Everyday Cornerstone

Transcript (Auto-generated)

Welcome to Cornerstone Church, and thank you for tuning into another podcast.

I'm here with Pete and Ben.

Hello? Hello? And I'm Tom with pastors at the church.

And today, we are going to be thinking about the subject of food and feasting and eating together and why that's been so important for us as a church, why we love to eat together and we'll be thinking about what the Bible says about feasting.

But I thought we would begin with this question.

If you could and if you are a vegan, a vegetarian.

This is your trigger warning.

So don't be too upset by what comes next.

But if you could only choose 1 animal, to eat for the rest of your life.

So let's say you had to either choose the pig and all pig products, the chicken, and all that came from a chicken.

And that would be your 1 animal.

That would include an egg.

Oh, right.

That's yeah.

Yeah.

But that would mean you.

So for instance, if you chose chicken, you could have, you know, KFC and eggs, but you could never have bacon or a steak, again.

So you had to choose what, what do you think, you know? Oh, man.

You would go for.

Feel like the chicken gives you more variety because there's there's quite a lot you can do with an egg.

And, yeah, It's a shame that a pig doesn't lay an egg.

Right? I think if it if a pig laid an egg, yeah, I I would definitely have pork because for pig because you've got lovely pork, sausages, bacon, you know, ham, ribs, ribs, you know, I think, you know, ham pie.

So can we have the pig laying an egg? Not in this world.

No.

Okay.

I think the egg really does change.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He does so much with an egg.

Yeah.

You can.

So we're farming chickens then.

So but if you if you if you went for pork, you you can't have an egg.

You you couldn't like have a No.

Emu egg.

What's an emu gotta do with it? No.

Because you're saying that there's only 1 type of meat.

Yeah.

And now the egg has been included.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm saying it.

Yeah.

I mean, beef, what about beef? I'm in steak lasagna, you know, mints, spaghetti bolognese, biltong, beef jerky.

You know, slow cooked steak and onion pie.

I still go for pork over that, but the but the egg is the problem.

Yeah.

Because if you're saying you can have pork, but you did not have any egg.

No.

You can't have an egg because that's chicken.

Right.

Yeah.

I think this conversation does make appreciate the goodness of god in giving us a variety of the elites, isn't it? Yeah.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

Okay.

Well, we're not gonna find unity on that, so I don't think but we might elsewhere.

So let's think about eating at Cornerstone Church.

What why has, eating together at church lunches and hospitality.

Why why has that been such a big deal for us? What's Well, it well, first of all, it is worth saying it has.

Yeah.

I think that we established that right from the beginning that actually, you know, the church eating together was a was a very main part of fellowship, you're you're sharing, you know, your food and, and it's an opportunity to talk and it's sort of informal, fellowship there, I think.

And so we've always done that, and we've we we we used to do, you know, without the moo throughout the month, it would be, a church lunch where everybody came together and shared stuff, and then you would have, sort of home group lunches and then we would try to encourage people to, you know, invite people around their homes and stuff like that.

Because I because I I actually think it's it's how we're created.

And I think it's what god lays down, really.

You know, you get it certainly in the new testament in the early church that they're breaking bread and eating together.

And you can see that in a number of places in the new test.

Yeah.

I mean, we can look these voices up.

Yeah.

But the whole Food.

You is 1 of the sort of themes you could take through the Bible.

Mhmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think there's something, humbling about each together as well, which which is really good for us.

Because when you sit around 1 table in eat together and you're sharing from 1 pot and you're breaking from bread and sharing the same juice or drink or whatever it is it it is humbling to be to be served by others, isn't it? To talk to others, to eat with others, to show that you need that as well.

So I think it does do something to kind of attack pride because you laugh together, don't you? And you open up together and you show yourself a and you might spill something, or it I think there's all kinds of ways.

It just takes us down a few pegs eating together, which which is really good.

