Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Monday, 29 September 2014 "The spiritual value of eating together"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Monday, 29 September 2014 "The spiritual value of eating together"
Daily Scripture: Acts 2:41-42 That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.
43-45 Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met.
46-47 They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.
Reflection Questions:
In a single day, the early Christian community in Jerusalem went from about 120 members (cf. Acts 1:15) to roughly 3,120 members! How did they nurture all those new believers? We tend to focus on the apostles' teaching, on prayer, on generous giving—all important. But we often skip over one aspect of their spiritual growth so meaningful Luke named it twice. They "shared meals" (verse 42) and "shared food with gladness and simplicity" (verse 46).
Pastor Lloyd John Ogilvie wrote, "Life together in the early church is described as breaking of bread and prayers. In order for people to be galvanized into oneness in Christ, it takes time to be together to listen to each other, care, and be for each other." In what ways has relating to others more deeply than you can in a couple of minutes at church helped you to grow spiritually? How have you seen others grow spiritually through such connection?
The Message rendered verses 46-47 as, "They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved." How might a renewal of "table fellowship" make our lives as Christians more winsome and appealing to others?
Today's Prayer:
Lord God, I hunger, not just to fill my stomach, but to nurture my soul and the souls of others. Help me to combine the two more often, to bless and be blessed by others as we eat together. Amen.
Insight from Donna Karlen
Donna Karlen serves in Campus Communications at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.
I’ve been a bread lover for as long as I can remember. My mother was a bread lover – I can’t remember a time while I was growing up that she would leave a restaurant without a doggy bag containing rolls or bread slices. I learned to make home-made potato rolls, and they became her favorite part of our holiday meals. Let’s just say that if loving bread is an inherited trait, I definitely got it from my mom.
And I passed the bread-loving gene on to my children as well. My kids grew up knowing that the first Sunday of the month was Communion day. We rarely had any trouble getting them out the door to get to church on time on those Sundays. “Hey kids – better get going before all the Communion bread is gone!” They would be waiting in the car for us. I did have my suspicions about their true intentions when after worship they would offer to take the left over bread and feed it to the birds. One for the birds, three for Charlie and Jenna; one for the birds …
I love Communion! I love seeing the pastor take the loaf of bread, raise it toward heaven, break it and say, “Do this in remembrance of me.” And the pictures I imagine from today’s scripture of thousands upon thousands of people doing this same thing over and over again just brings a smile to my heart.
I guess some scholars argue that the references to breaking bread in today’s scripture do not mean that the disciples and followers of Jesus were continually engaging in the sacrament of Holy Communion. But I don’t see how they couldn’t have been. In his last hours Jesus told them to “do this in remembrance of me.” So how could they ever break bread again without remembering their friend and teacher? How could it ever be just an ordinary meal? Especially when through the breaking of bread, “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved!”
I worried at times that my children may have been missing the larger message of Communion as they enthusiastically gobbled up pieces of Communion bread. Did they get it that the bread represents Jesus’ broken body and his sacrifice for us? Did they treat those pieces of bread with any degree of reverence? Were they doing this “in remembrance of me?” Did they, as stated in today’s scripture, have “glad and sincere hearts”? Well their enthusiasm for the bread definitely qualified as glad hearts – and the sincerity part would come (thank you, Sunday school teachers!!) Their joy for the bread was a perfect way to celebrate what Jesus has done for us. And my children have been added to the number of those being saved! Praise God and pass the bread!!
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