On Virtual Communion: Why We Are Not Partaking

A number of people within our body have asked if we will/should partake in the Lord’s Supper (aka Communion) in our homes during this time of not gathering together due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a good question and represents a good longing that all of us should feel. 

While we know and respect that some churches are encouraging this practice, the position of the elders of 2 Pillars Church is that we will not be partaking in the Lord’s Supper “virtually”. This position is based on two important reasonings: the nature of the ordinance and the nature of the church.

THE NATURE OF THE ORDINANCE 

The Lord’s Supper is an “ordinance” of the church, meaning it was given (or ordained) by Christ Jesus himself to the church. While we celebrate the Lord’s Supper as an act of remembrance of all that Jesus is and all that he has done for us as individual believers, it’s also much more than simply a remembrance: it is a means of grace and act of nurturing and portraying our unity as Christ’s body. In other words, there is a very important “corporate” aspect central to the very nature of the ordinance. 

Notice the repeated emphasis on the word “together” in 1 Corinthians 11:17-22:

[17] But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. [18] For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, [19] for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. [20] When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. [21] For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. [22] What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. 

The “coming together” in this passage was aimed at the entire church in Corinth. In fact, Paul goes so far as to contrast this coming together with eating (not together) in their homes in verse 22. The central problem being addressed in this text is that what the Corinthians were calling the Lord’s Supper was not, in fact, the Lord’s Supper because, they were not waiting until they all came together to partake in it. Later in the same passage, Paul therefore urges,

[33] So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.

Why this emphasis on coming together? Because the Lord’s Supper portrays our unity as Christ’s body. 

More than that, though, the nature of the ordinance is such that it also nurtures this unity. We see this in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 where Paul is also talking about the Lord’s Supper when he writes,

[16] The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? [17] Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 

Notice Paul does not say that there is one bread because we’re one body, instead he actually says the opposite. We are one body because there is one bread. In other words, there is a sense in which our partaking in the Lord’s Supper together makes us the one body. This is inherent to the nature of the Lord’s Supper. Jesus gave us the Supper to mark us as one—or we might even say, make us as one.

Bobby Jamieson in his helpful little book, Understanding the Lord’s Supper, puts it this way:

“There is a gorgeous simplicity to God’s design for the church. What does it take to make a church? Gospel preaching that creates gospel people who participate in gospel ordinances. The church is the shape into which the gospel and its ordinances form God’s people. Baptism binds one to many, and the Lord’s Supper binds many to one.”

The nurturing of our unity is also evident in Paul’s instructions to examine ourselves (1 Corinthians 11:27-29). In context, what the Corinthians were to be examining themselves for was unity. They were to be “discerning the body”, discerning any divisions that might be present. To eat and drink at the Lord’s Table without consideration for the unity of the body was to partake in an “unworthy manner.”

An important aspect of the nature of the ordinance, then, is that it nurtures our unity. Every time we partake together, we’re portraying with our actions that we are united together by the blood of Jesus as one family. And by our very act of taking the Lord’s Supper together, we are also nurturing that unity. Tending it.

This aspect of the Supper demands physical presence. It’s simply not the same to partake “together” when we’re apart. When we’re apart, we’re not together and therefore we’re not really portraying and nurturing our unity (our “togetherness”) by partaking virtually.

THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH 

One of the things that makes this topic difficult is a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the church. The local church is not an otherwise organized collection of random individuals. As the prior section made clear, we are one. We have been united together by the blood of Jesus! Our life is not our own any more, we belong to Jesus and we belong to one another. We have brothers and sisters. We are brother or sister. In a culture strung out on the narcotic of individualism, the Lord’s Supper drives us to detox. 

When Jesus lifted up the cup and said, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” The words “new covenant” ought to jump right out of the Bible at us. 

Part of what Jesus was instituting at the Lord’s Supper was the new covenant community. When we drink of the cup, we’re reminded, that we belong. We’re no longer outcasts. We have a Father in heaven who loves us and sent His Son for us. We’re reminded that by believing in Him, we become sons and daughters—adopted into the family—which the Bible calls the new covenant community.

When we partake in the Lord’s Supper together, there is a sense in which the new covenant (instituted by the blood of Jesus and represented in the wine at the Table) is renewed week after week after week and we’re reminded of the new covenant blessings time after time after time. 

But also, the new covenant blessings do not exist apart from the new covenant community which means you cannot commit to the new covenant apart from committing to the new covenant community—which finds expression in the here and now in the local church. 

To receive Christ at his Table, is to receive all those seated next to you at that Table, as your brothers and sisters: regardless of class, regardless of race, regardless of political affiliations, regardless of socio-economical diversity, or history. In Christ, we’ve been made new, and united into one body. 