I mean, I remember when I very 1 of my first memories of coming to Cornerstone just shortly after or during the time I was being converted was coming to something called Open Home, which we used to have, and I remember 1 of the, 1 of the guys in the churches now an elder invite invited me in, and, I I walked over there with a handful of other students.

And, you know, at that time, I was absolutely sold on a kind of evolutionary explanation of of the of the world.

And, I remember seeing a book on his shelf that was just entitled Evolution colon, the lie.

And I remember thinking it, thinking, oh, this is mad.

This is this is madness.

These these people And yet, we then sat down, and I think we had food on our on our laps in the lounge and kind of ate together and talked and raft.

And I think there's something in that, you know, the lord uses the meal to sort of undercut a proud objection to something.

Do you know what I mean? Yeah, the thing some people write on Facebook would never had be said in the living room with a bowl on your own lap, would you? Yeah.

Only by a very, very odd person, but, yeah.

Largely, it it it's hard to answer when you're reaching together, isn't it? Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I remember, I I've preached actually not long ago, at a church nearby, on food.

So I did a food overview of the bible.

Oh.

And 1 of the things I I started off by saying was how it's not just in the church that food is such an important thing.

Obviously.

That's an obvious thing to say culturally around the world.

Food is the center of all life, isn't it? The family life that, because you you have to do it 3 times a day or how many times a day.

And, I read this, food psychologist that was talking about.

I think it was, like, 1 in 9 families eat a meal together a day.

Most families don't eat together.

Breakfast is, like, scattered.

People are running out the door.

Lunch people are at work or at school.

And then in the evening, some parents come home late, some kids are in front of the TV.

They eat different times.

So it's now quite rare for a family to eat together.

Yeah.

But she was also a family, sort of relational therapist And she said that the family dinner table chat deals with almost all the issues she has to deal with in family therapy.

So she said, if a family is eating together regularly, the the children are encouraged.

They'll, they're hurt.

They're listened to worries are shared and discussed, parents are connecting with their children.

So she's just the family meal is like this almost silver bullet miracle eating together, being the thing that connects the family.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, we we do say to to young couples when they when they get married.

That was, you know, do try to eat again.

I mean, you can't always do it.

You know, but try throughout the week.

I'm not saying all 3 meals.

That's possible.

Yeah.

But, you know, try to eat a meal together.

Where you can, in the week are not are not in front of the telework with the radio, so that you're you're a to talk to each other.

And that that is a really, really big thing.

I think that for the 1st 5 years of, our marriage.

We we didn't even have a telly.

And so we just had to eat and talk and and that's that's you know, a really, really helpful thing.

It's interesting that she says.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I would guess it's 1 of the ways you can tell things aren't quite right in your relationship with someone if you're not eating with them regularly or if that's a difficult experience.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's right.

And it it it really does encourage relationship, doesn't it? So it's it's possible on a Sunday morning to come, you know, either on time or bit late, you come in with your family, you sit down, you listen to the service, you might have a coffee afterwards, talk to 1 person when go, but there hasn't been really much time there to, you know, have a proper good talk with someone.

Or to share a struggle or to say something you're thinking about, whereas at a meal, you have to do that.

You're together for a couple of hours with a smaller group, and it just naps truly moves on to house life and house work and what are you doing at the moment? And so it's a chance to build it's a very good relational exercise, isn't it, for for building relationships, which you can sort of, particularly when the church gets a bit bigger, you can kind of hide from that a little bit.

As I say, you can come late, leave it early and you can keep doing that.

Whereas if you commit to eating together, it's harder to get away with that way of thinking about church.

Definitely right.

And you see it right in the start of the Bible.

I love looking at at Eden, but the more you look at Genesis chapter 1 and 2, they're just the more wonderful, the world that god made us to be in with him is, and something you might not expect, but is a really important part of being with god and in his presence and living with him is eating.

Genesis chapter 2, verse 9.

A really important feature of Eden is this, since the lord god made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground, trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.

So, you know, there's not.

He could he could have made us, like, solar thing.

