Everyday life in Burkina Faso appears to me to be exceedingly difficult. Most people purchase their food everyday, not because of a lack of refrigeration, but because they need today’s income to purchase today’s meal. That’s right. Meal. Just one a day.
As I watch the amazing Burkinabe people, I see some of the most thankful folks on the planet. In honor of their joyous hearts, I have decided to present the following teaching on thankfulness in relationship to Holy Communion.
Thankfulness: Fully Alive. Here. Now.
Is there a way for me to experience the abundant life of Jesus Christ all day, every day? Can I be fully alive, here, now?
Zone 1 and MCA Church answers with a resounding YES! And the pathway to this promise is Holy Communion.
MCA Church, recognizing the priority and power of Holy Communion, invites worshippers to the Lord’s Table in every weekend worship experience.
How does a piece of bread and a cup of juice become something of gigantic value in our daily lives? What is that added value?
Within the Holy Communion experience is a component of the mysteryof Christian life and faith.
- 1 Timothy 3:9
“They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.”
- 1 Timothy 3:16
“Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He[a] was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated[b] by the Spirit,[c]
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.”
Mystery, in the Bible, is different from mystery today.
- Mystery is an operation or plan of God not yet fully revealed.
- Mystery, once revealed, still has more to be revealed.
The core experience of Holy Communion is the giving of thanks. Mark 14: 22-25
The giving of thanks, in Mark 14:23 is the Greek word, eucharisteo.
Eucharisteo (giving thanks) is closely related to, in the original language, grace and joy.
Is there a way for me to experience the abundant life of Jesus Christ all day, every day? Can I be fully alive, here, now?
The Bible declares, “YES!” In a three-worded chord that is not easily broken we experience the abundant life of Jesus Christ. Ecclesiastes 4:12- “And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
Eucharisteo Thankfulness Colossians 3:17
- “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Charis Grace Romans 5:2
- “Through him we have also obtained access by faith[a] into this grace in which we stand, and we[b] rejoice[c] in hope of the glory of God.”
Chara Joy 1 Peter 1:8
- “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory”
I challenge Zone 1 to give select one thing for which you are thankful for the next 31 days and tell at least three people each day.
1 Corinthians 1:4 “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,”
Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
Romans 6:17 “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,”