Sermon Sunday September 26, 2021 The Lord’s Supper

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Communion, The Lord’s Supper, one of the two ordinances that Jesus left for the church to do until he comes again. But we easily miss the gravity of the ordinance in the tradition and the routine.

In Luke 22:15, we read that Jesus earnestly desired to eat the Passover meal with his disciples before his suffering. As Jesus knew what lay ahead, he longed for this final time of fellowship and teaching with his disciples and friends.

We easily miss the importance of sharing a meal in our rushed culture of microwave dinners and busy schedules. But Jesus knew the importance of eating with people, and it was even used as an accusation by the religious leaders (Mark 2:16).  

But this meal was different, it was the most important meal he had ever shared with people. And it must not be overlooked that Jesus chose the Passover to be the last meal he ate before his crucifixion. Can you imagine, Jesus eating the sacrificed lamb with his disciples, knowing that this would be the last Passover that they would need to celebrate. Jesus was establishing the New Covenant. As Jesus eats the bread and drinks the cup, he knows that they will eternally be symbols of what he is about to suffer in the next few hours.

Luke 22:7-13 is all about preparation. Jesus sent Peter and John to go and prepare the meal. It is interesting to note that the two chosen for this important task were to be significant leaders of the church. Leaders who were willing to serve their brothers and sisters. When God gives you an assignment, never think that it is insignificant.

Jesus directed them to an upper room in a house that had been chosen before the foundations of the world. There was never an unplanned moment in the life of Jesus.

The disciples took time to prepare for the meal, and the question for us is how do we prepare to partake of the Lord’s supper? We celebrate communion once a month and we can easily slip into the routine and lose the significance of what we are doing.

In 1 Corinthians 11:29 Paul writes, “For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.”

Discerning the body is not simply referring to the symbol of the bread and its significance. If you read the verses leading up to verse 29, Paul is reprimanding the church in Corinth because there are people who had been feasting when they got together and ignoring the poor and the hungry in their midst. The Lord’s Supper had become a form of segregation between the haves and the have nots. They were creating division, hurting relationships, acting selfishly, and self-righteously.

When Paul refers to discerning the body, I believe it means to discern the health of our relationships. How are we relating to one another as the body of Christ? Are we ignoring division and broken relationships? Verse 28 tells us to examine ourselves, allowing the Holy Spirit to bring conviction leading us to repentance and reconciliation. We need to ask ourselves, whether my relationships in the church, reflect the character of our lord and savior whom we represent (Matthew 5:23-24).

As the Passover meal progressed, the disciples reclined familiarly and began enjoying the evening together. But then Jesus began saying things that caused the atmosphere in the room to shift. Verse 15 ends with, “before I suffer” and then in verse 16 he says, “For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Jesus is saying that on God’s calendar, there would be no more need for the prophetic picture of the Passover, it is being fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus points to the next feast, one that we are still waiting for. The marriage supper of the lamb that we see in Revelation 19. What a feast that will be.

Jesus goes on to institute what we know as the Lord’s supper in the following verses. There are two elements in the memorial celebration, and both are significant.

First Jesus took the bread and broke it saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me” Luke 22:19. The Bread broken symbolizes the body of Jesus that was beaten and broken by the Roman soldiers.

Notice that Jesus invites them into participation. He gave it to them, they had to reach out and take it. We too are invited to participate. The invitation to salvation is there, we need to reach out in faith and as we do that we individually say, “I am taking the benefits of Christs body for myself”. Furthermore, bread is nourishment, we are strengthened as we participate in the body of Christ. Feeding on his spiritual body nourishes our souls. The single loaf of bread is a picture of the unity that we have as the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:17).

Then we come to the cup, we read in Luke 22:20, “And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

The cup is the symbol of the blood of Jesus. In our sterile 21st century mindset, blood is not that meaningful. In fact, many people are sickened by the sight of blood and don’t like to talk about blood. But God instructed Moses to sprinkle the blood of the lamb on the book of the law and the people as He instituted the covenant with the Children of Israel.  We read in Hebrews 9:22, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” Blood is a symbol of life.

The poured-out blood of Jesus established the new covenant. The covenant that we live under in the church age. That is why Jesus said in verse 20, “…This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

As we participate in Communion, let us remember that we are celebrating our salvation and declaring the Gospel.