We are not our own. We have been adopted into a family, a body. This is our understanding of the nature of the church. And our understanding the local church and our understanding of the Lord’s Supper go hand-in-hand. If we have a low view of one, we’ll inevitably have a low view of the other. One of the reasons Jesus instituted this ordinance, was for us to have high view of both. 

In other words, the Lord’s Supper ought to shape how we think about the nature of the local church and the nature of the local church ought to shape how we think about the Lord’s Supper. Our oneness is portrayed and nurtured at the Table and this is absolutely central to who we are as the church. We’re one. 

All of that is easily lost when we’re not together. We can very easily overly-individualize the Lord’s Supper by partaking of it when not together. When we do, we also overly-individualize what it means to be a part of the new covenant community to begin with—the very new covenant community that Jesus referred to when lifting the cup and saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.”

MORE ARGUMENTS, CHARITY, & LONGING

Additional arguments could be added for not administering and partaking in the Lord’s Supper virtually including the ordinance being administered by elders, fencing the Table (i.e. preventing non-believers or those in unrepentant sin from partaking in the Supper), and guarding from a sense of false assurance or easy believism. With that said, in this article we’ve chosen to focus strictly on the nature of the ordinance and the nature of the church.

It should also be said that this issue is not nearly as clear cut as we’d like it to be in Scripture. There is no one single passage that explicitly prohibits virtual Communion. Therefore, in no way do we wish to cast stones at devoted brothers and sisters who study the Scriptures and come to a conclusion on the other side. What is represented here is our attempt to hold fast to the Word of God (our ultimate authority for faith and practice) and guard ourselves from being led more primarily by pragmatism.

Lastly, may this article be used to increase your longing to gather together as you reflect on the nature of the Lord’s Supper and the nature of the church. 

The Daily Office

The Daily Office is “a” method for pursuing more ongoing communion with God. This method also goes by the name of the “Divine Hours” and is borrowed largely in concept from Peter Scazzero and his book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. Portions also come from a guy named Zack Eswine and Tim Keller (who writes about it at the end of his book on prayer). In reality, the method has its roots in something St. Benedict did in his monasteries back in the 6th century, which really built on principles we find in the Bible for set, or “fixed” hours of prayer (see Daniel 6:10, Psalm 119:164, or Psalm 55:17).

In general, what this method encourages is for you to have set times (known as “offices”) throughout your day where you stop, center, and commune with God through a predetermined means (known as “elements”).

How it Works

Step 1: Set the Times

The first step of setting up your Daily Office is to set the times of your offices. These are the predetermined “times of the day” that you’re going to stop and focus intentionally on communing with God.

The number of offices is up to you. You might do three offices (morning, noon, evening); you might do four (adding one right before bed). To begin with, you might just start with two and add a third once you get a rhythm down. This is totally up to you.  

One helpful way to think about when to set the times of your offices is to think about transitions that happen throughout your day. For most of us, there is a transition that happens between early morning and the rest of the morning (for example, before your kids wake up or before you leave for work).  Another common transition could be before or after lunch—the morning is over, and now you’re transitioning. Still another may be at the end of your work day before you return home.

Whatever you choose, seek to make it consistent each day.

Step 2: Select the Elements

The second step is to select the element(s) for each of your offices. An “element” is the what of what you’re going to do at each of your set times. Here you should feel a lot of freedom to be who God made you to be. We all connect with God in different ways. While Bible reading and prayer should serve as a foundation for all of this (and certainly find a home during one of your offices), there are also a lot of different ways we connect with God.

You might connect well with God through music or or perhaps you experience His presence the most when you are outside in His creation. For others it might be meditating on His Word, journaling, reading the Psalms, memorizing Scripture, sitting in solitude, studying theology, or taking in an audio devotion like the Daily Liturgy Podcast.

Step 3: Do It!

The third step is simply to do it!  With the times of your daily offices set (Step 1) and the elements of each office set (Step 2), all that is left is to pause throughout the day, at the times of your daily offices, and commune with God through the element or elements for that office.

That should include stopping (stop doing anything else you’re doing). It should then include centering (focusing-in on the purpose of this: to remember God and commune with Him throughout the day).  And then doing—actually doing the element you set out to do.

Putting It Together

Putting all of the above together, the below is an example of what a three-office Daily Office might look like. Remember: this can take shape in a lot of different ways and the below is not intended to be prescriptive but rather simply provide one example.  

Morning Office (6am-6:30am):

• Scripture Reading according to a Bible reading plan, and using the SOAP method for journaling.

Noon Office (12-12:05pm):

• Praying a Psalm based on the “Psalms of the Day”.

Evening Office (4:20-4:30pm):

• Sitting in quiet solitude and reflecting on the day. 

  • Revisiting either the morning office and what you journaled OR the Psalm you prayed at noon.

  • Praying the prayer of examen.

