April 30, 2009

This coming Lord’s Day, we will celebrate together the foun-
dation of our faith, the incarnation, death and resurrection of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Lord’s Supper tells us that
there is nothing more we must add in order to be saved; it tells
us that all is well between us and God, even to the point that we
get to sit at His table and share a meal with Him; and it tells us
that we are still waiting on our King’s return, at which point we
will eat and drink and celebrate like never before. His finished
work is our hope, so prepare your hearts this week to come to
the table. These words from question 81 of the Heidelberg
Catechism are always encouraging to me: “Who are to come to
the table of the Lord? Those who are displeased with themselves for
their sins, yet trust that these are forgiven them, and that their re-
maining infirmity is covered by the suffering and death of Christ; who
also desire more and more to strengthen their faith and to amend
their life. But the impenitent and hypocrites eat and drink judgment to
themselves (I Cor. 10:19-22; 11:28-29; Psa. 51:3; 103:1-4; John
7:37-38; Matt. 5:6).”
Parents, I encourage you to spend time with your non-
communing (as well as communing) children on Saturday eve-
ning, explaining to them again what the Lord’s Supper is all
about, what it symbolizes, what Jesus did for sinners like them,
how it is a means of grace to believers, and calling them to faith
and repentance, so that they too might come and sup at the
table. Use the Children’s Catechism or the Shorter Catechism
(and for your own instruction use the Larger Catechism and the
Heidelberg Catechism). Like the hungry-and-now-satiated lepers
in II Kings 7, don’t keep the good news to yourself, but tell
other famine-stricken (kin)folk where they can get bread. If you
see the reality of saving faith, and a maturity of faith such that
they can heed Paul’s instructions to “examine himself” and
“discern the body” (I Cor. 11:28-29), then by all means, speak to
an elder and bring your child before the Session so that his or her
faith might be strengthened by this means of grace each month.
If you weren’t at worship with us this past Lord’s Day, we
announced a congregational meeting on May 24, following our
morning worship service, for the purpose of electing additional
deacons. Three men (Jason Morse, Michael Savage, and Wes Ste-
vens) were examined and approved by the Session as eligible to
stand for election to the office of deacon. These three men are
not running for one spot, as if one will win over the other two.
Rather, the Session recommends all three be elected, and they will
be if each one receives a majority of the votes of those present at
the congregational meeting. Over the next month, I encourage
you to get to know these men, so that you might vote with an
informed and clear conscience.
I hope you can join Elizabeth and me in our backyard on May
16, at 3:00 p.m., for our 6th Annual Cangelosi Family Strawberry
Festival. We’d love for this party to be an opportunity for the
unchurched to get to know some Christians, so bring your favor-
ite strawberry dessert and a chair – and invite a friend to join you.
If you’d like a little spice in your life, stick around at 5:00 for the
crawfish boil (bring your own drinks). My brother has recently
started selling crawfish in Baton Rouge, and he is going to fly me
up some live ones for us to boil, along with the requisite corn and
potatoes. Unfortunately, crawfish and shipping et al aren’t free, so
we have to charge $8/person, $15/couple, and $20 max/family.
You might be thinking, “There’s no way I’m going to put that meat
in my mouth” – even if you just want to watch, come join us!
Laissez les bon temps rouler! (That’s French for “Let the good
times roll!”)
Caleb