What are you hungry & thirsty for?

Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?”
-Isaiah 55: 1 - 2a.

Most of the time when we come to church, it isn’t because we’re hungry for a meal or thirsty for a drink—unless it’s the first Saturday of the month and we’re gathering for breakfast. Yes, we can put on a wonderful meal when the occasion calls for it, but on most Sundays, we aren’t coming for physical food at all. Even communion, taken once a month, is more symbolic than filling. The wafer and grape juice don’t satisfy our stomachs, but they speak deeply to our souls.

What we come for is spiritual nourishment. We come because life has a way of draining us dry. The world’s news can feel heavy—wars, disasters, tragedies. Our personal lives can feel even heavier—job worries, financial strain, illness, injury, grief, and the quiet burdens we carry that few ever see. Most days, our spiritual tanks are running on fumes.

So we come.

We come to be reminded of God’s love and all He has done for us. And even if we can no longer attend in person, we can still worship through livestreams, radio, or podcasts. Jesus meets us wherever we are, just as He met the crowds in Matthew 14:13–21. They didn’t follow Him because they were hungry for bread; they followed Him because they were hungry for hope. Some came for healing, others simply to hear His words—words so different from anything they had heard before. They didn’t yet understand that He was the fulfillment of Isaiah 55, God Himself in their midst.

And still, Jesus fed them—body and soul.

This is why we come. To be refilled by scripture. To be lifted by song. To be strengthened by sacrament. To be surrounded by the family of God.
We cannot face all that the world throws at us without a place to refill our spirits. Church becomes that place—a sanctuary where burdens lighten, hope rekindles, and hearts remember they are not alone.

May your soul find rest and renewal each time you gather in His presence.

Your Sister in Christ,

Teresa Cooksey