The Bigger Picture

The whole purpose of the “Daily Offices” is to build rhythms into your life of communing with God. Each office is where you stop, center, and commune with God. However, the bigger picture goal is that over time, through continual practice of the rhythms, this would become more and more natural to you and that you’d begin to commune with God not just during your daily offices, but all day—continuously.

Practicing the Prayer of Examen

The Prayer of Examen is an ancient practice. While I’ve read a lot of different things on this method of prayer, the most helpful work I’ve come across is by a Catholic author named Mark E. Thibodeaux—his short book, Reimagining the Ignatian Examen: Fresh Ways to Pray from Your Day. Thibodeaux’s very brief introduction by itself is super practical and worth the price of the book. There is also a mobile app that was built off the book called “Reimagining the Examen”.

Here’s how Thibodeaux describes the method:

“In the Examen, we review our recent past to find God and God’s blessings in daily life. We also look back to find moments in the day when things didn’t go so well—when we were hurt by something that happened to us, or when we sinned or made a mistake. We give praise and thanksgiving for the blessed moments. We ask for forgiveness and healing for the difficult and painful moments. Having reflected on this past day, we then turn to the day yet to come and ask God to show us the potential challenges and opportunities of tomorrow. We try to anticipate which moments might go one way or the other for us: toward God’s plan or away from it. We ask for insight into what graces we might need to live this next day well: patience, wisdom, fortitude, self-knowledge, peace, optimism. We ask God for that grace, and we trust that he wants us to succeed in our day even more than we do.” (pg. x)

I’ve found the reflective aspect of what Thibodeaux describes to be the most helpful and use it often while laying in bed—just before falling asleep.

The idea is that at day's end, you prayerfully reflect back through your day—hour-by-hour, emotion-by-emotion, interaction-by-interaction—processing your day, through prayer, with God.

If you found yourself angry at one point of the day (for example), prayerfully ask yourself why. Is there something that has become too important to me that I need to confess and repent? Is there something I have to have—something endangering my contentment? Am I feeling threatened and need to prayerfully remind myself of Christ my Rock, Fortress, Refuge?

At what point or points in your day did you have a special awareness of God’s presence? Praise Him for that. Where did you see Him at work? What are some evidences of His grace or small moments of joy to give thanks for?

If you found yourself to be anxious, or especially content, examen that. 

Prayerfully reflect back over conversations or interactions—what is God telling you about those interactions? How does He want you to remain lovingly engaged with people you’ve interacted with? How might you pray for them? 

Were there any moments of particular pride you need to confess? Any moments of specific sin? Any one you need to pursue reconciliation with tomorrow?

You get the idea. It’s simple: prayerfully examen your life through the prayer of examen.

SOAP: Learning to Read the Bible and Journal

SOAP is a simple tool used to read the Bible and journal along as you do so. I learned the SOAP methodology, as a construct, by reading Wayne Cordeiro’s super helpful book titled, The Divine Mentor: Growing Your Faith as You Sit at the Feet of the Savior. If you want to learn more about this method, that’s the book to read. I also preached a sermon several years ago where I fleshed this method out a little more fully too. You can find that HERE.

INTRODUCTION

 “SOAP” is an acronym that stands for “Scripture”, “Observation”, “Application”, and “Prayer”. The big idea is that as you read through Scripture (perhaps using a Bible reading plan of some sort), you stay your mind on a particular verse or short passage and apply this method.

The method includes journaling by way of you writing out the Scripture, writing out your observations, a few thoughts on application and a brief prayer—all based on and guided from the passage you’re staying your mind on.  

It’s important to note that there are no right answers as you do this! This is purely for you. In fact, if you really get into the journaling thing, you might consider creating an index in the front of your journal listing out all the passages you’ve stayed your mind on thereby creating a log, if you will, of your thoughts, reflections, and prayers on various parts of God’s Word.

HOW TO DO IT

As you read your Bible (be it one chapter a day, or a Psalm a day, or using some other plan), choose a passage to stay your mind on. This should be a passage that particularly stands out to you.

//Scripture

In your notebook or in a document on your device, copy out that passage complete with the reference. This might seem like an unimportant step, but by copying out the passage you are fixing your mind on the Word of God and centering yourself on this passage in particular.

//Observation

The next step is to write out observations from the passage. Here, you’re asking yourself questions like:

• What does this teach me about God and his character?

• What does it teach me about human nature, character, and behavior?

• What does it teach me about Christ and salvation?

• What does it teach me about the church, or the life of the people of God?

You may also write out your own questions that you have of the text—questions that you don’t have the answers to, but want to capture. Perhaps you can use these questions to ask a friend or your Gospel Community leader or a pastor.

