Central Baptist Church, Portsmouth, Virginia

We’ve all been stuck in traffic jams. Sometimes they make us a few minutes late, other times we miss meetings or appointments altogether. In those moments of waiting and feeling stuck I think most of us would confess we don’t wait well. As we continue tracing the big picture of the Bible, we’ll see that even as God begins his rescue plan, we struggle to wait well.

Have you ever been way up high? Maybe on top of a mountain, or a tower, or in an airplane? When you look down from there people look like ants. Cars and houses look like toys. On a clear day you can see for miles. It’s amazing what a change of perspective does. Most of the time as we study the Scripture we look at the details. We study a paragraph or two and then move to the next several paragraphs. We see what’s right in front of us. During our next series, Long Story Short, we are going to be whisked way up high to gain a birds-eye view of the scriptures. We’re going to see how these 66 books written by over 40 different human authors all fit together. We’ll gain a framework of understanding to recognize how each Bible story fits into the larger Biblical narrative. It’s going to be a fun ride and by the end this change of perspective will help you see the threads that weave the scripture together. You’ll gain renewed confidence that God knows what He’s doing and you’ll see that you can trust Him in the chaos of life.

This week we wrap up our series titled, The Table. I hope this study has deepened your understanding and appreciation of how the table symbolizes God’s provision for you and His presence with you. The table is this exclamation that yes, God can prepare a table amid your messiness. It’s a reminder that there is no more altar, Jesus paid it all. We’ve seen that we aren’t merely served from a table, we’re invited to the table. I hope you’ve walked away with those as well as other insights.

Life is full of many exciting mealtime celebrations. So much so, that most celebrations seem incomplete if there isn’t any food present. Throughout our table series, we’ve seen that humanity often asks the question from Psalm 78, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?” And God continually demonstrates to humanity that yes He can. Yes, He has, yes, He does, and as we’ll see this week, yes, He will. What’s more, the table to come will be the best mealtime celebration of all time.

There is something so simple about having a meal around a table. Some of the best moments in life are spent in those simple places. So, is it any wonder that when Jesus wanted to give us a picture of his provision and his presence, he didn’t give us a statue or a tower – he gave us a table. We’ll discuss all of that and more this week in our series, “The Table”.

Have you ever been invited to someone’s house for dinner? The joy of the meal is not simply the food, it’s also the people who you share the food with. In fact, it would be strange to be invited over for a meal and then the hosts leave you to eat the meal alone. The provision is simply the means to presence. We see that even in an Old Testament table. You will not want to miss this week as we continue our series titled “The Table”.

God gives his people a variety of images in the bible to convey truth. The rainbow was given so that we would know because of God’s love He is never going to flood the earth again. We are given bread and wine, communion elements, to be reminded of Jesus’s sacrifice for us. That ties into the most iconic Christian image, a cross. There’s another image that appears from Genesis all the way through Revelation. An image that is central to the type of relationship God desires with his people. It’s a table. Sharing a table is one of the most uniquely human things we do. No other creature consumes food at a table. So, God uses the table to remind us that there’s more to food than fuel. God uses the table as a place of connection, a place where broken sinners find belonging and restoration, a place of blessing, a place of mission, a place of fellowship. So much happens at the table. Join us for our next series, The Table. You’ll never see the table the same way again.

Have you ever camped under the night’s sky in a place that was not polluted by light? You look up and you see the brilliance of the heavens. Did you know there are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on the earth? Perhaps that’s one of the reasons the sky speaks of God’s majesty and glory. The night’s sky sometimes spurs us toward pondering the deeper things of life. It did that for David. We’ll see that as we wrap up our series in the Psalms this week. Psalm 8 will surely leave you in awe of just who our God is and who He has created you to be.

We talk a lot about following Jesus with all our hearts. David prayed for that exact same thing in Psalm 86. He recognized the help he would need in order to have whole-hearted devotion. This week we’ll study the psalm from a couple different angles and learn what it means to have a united heart.

Did you know that Martin Luther, famous for the reformation, also wrote hymns? His best-known hymn is probably “A Mighty Fortress”. He wrote that hymn based on his favorite psalm, psalm 46. Luther lived a hard life full of many difficulties. Psalm 46 was a reminder of God’s strength for him.