Symbols
The sacraments, or ordinances, of the Church are that which Jesus gifted to His followers. Not rituals or traditions, these are the signs, or symbols, of the amazing promise of grace God made and sealed through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Robert Hahn - June 5, 2022
It's Sacrificial
In the Old Testament, God's people would from time to time make sacrificial offerings. We tend to think of sacrifice as something bad - that we're losing something. But biblically, sacrificial giving is something we do as a humbled response to God's goodness. From time to time, we want to sacrifice something for God's work - and in fact the missing of "that thing" we sacrifice reminds us of God's graciousness. Delaying a car purchase one year, reducing your level of vacation, magazine subscriptions, going to the movies - all these things we could willingly sacrifice as our gesture of appreciation to God and to support His work. Remembering, as Christians, our salvation is secured by the willing sacrifice of Christ. We recognized that as in all things, God sacrificed first - we are merely responding.
