This 5-day devotional draws directly from FBC Oxford Worship's sermon “6/28/26 What Ties Us Together - 2026-06-29” so you can keep engaging with the message all week. Read, reflect, and share it with your small group or friends.
One Table, One Lord
Monday — Understanding the Truth
Have you ever tried to be fully present in two places at once? You're at dinner with your family, but your mind is somewhere else entirely — and everyone can tell.
Today's Scripture "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons." — 1 Corinthians 10:21
Reflection The apostle Paul wrote those words to a church that had a real problem: they loved Jesus, but they kept one foot in the world around them. They'd worship together, then drift back into habits and loyalties that pulled them in a completely different direction. And Paul named it plainly — you can't sit at two tables at once.
This isn't about following a list of rules. It's about something much more personal. When you accepted Christ, something changed at the deepest level. Your identity shifted. Your loyalties realigned. Paul describes it this way in Colossians: "You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3).
That's not a burden — it's actually freedom. It means you don't have to keep dividing yourself between competing loyalties, trying to satisfy everyone and everything. There is one Lord, one table, one source of life that actually holds you together.
The question isn't whether you're perfect. None of us are. The question is: which table are you consistently returning to? Where do you go when you're hungry, tired, or lost?
Today's Step Sit quietly for a moment and ask yourself honestly: What am I feeding on most consistently right now — and is it bringing me closer to God or further away?
A Closing Thought The good news is that Jesus isn't waiting for you to get it all together before he welcomes you to his table. He's already there, and there's a place set for you.
The Pull in Every Direction
Tuesday — When It's Hard
Be honest — when was the last time you felt genuinely pulled in two directions at once? Not because you're weak, but because the pull is real.
Today's Scripture "No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other." — Luke 16:13
Reflection Jesus didn't say it's difficult to serve two masters. He said it's impossible. And if you've ever tried, you already know why.
The struggle isn't always obvious. It's rarely a dramatic moment where you choose between God and something clearly evil. More often, it's quieter than that. It's the way your phone gets more of your attention than your prayer life. It's how your mood on Monday morning is more shaped by the weekend's news than by anything God said to you. It's the slow drift where good things — sports, politics, work, even family — gradually move from their right place to the center of everything.
The church Paul was writing to in Corinth wasn't full of terrible people. They were believers who had grown up surrounded by a culture with its own gods, its own rituals, its own loyalties. And little by little, those things crept back in. The pull was gradual. It usually is.
You don't have to feel ashamed of the pull. Acknowledging it is actually the first honest step. God already sees it, and he's not surprised. What he's inviting you to do isn't perform better — it's come back. Return to the one table that can actually satisfy you.
Today's Step Name one thing that's been quietly competing for first place in your life lately. You don't have to fix it today — just be honest with God about it.
A Closing Thought The fact that you feel the tension is a sign that something in you is still reaching toward God. That's worth holding onto.
Small Steps Back to the One Table
Wednesday — Putting It Into Practice
Knowing the truth is one thing. Living it on a Tuesday afternoon, when life is loud and distractions are everywhere, is another thing entirely.
Today's Scripture "But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves." — James 1:22
Reflection James doesn't mince words. It's possible to hear the right things, nod at the right moments, and still walk out the door unchanged. The gap between hearing and doing is where so many of us quietly live.
But here's what's encouraging: you don't close that gap all at once. You close it one small, repeated choice at a time. Consistency, as someone once said, is just obedience repeated over time. It's not one dramatic moment of surrender — it's the quiet daily decision to return to the one table.
So what does that actually look like today?
It might look like starting your morning with five minutes of prayer before you open social media. Not an hour — five minutes. It might look like pausing before you dive into the news cycle and asking, What does God say about what I'm anxious about today? It might look like being honest with a trusted friend about something that's been pulling your attention away from God.
It might simply look like noticing — really noticing — what gets your first energy, your best focus, your deepest loyalty throughout the day. Not to condemn yourself, but to gently redirect.
The goal isn't perfection. The goal is direction. Are you consistently turning toward him?
Today's Step Choose one small, specific habit this week that points you back to God — and do it today. One step in the right direction is still a step.
A Closing Thought God isn't grading your performance. He's watching the direction of your heart — and he delights when you turn toward him, even in the smallest ways.
When Someone Chooses the One Table
Thursday — What This Looks Like in Real Life
Sometimes the most powerful thing isn't an argument or an explanation. It's watching someone actually live it.
Today's Scripture "Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God." — Colossians 3:2–3
Reflection Imagine someone who spent years doing what most of us do — keeping God in one corner of life while everything else filled the rest. Career, reputation, approval from the right people, the next goal, the next milestone. On the outside, things looked fine. On the inside, there was a quiet emptiness that never quite went away, no matter how much he achieved.
Then something shifted. Not all at once — it rarely happens that way. But slowly, he started making different choices. He started letting God into the places he'd kept private. He stopped performing for the people around him and started being honest about what was actually going on inside. He chose, day by day, to return to the one table.
The change wasn't dramatic. But it was real. People noticed — not because he announced it, but because something about him was different. More settled. More present. Less driven by what everyone else thought.
That's what Paul is describing in Colossians. When your life is hidden with Christ, something shifts. You stop grasping for things that were never going to satisfy you anyway. You start living from a place of security rather than striving.
That kind of life is available to you. Not as a reward for getting everything right, but as a gift from the one who already has.
Today's Step Think of one area of your life where you've been striving instead of trusting. Offer that specific thing to God today, and ask him to hold it.
A Closing Thought The life hidden with Christ isn't a smaller life — it's the fullest one you'll ever find.
Taking the Table With You
Friday — Carrying It Forward
The week is almost done. The weekend is coming. And the real question is: what are you taking with you?
Today's Scripture "There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved." — Acts 4:12
Reflection This week, we've been sitting with one simple but life-changing truth: there is one Lord, one table, one source of life that actually holds everything together. And the invitation has been to return to that table — not just on Sunday, not just in the quiet moments, but consistently, in the middle of ordinary life.
As you head into the weekend, the world isn't going to slow down. There will still be noise, opinions, pressures, and plenty of things competing for your loyalty. Politics will be loud. Schedules will be full. The pull toward a dozen different directions will be real.
But you don't have to be divided anymore. That's the gift. Acts 4:12 reminds us that there is one name, one anchor, one place where you are fully known and fully held. You don't have to keep searching. You don't have to keep splitting yourself between tables that can't satisfy you.
Carry that with you this weekend. Let it shape how you rest, how you relate to the people around you, how you handle whatever comes up. The table doesn't disappear when you walk out the door — Jesus goes with you.
And if this week stirred something in you, let it. Don't let it fade back into the noise. One honest conversation with God could be the beginning of something real.
Today's Step Before the weekend pulls you in, take two minutes to tell God: I want you to be first. Show me what that looks like this weekend.
A Closing Thought You were made for the one table — and the one who set it is not going anywhere. He'll be right there with you, all weekend long.