Sermons and Communion and Foot Washing

A couple of weeks ago, I preached the sermon for the evening service. Because of a misunderstanding, it was thought I had been scheduled to do so. So it was announced at the morning service that I was to preach that night. Fortunately, I was prepared. In my car, I keep a folder of sermons ready to be preached in case I find I must deliver a sermon without advance notice. I used one of those. The title was "What Kind of Jesus are We Looking For." The setting was the anointing of Jesus at Bethany. I read from both Mk. 14: 1-11 and Jn. 12: 1-11. The point was that it was at that event that Judas decided he would betray Jesus because he realized the Jesus he thought he was following was not who Jesus really was. It was Mary who discerned who Jesus was and that he was worthy of being given our all.

Last night, 4/17, I preached at an African-American church on the subject of "Holiness That Can Be Seen." The verses preached upon were Ex. 20: 1-17, selected verses from Lev. 19, and Jn. 13: 1-17. I emphasized that holiness was not just the removing of ourselves from impurity, it is also opening ourselves up to all things that please God. Holiness is measured by our human relationships, specifically, by how we treat others. As this blog is merely a record of my activities, I don't go into great detail concerning subject matter.

On 4/13, at the evening service, I presided over the communion and foot washing service. The roots of communion in Passover were explained, then it was proclaimed from Jn 1:9 and 1Cor. 5:7 that Christ is our Passover who was sacrificed for us. After we celebrated communion, a brief explanation of foot washing from Jn. 13 was given. It was noted that Jesus even washed Judas' feet, thereby increasing the scope of love Christians are to exhibit. Not only are we to love those within the Church, we are to love and serve our enemies as well.