to find understanding, as in meeting to discuss how to solve a problem or end a disagreement. Lawyers “come to the table” to reconcile quarreling spouses. Warring nations “come to the table” to discuss how to end the fighting. We often think of reconciliation in these legal and political ways. But what if the table were not in an office or a war room? What if, instead of a conference or strategy table, it was a dinner table, groaning under the weight of a sumptuous feast? We often

September 13, 2017

Christian Standard

Writing a New Ending

By Diane Stortz We rightly associate faith in Christ with new beginnings””but because of Jesus we can have new endings too. Heaven is a new ending, of course. Death won”t be the final chapter! But what about new endings while we”re here on earth? When Jesus left his home in Nazareth and began to teach and preach, he chose to announce his mission by reading aloud a passage from the book of Isaiah. It begins, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent

September 6, 2017

Christian Standard

Remember Me

By Diane Stortz With missionaries in the family, she had become pretty good at saying good-bye, although it”s never easy. This time, the leave-taking felt especially difficult, because not only were her daughter and son-in-law returning to the mission field, but this time they were taking their 7-week-old baby, Solomon, her first grandchild. One of the first things Solomon”s grandma did when she got home from the airport was frame some of the many pictures taken during those first seven weeks of Solomon”s life. She placed three in the family room, one on the piano, one in the bedroom, and

August 30, 2017

Christian Standard

We Fear No More

By Jackina Stark John Donne, 17th-century poet and preacher, wrote some of the most beautiful poetry in the English language. His Holy Sonnet X, “Death Be Not Proud,” may be the greatest expression of Christ”s victory over death since Paul wrote, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55). When Donne turns to the issue of sin, his poetry isn”t always so victorious. In “Hymn to God the Father,” the speaker asks if God can possibly forgive all of his sin: Wilt Thou forgive that sin, through which I run, And do run

August 23, 2017

Christian Standard

Communion & Lord's Supper Theology & Bible

Sinners and Saints

By Diane Stortz Are you a sinner or a saint? If you come to Communion today as a believer and disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, the answer is that you are both. God gave the Passover observance to his people as a memorial under the old covenant. Passover was a time of remembering and celebrating from generation to generation how God led the Israelites, with a mighty hand, out of slavery in Egypt and into freedom. The blood of a perfect lamb on the doorpost of every Israelite home protected and saved God”s people as the angel of death