Introduction – A Place of Belonging
I remember once being in Yerevan, Armenia, attending a wedding at the Sport Arena Center. The hall was immaculate — decorated with care and beauty. The musicians played with such skill that the melodies lifted the whole room. The food was abundant, prepared with that special Armenian care.
But when I look back on that day, I don’t remember the food as much as I remember the feeling. The sense of family. The warmth of belonging. Everyone had a place. Everyone had a seat. There was laughter, there were embraces, there was that deep, unspoken reality: You belong here.
That, church, is what the Lord’s Supper is meant to be. Not just bread. Not just cup. Not just wafer and juice. It’s a family table. It’s Jesus saying: “I’ve prepared a place for you. Sit down. Eat with Me. You belong here.”
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11:23–26:
> “The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
The command is simple: Do this. Remember Me.
But here’s the question: What are we remembering? Just a moment 2,000 years ago — or something alive, happening right here in Glendale today?
Let’s walk through this meal together. The bread. The cup. And the fullness of what it means.
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Point 1 – The Bread: Broken for Wholeness
Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it. He said, “This is My body, broken for you.”
The very first thing He wanted remembered wasn’t His teaching or His miracles. It was His body. His wholeness given for our brokenness.
Bread is ordinary. Every culture has it. Flatbread, lavash, naan, pita, tortillas. But in His hands, the ordinary became holy.
Just like us. Just like you. Just like me.
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The Grain and the Fire
Bread doesn’t appear by accident. The grain is crushed, the dough kneaded, the loaf passed through fire.
That’s what happened to Jesus. Crushed under sin. Pressed by rejection. Tried in the fire of Calvary. Yet He came through as the Bread of Life, ready to give Himself to all.
Isaiah said it: “By His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)
His brokenness brings our wholeness. His wounds bring our healing. His death brings our life.
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He was broken so you could be healed.
He was wounded so you could be forgiven.
He was rejected so you could be accepted.
He was crushed so you could be set free.
That’s the gospel in the bread.
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Illustration – Bread Around the Table
In family meals, bread in the center tied everyone together.
That’s what Jesus did that night. He put Himself in the center and said: “Take. Eat. This is Me, for you.”
From Jerusalem to Corinth, from Antioch to Glendale — the same bread is still being passed.
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Application – Wholeness in His Brokenness
When you hold the bread, it’s not ritual. It’s not history. It’s a declaration:
Your sin is forgiven.
Your body can be healed.
Your broken heart can be whole.
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Engaging the Listener
Where are you broken today?
In body, weighed with illness?
In mind, heavy with fear?
In heart, torn by loss?
Bring it to the table. His body was broken, yours can be healed.
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This isn’t just history. This is His presence. Healing is here. Peace is here. Forgiveness is here.
Somebody walked in burdened — you can walk out free. Somebody came in broken — you can leave whole.
Why? Because the bread is enough.
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Closing Point 1
The bread isn’t about carbs. It’s about Christ.
He was broken, so you can be whole.
When we eat this bread, we’re not just remembering an event. We’re receiving a Savior.
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Point 2 – The Cup: His Blood, Our Covenant
And He didn’t stop with the bread. After supper, He took the cup.
The bread says you are whole. The cup says you are forgiven.
He said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
The cup is about His blood. And His blood speaks louder than anything else in the universe.
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The Blood That Speaks
Hebrews 12:24 says Jesus’ blood speaks a better word than Abel’s. Abel’s blood cried for justice. Jesus’ blood cries mercy. Abel’s blood declared guilt. Jesus’ blood declares forgiveness.
Leviticus says the life is in the blood. Jesus poured out His life — not to cover sin for a year, but once, for all, forever.
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Illustration – The Cup of Belonging
In old Armenian homes, the shared cup meant fellowship.
That’s what Jesus gives us. A cup of belonging. A covenant cup. A declaration: You are His, and He is yours.
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The Covenant Dimension
Old covenants were sealed with blood. Abraham. Moses. Life for life.
But in the New Covenant, Jesus shed His own. His blood says: It is finished. You belong. You’re forgiven.
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Application – The Cup Today
When you drink, you’re declaring:
I am forgiven.
I am cleansed.
I am part of a covenant family.
I am free from condemnation.
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Rhetorical Questions
Who here has carried guilt too long?
Who hears the accuser’s voice?
Who feels chained to the past?
When you drink the cup, you proclaim: The blood of Jesus speaks louder than my past. The blood silences every accusation. The blood sets me free.
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Illustration – The Cup That Was Switched
At a banquet, a poor man’s cracked cup was quietly replaced by the host’s fine cup.
That’s what Jesus did. He took our broken cup and gave us His. Full of righteousness. Full of life.
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Power in the Blood
Somebody knows the old song: “There is power, power, wonder-working power, in the blood of the Lamb.”
That’s not just a lyric. It’s reality. The blood has power to cleanse, to deliver, to heal, to make all things new.
That’s why the devil hates the blood. Plead it over your family — he backs off. Plead it over your mind — he flees. Plead it over your children — he loses authority.
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Closing Point 2
When you lift the cup, don’t sip it casually. Declare:
I am forgiven.
I am free.
I am His.
The cup is covenant. The cup is cleansing. The cup is victory.
And we drink it until He comes.
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Point 3 – The Fullness of Communion
We’ve seen the bread: wholeness.
The cup: forgiveness.
Now the fullness: proclamation.
Paul said: “Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
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Sacrifice Illustration – Pastor Under Attack
One young pastor in a hostile place told me how radicals stormed his house, beat him, poured gasoline on him. They struck match after match — but none would light. Finally, they fled. He spent weeks in the hospital.
When he told me, I wept. I said, “Brother, lay hands on me. Pray for me.”
Because I have not known that sacrifice. That faith that says with Esther: “If I perish, I perish.”
This table means that. Not just blessings and goosebumps. It’s surrender. “Lord, I’m Yours. Whatever it costs.”
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Hymn Connection – “Some Through the Waters”
That pastor’s family lived through fire. Others have walked through waters, floods, valleys of sorrow. Yet the testimony is the same: God was faithful.
As the old hymn says:
“Some through the waters, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.”
That’s the truth of this table. However God leads — mountains, valleys, rivers, or fire — it’s always through the blood of Jesus that we are kept and carried home.
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Illustration – Mercedes vs Zhiguli
Now let me balance that with a smile.
A friend once taped a picture of a shiny Mercedes to his refrigerator. Every time he walked by he’d say: “In the name of Jesus — Mercedes! Mercedes! Mercedes!”
But church, you can shout Mercedes until you’re blue in the face. If God is saying Zhiguli, you’re going to drive a Zhiguli!
The point is clear: Communion isn’t a wish list. It’s surrender. “Not my will but Yours. If I perish, I perish. If I prosper, I prosper. Either way, I belong to You.”
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Bridge Back to Communion
So when we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim both realities:
Christ is worth dying for.
Christ is worth living for.
This table is not casual. It’s covenant. Not a snack. A surrender.
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Conclusion / Appeal
The bread says: You can be whole.
The cup says: You are forgiven.
The fullness says: You belong and have a future.
Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.”
So when you come today:
Don’t come casually. Come expectantly.
Don’t come condemned. Come forgiven.
Don’t come empty. Come to be filled.
This table is set for you. Not because you are worthy — but because He is worthy.
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Final Refrain
There’s bread for you.
There’s a cup for you.
There’s a place at the table for you.
Some through the waters.
Some through the flood.
Some through the fire.
But all through the blood.
At this table, you’ll find grace.
At this table, you’ll find healing.
At this table, you’ll find Jesus.
