Celebration Series

Sunday Morning March 14, 2010

Bel Aire Baptist Church

Series: “Royalty” [#11]

CELEBRATION

2 Chronicles 29:1-31:1

Introduction:

I had a friend recently tell me that he believes the greatest problem within the Church of today is that we have forgotten how to celebrate. How true. We are so busy solving problems, causing problems, and coming up with new problems that we forget that we have much to celebrate.

Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 29:1-30

[Prayer]

“Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing”

“Because Of Your Love”

2 Chronicles 29:31-36

[Offering: “A Shelter In The Time Of Storm”]

2 Chronicles 30:1-5

If you continue to read, you will find that a proclamation was sent out just as ordered by King Hezekiah and there were many people that showed up.

2 Chronicles 30:13-31:1

These people have shown us how to celebrate. I pray that we are here this morning to celebrate and that we know what we are celebrating.

We are celebrating because…

1. God has saved us.

It is so important to notice that they were celebrating Passover at the wrong time and for too long. Passover was 1 day and began on Nisan 14. Nisan became the first month on the Jewish calendar at the time of the first Passover. The Feast of Unleavened Bread began on Nisan 15 and lasted seven days ending on Nisan 21. King Hezekiah and the people celebrated the Passover and The Feast of Unleavened Bread on the second month and they ended up celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread a total of 14 days. Did God get angry at them for changing the dates and length of the Passover? No, because it was the motive of their hearts that mattered not the date.

Each family was told that in order to save the life of the first born they were going to have to place the blood of a spotless lamb over the door post.

We can celebrate this morning because the blood of our spotless Lamb, Jesus was shed for us. All we have to do to be saved from eternal death is have the blood of Jesus sprinkled over the door post of our hearts.

How? God tells us to admit that we are a sinner and to believe in our heart and confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is the Son of God raised from the dead; and we will be saved.

If you are a saved person, then you have a great reason to celebrate.

We are celebrating because…

2. God sustains us through Jesus.

On the night of the 1st Passover, the Hebrew people were to eat the meat roasted. Not only was the blood important for the covering of sin, but the lamb was eaten for sustenance.

God sustains us through Jesus. Through Jesus we are fulfilled. No matter the fact of what is happening, we can still be satisfied through Jesus. Jesus is all we need!

We are celebrating because…

3. God has freed us from bondage.

The roasted meat was to be eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. Why so specific? The bitter herbs were a reminder of the bitterness of slavery and the unleavened bread symbolized living without sinning.

Jesus has not just saved us; but He has freed us from being slaves to sin. Sin causes bitterness and hurt; but we don’t have to be bound by that anymore. Jesus has made a way for us to live a life free from the bondage of sin. We can actually do the right things because of the power of God within us- The Holy Spirit.

Conclusion:

When Jesus and His Apostles celebrated the Last Supper, they followed the Laws of the Passover. Jesus did make some alterations which represent the New Covenant and they did eat of the Paschal Lamb on Nisan 13 which was 1 day early. This happened because Jesus was to be the Lamb slain for the world on Nisan 14 which was Passover. At the Passover Supper there were a total of four cups drank. Each cup had a purpose and meaning.

This morning we are going to celebrate the Lord’s Supper in a manner similar to how Jesus and the 12 did at the Last Supper. Before the Passover could be celebrated many preparations had to be made. The most important of these was that there was a time of consecration. We are told by Paul that we must do the same before we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

1 Corinthians 11:27-32

[Please come to the altar.]

We are going to have a two-fold invitation:

> If you are here without Christ as Savior and you want to cover your life in the blood of the Lamb so that when your life on this earth is ended you will have eternal life in Heaven; then you need to come to me and allow me to tell you how to do this.