The Story of Moses and his rescue from the Nile and his being raised in Egypt and his time in the Desert and return to Egypt and the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea and leading a million people out into the wilderness as free people to Worship God, is one of the most exciting stories in Scripture and a very important part of what we believe, and how we live our lives.

We believe that we too, have been set free from slavery to sin and that we are now in a place where we can learn to worship God and receive His commandments and live as a community centred on worshipping God.

On Sunday’s (and other day’s) when we gather together, we celebrate everything that we learned in the story of Moses. Like Moses, who was put in the water to be saved by God, in Baptism we are presented to God asking that in His mercy God will deliver us from death. By death we mean living under the power of sin and with no goodness in us, only darkness. Pharaoh is like the devil who wont let us worship God, but wants us to be his slaves. In Baptism we ask God to have mercy on us and deliver us from the evil one, in Baptism we say – We want to be part of the story, we want the story of Moses to be our story too.

When we share Bread and Wine that is blessed and then called the Body and Blood of Jesus, we are also doing what Moses and the people did to leave Egypt. We eat this meal to remind ourselves that we were slaves to Sin and that the Devil wants us dead, but because we believe in God and His promise to set us free, we have been given a new life with God to live with him.

In Egypt after the plagues, Moses told the people that they had to trust God and agree to follow God out of Egypt. They made a meal that was quick to prepare and which they ate to give them strength to leave Egypt and follow Moses to the place where they could live free of Pharaoh and blessed by God. The people took blood from the animal that they were going to cook and they painted on the door as a sign that they trusted God with their lives. Blood is very important to us. Our blood pumping around our bodes keeps us alive, it flows into every part of us. It is a very good symbol of life. That is why Jesus says that he shed his blood for us, he shed his life and now that life flows through us and gives us his life. So, when we say we drink Jesus blood, we mean we are sharing in his life.

Bread was the main food that the people in the bible ate. They ate it at every meal and every day. Without bread, you would die of hunger. So bread and blood represent the two most important things in life. The life (blood) that flows within us and the Life (Bread) that keeps us alive – Jesus said that He is the true bread -it is God’s love that we need every day to keep us alive.

So, when we have communion (which means unity coming together) we are sharing the Last supper, the last meal they had before leaving Egypt and the last meal that they had together before Jesus was crucified. We are sharing in the story of God saving His people. Then and now.

Ask your parents to help you join the WhatsApp service or join us on ZOOM. Have bread and wine which will be blessed as we remember that we are part of the Story of God and His people and it is Jesus who we invite into our lives to give us life and to keep us alive.

May God bless you as you chose to leave sin behind and go out and live a new life with Jesus, the giver of life.

Fr. Andrew Manning