Matthew 14:13-21-"A Table in the Wild"

Synopsis:

Psalm 78 asks, “Can God set a table in the wilderness?” Jesus does just that when he feeds a multitude with a few fish and loaves. The wilderness desert is a dangerous, inhospitable place, but God continues to show up in our wilderness and help us find our way back to the Table. Like in the children’s book “Where the Wild Things Are” one child psychologist notes how the book is a story about a rambunctious little boy who is put in timeout, feels his feelings in a far away land of his imagination, and is draw back into the real world by the smell of supper and the warmth of his mother’s love. On this Sunday, we share Communion and are reminded how God sustains us and calls us home no matter how far into the wilderness we might be.

2 Timothy 1:1-14 - "World Communion: A Faith That Lived First"

Synopsis: Paul writes to Timothy encouraging him to keep the faith which was first passed on to him by his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. The faith which grants us a spirit not of cowardice but of power, love, and self-discipline, is the same faith passed down from Jesus to the Apostles, to Timothy’s grandmother, all the way to all 2 billion Christians around the world today. In this faith, we are all the family of God gathered around one global table of fellowship and community. The faith which strengthens us is a gift that lived first in the countless faithful people who have loved and lived for good and for God since Christ rose from the dead.

Keywords: Jesus, unity, Kingdom of God, communion, global church, family of God, inclusion, peace, community