You may also take note here (and write out):

• Personal examples to emulate or avoid

• Commands to obey

• Promises to trust in

• Warnings to heed

When you’re writing out “observations” you’re thinking objectively, “what is here”?  This doesn’t have to be a lot—you might write out just a few bullet points.

//Application

The next section to journal out is “application”. Here you transition from “What does it say” (things you’ve captured in “observation”) to, “What is God saying to me?” This is where it gets more personal.

Under this heading, you might think in terms of:

• What is in here that leads me to adore God?

• What is in here that leads me to confession?

• What is in here that leads me to thanksgiving?

• What is in here that leads me to supplication?

• What is God communicating to me through this text?

• Why is God showing me this today?

It’s important to remember that this is for you and not for anyone else. Get honest before the Lord and be specific.  

//Prayer

The last section to journal is a prayer. This is where you turn all of the above into a conversation with God and write out a brief prayer based on the Scripture, your observations, and your application.

SUMMARY

The entirety of this might take you 5-15 minutes and perhaps one page in your journal. It doesn’t have to be long and again, this is for YOU. This isn’t the only way to read your Bible and journal, but it is A way. You might find some things here helpful, and you might forge your own way after trying this out a few times.

You may also find some days where observation, application, and prayer all run together and you end up simply writing out the passage and heading straight into writing out a prayer. That’s fine too.  Remember: there’s no right/wrong way.

Praying Scripture

Praying the Scripture is a great way to commune with God. This post is a distilling of Donald Whitney’s great little book titled Praying the Bible which is one of the most concise, practical books I’ve ever read on prayer. To quote Whitney, and put it succinctly:

“To pray the Bible, you simply go through the passage line by line, talking to God about whatever comes to mind as you read a text.  See how easy that is? Anyone can do that.”

-Donald Whitney, Praying the Bible

Prayer is essential for the Christian, but it’s not easy. Why is prayer so difficult? Why is prayer even sometimes boring? Why does 5 minutes of prayer feel like an eternity? Is it because we are second-rate Christians? The answer is likely, “no!” So why is it so hard to be consistent in prayer? 

1) THE PROBLEM

Our problem in prayer is we say the same old things about the same old things. 

Prayer is often boring. When prayer is boring, we don’t feel like praying. And when we don’t feel like praying, it’s hard to concentrate in prayer and to pray for very long. 

We often pray about these same things: 

• Family/Friends

• Finances

• Future 

• Work or School

• Church or Ministry 

• Current Crisis 

This will not change with “praying Scripture”, we will continue to pray about these same things, but in a fresh and new way.

Prayer can be fresh and new every time we pray. 

2) THE SOLUTION

So, what’s the solution? The solution is simple & straightforward. If God expects and calls his people to pray then consistent, meaningful prayer must be doable. 

When we pray, pray through a passage of Scripture, especially a Psalm. 

When we sit down to pray, we are responsible for creating the words of our prayers. When we use the Scriptures, the words are provided for us, all we have to do is pray! 

3) THE METHOD

Let the words of Scripture become the words of our prayers. For example, if we pray through 

Psalm 23, you read, “The Lord is my shepherd,” and thank Him for being your shepherd. Ask Him to shepherd your family that day, to guide, protect, and provide for them. Pray that he will make your family members His sheep; that they will look to Him as their shepherd. Ask Him to shepherd you through the decisions you must make about your future. When nothing else comes to mind, go to the next line, “I shall not want” and continue to pray. 

Simply go through the passage, line by line, praying what you find in the text or what it brings to mind. If nothing comes to mind or you don’t understand the verse, go to the next one. You may choose to spend a lot of time in a verse or move quickly through the passage. Nothing says you have to pray over every verse. 

Keep doing this until you either (1) run out of time or (2) run out of Scripture. 

4) USING THE PSALMS OF THE DAY

You can use any passage of Scripture to pray through, but the Psalms are especially great because they’re so full of emotive, prayerful language. The “Psalms of the Day” is a simple method that divides the 150 Psalms into 5 Psalms for each of the 30 days in a month. Take the day of the month as your first Psalm. Then keep adding 30 to that number until you get 5 Psalms. So, on the 15th of the month, the Psalms of the day would be Psalm 15, 45, 75, 105, and 135. On the 31st of the month, use Psalm 119. Take 30 seconds to scan these 5 Psalms of the day, then choose one to pray through.

If you get distracted, just come back to the next verse and continue. 

It’s really this easy! Again, you simply go through a passage line by line, talking to God about whatever comes to mind as you read a text. Anyone can do it!

The First 15 Minutes of Your Day

In this season of coronavirus social distancing, we’re working to provide you with resources once a week here on the blog for cultivating your own personal spiritual vitality. 

Today, I want to share with you a very simple practice that everyone can do called “The First 15 Minutes of Your Day.” 