You know, we'd have a solar battery thing on our heads, and we got all our energy from the sun.

Yes.

But he's chosen not to do that.

He's in create in the whole digestion system.

Yeah.

In in order to yeah.

So it has to be important because why not just energy for yourself.

And also not just create a basic function that we need to put something in us, but the diversity and the range and the beauty of this you know, all kinds of trees, trees that were pleasing to the eye.

So not even just stick them in your stomach and they feel good, but they look good and they smell good and taste and they're different shapes.

Yeah.

And they and they're all good for food.

And, like, you just see the you see god spreading out a banquet in front of his people in his presence.

That was That was the intention God had, which was to eat with us and to to sit around that table and to enjoy lots of different flavors and foods and things.

And then eating has that disobedience to it as well.

Yeah.

Because the thing that they weren't meant to eat, they ate.

Yeah.

It's quite quite interesting that eat the sort of Yeah.

The whole fall is based on sort of eating or not eating.

Yeah.

It is almost as if God has said, here is my table.

I want you to eat with me, but don't go and eat without me over there.

Don't eat that thing.

I'm not there, so don't go and eat over there.

And so Adam and Eve humanity had a decision to make, am I gonna eat at god's table, or do I wanna start my own table? Mhmm.

And then throughout the old testament, you know, feed thing was a part of communal life, wasn't it? So, in the law, if you look through the bit of person, the law, there was a number of festivals that got commanded with people to observe.

And, they they all involved eating.

You know, there was gonna be some kind of sacrifice made and that be able to even meet.

And, you know, that was very important for gelling them together, particularly as a particularly as they grew.

Started to spread out, or, you know, having these kind of markers in the calendar where they were commanded to come back together to feast would remind them that corporate identity and what god has done for them.

And, you know, food with within every meal, and I know you used to talk about it, but within every meal, is the idea of redemption is that that something, even fruit, you know, something has had to give its life so that we be sustained by it.

And that would be true of everything that we something living has dies so that we can live.

We we redemption is written into the meals.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But good.

We can't survive, on our own, which I, you know, a as a very humbling thing, isn't it? We can't live without something outside of us coming inside of us.

And, of course, Jesus uses that doesn't he about himself? He's the bread of life.

We need to eat of him.

Yeah.

But if you go back to Lavitsica, the, you know, there's that there's all these different, sacrifice, but the fellowship offering, fellowship You've got, the the person bringing a lamb or something like that to be sacrificed.

And God has his bit.

There's there's sort of fat put on the on the altar and burnt up.

The priest, has his bit of food.

And then the the, the worshiper, the person bringing it, has his food.

So the whole idea here is that that we do sit down and eat with God.

It's a 1 pot meal, isn't it? That you're all taking bits from? Yeah.

Yeah.

A 1 pot meal.

That's good 1.

But but but it's felt that's that is senior fellowship we've got in.

Yeah.

And god says, he's he's pleased with that.

He smells out of me.

He's pleased, and we should be pleased.

And that was that was in the tabernacle, which was meant to be this sort of little Eden, wasn't it? Like, a little window back to how things were meant to be.

How good actually intended things to be.

So you have eating in Eden and then you have eating with god in the fellowship offering in the taverner.

And it does seem that at these points in the bible where god's people are really fellowshipping properly with god, there is eating involved.

So the promised land was flowing with milk and honey.

And when they ate there, it says they all sat under their own fig tree and and vine.

So there's this idea that they're sort of almost back in Eden, like, when they're right in with god and they're, when Solomon comes, he the wisest capable.

When he's ruling quite late, it says at 1 point that, you know, they they were people of Judah and Israel was numerous of sand on the seashore.

They ate.

They drank and they were happy.

They ate.

They drank and they were happy.

Such a wonderful, like, line, isn't it? That's sort of me on holiday.

Me.

I mean, he's drinking a lot.

I think he's only that.

Yeah.

We're in trouble because Jesus uses that phrase.

Suddenly.

