This past Sunday, we had a great day of worship as we began our Lenten series, "24
Hours That Changed the World," 
with an exploration of some of the meaning of Jesus'
Last Supper with his disciples. To try to demonstrate on a small scale what that meal
might have been like, I had a small table set up and on that table I placed a chalice from
my own personal collection.
On Monday, I had that chalice still in my office, and someone told me how beautiful
they thought the chalice is. Well, yes it is; I agree. It's one of my favorites, having come all the way from
Israel. It is designed to reflect an ancient mosaic of the feeding of the 5,000; the original mosaic is still on
a church floor in northern Israel. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it's what's inside
the chalice when it's being used in the way it was intended that makes it really beautiful. When it's holding the juice that represents Christ's blood, shed for my salvation, then it's truly beautiful. It's what's
inside that makes the difference.
And isn't that, also, part of the message of the Last Supper? All twelve disciples were served on that
evening, and for eleven of them, it made a difference...maybe not that night, but eventually. But Judas,
who had already allowed something evil to enter in, wasn't changed by the meal, because the bread and
the cup doesn't have that kind of power. Only the Savior to whom the bread and the cup point has that
kind of power. Only when we connect with Him are we truly made beautiful. It's what's inside us—it's the
power of Christ living and working in us—that makes any kind of difference. It's perhaps well summed
up in this lyric from songwriter Todd Agnew: "I've looked as deep as I can see and I think I need a little
more You in the middle of me."
As we journey together onward through Lent this year, I pray that you will sense more and more the
presence of the risen Christ working and moving in you. I'll see you Sunday at the place where we let
Jesus inside!
Pastor Dennis