Prepare for Worship | Come and Eat
Last Sunday, Pastor Ken Lewis pointed us to encourage one another in the faith with the gospel.
Read: Romans 15:1-7
This Sunday, Ryan Heard will exhort us to welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us from Romans 15:7. As you prepare for our worship gathering, let these words from Charles Spurgeon drive you to deeper communion with Christ and his people.
Reflect: “Come and Eat”
“Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’” — John 21:12
In these words the believer is invited to enjoy a holy nearness to Jesus. “Come and eat” implies the same table, the same food, and perhaps it means to sit side by side, and even lean our head on the Savior’s shoulder. It is being brought into the banqueting-house, where the banner of redeeming love waves in welcome.
This invitation gives us a vision of union with Jesus, because Christ Himself is the only food that we can feast upon when we eat with Him. What union is this! It has a depth that reason cannot fathom. Ponder His words:; “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:56).
It is also an invitation to enjoy fellowship with the saints. Christians may differ on a variety of points, but they all have one spiritual appetite; and if we cannot all feel alike, we can all feed alike on the Bread of Life sent down from heaven. At the table of fellowship with Jesus we are one bread and one cup. As the loving cup goes around, we commit our lives to one another. Get nearer to Jesus, and you will find yourself linked more and more in spirit to all who like yourself are supported by the same heavenly manna. If we were nearer to Jesus, we would be nearer to one another.
We also see in these words the source of strength for every Christian. To look at Christ is to live; but for strength to serve Him, you must eat what He provides. We work too often in a sense of unnecessary weakness because we neglect this perception of the Master. None of us need to put ourselves on a low diet; on the contrary, we should fatten ourselves in the Gospel so that we may derive strength from it and extend every power to its limit in the Master’s service.
Then if you would realize nearness to Jesus, union with Jesus, love to His people, and strength from Jesus, “come and have breakfast” with Him by faith.
“October 16th: Morning,” in Morning and Evening, by Charles Spurgeon.
Sing: Song List for Sunday
1. “Oh, How Good It Is,” by Keith & Kristyn Getty
2. “I Stand Amazed,” Arr. Aaron Keyes
3. “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” Arr. Shane & Shane
4. “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death,” Arr. Shane & Shane
5. “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name,” Arr. Keith & Kristyn Getty