Right.

Powerful.

Yeah.

Sure.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That is god wants us to enjoy this.

Yes.

Because the difference between eating individually.

Yeah.

But the point was at this time in history, they were really quite rightly under god in the sense because their their king was obeying costs Yeah.

And was surprised and built the temple and all this stuff.

So it flowed out from him to the people.

And and then Yeah.

So you get this picture that when you're with gods, you have a full belly and you're happy.

The the kind of quality of fellowship for that meeting as well is so important to them.

So I was just thinking about that problem, you know, better the most, you know, the best food could buy, there's no unity in fellowship and hatred in terms of poison in your mouth.

And so there's lots of our church Yeah.

Yeah.

Because he's eating with sinners.

And again, that's a that whole thing is that that that salvation is is coming into this feast and, you know, and they they they think it's the religious people that it's wrong.

Jesus is to do, and then look with Zackus as well.

Isn't it? I come into your into your home.

And, and you often find Jesus eating with people, and it's part of feast.

And he's he's he's he's boned out, isn't he? Being a glutton.

Yeah.

And a drunkard.

Yeah.

So he's obviously eating quite rock with people.

Yeah.

But, yeah, but, I mean, that's part of him saying the sinners have come into my family and into the place where sit at the table.

But, obviously, the feeding of the fiber now, but it's just amazing.

A little stretch of Jesus feeding us and not wanting us to be hungry.

And, yeah, providing for us in the way that we were meant to be provided for.

God's giving us food for our allies.

New creation like to describe.

Isn't it like the police illustrate it as a beast or sit down with all the Christians, you know, the great, small, remote history, and we sit together and, yeah, the lord's Jesus is serving us in the field.

Oh.

Feeding us.

And then and then the lord's supper that he's left, for us.

I mean, that that was at a feast, originally, obviously, the part of the feast before we went, to the cross.

But he's he's left that whole thing has, I mean, in John's gospel, there's in John 6, there's the bread of life, and we need to we need to eat it.

I mean, it's not cannibal, but he he it's the whole we need this from the outside in in silence.

Yeah.

Otherwise, we're hungry and empty.

We need bread of life.

That's why that that whole sad thing, I know we say this quite a lot, but when people are looking for life in not life in Christ who will come into us.

It's a very sad thing, isn't it? But then he he he gives this, more formal sort of, thing about the lord's supper.

You know, you eat this drink until I come So so re remind yourself in this this this simple meal of bread and juice of, you know, wine because because the king that you you you're waiting for this this great feast of the kingdom to come.

Yeah.

That's a that's a that's a good point.

Similar to what he said, Tom, about the proverb of, you know, it's it's not it's not about full bellies now and here.

Heaven is not here.

And Jesus says, you know, I tell you the truth.

I will not drink, the the couple of wine again until I drink it with you in the in the new creation.

So there's a sense in which we eat and drink now, but knowing this isn't the end.

And this isn't the greatest meal.

And the point isn't to have a full belly at all costs in this life.

The point really is we wanna be with Christ again in that new creation drinking that vine with him again.

That's we wanna go.

And we remember that in a sense whenever we eat in a in a way.

We that's why we we thank god for the food, but we always kind of the most regular prayer of the day, isn't it? When you sit in it and you eat and you thank the lord for the food.

And in a in a way, we remember we what we look forward to, rather, the time that we are going to eat again with him.

And when he was resurrected, first thing he did Yeah.

Or 1 of the first things did, rather.

Barbecue fish.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Fish for breakfast.

And then when the church is is, you know, fishely born, in acts chapter 2 when the Holy Spirit comes, you know, they gather together, and and it and it says they devoted themselves And then there's these things, so they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching.

Well, you can say, well, yeah, that's a a big thing.

But alongside that, as as if it's as just as as important, is and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

So it's quite interesting that food is is part of that what it what a what a sort of foundational things that church is.

So we I I I think really churches need to be eating together.

More often.