I’m stealing this idea from a Wednesday Conversation episode our friends at Coram Deo Church put out and would strongly encourage you to listen to their episode. With that said, the concept is very simple:

When you wake up in the morning, spend the first 15 minutes of your day in three, five minute chunks of prayer:

1. Spend 5 minutes presenting yourself before the Lord.

2. Spend 5 minutes presenting your day before the Lord.

3. Spend 5 minutes presenting your life before the Lord.

Presenting Yourself Before the Lord

This is you, coming to God in prayer, and simply saying, “Here I am, I’m presenting myself to you. Here’s what’s on my mind right now. Here’s what I’m thinking about, worrying about.” This is you telling God, through prayer, what’s going on in your heart, your soul, and your mind. 

Use this time to confess sin to God. Ask the Holy Spirit to be creating godly sorrow in your heart over areas of sin.

This is also a time to receive from the Lord and re-root yourself in your identity in Christ. Be still. Remember who you are and whose you are. You belong to the Lord. Rest in this truth. Declare that you want to serve Him. Present yourself as a living sacrifice. 

To borrow a line from a popular song by Housefires, this you saying to God, “Do, whatever you want to do. Say, whatever you want to say. Move, however you want to move. Change, whatever you want to change."

Presenting Your Day Before the Lord

After spending five minutes presenting yourself before the Lord, spend the next five minutes presenting your day before the Lord. This is you walking through your calendar for the day, with God, through prayer. This is you saying to God, “Lord, here is what is before me today… give me grace for this appointment, help me be present during this time with my kids.” Visualize yourself, hour-by-hour, stepping through the day. What comes next? What comes after that?

Ask God to give you the grace needed for what is needed. Ask the Spirit to help you be fully present in each stage of your day. Ask for spiritual insight with regard to those you’ll be interacting with. Invite God to fill you with spiritual awareness for every aspect of your day.

Ask yourself, “Who am going to be interacting with today?” And ask God, “How do you want me to love them today?"

Presenting Your Life Before the Lord

Lastly, spend the last five minutes of this fifteen minute block presenting your life before the Lord. Here, think in bigger, more categorical terms. 

Present big themes to God. This is you saying to God, “Here’s what I know you’re working on in me and I know it isn’t a one day, or one week thing. Keep doing it, Lord.”

Bring larger concerns to God, stuff you’re frustrated about that won’t change quickly. Problems that are too big for you to solve. Questions that are too deep for you to answer. Make small deposits of prayer for big decisions coming up that you need to make. 

This is also a great place to pray for others and the work of the Lord in their life. Praying big, spiritual prayers for them that God would grow them in their faith, increase their love for others, make them steadfast in afflictions, and fulfill every resolve for good of theirs and every work of faith by his power (2 Thessalonians 1:3-5, 11-12).

How to Meditate on God's Word

What Is Biblical Meditation?

Simply defined, biblical meditation is listening to what God has said (in His word), in order to hear what He is saying (to me today).

Meditation involves reading God’s Word and then sitting in it. Dwelling upon it. Abiding in it. This generally involves focusing-in on just a verse or two, maybe a paragraph. It can also be as simple as focusing on just a few words. This is different than “study.” Studying God’s Word is aimed at learning. Meditating is aimed at abiding. As you do this, enjoy His presence; OR, admit the feeling of His absence and ask for His mercy and help.

Using Helps

Meditative “helps” are tools to use in the practice of meditation. Think of the following list as options to use when meditating; clues to help you center-in on something particular in a passage or verse to meditate on; or simply windows by which you can enter into the room of meditation. In some cases, you might combine helps or even come up with more of your own. The goal, remember, is listening to what God has said (in His Word), in order to hear what He is saying (in the here and now).

Ask: What does this teach me about…

• God and His character?

• Human nature, character, and behavior?

• Christ and salvation?

• The church, or life of the people of God?

Look for:

• Personal examples to emulate or avoid

• Commands to obey (also known as imperatives)

• Truths to believe or identity statements (also known as indicatives)

• Promises to cling to

• Warnings to heed

Emphasis:

• Slowly read and re-read the verse or passage with particular emphasis on every word and the necessity and importance of each word.

Apply A.C.T.S.:

• Reflect on or be led to pray in terms of:

  • Adoration - What in this verse or passage causes me to “adore” God?

  • Confession - What in this verse or passage stirs me to “confess” to God?

  • Thanksgiving - What in this verse or passage stirs me give “thanks” to God?

  • Supplication - What or who might I need to pray for (“supplicate”) in light of this verse or passage?

Consider:

• What counter-truths (lies) to this truth am I tempted to believe?

• What wrong thoughts result in me when this truth is forgotten?

• Prayerfully linger over the passage asking: why might God be showing me this today? How does this relate to immediate concerns of my life (financial, relational, vocational, physical, etc)?

