When was the last time you turned on the television, opened a newspaper, or browsed the news on the internet and found yourself overwhelmed by the volume of good news? We live
in a culture seemingly fascinated by the tragic, the divisive, the scandalous, and the
salacious. In such a context, it is well that we remind ourselves that the word “gospel”
literally means “good news.”
Christ calls each of us to be living reminders of the good news he proclaimed during his
earthly ministry. His message is that there is a better way of being human than that which we
so often see described in the news. Through Christ, the world has the possibility of embracing
reconciliation instead of retribution, of discovering what unites us in common humanity,
rather than what divides and isolates us.
One way of witnessing to gospel is for Christians of different races, nations, and
denominations to all partake of Holy Communion on the same day. This is precisely what
many congregations have been doing since 1936, when a number of Presbyterian
congregations in the United States celebrated Holy Communion on the first Sunday of
October and invited other followers of Christ to do the same. From this humble beginning
World Communion Sunday grew into what it is today – a global opportunity to demonstrate
unity in a fragmented world.
On October 7, we join with Christians around the world in celebrating our unity in Christ. We are reminded that in spite of differences of doctrine and creed “There is one body and one Spirit … one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4: 4-6).
See you in church,
Pastor Derek