And it's why it's why the Corinthians get such a scolding, isn't it, at that point? Because, their feasts have taken a mass downward turn because they are, instead of this idea of coming together and 1 another ring, making sure that everybody is been served properly and everyone's got the right amount.

There are people turning up early and just gourd themselves on the food and the drink, getting drunk even so that some people who come a bit later or on time there's nothing left.

And so the whole the whole culture there is not 1 of equality and inclusion, servantheartedness, and everyone gets the same and we're all under god together.

It's become totally selfish exercise of what I can get, get my fill, and then clear off, and then about you.

And that seemed to be just the opposite of what the meals are intended to be about.

That's like a drive through KFC, isn't it, where you don't have to talk to anyone just wanna fill your boots and then go.

Yeah.

And I also say, can you give me all the burgers? Yes.

Yeah.

Is that where you're going as well? Is that theirs? Can I have it? Yeah.

Well, I mean, it's interesting.

So I I was in 1 church, and even though I was a pastor of this church, I I I sat down next to a lady I'd never seen before.

And, said to her, oh, hello, you know, you you hear this was a present theory too.

And, she said, oh, no, I've come because it's communion.

Because they'd have communion once a month in the service.

And I said, oh, I have not met you before.

Are you coming to the church lunch afterwards.

And she said, but, no, I wouldn't do anything.

I'm interested in that.

And I said, well, I don't think you should take communion.

That's that's really, really out of order.

Mhmm.

You want nothing to do.

You want a private little religious thing.

Yeah.

And that's what she did want.

Yeah.

But she didn't want fellowship with the church.

Well, that's just nonsense.

Mhmm.

Yeah.

She wasn't happy about conversation, but she needed to hear that.

Yeah.

And she shouldn't be allowed communion if she's not going to commute Yeah.

So, you know, yeah, I mean, I think in our membership course, we do talk about the importance of meeting together.

And we we use the language, not of command, obviously, but expect and encourage, I think.

So, you know, if you are to be a member of the church, you know, obviously, it's not a law, you know, that you you have to join us for the meals, but we do say this is a really important part of our life together, we would expect you to come as a member and encourage you to come, you know, regularly to them to the meals for all of these reasons.

And I think they reflects how central it was in in biblical life.

And even, I mean, just looking at relations here, how poor, absolutely, it goes at Peter, and he even writes it in, you know, donations too at a at a feast, but but he wouldn't mix with gentiles.

And, he would only mix with his his life.

And Paul just absolutely says, that's not gospel.

It's it's quite frightening.

The words of users, even to Peter.

So, you know, again, that that I can't be, we gotta be careful, haven't we? A little groups and churches, you know, the the Jews here, the gentiles there, or whatever it is, some nation here.

And we're not eating with them.

We're eating, you know, we might not be able to eat their food.

That's a different thing.

But, you know, there's gotta be a mix of it.

This is a is another thing of the new, new, new creation, isn't it? People from every nation, try, but it means it's wonderful banquet.

Mhmm.

Smaller.

So when you when we talk about it like that, it's, It's a no it's a no brainer, isn't it? We ought to eat together, and we should be in the presence of god, and he's given us good things.

Just thinking about how Satan tries to trick us and to see us.

I mean, the first lie ever was involving food, wasn't it? And it was, you will be satisfied in a different way to god said you will be satisfied.

Yeah.

And so I suppose, you know, on a Sunday morning when you have the option to go and do something else, or be with the loads of people who eat with them.

I I find this with myself since I've talked a lot this morning.

I'm quite tired.

Would be nice to have a little, you know, sit for the TV.

I feel like maybe, theologically, Satan works that way to pull us away from eating eating together.

Yeah.

Especially with the lord's people and with the lord.

He will he will say things like, yeah, that hunger you have can satisfied in this way.

So, you know, Jesus's fasting isn't in the wilderness, and and say, comes to me, says, are you hungry? Turn these stones into bread? Be satisfied in a way other than god has commanded you to be.

