Why We Share Communion

Why We Share Communion

With Pastor Timothy G. Porter

Scripture Reading:

Introduction:

A little girl asked her mother, “Mommy, why do you cut the ends off the meat before you cook it?”

The girl’s mother told her that she thought it added to the flavor by allowing the meat to better absorb the spices, but perhaps she should ask her grandmother since she always did it that way.

So the little girl found her grandmother and asked, “Grandma, why do you and Mommy cut the ends of the meat off before you cook it?”

Her grandmother thought a moment and answered, “I think it allows the meat to stay tender because it soaks up the juices better, but why don’t you ask your Nana? After all, I learned from her, and she always did it that way.”

The little girl was getting a little frustrated, but climbed up in her great-grandmother’s lap and asked, “Nana, why do you cut the ends off the meat before you cook it?”

Nana answered, “I had to; my cooking pot wasn’t big enough.”

We do a lot of things in life, and seldom stop to ask why. We develop habits and traditions, and if we’re not careful, we can forget why we do certain things...

So, this evening as you can see we are gonna to doing things quite differently from the way many churches do them, and the way you have ever done them before. We should be willing to do some crazy things to reach out to people and love them into life-changing encounters with God.

Not that everything we do is different. We still do some things traditional way, and one of those is sharing communion together on a regular basis.

We make communion available every 5th Sunday, and include this habit of sharing bread and grape juice together as part of our Sunday morning celebration, but this time we are going to do it in evening

I wanna be careful to explain why we do what we do, so that even someone who’s new to the Christian faith might understand completely.

So . . . why do we celebrate communion?

Why do we take itty bitty portions of

grape, juice and crackers together?

What’s THAT about?

Good question. (Illustrate what sin sounds like; with the apple wedge.)

Have you ever wondered what sin sounds like; l will let you hear it. Because of Adam and Eve not obeying God in the Garden of Eden, we all have a sinfull nature. There is nothing we can do about it we are born with it.

So, for the next few moments, before we par take in communion, let me explain. And, in order to do so, l want you to turn your copy of God's Word, to the New Testament book of 1 Corinthians, the seventh book of the New Testament,

where we’ll look at chapter 11, verses 23-29. . . .

So, let’s get started. First, the reason we have this symbolic “meal” together is . . .

I.) To Remember

Look at verses 23-25:

1 Corinthians 11:23-25 (NKJV) (23) For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; (24) and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." (25) In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." Paul is describing the last supper, of course, and interestingly, at his last supper:

A.) Jesus interpreted something old

Jesus was interpreting the Passover meal

Ex. 12 describes the 1st Passover, which included:

• a lamb ~ For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed 1 Corinthians 5:7

• pure bread, called “unleavened”

• wine, though not specified in Ex. 12, was a part of the meal

B.) Jesus instituted something new

A ceremony that quickly came to be celebrated in His church much more regularly than the annual Passover

We Have This Meal

II.) To Rejoice

Look at verse 26: 1 Corinthians 11:26 (NKJV) (26) For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.

Not just a looking back, but a pointing forward also: when we share communion, we “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

As at Easter: “He is risen/He is risen indeed," / So in communion: “He died for you/He died for you”

We Have This Meal

III.) To Repent

Look at verse 27-28:

1 Corinthians 11:27-28 (NKJV) (27) Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. (28) But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.