Five Minutes on Friday

Please remember,
North Delta
Evangelical Free Church
– our LPD “Church” of the Week.
Thanks to Anna (Ben) Crumback at Sointula Community Church for producing the Church of the Week!

We live in a largely self-serve age. From self-serve gas stations to automated tellers (ATM’s); from self-checkout at grocery stores to self-check-in at airports, we have become use to serving ourselves.

I admit that self-service is sometimes really convenient. At other times, it seems both impersonal and sadly void of needed human interaction.

Last Sunday, Karen and I visited a church (not an EFCC Church) with our daughter who has recently moved. It was an informal style of church. The church service included a ten minute coffee break, right after the worship music and just before the sermon. We served ourselves a cup of coffee in the foyer and sought to start some conversations with the attendees.

At the conclusion of the service, there was what was called, “Ministry Time.” This included people celebrating the Lord’s Supper in a “self-serve” fashion. While it was meaningful for many regulars at the church, it was rather confusing for us as visitors. What is the routine at this church? Do you receive the elements on your own, or does the pastor provide a cue?

There was no introduction, and while we know the significance of the elements, a non-believing person would not – it might simply appear that people take some sort of religious snack. While not intentional, such oversight is the result of a church becoming unconsciously self-serving. They think in terms of, “what works for them,” and “what they prefer”

The church is a good one, and I appreciated the sincerity, authenticity and practicality of the pastor’s message on sharing our faith. I would be pleased if our daughter chose to become a part of this church. All, the same, I missed celebrating the Lord’s Supper in the context of a church community. It is an ordinance that was never intended to be self-serve!

The Lord’s Supper provides a time to remember Christ’s sacrifice for us in the context of fellow believers. As I often state, our celebration has both a vertical and a horizontal component.  Vertically, we celebrate our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Horizontally, we celebrate our relationship with one another through Jesus Christ.

As Jesus met with his disciples for what we now call the “Last Supper,” it was an intimate time. While they had no clue what was coming later that evening, Jesus knew full well, and He said to his disciples that he would not, “drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s Kingdom.” (Matt 26:29).

In I Corinthians 11, Paul corrects the church at Corinth, where they had turned the Lord’s Supper (then a fellowship meal) into an event of selfish overindulgence for the privileged and of neglect for the poor. This was not good! Paul concludes, “So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgement.” (1 Cor. 11:33, 34).

The Corinthians were not deliberately excluding the poor. They simply forgot the purpose of gathering together in Christian Community, and as such, they became self-serving.

As we approach the Easter Season, may I encourage you to be intentional in what you plan and include in your worship service, including the Lord’s Supper. Here are four questions for you to weigh the elements of a worship service:

1. Is this Christ-honouring? Is this an element that is simply “something that we do,” or is it purposeful and intended to honour Christ?
2. Is this honouring God’s Word? Are we being true to what the Bible teaches?
3. Is this meaningful to those gathered for the service? To “regulars?” To visitors? To “not-yet-believers?”
4. Does this part of our worship service represent our church stated core values? I.e. “We welcome guests in the Name of Christ.”

In this age of self-serve, let’s remember who we serve and consider how we might serve one another in the Name of our Lord, Saviour and Servant, Jesus Christ.

There is no ideal community. Community is made up of people with all their richness, but also with all their weakness and their poverty, of people who accept and forgive each other, who are vulnerable one to another. Humility and trust are more at the foundation of community than perfection and generosity.

John Vanier, “Living in Community.”

Please Pray for:

• Ben and Anna Crumback. Please pray for them and the Crumback family as they grieve – with hope, and for the memorial service being held today (March 23) on Quadra Island.
• Pray for LPD Churches, as we enter the Easter Season with Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday! May we be both humbled and joyful this season, as we give thanks for our risen Saviour and Lord, and the hope that we have received through Him. Also, let’s let our Easter church guests know the reason for the hope within us (1 Peter 3:15).
• Pray for Central EFC in Courtenay, as they seek the Lord in purchasing a suitable building to house their church and ministries.
• Steve (Gillian) Sharpe, as Steve establishes himself in his new role as LPD Missionary of Church Planting Development. In this role, Steve is serving both our LPD Church Plants and missionaries, and also across the EFCC. We are thankful for Steve’s ministry and are glad to share it! 
• At conference, Pastor Sammy Kabyemera updated us on the intensifying violence in Congo, and also on the refugees who have fled to Uganda.
  The refugees are in a serious need of tents to extend the gathering space due to the flooding number of the refugees who have arrived in the camp.
  They  are in immediate need of $1200 for buying tents  and sticks to extend the place for worship. Sammy is seeking people who would continue to pray and if they could donate also, this would facilitate the project.

Please Pray – and please give, as you are able. Gifts can be made through Jesus Grace International Church. 

Quadra Island Bible Church in their pastoral search.

The Steveston Project Team – Allen and Hannah Chang and Daniel and Joyce Wong. Praise God for a Core Team and lives being touched with the Good News.