9: The Table of Connection
A description of what an early church must have been like in Rome during Paul’s time with everyone from slave to elite being treated the same.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE! A quote from Pliny about a secular dinner in Rome where the elite were treated much different than the non-elite.
ECUHARIST CONNECTS UT TO ROUTINE MEALS WITH JESUS. Jesus routinely ate with a mixed group of people. The last supper was a connection to those meals and was a memory of past meals. We need to emulate that practice.
- Ponder How Eucharist Connects Us to Passover. We need to remember that Passover, the time of the Last Supper, is all about liberation and was a joyous, festive celebration. Our celebration of the Eucharist rarely excite hope of liberation.
- Ponder How Eucharist Connects Us to the Gospel. Pauls says that whenever we celebrate the Eucharist, we “proclaim [gospel] the Lord’s death until he comes.”
- Ponder How Eucharist Connects Us to Personal Faith. “The word Eucharist means thanksgiving, so do just that. Thank God for salvation, justification, reconciliation, redemption, forgiveness, sanctification, and the coming kingdom of God.”
- Ponder How Eucharist Connects Us to Church Worship. The worship of the early church focused on the Eucharist. “The Eucharist was connected to worship, and worship was connected to teaching the gospel, and teaching the gospel was connected to — you guessed it — church unity.”
- Ponder How Eucharist Connects Us to Church Unity. In the early church there was a focus on taking care of the poor, the widows, and other needy people. That leads to church unity.
Excerpt From: Scot McKnight. “A Fellowship of Differents.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/9W9u1.l