And nowadays, is he not doing the same thing? You know, like, I think about the white witch in the line, the witch in the wardrobe who offers Edmund Turkish delight.

Yeah.

And it turns out in the end to be, stale bread and water.

Yeah.

Whereas that his brother's sister feasting with the aslan in the camp, aren't they? So so we, you know, we have needs and desires.

God's made us way we wanna be filled and Satan will come along and say, oh, no.

You, you know, your tennis club or your, you know, your whatever your unimates, you know, go spend time with them rather than the lord's people.

I think it gets us that way.

I think it it's so, I think for kids, particularly, I mean, with the I was just thinking about, you know, we do have food.

So many of the things that we do.

So our breakfast church on Sunday morning, they're the lively service for little ones we call it.

It begins with, you know, toast a bowl of cereal, you know, hub club, kids club we have here during the week.

That has food.

The international cafe has food.

And that's 1 of the great that's 1 of the is a bit that all sort of nations and ages, can access corporate meals can can eat together in some it doesn't exclude any anyone.

And it's such a source of enjoyment for our kids.

You know, breakfast shows the idea that you can have like Nutella on toast at breakfast church, and they've got this cereal called cookie crisps, which I'll suddenly discover at the last breakfast church, and it's like, Dad, there's this cereal, and it's their little cookies.

Crested.

Yeah.

But it brings such, enjoyment, you know, stuff like that.

That's Eden, isn't it? That's all cut, you know, good for the eye pleasing to the eye, good for food.

That's that's a little snapshot of glory, isn't it? Discovering, dad, look.

Yeah.

Cookies in a cereal.

What about sort of veganism and vegetarian and stuff.

What do we what's what would we say about that? I mean, because there are I've I've heard some Christian sort of blast vegetarian you know, they should eat meat in those because something has to should have to die for you to eat.

But, you know Yeah.

I mean, that's a difficult case to make publicly.

I mean, you know, you if you look back in Eden, it does it doesn't look like originally were eating any meat.

No.

You know, because death hadn't come into the world.

That would be because of after the fall.

After the fall.

Yeah.

So they were certainly eating fruit and vegetables and all kinds of other stuff there, but, not, you know, the the lifeblood hasn't been poured to the floor at that stage.

Whereas after noah comes out of the flood, you know, it specifically says, you know, you could you can have meat, you know, meat meat food and stuff.

So I mean, when you think about the fellowship offering and the other burnt offerings that they had to do with the burnt offering, the sin offering, guilt offering, they all involve part from the grain offering.

They all involve ah, an animal dying, whether it's a bull, a goat, a sheep, or a bird.

And there was a sense in which the life is in the blood.

And so there is a sense which eating meat animals is is linked with god showing of something.

Well, there was prohibitions in eating blood.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Although, you know, Jesus says all food to fit to eat because it's not what goes into you that makes you unclean.

That was just an illustration.

He brews at, I think, 11s good for this, isn't it? It just says the tabernacle and all its customs with just an illustration to show us our uncleanliness and that Christ is the is the the truce in offering, all that sort of stuff.

So what would you say? Like, the theologically, can you argue being a vegetarian? No.

You can't because god demands the blood of animals in the old testament.

Massively.

And it gives us the freedom, you know, this side of Eden.

Yeah.

It gives us the freedom to to eat and to not just eat in a in a sort of guilt inducing way, but to eat and be thankful and to enjoy.

I mean, it's interesting when the product will comes home.

Father who is clearly a picture of god, says fantastic his home slaughter the fact in calf is right for us to feast.

And, it's not a vegetable dinner at that point.

You know, and that proverb, I quoted only if the logic of it only works if the fat and calf is the preferable meal.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But but but we're also told to look after our animals.

Oh, absolutely.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Know, some production of meat is disgrace for us.

Yeah.

And we don't we don't want that.

Uh-uh.

And, And I I think some people, I mean, just don't don't like meat or haven't been brought up with it, and now it does it's this fine isn't it? Yep.

