And on Sunday, We Give Thanks

A local business made an impression on me recently with their recorded voicemail message giving their hours of operation. “Open Monday thru Saturday, 10 to 6. And on Sunday, we give thanks.” What a powerful way to put into perspective what is the essence of honoring God. At the local church in which I fellowship, we take Communion each week. As we take time to come to the Altar area, we lay down tithes and offerings and we pick up the Eucharist elements. We give thanks by honoring God with our Firstfruits and then remember what our Lord Jesus did for us at the Cross through the “koinonia” of Communion.

Koinonia means Fellowship

The Greek word means “fellowship, communion, joint-participation”. So when we take communion, we are having fellowship with the Lord and participation jointly in what He’s done. And what He is doing. And looking ahead to what He will do. The God who was, who is, and who is to come.

The Lord’s Table

For me, personally, this is a regular observation and remembrance of how our Lord Jesus Christ shed His blood for us. Spirit, soul, and body. His substitutionary sacrifice paid for it all.

SOUL ~ After the Lord’s Supper, He went into the Garden of Gethsemane and agonized in prayer. “His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” And in so doing, He bore my fear, anxiety, abandonment, worry and all that weighs me down in my soul. My mind, will, and emotions. He paid for it and I remember that at The Table.

BODY ~ He gave His back to the smiter and as the famous words in Isa 53 tell us “by his wounds we are healed”, by the stripes that the lashes laid upon the Son of God’s back – we were made well. He paid for it and I remember that at The Table.

SPIRIT ~ When He was nailed to the Cross and His costly blood was poured out, it was our spirit that was made alive to God and joined to God’s in the new birth. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Fellowship at The Table

This “Giving of Thanks” is so meaningful to me now. As I take the bread and the wine and remember this three-fold redemption each week, the mystery of His presence is fresh and new. How about you? Do you know Him? May I introduce you to Him personally?