Lakeside Community Presbyterian Church

^“23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁵ In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” ²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

(1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

All around the world on this first Sunday of October, churches will be taking communion.

Known as “World Communion Sunday” this is a reminder to all churches that the Body of Christ is multi-national and multi-ethnic. The diversity of the church will be seen as communion services will take place in centuries old gothic cathedrals of Europe and in open-air gatherings in Sub-Sahara Africa. We will all celebrate what Jesus Christ did on the cross for humankind and how the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to places all around the globe reminds us that God’s message of redemption is active and His plan of reconciling the world to Himself is taking place today.

It is a foretaste of what is to come as described in the Revelation of John:

^“9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰ and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”¹¹ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.””

(Revelation 7:9-12)

^“27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:

to look after orphans and widows in their distress

and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

(James 1:27)

Every week during our worship service we pause and take a few minutes and to pray for one another, our world, and for the church. This time is called “The Prayers of the People” and it is an opportunity for us together, to lift up our prayers for situations that are close and dear to us and for situations that are in places that are far away and foreign to us.

One area of the world that we have briefly lifted up in prayer over the past few months is Sudan, where a civil war has occurred since 2023 and has now displaced more than 12 million people. This has caused a severe humanitarian and hunger crisis in this country and the surrounding countries of Chad, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Uganda, and Ethiopia. These countries have absorbed the large number of refugees that are fleeing the conflict and violence in their home regions. A majority of these refugees are women and children, the most vulnerable of the population.

Continue to pray for this area of the world and if you feel led, see how you can support the efforts of relief organizations like World Vision (https://www.worldvision.org) or Samaritan’s Purse (https://www.samaritanspurse.org) that are helping refugees who have fled the violence.

Thanks for reading this and for all of your prayers.