Paraphrase:

• Reflectively put into your own words the verse or passage

Memorize:

• Repeatedly, say the verse or passage out loud or in your head, committing it to memory.

Engage your senses and “enter” the text:

• Seek to live the experience… Smell the sea. Hear the lap of water along the shore. See the crowd. Feel the sun on your head and the hunger in your stomach. Taste the salt in the air. Touch the hem of his garment.

• Enter the story not as a passive observer but as an active participant. 

Artistically express:

• Use word-art to uniquely and beautifully express the truth.

• Paint or draw what comes to mind while turning the text over and over in your head and heart.

• Try “meditative mapping” similar to “mind mapping”.

How To Do It

The big idea of “how” to meditate is to make sure you’re moving from reading > meditating > praying. The easiest way I know how to do this is to pick something to read, and then pick something out of what you read to mediate on. Then, as you meditate on it, allow your meditation to lead you into prayer.

For me, I follow a Bible reading plan. You can find a thousand of them online, the one I’m currently using right now is called the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan. It has me reading in four different places in the Bible each day (today had me in 2 Chronicles, Luke, 1 Thessalonians, and Psalms). So I read in accordance to my Bible reading plan, and then I pick something from what I read to meditate on.

If you’re not using a Bible reading plan, just start in the Gospel of John and read a chapter a day. While you’re reading, look for something—anything, really—that strikes you, or provokes you, or tastes even just a little bit sweet to you. It might be a verse, it might be a few words. Take it, use one of the helps above, meditate upon it (dwell upon it; abide in it), and then allow it to move you to prayer keeping in mind, that you are listening to what God has said (in His word), in order to hear what He is saying (to you today).

How To Setup and Use a Prayer Journal

In last Sunday’s sermon, I shared that one of my hopes for us as a church in this season of coronavirus social distancing is a deep and profound spiritual reformation of our souls. With so many excuses of busyness and distraction stripped away, I want to encourage you to really pursue God through prayer right now.

One way to do that is by starting a prayer journal. This is a practice I’ve been using for some time and I want to share with you below how I set up and use mine.

What You Need

All you need to start is a notebook and a pen. I would encourage you to use a separate, dedicated notebook for this rather than including it within a personal journal, a place where you keep sermon notes, etc. My current prayer journal notebook of choice is the Moleskine Subject Cahier XL.

Note: the Moleskine Subject Cahier does not come with pre-numbered pages. To remedy that, I simply go through and number all of odd pages in the top left corner—which is a strangely satisfying exercise for me.

Setup

The following is a page-by-page rundown, organized by sections, for how my prayer journal is set up. The sections will make more sense when I talk about how I use them below. Your implementation will surely differ, I simply offer this to you as an example to spur your own organization.

Passages and Quotes

• Page 1 - Here I keep several passages of Scripture (like Acts 6:4; Colossians 4:2; and Psalm 55:2) and some important, motivating quotes on prayer such as this one from Don Carson:

• “Much praying is not done because we do not plan to pray… We must self-consciously set aside time to do nothing but pray."

Section 1 - Self and Immediate Family

• Page 3 - Self (specific ways I’m praying for God to work in me personally)

• Pages 5-12 - Immediate family (two pages each for my wife and three daughters).

Section 2 - Close Friends

• Pages 13-25 - two pages each for close friends and their families

• Pages 27-32 - open pages

Section 3 - Near-Term Prayers

• Pages 33-36 - Near-term prayer needs with some amount of urgency. Stuff coming up in the next month, urgent requests, etc.

Section 4 - Groupings

• Pages 37-38 - My Gospel Community (specific prayer requests for members of my GC)

• Pages 39-40 - My Gospel Community Cluster (specific prayer requests for the members for my GCC)

• Pages 41-42 - Extended family members

• Pages 43-44 - Non-Members

• Pages 45-46 - Broad prayers for 2 Pillars Church as a whole

• Pages 47-48 - Pastors, ministry leaders, and missionaries

Section 5 - Church Members

• Page 49ff - One page each for every member of our church (families grouped together, kids listed out too)

Note: I do not include unbelievers that I’m praying for in this journal. I use a separate notebook for that loosely based on a method I’ve learned from Tim Brister which he captures in a blog post titled “Missional Moleskine: Your City Travelogue”.

USING IT

While far from batting 1000, I try to pray through my prayer journal Monday through Saturday. Sundays are different because my prayer rhythms are different on those days.

Each day, I pray through the entirety of Section 1—often varying precisely what I’m praying for with regard to each member of my immediate family, but always praying for each of us individually, daily.

Next, I pray for one person/couple and their family from Section 2 (close friends).

After that, I hit Section 3. Because this is where I keep urgent prayer requests, I hit this section every day.

Then, I pray for one group from Section 4—praying for my GC one day, my GCC the next, extended family the following day, and so on.