The Normal Christian Life – Part 1 – 10/1/17

The Webster dictionary defines a Christian as “one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ

What a terrible definition! How does the Bible define Christianity, after all, isn’t the Bible our authority as Christians?

You may have heard it said, that Christianity is not a religion, but it is a relationship. That is somewhat true, but also falls far short of what the Bible defines Christianity. A true relationship with my Creator only begins when I completely submit to Him and lay aside my own desires, wills, passions and preferences. Dying to my will and self is the beginning of what it means to be a Christian.

Galatians 2:20 reads; “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Beginning with the first phrase; “I have been crucified with Christ”.

Even though our sins that we have committed in the past have been forgiven (1 John 1:7), what about our sinful nature? That old nature that desires to do what is contrary to the will of God. We have peace with God, but we don’t have peace in ourselves because we wrestle with sin and temptation. This is where the cross of Jesus Christ provides an answer for us. Obviously, Paul was not on the cross with Jesus, and neither were you and I, but here is the profound miracle. When Jesus died on the cross, it was once for all. The death of Jesus on the cross included all who put their faith and trust in him. This is where those two beautiful words apply, “IN CHRIST” (see Romans 6:6-7, 11).

Do you want to be free from sin? You must realize your old self crucified with Christ, this is powerful, and it is absolutely crucial to being a Christian. The blood deals with what we have done, but the cross deals with what we are, the cross strikes at the root of our capacity to sin.

But do we apply the cross to our lives?

Satan will point to our struggle with sin and bring to mind our weakness in areas in our lives, but that is when we can point to the cross, and quote Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ…”. You see it is a declaration of faith, the essence of Christianity is faith.

So, if we are in Christ, does that make us perfect? Absolutely not, but we will be deeply troubled by sin in our lives. We will not have peace in our lives, because we know that we have fallen short of the Glory of God.

If you are not troubled by sin in your life or have no desire for holiness, I would seriously examine your heart to see if you truly are in Christ – if you have truly given your life wholly to Him and are saved

Galatians 2:20; “ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

So how do we live this life, this crucified life? We live by faith in the Son of God. Daily asking the Holy Spirit to lead us and direct us. Our life goals are radically different, our aspirations change, instead of trying to build our own kingdom, we live to make the name of Jesus known.

The trouble with many people is that they think that when they become a Christian, God wants to take them and make them a better version of themselves. But we have it all wrong, there is nothing good, nothing worthwhile, nothing redemptive in my old self. God is not out to reform our life, he sent his son so that we can be born again.

This is where Christianity is completely different to any other religion. I cannot save myself, I cannot gradually get better until I am saved, I have to die, and then be reborn of the Spirit of God (John 3:3).

Coming to the final phrase of Galatians 2:20; “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Jesus loves you more than you will ever know, the cross is deeply personal for you and for me. When Jesus went to the cross, it was because he loved you so much, his love compelled him to give his life for you (see Ephesians 1:4).

1 Peter 2:9 tells us that we have been chosen by God, you are royalty, you are God’s special possession!

Have you ever heard of a royal prince cowering in the corner and begging for scraps from the King’s table?

But that is what we do, we don’t realize the value that God has placed on us, we are his special possession. He loves you far more than you will ever know.

When Jesus ascended into heaven he sent his indwelling Spirit. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity, lives inside every true believer in Jesus Christ. The very same God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you.

I know that we don’t come close to understanding the reality of the presence of God in our lives.

But what is the purpose of the Gospel? Why did God send his son? Why did God choose you and me and then fill us with his presence?  We have a natural tendency to see things from our perspective and say that God saved us so that we wouldn’t go to hell. Yes, that is true, but there is more, there is a greater and more glorious purpose for our salvation. God saved us so that we might bring Glory and praise to His name for eternity. This is what we were created to do. As we live by the Spirit and our lives become a living testimony of His presence we bring glory to His name.

Are you a Christian? If you don’t want to love and follow Christ, you are not a Christian. You may believe in Jesus, but is Jesus Lord of your life? Stop what you are doing right now, get on your knees, and make sure that you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.

