Looking Back In Memory, Looking Forward To Victory

As we gathered at FBC this morning to celebrate the first Lord's Supper of the new year, we had many things on our minds and hearts.  We raised our voices in congregational praise, after which the choir, orchestra and our wonderful accompanists presented a beautiful song  called "Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me" to set a contemplative tone for the morning's worship.  At the end of the congregational singing that followed the special music, Pastor Wes tasked us with, not only remembering Christ's sacrificial death on the cross to pay the price to redeem us and all that we receive because He did that, but  he encouraged us to  examine our lives to see if we are living lives that are reflective of the grace we have  been given and if we find that we are not doing that, to repent before we approach the Lord's table.  In 1 Peter, Chapter 1, he tells us who we are in Christ, what we have been given as a result,  and that the trials we suffer are not meant to defeat us, but to refine us for our eternal life in Heaven with Jesus.  Pastor Wes had much more to say about what all of this means which you can see on the Live-stream.  At the end of the sermon, we prayerfully partook of the elements that serve as symbols of Christ's broken body and blood and departed to be His ambassadors to those in the world around us who don't know Him......