Dear Church Family,

“…to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
– 1 Corinthians 1:2

Dear Church Family,

One of the most profound statements about Christian worship I have ever heard, goes something like this: “when we join together in worship, we are joining the worship that is going on around the world and around the throne of God in heaven.”  Another is like it: “when we come to the Lord’s table and receive the bread and cup, we are joining the saints who have gone before us who are now celebrating around Christ’s table in heaven – where Jesus is the host.”  Wow!  When we worship we are joining together as one family, across time and space, earth and heaven to give glory, honor, and praise to our great God!

This Sunday, we come to the part of the Apostle’s Creed where we profess “I believe…in the communion of saints.”  This phrase has many meanings.  The word translated communion in English means fellowship and it also means sharing.

Acts 2:42-45 gives us a picture: “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…all the believers were together and had everything in common.  They sold their property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”

The word translated saints can mean “of the saints” or “of holy things.”  The saints are those who are living and/or departed who have professed their faith in Jesus.  ‘Holy things’ are things like the one bread and one cup of holy communion and the one faith, one hope, and one baptism which make us one body.  So when we say we believe in “the communion of saints,” we are saying we believe in the fellowship of those, living and dead, who have professed their faith in Jesus and in the sharing of ‘holy things’ that make us part of one body across time and throughout the world.

Justo Gonzalez says, “when we affirm our faith in the ‘communion of saints,’ we are affirming: 1) our fellowship with believers of all times and places; 2) our readiness to share with others who are in need; and 3) that our sharing includes ‘holy things’” which “do not belong to some of us in particular, but all of us as a whole.”

There is one more way to look at this.  The word from which we get saint is the same word from which we get the words sanctified or holy.  Sanctification happens through the work of the Holy Spirit within us and among us.  It is the process through which we become like Jesus.  So, it is through participation in the communion of saints – in Christian fellowship, in the sharing of holy things – that we are being made holy people, more and more like Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

It turns out, Paul was onto something when he opened his first letter to the Corinthians saying, “…to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

I can’t wait to gather with you all tomorrow to worship and celebrate holy communion, together with all those everywhere – on earth and in heaven – who call on the name of our Lord Jesus!

Yours In Christ,

Pastor Lance
Rev. Lance Richards
Senior Pastor
[email protected]

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