Participating in the sacraments connects you to God's covenant people in all ages. 1 Corinthians 10:1–4  and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3  and all ate the same spiritual food, 4   springs of water were all types pointing us to Christ and signifying how these were not just ethnic Hebrews

Which would you rather have: the anxiety of this world or the peace of God? Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 51 Q. How does this glory of Christ our head benefit us? A. First, through his Holy Spirit he pours out his gifts from heaven upon us his members. Second, by his power he defends us and keeps us safe from all enemies. Summary This is a wonderful and familiar passage, and one that we're likely to come back to before the year is out. But for today, let's concentrate on v7: And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. The first thing that jumps out is that peace is not just a fringe benefit of Christianity, rather it's the active agent by which Jesus preserves you in your faith. What a comforting thought, knowing that our risen Savior has control over all things, and that He's continually "defending us and keeping us safe from all enemies," as our catechism stated. This guarding that Christ does on your behalf has two aspects. First, it's defensive; just as the guards at Buckingham palace keep the riffraff out, so to Jesus keeps the wolves in this world from harming you. As you increase your knowledge, understanding and trust in Jesus, he tunes your mind to recognize truth and reject falsehood. Secondly, Christ guards you in such a way that keeps you from escaping. This sounds dark and ominous, but it's really quite the opposite. Our old sinful nature wants nothing more than to get as far away from God as possible (an impossible quest, since God is everywhere as we were recently reminded), but Christ helps you overcome that nagging temptation by "guarding your heart." He does this in conjunction with the Holy Spirit by causing your regenerated heart to long to be closer to Him. As Jesus said in John 10:28, no one - not even Sarx, your nagging sinful nature, can snatch you out of His hand! Dig Deeper This means, as we see so often in God's Word, that you must make every effort to follow the instructions that come in v6 - instead of stewing in anxiety, in every situation you face present your needs to God in prayer with thanksgiving. What a thought that even though the glorified Christ guards you omnipotently from heaven He does so in such a way that utilizes your action. Certainly Christ will guard you despite your own passivity, but if you truly want to trade your anxiety for the peace of God, the only way to do it is to continually live in God's presence, bringing your needs to Him while you simultaneously thank God for all that He's given you. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the great and holy God, is near. ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Do not be anxious about anything; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Matthew 25

Jeremiah 29:4-7 (NIV) This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 4 

Ephesians 4:17-19 (NIV) 17  So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer Today: Philippians 4

Revelation 1:4–8 (NIV) Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from Today: Hebrews 11

A bite sized piece of bread & tiny cup of wine is able to nourish your soul for eternal life. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 75 Q. How does the Lord’s Supper remind you and assure you that you share in Christ’s one sacrifice on the cross and in all his gifts? A. In this way: Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat this broken bread and to drink this cup. With this command he gave this promise: First, as surely as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup given to me, so surely his body was offered and broken for me and his blood poured out for me on the cross. Second, as surely as I receive from the hand of the him who serves, and taste with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord, given me as sure signs of Christ’s body and blood, so surely he nourishes and refreshes my soul for eternal life with his crucified body and poured-out blood. Summary One of the most indelible marks of man's fall into sin is our propensity to be controlled by our appetite. The forbidden fruit 'was 'good for food and pleasing to the eye (Gen 3:6).' The Israelites who had just been freed from slavery in Egypt longed to go back because they were tired of eating manna. So it's not surprising that the first tactic the devil uses to tempt Jesus is by way of His stomach. After fasting for forty days it only makes sense that Jesus hungered in a way that most of us can't even begin to imagine, so the devil seizes the opportunity by planting an idea which doesn't seem all that unreasonable. He tempts the one who turned water into wine and multiplied a few baskets of bread to feed 5,000 to simply turn the surrounding stones into a some loaves of bread - bread that Jesus desperately needs at this point. Certainly it's not wrong to eat, so why would it have been wrong for Jesus to give into this temptation? Because Jesus wasn't in the wilderness on His own accord, He had been led there by the Spirit for the express purpose of withstanding the devil's temptations, reasonable though they may be. The Spirit had not yet given Jesus permission to resume eating yet, so it would have been sinful for Him to do so. Jesus responds to each of the devil's temptations by quoting scripture, which is just one more reason for you to know scripture well. This first time, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3, which is a promise God makes to bless Israel if they put following 'every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord' ahead of their own appetites in life. Dig Deeper We come to this passage today in the context of understanding the significance of participation in the Lord's Supper. The entire sacrament is predicated on God's command to Israel to not live on bread alone, but to rather be fully dependent upon everything God has spoken in His Word. But God knows our weakness, and how central our physical appetites are to our decision making process, so what a blessing it is that God communicates the gospel to us physically through bread and wine. Notice the language the catechism uses to summarize scripture: the bread and cup nourish and refreshes your soul for eternal life. In most churches, the communion bread is a tiny bite sized square and the wine comes in the smallest of all cups. These portions aren't going to physically nourish or refresh anyone! Yet the spiritual nourishment you receive as you participate in the Lord's Supper, which is always accompanied by the proclamation of God's Word, surely feeds your soul with the assurance of God's grace enabling you to realize His blessing in your life. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose every word is more necessary than bread; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Praise God that Jesus put God's Word ahead of His appetite on your behalf, and pray for the strength to do the same. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Luke 10

FaithLife.com Ephesians 4:22–5:2 (NIV) 22  You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election Point 2 - Limited Atonement Point 3 - Total Depravity Point 4

And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4   We write this to make our joy Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election Point 2 - Limited Atonement Point 3 - Total Depravity Point 4

The Church's primary strategy is to provide 'food for your soul'. 2 Timothy 4:1–5 (NIV) In the presence they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4  Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election Point 2 - Limited Atonement Point 3 - Total Depravity Point 4 Today: 2 Timothy 4

Acts 4:7-12 (NIV) - CONTEXT: In the weeks after Pentecost, the church has already grown to about 5,000 people (4:4). The Jewish establishment "was greatly disturbed" (4:2) that resurrection of the dead in Jesus Christ