*The following is copied from our bulletin at Christ Covenant Church, which we call “In Preparation.” I write these notes off and on in order to help our flock train their eyes and hearts for worship. I don’t write them every week, in part due to space and in part because it’s good for us to discover themes and connections on our own. Not every service must be a tight unit, and yet often clear themes can help us prepare or examine our hearts before the Lord in worship.
For Sunday, October 20, 2019:
A sense of belonging is a deeply felt need in the human heart. We love our groups, tribes, gangs, buddies, peeps, and most of all our families. Simon and Garfunkel longingly sang of being an island or rock, but no one can actually live like that without becoming cynical and lonely. The church can provide a sense of home, and yet the truest sense of belonging cannot be separated from believing.
A true church member is not one who joins a club or finds his peeps. A member is one who is saved by grace through faith and lives a life of repentance. Today our service points out what it is to belong to Christ, be his people, be in our Father’s house, be a part of the body, and find union in Christ. The sacrament of baptism points to being included in the visible church, and the accompanying call to faith reminds us that we must also be welcomed into the invisible church by faith and repentance. The family of God are all those who are hid in Christ the Savior.