On April 9, 2016, brothers and sisters in Christ gathered together for Grace Klein Community’s first Agape Feast of 2016, and the first Agape Feast ever held at the newly prepared community house. What does that mean and why is that a big deal? The idea behind an Agape Feast is a fairly simple one. It’s based around Acts 2:46-47,“…breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” We gather, break bread and eat, praise and worship the Lord, learn from His Word, and enjoy the time we spend with His people. However, in the idea’s simplicity, I’ve always found that God has worked in a very unique way at each individual Agape Feast. When I think of the Agape Feast at the community house on April 9th, the outstanding theme to me, came in a simple word: “first.”
So many “firsts” can be found in this Agape Feast night. For starters, It was the first time the tenants of the house had ever hosted an Agape Feast. As a matter of fact, for two of our hosts, it was the first they had ever attended! Throughout the weeks leading to the feast, they worked hard, planned, asked questions, and prepared the house. God blessed them with ideas that made the night unique, like spending the time of sharing in candle light, and one of the more creative “firsts” of the night, the first time I’d ever seen balls from a play pen used to guide discussion in God’s Word. Our discussion centered around pursuing God’s plan for us with child-like passion. We reminisced over the first things we were passionate about when we were children, and how we pursued them with curiosity and fervor. We asked each other, do we pursue the passions and purposes God sets before us with the same fervor? We differentiated between the phrases “child-like” and “childish,” and discussed how we could avoid the latter. We discussed each of our own passions, and even how God sometimes uses needs and situations to dictate the purposes and passions we pursue in His name. We even met a new friend for the first time, as one of our hosts invited a friend he had met at the Home Depot he frequently visits for work!
The fellowship was amazing, the food was delicious (we had so much chicken,) and as the night ended we engaged in a “first” that was very special for one of our friends and hosts. That friend, Cameron, is a passionate musician who enjoys playing the piano. The community house has a piano, but it had never been tuned, so it always sounded off when he played it. The day of the Agape Feast was his birthday, and as a gift, a fellow host Evan had ordered people in to have the piano tuned by the day of the Agape Feast. Evan’s gift to Cameron turned out to be a blessing not only to Cameron, but to everyone who stayed to worship that night, as everyone got to enjoy Cameron’s piano performance along with Giorgio’s guitar as we sang and worshiped around the newly tuned piano. It was the first time I had worshiped to Cameron playing the piano, and the first time we had all heard the community house piano tuned.That’s how the night ended, to the tunes of every worship song that could come to mind, with arms raised and hearts joyful. I could not think of a better way to end the first Agape Feast at the Grace Klein Community House.
As was written in the most recent article about the community house, “But we know our Provider, and because God’s hands and feet are at work through His servants, a house the builders rejected is in the process of becoming a cornerstone of our community.” This first Agape Feast was a huge step in the process of this house’s development in becoming that cornerstone. It was one of the first true organized times of worship, fellowship, and study. Families from around the community joined together in comfort, in fellowship, breaking bread and eating chicken, worship, discussion of life, and study of God’s Word. We received and gave with glad and generous hearts, and found favor in each other. May God continue to add to our numbers day by day, and may April 9, 2016, be the first of many Agape Feasts at the community house at 4756 Wine Ridge Lane.
