In his sermon "The Sinner's Feast," Lee Eclov describes what should be the celebrative side of Communion in the context of worship:

This table is different. This table of the Lord isn't where sinners find Christ but where sinners celebrate being found …

Maybe some morning, instead of solemnly passing these trays, we should dance for joy. Maybe we should sing every born-again song we know. Maybe ...

For centuries, we have drunk the wine of the Lord's Supper, reminding us of the bittersweet truth that Christ's blood was shed for humanity. Jesus has been waiting all these centuries to drink it anew with us at the wedding supper of the Lamb. When he does, there will be no thought of death.

Konstantin Makovskii, a prominent Russian painter of the 19th century, once painted an enormous picture, depicting ...

In his Letters to a Young Evangelical, Tony Campolo shares a story from his youth about taking Communion:

Sitting with my parents at a Communion service when I was very young, perhaps six or seven years old, I became aware of a young woman in the pew in front of us who was sobbing and shaking. The minister had just finished reading the passage of Scripture written by Paul that says, "Whosoever shall ...

The following is from a USA Today article detailing the decline of water baptism in many American churches:

There are now baptism-style ceremonies where God is never mentioned by parents seeking to initiate their children into a world of all faiths, says Ema Drouillard of San Francisco, who runs the website Ceremonyway.com.

She conducted such an event for Kirsten and Farnum _______ of Marin County, ...

In an interview with a long-time friend, international pop superstar Bono, of the hit band U2, responded to the sometimes-stained reputation of the church throughout history:

Religion can be the enemy of God. It's often what happens when God, like Elvis, has left the building. A list of instructions where there was once conviction; dogma where once people just did it; a congregation led by a man where ...

Imagine that your organization is an ocean liner, and that you are "the leader." What is your role? I have asked this question of groups of managers many times. The most common answer, not surprisingly, is the captain. Others say, "The navigator, setting the direction." Still others say, "The helmsman, actually controlling the direction," or, "the engineer down there stoking the fire, providing energy," ...

A church in Naperville, Illinois, in the western suburbs of Chicago is boasting new bells in their belfry. Since the church was built two decades ago, the congregation has held off on its plans to hang bells in a large open space above the sanctuary. Due to limited funds, the congregation suggested mounting a cross in the space or a series of liturgical banners that could be hung according to the ...

Faith gets tested when a sense of God's presence fades or when the very ordinances of life make us question whether our responses even matter.

We wonder, "What can one person do? What difference will my small effort make?"

I once watched a series on public television based on interviews with survivors from World War II. The soldiers recalled how they spent a particular day. One sat in a foxhole all ...