1st Corinthians 11:23-26
On Thursday, September 20, 2001, President George W. Bush gave this much-anticipated speech, here are some excerpts.
“On September the 11th, enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country. Americans have known wars, but for the past 136 years they have been wars on foreign soil, except for one Sunday in 1941. Americans have known the casualties of war, but not at the center of a great city on a peaceful morning.
Americans have known surprise attacks, but never before on thousands of civilians.
All of this was brought upon us in a single day, and night fell on a different world, a world where freedom itself is under attack…”
“…Our nation, this generation, will lift the dark threat of violence from our people and our future. We will rally the world to this cause by our efforts, by our courage. We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.
It is my hope that in the months and years ahead life will return almost too normal. We’ll go back to our lives and routines, and that is good.
Even grief recedes with time and grace.
But our resolve must not pass. Each of us will remember what happened that day and to whom it happened. We will remember the moment the news came, where we were and what we were doing. Some will remember an image of a fire or story or rescue. Some will carry memories of a face and a voice gone forever.”
Lest We Forget:
Any church or group of people who abandon, forget, or neglect that which is central to our faith, that church will become a dead, lifeless form. It may look something like a church. It may retain the outward form of godliness, the appearance of Christianity. But the life of God will be gone. Only an empty reminder of what once was will be left.
This morning hundreds of groups like ours are meeting across this city and country. They all call themselves “church.” In many cases these churches are filled with people who love God, worship the Lord in spirit and truth, and enjoy His presence like we do. But there are other churches that are nothing but a religious shell. The form of Christianity may seem to be there. But God’s not there, the conviction of the Holy Spirit is not there, the refreshing of the Holy Spirit is not there, the power of God is not present to heal and to save. It’s a dead shell clinging to where it was when it died.
What happened? In many cases they abandoned the essentials of the faith for what they considered to be more interesting, more practical, more helpful, and more acceptable to visitors. Their message is how to succeed in life and have it your way, Just like Burger King.
What has happened to them?
Where did they go wrong?
What have they forgotten?
Like some today they have forgotten the past. Like Sept 11, 2001. How do I know they forgot, just by listening to them, why are we at war? Why are we still there? Why is the president doing this? THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN WHY!!!
In the church today we must never forget the past! What Jesus did for us. It says:
The teaching that I gave you is the same teaching that I received from the Lord: On the night when Jesus was handed over to be killed, he took bread and gave thanks for it. Then he broke the bread and said, “This is my body; it is for you. Do this to remember me.” In the same way, after they ate, Jesus took the cup. He said, “This cup shows the new agreement from God to his people. This new agreement begins with the blood of my death. When you drink this, do it to remember me.” Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you show others about the Lord’s death until he comes. (NIV children’s 1st Corinth. 11:23B-26)
What must we remember? Have you ever thought of that? Who He was? What He did? Why we take communion?
I think these are a few things we might have forgotten, or maybe never thought of them before, but lets look together today.
LEST WE FORGET AGAIN!
What should we remember?
1.We have promised to make Christianity our business.
Our only business.
Our business in this world is to serve the Lord Jesus the Christ. His religion must be our calling. His teaching, His word, His life. Jesus is all the world to us, He is our reason for living. He gave us life. As fish must have live in water and a bird in the air, so we must live in the sphere of obedience to our Lord. Jesus gets first place in our lives To crown Him as King is the only reason for my life. Other things must give way to this, and must be made to help us attain this goal. And this must be our Covenant with God at HIS feast. Here at this blessed meal, I make Christ my all in all, the one who engages my cares, fills my thoughts, commands my time, and gives law to my whole being. Let this matter be eternally settled here and now as I eat the loaf and drink the cup.
2.We promised to make inward godliness the vary rule of our lives.
Having already agreed to give God our hearts, which is what He desires, we now resolve to employ it for His honor and Glory. Here we are talking about inward godliness. For the heart is what matters most to God. “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23) God wants to rule there. We seek to have a Godly heart.
3.We promised to live a life of communion with God.
At the table of the Lord, we make a pledge to set Him always before us, with love and gratitude, as the first and last of all things that concern us.
What does this life of communion with God really mean? It involves more than reading our bibles or praying every morning, though that is definitely involved in such a lifestyle. It also involves these activities: we receive His comforts each day with love and thanksgiving, we bear the crosses and afflictions and disappointments of each day with patience and joy, we offer to Him our hearts affection by praying unceasingly to God. We commit each day to Christ and manage its business for His glory, having a constant reverence for Him in every thing we do or say or think. This beloved is what it means to live in communion with God. At the table of the Lord I proclaim to live a life of confidence in God, in His beauty, bounty, and blessing, a life of dependence upon Him, His power, providence and His promises. A life devoted to God.
4. We promised to keep heaven in our mind.
We agreed to set our hope completely on the future of our faith in Jesus. We are made for another world and we must set our hearts upon that world and always have it in our minds, seeking the things that are above and living here on earth as citizens of heaven itself. The Lord’s Supper is the time when I realize that my treasure is in heaven, with my mind, my heart, my hope and my home waiting for me to arrive. I shall never be well until I get there. Therefore fixing our eyes on the joy set before us in that world, let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us in this world. And we pledge to do this at the Breaking of the Bread.
Conclusion: As I hope you can see The Lords table is more than just about who He is or what He has done, but also what we have promised to do for Him. Beloved remember, remember, remember do not forget and fall from the glory He has given us!