Lastly, I spend time in Section 5, praying for a few church members and their families each day.

Within each section I make use of some handy little reusable Post-it tabs, and simply move the tab within that section to the next friend, group, member, etc, marking my place for the next day when I hit that section.

A WORD ON CAPTURE

I don’t carry my prayer journal with me everywhere, which means I’m capturing prayer requests in other places in other ways (in my planner, a smaller notebook I carry, or even my phone). Then, at least weekly (sometimes daily), I transfer those prayer requests to my prayer journal to keep it updated and to keep everything in one place.

Good Friday and Easter Services Info

Good Friday and Easter are quickly approaching! Unfortunately, unless something changes, it’s looking like those will both be online services this year. Though not ideal, we’re embracing this season and will not be stopped from remembering and celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus!

Here’s the current plan:

GOOD FRIDAY

Join us online at 2pillarschurch.com/live on Friday, April 10th for our Good Friday service at 6:30pm.

EASTER

On Easter morning (April 12th), we’ll “gather” at 10am at 2pillarschurch.com/live to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Can’t wait to “see” you at both and to worship Jesus together, even though separated by distance.

By the Spirit: Exploring God's Indwelling Presence

Who is the Holy Spirit and what does He do? How does He work and why does this matter? What difference does He make in my daily life?

For the next 8 weeks on Sunday mornings at 2 Pillars Church we’re going to be asking and wrestling with these questions.

WHERE ARE YOU COMING FROM?

As we get ready to start this series we want to acknowledge that we all have different understandings, backgrounds, questions, and experiences that shape how we enter into this.  Some of us, if we’re honest, we get a little nervous when we start to hear about the Holy Spirit.

Maybe you, or your family, or your friends… you’ve seen some things go terribly wrong. Perhaps you’ve seen Scripture abandoned or heard a preacher say something like, “God is speaking in a new way now!”  And the result is that you’ve got some wounds. Maybe some confusion. It’s difficult for you to figure out what’s real, what’s true.

For others, the Holy Spirit is like a far-off, distant third person of the Trinity.  And sure you might mention Him, vaguely, in passing with other Christians in the context of God-talk… but the whole concept of God the Holy Spirit, if you’re being truthful, is pretty ambiguous.  And the result is that the Holy Spirit doesn’t factor much into your daily life. You’re not really sure you need Him, and even though theologically you know He’s in you, you really don’t know what you’re supposed to do with Him.

For still others, the Holy Spirit isn’t far off and distant, because you’ve put Him in a box.  You’ve concluded what He can and cannot do. You think you’ve got Him all figured out.  You’ve read some books and so you know… what things He used to do but doesn’t any more. Maybe you’ve whittled Him down to His “primary work” and focus solely on that.

Or maybe you’re reading this and you’re actually still reading the reviews on Christianity—you’re not sure what to make of it all just yet—Jesus, the church, God.  You’re not really sure if it’s all real. And yet there’s a part of you that’s intrigued by this idea of the Holy Spirit… and another part of you that’s simultaneously weirded out.

WHERE WE ARE GOING?

At 2 Pillars, one of our core values is that “we embrace the mess.” We realize people within our body and visitors to our church are all over the place when it comes to the Holy Spirit. We embrace that.  

At the same time, another of our core values is that “we seek depth.”  We go deep. We search God’s Word. We wrestle with theology and don’t shy away from difficult topics because they're messy.

Regardless of where you fit in the above descriptions, we invite you to journey together with us for the next 8 weeks in our series, By the Spirit: Exploring God’s Indwelling Presence.  It’s our hope that as you do, you’ll come to a richer, fuller understanding of who the Holy Spirit is, what He does, and how that makes a difference in your life.

GO EVEN DEEPER

If you’re someone who likes to get in deeper than just Sunday morning sermons, we recommend reading one of the following two books alongside this series:

• Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit, Francis Chan. A good, popular-level read that is accessible to anyone.
• The Holy Spirit (Contours of Christian Theology Series), Sinclair Ferguson. A deeper, theological (and therefore more difficult) read for those wanting to exercise their minds a bit more.

Both of these titles will be for sale in the Geneva House on Sunday mornings.

Good Friday and Easter at 2 Pillars

Good Friday and Easter are right around the corner and with 2 Pillars being in a season of transition, we wanted to post the details for our Good Friday and Easter worship gatherings here in one place!

Good Friday + Open House

This year's Good Friday service (March 30th) will be at our soon-to-be home at 40th and Sheridan (the Grace Chapel building).  

This will be a family-style service (no separate children's ministry) and will run from 6:30-7:30pm.  We invite everyone to stick around for a desserts and coffee reception afterwards and also to explore the building!  

Parking note: the parking lot at 40th and Sheridan is not huge.  Additional parking is available a couple of blocks north of the building (up 40th Street) in the Lincoln Southeast High School parking lot.  Please arrive early and park accordingly.