“Do this in Remembrance of Me” January 24, 2016

The Lord's Supper Title.2

1 Corinthians 11:23-34

We all struggle to remember things from time to time, some are better than others at remembering names and dates. Jesus knows that we have a tendency to forget, in fact Jesus spoke in parables so frequently because he knew it was the best way for people to remember. Strange – the creator of the universe knowing what is the best way to communicate to his creation!

But the bible is largely narrative, in fact 24 books of the bible are almost completely narrative. Why? Because we remember stories, we remember pictures, we remember illustrations. Jesus often used word pictures and practical illustrations to teach, and he left us with two ordinances in the church. Two practical things to do that when we understand them, we know all we need to know about the Gospel and our salvation. The two ordinances are Baptism and the Lords supper.

Today we will be joining together in remembering the Lords supper, as we do every month. Unfortunately it can become a routine, and along with a routine, we can lose significance. These symbols and this practice is a remembrance of the very foundation of our Christianity. This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Good news proclaimed. Jesus instituted the Lords supper during his last supper with the disciples (see Luke 22).

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The church in Corinth to whom Paul was writing in 1 Corinthians 11, was established around AD 50 as Paul went there on one of his missionary Journeys. Corinth was a wealth trading city in ancient Greece, as a result of being in a key position in a trading route between the mainland of Greece and the area called the Peloponnese. Paul become very familiar with the area and the people as he spent 18 months there on his second missionary journey.

But the young church in Corinth was not doing well. They gathered together frequently but as we read from the letters of Paul to the church, they had a lot of problems. One of the problems he had to address was the abuse of the Lords supper. Instead of a solemn reminder of the Lords Death, it had become a feast, a glorified pot-luck. People were bringing food and then gathering in corners of the room and feasting, even getting drunk, while others were left out, without food and going hungry. As a result of being in a wealthy region of trade, there was a large gap between the wealthy and the poor, and the meal that they shared together highlighted the fact of these differences, people were forming cliques with other wealthy people and ignoring the needs of others.

Paul was drawing them back to the real reason for the ordinance, the Lords supper is intended to show the selfless act of Jesus in sacrificing his own body. The remembrance of the overwhelmingly generous act of Jesus on the cross, was now being corrupted by the selfish attitudes of the wealthy, what a contrast.

The body of Christ, the church is supposed to be the one place where we are all on the same footing. This is the level playing field, where no-one is better than another. No matter how much money or how little money one has, we are all equal before the cross of Jesus Christ. We are all sinners in need of a savior, we are all desperately poor until we come to the cross and make Jesus Christ Lord of our lives.

Paul goes on in verses 28-32 to warn them that the consequences of eating and drinking the elements in an unworthy manner will result in sickness and even death. Today when we remember the Lords supper, we always give a time to allow us to reflect and allow the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin in our lives. Particularly of sins between members of the Body of Christ. This is what Paul us talking about here. If you and I have anything against someone else, we need to make that right, don’t simply go on and take the elements as if nothing is wrong. It is better for us not to take the elements than to receive punishment from God.

There are two types of people who should not participate in the Lords supper. The first is unbelievers, those who do not know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. The symbols mean nothing to them. The second group is people who are Christians, but for whatever reason, they are not right with the Lord. There is sin in their lives, or there is a relationship with another believer in the church that is not right.

We need to eliminate the stigma of not taking the elements. As you pray, if the Holy Spirit convicts you of something that is not right, do not participate, it is much better for you not to.

As Paul stressed that the Lords supper was intended to build up unity and a common bond between believers, because it reminds us of the selfless act of Jesus, this time before the table of the Lord should always bring greater unity in the church.

The unique aspect about the Lords supper is that it incorporates all the senses, thus we have no excuse for forgetting. Jesus knows that we are prone to forget him in our busy daily schedules.

But these symbols will mean nothing to you if you don’t know Jesus as your personal savior. They serve as a reminder, but you cannot remember what you do have not experienced personally. Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

Remembering what Jesus has done for you on the cross must affect every aspect of your life.

By remembering what Jesus has done for you, you will be able to face challenges of life, you will be able to withstand temptation and overcome the plans that Satan has for your life and you will be able to stand before a gravestone of a loved one and celebrate because you know that there is a glorious hope beyond the grave.

This table reminds us that Satan has been defeated, and that Jesus is coming again!