Preparing Our Hearts.....

This morning as we gathered at FBC to join our hearts and minds in worship, we faced the challenge of having lost an hour of sleep last night because of the change to Daylight Saving Time and the challenge of absences of some of our members due to Spring Break.  But, the biggest challenge we faced this morning was making sure that our hearts were prepared to remember and honor the great price Jesus was willing to pay for our sin as we observed what some call the Lord's Supper and some call Communion.  We began our service by lifting our voices in congregational praise.  After the welcome from Pastor Wes, the choir, orchestra and all our dedicated accompanists presented a song entitled "What A Beautiful Name It Is with Debbie B. on the solo parts.  The congregation followed that up with more corporate worship and then Pastor Wes took us to the book of Jude, one of the least known books of the New Testament.  It is isn't hard to find, just go to the beginning of the last book of the Bible, Revelation, and turn left, but not too fast or you might miss this short book of only one chapter.  Written by a biological half-brother of Jesus, he starts out by saying that he had desired to write to them concerning one thing, but had felt compelled to change his message to them because of a situation they were in, so that he could urge them to contend earnestly for the one true faith .  He told them that some had slipped in among them with the purpose of changing the one true gospel that God had given once for all in the sacrificial death of Jesus to suit themselves and their pleasures.  He told them that they should know who they are and whose they are and Pastor Wes urged us to do the same.  If we have recognized that we are sinners and accepted  Christ as our Saviour, then we are God's beloved children with all the blessings that follow.  We are not guaranteed a trouble-free life here on earth, but with the Holy Spirit living inside us, we have all of the fruits of the Spirit and the certain hope of Heaven.  As we closed the service, we did remember and honor the sacrifice and terrible price Jesus paid for our salvation by observing the Lord's Supper.  Pastor Wes had much more to say about Jude and especially the first two verses which you can see on the livestream.  He has also promised to unpack more of verses 3 and 4 next week.  I'm looking forward to that!.......