Easter Sunday

Our Easter Sunday service (April 1st) will indeed be at the Piedmont Park SDA building (48th and A) where we have been worshiping on Sunday mornings since January.

The service will run from 10am to roughly 11am and will be a family-style service (no children's ministry).

Paul Tripp Marriage Conference: March 16-17

One of our partner churches here in town through the Gospel Coalition, First Street Bible Church, is hosting a FREE re-broadcast of a Paul Tripp Marriage Conference titled "Marriage: What Did You Expect?"

Again, this is a FREE conference that will be going on here in town on Friday evening, March 16th and Saturday morning the 17th.  

You can find all of the details and information about how to register at the link below:

"Marriage: What Did You Expect?" - Details and Registration

By way of invitation, please see the below note from Pastor Robb Rexillius, one of the pastors at First Street:

"We want to invite you/your church families to come if they want/need to....and to invite their friends/co-workers who could use some gospel-centered teaching (outside of the normal Sunday worship service/Sunday School/small group contexts) to join them. We'd love for as many couples/families to benefit from it as possibly can."

Open House This Friday

This Friday is our first Open House event at the 40th and Sheridan building (currently Grace Chapel).  The building will be open from 6-8:30pm for you to come by, walk around, and check out.   This will be a very casual evening.  Light snacks will be served.

At 7pm we will gather in the sanctuary for a time of corporate prayer together. 

No Food or Drink at Piedmont Park SDA

Just a reminder from what we announced this past Sunday morning, but there will be no food or drink allowed in our temporary meeting space at Piedmont Park SDA.  Out of respect for temporary home hosts, please refrain from bringing food or drink with you this Sunday.  And yes, this includes coffee :)

Final Service at 15th and South + Help Moving

This Sunday, December 31st, will be our final service held at 15th and South.  It will also be our first Sunday morning of the recombined 2 Pillars Northeast and 2 Pillars Near South congregations!  A couple of reminders for Sunday:

1. Service is at 10am
2. We'll be worshiping Family Style (no children's ministry)

Lastly, at this point it looks like we'll be loading up all of our auditorium chairs on a moving truck immediately following the service.  We have a few other things that need to be loaded up and moved that day as well.  Please dress warm and plan to help for 30 minutes or so following the service.

We'll also need help unloading the chairs out at our storage location so if you can follow along to help on that end, it would be much appreciated too.

A Peek Inside: Piedmont Park SDA

We are so excited about and grateful for getting to meet, temporarily, at Piedmont Park Seventh Day Adventist beginning on January 7th.

Below is a sneak peek inside the space.

Christmas Eve Service Reminder

Just a reminder that last Sunday was our final Sunday gathering as two separate congregations.  This Sunday, 12/24, there will be no morning services.

We will gather for our Christmas Eve service on that day from 6:30-7:30pm at the Near South building (15th and South).  Christmas Eve service will be family-style (i.e. no separate children's ministry).

Merry Christmas!

It's Official: Our Temporary Home

It's official, church!  We got the paperwork all signed today!

Beginning January 7th, 2018, we will be meeting at 10am on Sunday mornings at the Piedmont Park Seventh Day Adventist Church building located on the corner of 48th and A.  This will serve as the temporary Sunday home of 2 Pillars Church until we settle into our more permanent digs at 40th and Sheridan around Easter 2018.

Acts 29 and The Gospel Coalition Partnership

We are thrilled to announce the official partnership of two organizations that we are already a part of as a church: Acts 29 and The Gospel Coalition.

Acts 29 is a diverse, global family of church-planting churches, characterized by theological clarity, cultural engagement and missional innovation. Currently consisting of 676 churches in 11 networks around the world, it seeks to facilitate and catalyze church planting as congregations drill deep into their contexts and reach wide across the world to where Jesus is neither named nor known.

The Gospel Coalition is is a fellowship of evangelical churches in the Reformed tradition deeply committed to renewing their faith in the gospel of Christ and to reforming their ministry practices to conform fully to the Scriptures. Amongst other activities it hosts a series of blogs, media and resources to help congregations achieve the same.

This partnership makes Acts 29 the primary church planting resource of The Gospel Coalition and brings together two organizations we are actively involved with and love!

For more on this partnership, check out the December 6th post on the Acts 29 blog (which will now be hosted on The Gospel Coalition site).

There is also a wonderful, long-form article on The Gospel Coalition site titled, "How Acts 29 Survived—and Thrived—After the Collapse of Mars Hill" that is worth the time to read.

Huge Thanks!

A huge thanks to all that helped with packing, moving, and cleaning this past week! Things went really smoothly on Saturday and we got more done than we even thought we would.

We are so blessed by a church that serves so well!