Passing of the Peace

This week's Small Group discussion was about the Passing of the Peace.  If you have attended worship with us, then you know that this is not something we typically do every week; however, you never know what the future might bring!  

Many of us have experienced the Passing of the Peace at one time or another during a worship service.  Very often it just seems like a "social time" in the middle of the service, and in that context, it can feel like a disruption in the flow of worship.  Most of the members of our group felt that way before our discussion - mainly because no one had ever taken the time to explain the meaning of this item in the Order of Worship.

The Passing of the Peace is more than just a greeting - it is a form of community-building.  It is an opportunity to extend God's grace to one another in response to the grace that we all receive as members of the Body of Christ.  As the Church of the Hills states in this blog post, "In giving signs of peace to each other...while focusing our complete attention on the person to whom the peace is extended, we express the reconciliation, unity, and love that are in Christ.  The peace is a sign of the blessing and presence of God, a sharing of the peace that comes only from God." What a beautiful thing!  So the next time you are given the opportunity to Pass the Peace, do so with intention, do so with love, and do so with an understanding of the great significance of this simple gesture.
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The Peace of Christ be with you....

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