Pastor TD Hicks texts me a picture from a conference in Dallas last week:

TD: Bro, look who I’m hanging with in Dallas…

(It’s Eric Mason, pastor and author of The Book of Jonah series we are going through.)

GE: Nice! Did you tell him that you completely disagreed with his take on Jonah’s prayer in the fish? I’ve got the video in case you forgot.

TD: If you’re jealous, just say so. I’m here for you.

What a friend, right?

TD got an opportunity to talk with Eric Mason about his series on Jonah, his work in Philadelphia, as well as what has been going on between Antioch and Western Hills. As Eric heard about the journey of our two churches, TD could see that Eric was visibly affected. He kind of processed it all out loud with TD as he asked him, “Let me get this straight. A white church and a black church… are going through Jonah… together. Are you for real?”

Yes. This is for real.

Two thoughts as we head toward Sunday…

An Informal Gathering
TD, Andre, Parker, and I got together to talk about the whole Jonah series. We filmed it. It’s online, and I invite you to click here to watch it and see what you think. Lots of great discussion points and topics. I think you can see the potential of this just being the beginning of something. We had a great time filming it. Hope you have a great time watching it.

The Power of a Shared Meal
As TD and I sat down this week to plan and pray for this coming Sunday, there was a moment where I just kind of thought about the long journey to this point. All the coffees and lunches, the city and board meetings. The visiting each other’s churches, meeting at banquets, fundraisers, and other city events.

I thought about all the after church lunches that both of our families have shared. We crammed our kids into one booth, while me, Amy, TD, and Joan (TD’s wife) sat in another. How all of our kids seemed to get done with their lunch before us and had to remind us to keep the volume down.

I thought about the importance of a meal shared. What it means. What it requires. What it can do.

This Sunday is really an extension of that. It’s really an invitation to have the same experience that I’ve had the privilege to walk through over the last few years. Sharing a meal with someone who is from a different culture than you and learning both how different and how similar life can be. Building a foundation for a new friendship. Expanding our understanding.

String enough of these meals together and you end up blasting past all of that to a place of family. Where hurts and laughter can be shared, where grace is deep, and we get a taste of what Heaven is going to be like. Where we discover that our family is deeper than bloodlines, where the tie that binds is the cross. Where past hurts can get healing, and the future gets painted with hope.

In other words, it’s not just a meal. Let’s come Sunday with that in mind.