Our gathering Sunday night of sharing life and remembering our Lord's sacrifice was a wonderful time for the body of Christ at Heritage Community Church.  Prior to our Lord's Supper celebration, I went back in the scriptures to review the history of the passover celebration and the connections to that night in the upper room.  I encourage you to go back to Exodus 12 and do some reading on your own.

2000 years ago, an event took place that would offer hope to our world.  God the father saw us in our brokeness and hopelessness and intervened by sending his Son, Jesus Christ, into the world.  God sent his Son out of purpose because of His love…He sent his son, because He knew the consequences of sin and our inability to save ourselves.  The scripture sums it up in John 3:16: “for God so loved... that He gave his only begotten son...”
 
God's Son, Jesus, lived on this earth for 33 years.  In that 33rd year, He went to the city and met with some of his closet of friends, called disciples, to celebrate the Passover. The Passover was the celebration remembering God’s delieverence of the Israelite people from the hand of the Egyptians.  At the Passover, a perfect lamb was to be killed and the blood wiped across the top of the door.  The Israelites were saved while the first born of the Egyptians died.
 
As Jesus gathered his friends that night to remember the Passover celebration, he shared of God’s plan for a new covenant—a covenant that was prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31.  Jesus, himself, became the Passover lamb. (1 Corinthians 5:7) It was John who proclaimed in John 1:29, that Jesus was, "the Lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world."
 
That night at the Passover table, Jesus broke some bread and told them of its symbolizing His body that would be broken and beaten.  Then, Jesus poured some wine and shared with them that it symbolized His blood that would be shed.
 
In the Old Testament, God’s people remembered His faithfulness through different memorials and celebrations, but in the New Testament, Jesus Himself initiated this supper as a way of remembering his ultimate love sacrifice. We are encouraged to remember His sacrifice until the Lord returns.

For believers, we are reminded to remember the sacrifice that was paid so that we might live.  For those yet to trust Christ, the question remains, "What keeps you from trusting him with your life?"

The Brock's had a great time away at Merideth's brother’s wedding in Maine.  I think that it calculated right at 5,000 miles of travel when all was said and done.  We had a chance to visit some of her family as well as take some personal time with the kids and introduce them to some sights and signs of other places within America.  When getting off the ferry at the Statue of Liberty, one of our kids looked up and said, "Girl you are huge". (this is an inside joke for those parents who have had the priviledge to watch the movie Madagascar with thier kids)  It was good to be with them outside the norm of everyday life because it gave Merideth and I time to experience our kids and their differences in personalities that we might not otherwise experience within our daily routines.  We have really great kids!

It was funny because coming out of the parenting series we just finished up, I found myself pondering the questions that we learned to ask ourselves while we walk along the journey of parenting:

1.  What am I doing to enlarge my relationship with my child?
2. What am I doing to influence the lives of those who influence my children?
3.  What am I doing to help my child’s relationship with God grow?

We have only one shot with each child.  We can't redo time once it is gone.  For us parents, how will we spend our time? What will our priorities be?  When they are ready to leave our homes, will we look back knowing that we had done our best?

It was good to be away, but it is good to be back with our extended family at Heritage. Please remember, no morning service this Sunday because of our Sunday afternoon fellowship.  So what do we do?

-have family worship time,
-attend another church and celebrate what God is doing around our community
-gather with a couple of people or families and share life together
-do a family service project
-get to know your neighbors
-ride around town to see who isn't in church (you might be surprised how many people aren't in church on Sunday's)
-quiet time alone with the Lord

We plan this time intentionally, so be intentional.  How will you use this time slot this week to grow spiritually, share life or serve others?

I am looking forward to this Sunday afternoon at the park.  Make sure to bring your lawn chairs and some good food (signup on line).  We look forward to celebrating the Lord's Supper that night as well as spending time hanging out together.  We are also blessed to have James Tealy with us to sing and share with us.  Get more info on this special Heritage Day celebration.

We love you,

Sidney and Merideth

On June 28th, we will NOT be having our normal service at Wildwood Middle School. Instead, we will be having Heritage Day at the Lake Okahumpka Park in Wildwood on 44. Our time at the park will be from 5-8pm. Don’t miss out on this special time! We will have dinner, a time of worship, and plenty of fun. You will probably want to bring chairs for your family.

Please click here to RSVP!