Tag: community of faith

Friendship and Holy Communion

Luke 22:19-20 teaches us that the Eucharist is the source of Christian friendship which is shared in the Christian community. Eucharist was a sharing of a meal among believers.


From the Gospel stories, many wonderful encounters happened when Jesus Christ was eating with His friends. Jesus ate with sinners. He spent time with them. It was at the Passover meal that Jesus called His disciples as His friends, and not servant. It was also at a meal that the disciples of Jesus whom Jesus met on the road to Emmaus recognised Him. Likewise, when we share ameal with our friends, our friendship is renewed and deepened.


For John Wesley, what binds Eucharist and friendship together is the experience of Presence of God. In Eucharist, we are invited not only to share the bread broken for us, but to share our brokenness; the friendship we share invites us to share not only the wine pour out for us, but to pour ourlives for each other as well . At Eucharist, Jesus’ invitation for us to remember that His body broken for us and His blood poured out for us takes on new meaning on what it means to be a friend to one another.

Reference:

Ripple, Paula. Called to be Friends. Indiana: Ave Maria Press, 1980.

The Church Is The Body of Christ

The church is the body of Christ.

The church is the people of God, called to be the salt and light to this world (Matt. 5:13-14). In the New Testament, the church is called, “ekklesia”, which is a group of people who have been called out by God.

When the people of God gathered together, there are 3 things which will happen:   

1.Christ-centered

It is Christ-centered as we gather to study God’s Word and have fellowship with one another through prayers and through sharing a meal. 

2. Christ-exalted  

The church is a body of Christ. We are one body (1 Cor. 12:12-31).We exalt Christ as we worship God together. Since we are a body in Christ, we love one another and live in peace and unity. It is not always easy, but let us ask help from the God who first loves us. With His help, we learn to embrace one another and to forgive those who have offended us as God has also forgiven our offenses against Him.

3. Christ-glorified

In the church, we live in unity and we guard our unity by extending peace to one another. As a body of Christ, we share the Gospel with people outside of the church. In our daily living, we obey God’s commands and live lives that glorify God in our actions, words and thoughts.