Note: The pastors presented the message as a team.
[Psalm 23 countdown video]
Pat:
This morning’s worship service is going to be a bit different than what most of us are used to. Although we normally begin our time with singing to help us focus our attention on God and prepare our hearts to hear His Word, we’re going to begin with a couple of Scripture passages that will set the stage for our observance of the Lord’s Supper during the last part of our worship service.
So we’re going to dismiss our children to Children’s Church right now and we’ll have them come back and join us later as we sing and take the elements.
In the book of Revelation, toward the end of the letter to the church at Laodicea, Jesus spoke these familiar words:
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
Revelation 3:20 (NIV)
Christians have often used these words in sharing their faith with others as an invitation to commit their lives to Jesus and place their trust in Him. And while it is certainly a very good thing to share the gospel and invite people to enter into a relationship with Jesus, we need to consider the context in which these words were spoken by Jesus. These words are not spoken to unbelievers, but to those who were already followers of Jesus there in the church in Laodicea. They are not an invitation to make a commitment to follow Jesus, but rather an invitation for those believers to enter into intimate worship with Him.
Jesus offers us that same invitation this morning. He wants us to enter into an intimate worship experience with Him, one that is centered around the table where we will together share a symbolic meal that reminds us of our past, present and future life in Jesus. And just as we would do if we desired to engage in an enjoyable meal with our family or friends, we want to make sure that this worship experience allows for a leisurely pace where we have adequate time to prepare our hearts, develop our appetite, and linger at the table together.
In order to help us do that, Dana and I are going to focus on a passage that we don’t commonly use as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper together, but one that clearly makes reference to that observance and how we are to prepare to partake of the elements together this morning.
Dana:
Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.
1 Corinthians 10:14-21 (NIV)
Although there is much that we can learn from this passage, this morning we’re going to focus on only four principles that we find that relate to our observance of the Lord’s Supper this morning:
• Separation
• Thanksgiving
• Participation
• Harmony
Let’s begin with the idea of separation.
Paul begins this passage by commanding followers of Jesus to flee from idolatry. And then he concludes the passage with a similar warning, when he makes it clear that it is not possible to take part in the Lord’s table if we still have a part in the table of demons. The message here is quite clear and it is a message that is confirmed consistently throughout the Scriptures. Those who are followers of Jesus must be separated from the attitudes, priorities and activities of the world.
That obviously does not mean that we are physically to remove ourselves from the world that we live in or that we are not to have contact with the people of this world. But it does mean that our attitudes, priorities and actions are to be different and separated from those that are apparent in the lives of unbelievers.
That is certainly one reason that the Bible makes it clear that only those who have separated themselves from the world by committing their lives to Jesus and who make an effort to follow Him daily are to participate in the observance of the Lord’s Supper. So if you have made that decision, whether you are a church member here or not, we invite you to participate in taking the bread and the cup a little later this morning. However, if you have not made the decision to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, we ask for your own sake that you not take those elements. We encourage you to think about what the bread and cup represent and to ponder how God might be calling you to enter into a personal relationship with Him, so you are certainly welcome to participate in the rest of the service with the exception of actually taking the elements.
Pat:
The second aspect that Paul emphasizes here is the idea of thanksgiving. He refers to the cup as the cup of thanksgiving. One of the most important parts of the Lord’s Supper is giving thanks to God for the gift of His Son, Jesus. As we take the bread and the cup, we are reminded of body and the blood of Jesus that was given for us as the means by which our sins might be forgiven so that we could enter into a personal relationship with God.
As we have mentioned before, there is a past, present, and a future aspect to the salvation that was purchased on the cross for us and we need to be thankful for each of those three aspects:
• I need to give thanks to God that I have been saved from the penalty for my sin. At the very moment that I committed my life to Jesus, I was made righteous in God’s sight and all my sins were forgiven.
• I need to be thankful for the abundant life that I live right now. I need to thank God that He is conforming me day-by-day into the image of Jesus. And, as we’ve seen in the Book of Ecclesiastes, we need to be thankful for the simple gifts of life that God gives us in our life here on earth “under the sun” and for the ability to enjoy those gifts.
• I need to be thankful for the promise of a future life spent in the presence of God, and for all the spiritual blessings that are guaranteed by the presence of God’s Holy Spirit in my life.
Dana:
The third aspect that Paul mentions in this passage is that of participation. One of the aspects of the Lord’s Supper that we often overlook is that it is to symbolize our participation in the work of Jesus here on this earth, especially the work that goes on in His body, the church. The Lord’s Supper should remind us of these words of Jesus:
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
John 14:12 (NIV)
When we remember the body and blood of Jesus, it reminds us that the death and resurrection of Jesus makes it possible for us to carry on His work here on earth and to be part of a work that is even greater than what Jesus did at His first coming.
Pat:
In the midst of this passage, we find this interesting verse:
Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.
The symbolism here is unmistakable. The fact that we share one loaf among them body is a picture of the unity and the harmony that is to exist among the body. That’s why, in the following chapter Paul condemns the selfishness that had arisen within the church at Corinth, especially as it related to the observance of the Lord’s Supper.
There is a reason that the Lord’s Supper is always to be celebrated in connection with other members of the body. There are no Scriptural examples of it ever being observed by a single believer on his or her own. Although it is certainly appropriate to observe the Lord’s Supper in a small group or even in our homes as a family, its greatest meaning is found in a gathering such as this where we can remember the body and blood of Jesus with fellow believers.
Dana:
We have designed the service this morning to allow all of us to focus on all four of these aspects of the Lord’s Supper:
• Separation
• Thanksgiving
• Participation
• Harmony
We are going to provide you with an extended time to focus on these four aspects of the Lord’s Supper in a quiet, relaxed atmosphere that will give you adequate time to linger in the presence of Jesus and of His followers as you join Him at the table. In just a moment, we’ll turn down the lights and the Worship Team will come and lead in the singing of some songs that will help us to focus on the body and blood of Jesus.
You will also notice that there are two tables set up in the middle of the auditorium with the bread and the cup on the table. Whenever you are ready, we invite you to come to the table and take the elements. Perhaps you will want to linger at the table for a while with your fellow believers and take the bread and the cup there. Or you may want to take the elements back to your seat and meditate on them there. You may want to take both the bread and the cup at the same time. Or take the bread first, sing for a while and then take the cup. If you are unable to make it to one of the tables to take the elements, just raise your hand when you are ready and one of our elders will bring them to you.
As the worship team leads, you may want to sing with them for all or part of the time. You may want to just listen and pray and meditate at times. You may want to sit, stand or kneel. We want to encourage you to just use this time as God leads you to focus on Jesus – on his death and resurrection and on the fact that He has promised to return again. We’ll be singing a total of six songs during this time which should give all of us enough time to answer Jesus’ call and come to the table to eat with Him in His presence.
[Prayer by one of the elders]
There is a Fountain Filled with Blood (#300) [Bb]
Nothing But the Blood (#264) [F]
Grace Greater than Our Sin (#388) [G]
Above All [G]
Saved By Grace (The Great I AM) [G]
Jesus, Messiah [Bb}
Offering – Worship Team – More than Life
Closing Song – More Than Life