Or some people may say I want to be a vegetarian because I think the production of me is so gross.

So I I don't like the idea of that.

And that's isn't it? I think it's when it becomes, a theology of saving the planet or, I'm better than you because I'm not having anything die for me.

That can be absolutely absolute wrong.

Yeah.

Because, something has to die for you.

Yeah.

And that's Christ.

So all of the animals dying are a picture of Christ and dying, giving their life so that we can have life.

And so I think that when you turn it into that sort of theology of this is why I don't do it.

I think you're in trouble.

With veganism, which is sort of the next step, I think there is a lot of sort of thinking of we save the planet.

We are not saved.

We are the savior.

And, I think, I mean, of course, veganism is a very dangerous diet to go on.

You've gotta be very, very careful about it because you have to take you've gotta make sure got vitamins and proteins and stuff like that.

Yeah.

And then the sort of trend of these things.

I mean, I was looking at what was it in a a vegan chicken burger thing? It's it's not really food.

It's sort of pulp.

It's just sort of, weird protein that's mashed up and tastes.

Terrific.

Well, the thing I was looking at, tasted horrific.

It's it tasted like there was just tons of sugar in it, actually.

In order to attract kids to, a a vegan diet.

So I think there's anyway, well, I'm not a diet.

I should have say, the the way we consume meat nowadays is is is very different to how they did Probably times.

Because it's it's probably I walk into a supermarket, the fragile, and I you don't even recognize animals.

They're just products packaged neatly.

All the blood's gone very sanitary, but it the the the fellowship offering that they that you would bring to the Tabernacle, you would kill the animal and you and you would chop it up even And then the priests would take the bits inside at the entrance of the tent, but you had to go to your flock, pick your best animal, bring it in your arm.

You know, you felt the heat and the warmth of its living life in your arms as you bought it, and you would have to you would have to kill it.

And I I think my attitude to me would certainly be changed.

I think if I had to not that I would get rid of it totally.

But would I consume less, for example, would I feel closer? Would I feel more that something has died to bring me this meal? If I was the 1 who was doing, I think absolutely there's something there's something that must have been very helpful for the Israelites when they when they killed a a soon offering to have seen physically the the life leave that creature.

And you saw death arrive in it, and you thought that was instead of me.

And that will make a tone for my side.

So so, you know, we're very sanitized these days aren't made to these sorts of things.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You're right.

And the and the production of, I mean, you know, pigs in Europe is pretty, pretty poor.

And, you know, the way they're treated, and we shouldn't treat animals.

Like that just to get cheap meats and birds and chickens and stuff like that the way they're is is is horrific.

Have you ever been in that? No.

Oh, you know, well, I have been in Avatar, but have you ever been in, know, chicken, what we call it.

Oh, actually farm.

It's just horrific.

Yeah.

So you look down at an just goes endless.

It's like 1 of those massive Amazon buildings and all the chicken's heads are just sticking out, and they can't move.

They they you know, that is Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I I mean, with it's, as you say, you know, it's fine.

You know, people have all kinds of so some people will feel that very keenly in their conscience and we'll think about it a lot, and they might even say I would like to do a little bit more for the planet and stop production of animal feed or whatever, and that's fine, isn't it? And we we cater for that.

So often on our corporate meals, we'll say any dietary or because we're basically happy to flex and change to have all kinds of people in because we don't want dietary things to be a barrier to the bigger point of eating together, do they? And it's when it becomes I won't eat with you if you're gonna serve me or, you know, then that's it's become too big a thing.

Yeah.

Good.

Yep.

Yeah.

Food or what we've got to do then.

Oh, not much here, actually.

We got those little things.

Well, they cookie.

Oh, cookie crisp.

But, yeah, we we got some of them.

I'll have some of that.

Thanks for tuning in, and, you can find, previous podcast series that we've done on our website, sermons, for you to download.

And, hopefully, you can access that, and we'll be a blessing to you.

Listening.

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