My Communion Talk this Sunday
I am giving my first Communion talk at West Orange this Sunday. So I am writing this out just to prepare myself. Here is what I plan on saying.
"My senior year in high school we had to take my dad to the hospital for what we thought was a severe asthma attack. However, it turned out that the cancer that he had struggled with the last couple of years had made its way to his lungs, one of the most vulnerable parts of his body. So his body and health went downhill fast. Within a few days, he could no longer breathe on his own and had to have tubes to help his breathing. With these tubes in him, he was not able to talk so whenever he wanted to talk and had the energy, he would write out what he wanted to say on a pad of paper.
During one of my visits on these days, one of dad's old friends came in to see him that he had not seen in a very long time. I was surprised to see that when he came in my dad motioned for the pad to write something to him. I was very interested to see what my dad would say to his dear friend on these last days. He began writing and seemed to struggle with what he wanted to say. He kept writing and scratching out his words and rewriting for a couple of minutes. When he finally finished writing he handed it to his friend. His friend read it and smiled and then handed it straight to me. What he wrote on that pad of paper has changed my life forever. On that peice of paper which I still carry in my Bible to this day, he only wrote four words...."Darin is my son."
Of all the things he could say to his friend, he wanted to tell him about me? I was amazed at how much love he had for me and how proud he must of been of me to have wanted to make sure his friend knew that I was his son. In those four words, he showed me how much he loved me. That he was proud of me. I was not the perfect son by any means. I thought of all the times I had messed up and let him down. Any yet, through it all he loved me and was proud to call me his son.
As the years have gone by, this one event has had a tremendous impact on my view of God. Because I saw how a dad can love his son even when he doesnt always deserve it. And yet our heavenly Father loves us so much more than any person could ever love us. 'For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.' (Romans :38-39) In fact, His love for us is so great that he even sent his Son to give his life for us so that we may have a relationship with him. That we become children of God. Because of that act of love we have hope. God loves us and is proud of us as his children more than we could ever imagine. Because of Jesus, I know that one day I will get to see my Heavenly Father and once again here those wonderful words. "Darin is my son." Oh what a wonderful gift. As you pass the bread and cup, feel free to look at the person next to you and tell them 'God loves you and cherishes you' as we commune together and remember God's love for us."
"My senior year in high school we had to take my dad to the hospital for what we thought was a severe asthma attack. However, it turned out that the cancer that he had struggled with the last couple of years had made its way to his lungs, one of the most vulnerable parts of his body. So his body and health went downhill fast. Within a few days, he could no longer breathe on his own and had to have tubes to help his breathing. With these tubes in him, he was not able to talk so whenever he wanted to talk and had the energy, he would write out what he wanted to say on a pad of paper.
During one of my visits on these days, one of dad's old friends came in to see him that he had not seen in a very long time. I was surprised to see that when he came in my dad motioned for the pad to write something to him. I was very interested to see what my dad would say to his dear friend on these last days. He began writing and seemed to struggle with what he wanted to say. He kept writing and scratching out his words and rewriting for a couple of minutes. When he finally finished writing he handed it to his friend. His friend read it and smiled and then handed it straight to me. What he wrote on that pad of paper has changed my life forever. On that peice of paper which I still carry in my Bible to this day, he only wrote four words...."Darin is my son."
Of all the things he could say to his friend, he wanted to tell him about me? I was amazed at how much love he had for me and how proud he must of been of me to have wanted to make sure his friend knew that I was his son. In those four words, he showed me how much he loved me. That he was proud of me. I was not the perfect son by any means. I thought of all the times I had messed up and let him down. Any yet, through it all he loved me and was proud to call me his son.
As the years have gone by, this one event has had a tremendous impact on my view of God. Because I saw how a dad can love his son even when he doesnt always deserve it. And yet our heavenly Father loves us so much more than any person could ever love us. 'For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.' (Romans :38-39) In fact, His love for us is so great that he even sent his Son to give his life for us so that we may have a relationship with him. That we become children of God. Because of that act of love we have hope. God loves us and is proud of us as his children more than we could ever imagine. Because of Jesus, I know that one day I will get to see my Heavenly Father and once again here those wonderful words. "Darin is my son." Oh what a wonderful gift. As you pass the bread and cup, feel free to look at the person next to you and tell them 'God loves you and cherishes you' as we commune together and remember God's love for us."
posted by D Love at 2:03 PM
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