Why Do We Take Communion? Series

• Jesus says to do this in remembrance of Him!

• Communion is not about the number of cups we use, it is not about the kind of bread we use, it is not about the amount of bread and drink we receive, Communion is about doing it in remembrance of Him!

• This means that when one takes Communion the act should bring Jesus to your thoughts.

• When Jesus instituted Communion He implied HE would no longer be with them, so they would have to remember Him.

• Communion is also a proclamation!

• Paul tells us we are proclaiming the Lord’s death.

• As we examine the emblems, the cup and the bread, we see the representation of the shed blood and broken body of Jesus. We believe that He died for the sins of the world!

• Jesus died a sacrificial death for the Church! But it does not stop there!

• Communion is also a prophecy!

• We are proclaiming His death until He comes!

• The object lesson Communion is that Jesus is coming again! When we take Communion, we are proclaiming that Jesus is coming again!

• Communion also proclaims we are one in Christ!

• SLIDE #10

• 1 Corinthians 10:16–17 (HCSB) The cup of blessing that we give thanks for, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for all of us share that one bread.

• Let us look at verses 27-29

• SLIDE #11

• 1 Corinthians 11:27–29 (HCSB) — 27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy way will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 So a man should examine himself; in this way he should eat the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.

• SLIDE #12

III. The heart to possess before taking Communion. 27-29

• Communion is also a time of examination.

• I want to focus on the phrase UNWORTHY WAY.

• Unworthy does not speak of the partaker of communion because none of us are worthy to be in fellowship with God.

• It speaks of the manner in which one comes to communion, the heart we bring to the table.

• We need to make sure we are not selfish, or that we are bringing a defiant spirit.

• We are called to examine our hearts. We are to look for things that are getting in the way of our relationship with Jesus.

• In the context of this observation, the Corinthian Church was having some heart issues surrounding communion.

• We are to approach our time of communion with a heart of belief, with a heart of humility, one that is humble enough to be willing to peer into the heart of oneself and make the necessary adjustments.

• We are to bring a heart of repentance, a heart of being willing to make the wrongs right.

• Having made clear to the Corinthians the cross-centered nature of communion, Paul then begins to draw out the punitive consequences when believers participate in the meal in an unworthy manner.