SERMON NOTES:

Prayer Requests

lawsuit will end so he can have surgery and get off pain killers.

Y Pray for Jerry Hermsens friend

Stephanie who is having a very serious operation on February 8th. Y Pray for Agbor Bakias new job starting this January. Also pray for his family traveling back to Nigeria. Y Pray for Sammuel Atu-Tendohs pain with motion, and itchy eyes. Y Pray for Elaina, a relative of a close friend of Pastor Pauls who is going through a very difficult time. Y Pray for Hussein, Angelicas coworkers husband, who is started treatment for leukemia. Y Pray for Rose Tendoh to find a job. Y Pray for John Thiessen as he is going through chemotherapy treatment. Y For Peder Gustafson, whose parents are both living with chronic illnesses in the later stages of life. Y For Bobbie Pearson whose recovering from pneumonia and fighting weakness and cancer. Y Pray for Beverly Dols, John Ivers sister, who suffers from lung cancer. Y Pray for Diana Zile-Young, friend of Ivers, who suffers from liver failure. Y Pray for Dave Schwartz and Marg Olson (friends of George & Dianne Black) who are both going through cancer. Y Pray for Ward Sessing, member of the Presbyterian Church of the Way, who is suffering with cancer. Y Pray for Donna McCullen, wife of Ken McCullen, who is suffering from cancer. Y Pray for Alan Shingledecker who is suffering from past injuries. Pray the

DEVOTION
The Lords Super or Communion has a biblical basis that we often miss. This basis started in the Old Testament and continued through the letters of Paul. This week we have the opportunity to study and learn some of this foundation. Comments and thoughts about the devotion can be E-mailed to Pastor Paul at pastor@colpres.org. Enjoy!! Monday, January 7 Read Genesis 17:9-14 This covenant with Abram was the start of the covenant that God made with us and one we celebrate in the Lords Supper. God made a promise to the Israelites. This promise can be found in Genesis 12:1-3 and Genesis 15:1-6. God was going to make a great nation of the Israelites, God was going to bless them so that they could be a blessing. The sign of the covenant was circumcision. This practice seems almost barbaric to many of us and today has lost its religious significance for Christians. Some cites have even banned circumcision. But if we understand circumcision as a sign of the covenant, then we can appreciate its significance. Communion is a sign of the covenant that God made to us through Jesus Christ. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus we are restored to God despite our sins. Our own participation in the Lords Supper is

2
a sign of this covenant. We remember what God has done for us. Prayer: Thank you for the covenant you made with Abram. Help me see my own connection with this covenant. Your promise is everlasting and for this I give you thanks. Help me live out my own response to your promise.

3
your way. Remind me today of the power and benefit of following you. Wednesday, January 9 Read John 1:1-18 The Lords Supper is a sacramentone of two that Presbyterians celebrate. We think of a sacrament as an outward sign of inward grace. God has infused grace within us and we acknowledge that grace by celebrating Communion. A sacrament is also a mystery. Just as John wrote in these moving verses at the start of his gospel, in Communion we remember that the Word (Jesus Christ) became flesh. When we celebrate Communion we dont celebrate something that is other-wordly. Jesus became like one of ushe became human. In Christian terms we call this the Incarnation. This is ultimately a mystery to us. No matter how deeply we study about Jesus none of us can completely wrap our heads around the face that God became human he became one of us. Though we cant completely understand this we accept the Incarnation as a gift. And we celebrate it in Communion Prayer: It is hard to ponder that you became flesh through Jesus Christ. This is a mystery to all of us. Help me appreciate this mystery and grow in my appreciation for what you have done for us. Thursday, January 10 Read John 6:1-15 This familiar story foreshadows what takes place in the Lords Supper. Jesus took simple loaves and a fish and was able to feed a large group of people. He blessed the loaves and fish and distributed to them. The people were satisfied with this gift.

4
After this story the people wanted to make him a king. Jesus wanted to be Lord of the peoples lives, but he didnt want to be a king as the people understood him. When we celebrate the Lords Supper we are challenged to take on this humility. The gifts that we celebrate in Communion are not to be used for our own benefit. We are to use them to advance the glory of God. May we live with this humility. Prayer: Its amazing, God that you could take two loaves and a fish and feed such a large group of people. However you do amazing things every day of our livesoften we do not see them. Help me appreciate your gifts and then humbly use them to advance your kingdom. Friday, January 11 Read Mark 14:12-25 This story is the start of what we know as the Lords Supper. Though a new tradition started the Lords Supper didnt replace, but continued the tradition of the Passover. Just as God passed over the Israelites and freed them bondage, we celebrate and remember in Communion that through Jesus God passes over our own sins and frees us to live with God. The tradition of the Lords Supper goes way back. Despite its history this act of Jesus in the Upper Room was revolutionary. No longer did the people have to follow a law to come to God; instead they could come to God directly through Jesus. When we celebrate the Lords Supper we remember this gift. We can approach God with confidence. Prayer: Its amazing what you did in the Upper Room. You changed the course of history. Help me appreciate these gifts every time I celebrate the Lords Supper

Tuesday, January 8 Read Jeremiah 11:1-13 One of the themes of the Old Testament is how the Israelites and then the nations of Israel and Judah broke their part of the covenant with God. When the covenant was broken God would send prophets to share with the people the consequences of breaking the covenant. These words from Jeremiah are one example of God warning the people of what would happen if they broke the covenant. Look at the history that is contained in this passage. God is heartbroken that despite repeated and consistent explanations of the covenant that the people still turned a different way. These words can challenge us to respond to the covenant that God made to us through Jesus Christ. God so yearns for us to receive this gift and let the power of them burn in our heart. When we celebrate Communion we remember Gods covenant and pledge to live out this covenant in our life Prayer: It is so easy to fall away from you. If Im honest with myself I am not that different than the people if Israel and Judah. I can so easily follow my own way instead of

2
Saturday, January 12 Read 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 By the time Paul wrote this letter to the people at Corinth about twenty years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Lords Supper was being celebrated. In these last chapters of 1 Corinthians Paul wrote specific instructions about how the people should celebrate the Lords Supper. We have probably heard these four verses many times in our life. Often they are used as the Words of Institution when people gather to celebrate Communion. They are worth reading and re-readingperhaps even memorizing. Paul shared the power of Jesus death and resurrection. Prayer: Thank you, gracious God, for the gift of the Lords Supper. May I never take for granted the gift of your death and resurrection. Renew in me my own commitment to you. When I show up for worship tomorrow, may I eagerly look forward to experiencing your presence.