10-04-25

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
October 4, 2025
Last Sunday, we talked about growing larger by growing smaller—by placing an emphasis on fellowship groups. Why do we do this? My answer, and I think the answer of Cypress Creek Christian Church, is people matter. There is always the guy who is the center of attention in a group of five or five hundred, but for the rest of us, what does it mean to be in a group where people know your name and are interested in hearing your story? 

Tomorrow, our focus will move to the Core Value of hospitality. It is World Communion Sunday, and so all attention will be on the Table where Jesus redefined hospitality by welcoming everyone. I will speak of the Table as a sort of training ground for the rest of our lives. If we don’t get it right on Sunday morning, I’m feeling pretty confident that we won’t get it right if we have not practiced it. Without the recurring ritual each Sunday, Tuesday at the grocery store, Wednesday morning when that guy at the office tells that inappropriate and offensive joke, or Friday when someone speaks horribly about another human being, none of us will have the capacity to speak and act in such a way as to communicate the far-reaching love of Jesus that seeks to bring people close. Or will our silence and inaction give the impression that we went to the Table but never really understood it?

Continue to teach me, Spirit of Wisdom, throughout the week, but especially on Sunday morning when we hear the invitation of Jesus to share in a meal that represents the fullness of divine grace. Allow this welcome and amazing hospitality to touch me at the core of who I am, even changing those parts of me that wish to put in place a few obstacles and a couple of barriers to trip up those I do not believe are quite deserving. Forgive me; reshape me; redeem me. Amen.