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9:00 a.m.
We are pleased to make our new Sunday School materials available to you, Faithelement, since they offer a fresh, honest and relevant method of studying the Bible by making use of modern tools such as the web, video, music, and social media to connect with the scriptures and promote faith growth. Faithlement uses the text from the Revised Common Lectionary, which is the one followed by the Disciples of Christ churches. The curriculum is prepared and recorded two weeks beforehand in order that current issues and news may be included in each lesson. Furthermore, Faithlement offers a variety of resources relating to hymns, anthems, litanies, and prayers for each Sunday and for each special service.While you're going to Classroom C, which is beside the nursery, stop at the Coffee Bar and get a coffee, tea or a cold drink along with a donut before coming to join us.To get the links to this week's podcast, the background information, and the discussion points, you should contact Laura McClendon, who is the Christian Education Team Leader.
10:00 a.m.
At First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, our worship centers on weekly open communion. We include traditional worship elements and favorite hymns, played in a joyful way. People wear anything from casual to formal clothes, and we welcome everyone to 'come as we are!'The church believes that all believers share in the priesthood. This means that laypeople help lead prayers, serve communion, and read Scripture together with the minister.Scripture readings come from both the Old and New Testaments, and people are encouraged to interpret them together as a community. The minister gives a sermon based on these readings and connects them to daily life.The Lord's Supper, or Communion, is the main part of our Sunday service. All Christians are welcome to take part, no matter their denomination. Elders usually lead the prayers for the bread and cup, and the minister oversees the table.The congregation sings hymns and songs in either a traditional or blended style. Music is played on a Steinway Grand Piano or keyboard, and the choir often sings an anthem.
10:00 a.m.
At First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, our worship centers on weekly open communion. We include traditional worship elements and favorite hymns, played in a joyful way. People wear anything from casual to formal clothes, and we welcome everyone to 'come as we are!'The church believes that all believers share in the priesthood. This means that laypeople help lead prayers, serve communion, and read Scripture together with the minister.Scripture readings come from both the Old and New Testaments, and people are encouraged to interpret them together as a community. The minister gives a sermon based on these readings and connects them to daily life.The Lord's Supper, or Communion, is the main part of our Sunday service. All Christians are welcome to take part, no matter their denomination. Elders usually lead the prayers for the bread and cup, and the minister oversees the table.The congregation sings hymns and songs in either a traditional or blended style. Music is played on a Steinway Grand Piano or keyboard, and the choir often sings an anthem.
All Are Welcome at This Table...
For I have received of the Lord what I have also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he took the cup also after supper saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread, and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. – I Corinthians 11:23-26 (NRSV)
Disciples’ observance of the Lord’s Supper echoes the Passover feast, when Jesus shared bread and wine with his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the living Christ is met and received in the sharing of the bread and the cup, representative of the body and blood of Jesus. The presence of the living Lord is affirmed, and he is proclaimed to be the dominant power in our lives.
The practice of Holy Communion has become the central element of worship within the Disciples tradition. The Lord’s Supper or Communion is celebrated in weekly worship. It is open to all who follow Jesus Christ; you do not have to be a member of this church or denomination to be welcome at this table.
Peter said to them,” Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” – Acts 2:38 (NRSV)Just as the baptism represents the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it symbolizes the death and burial of the old self of the repentant believer, and the joyous birth of a brand new being in Christ. Those who founded the Disciples movement taught baptism by immersion as the accepted form. – From Word to the Church on Baptism, Commission on Theology, 1987
Baptism is a public act by which the church proclaims God’s grace, as revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, through the use of a visible sign of God’s gracious initiative and the human individual’s response in faith.
With other Christians, we affirm that baptism is both a divine gift and a human response. The meaning of baptism is grounded in God’s redemptive action in Christ, as it incorporates the believer into the community of the body of Christ and anticipates life in the coming age, when the powers of the old world will be overcome and God's purposes will triumph.
