Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

“In our family, cell phones go in the basket and don’t come out until 8:00…” Family values, practices, rhythms, and traditions…

Personal: Why do we celebrate Communion?

What does it mean?

Is it a stale tradition, and meaningful ritual, or an intimate expression of worship?

What goes through your head and your heart when you eat the bread and drink the wine?

Does celebrating Communion cause you to live differently?

Biblical: Luke 22:19… Communion is a remembering.

Subject: What does Communion remind us of?

What are we remembering through the Lord’s Supper?

Body

Communion reminds us of the personal presence of God.

The Lord’s Supper recalls that the Creator is intimately involved in Creation.

Scripture

Reflection

Communion reminds us that we don’t serve a distant God.

He didn’t just create the Universe and then step back and leave us to our own devices.

Rather, we worship a personal God, a God who is present among us.

The whole Earth is filled with His glory and presence!

Communion proclaims that Jesus was and is real, that His disciples saw Him with their own eyes and touched Him with their own hands.

And, God is real and present to us today.

When we surrender our lives to Him, and trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit of God fills us with His presence, His power, and His love.

Response: Song

Communion reminds us that the infinite God became flesh.

The Lord’s Supper recalls the Incarnation.

Scripture

Reflection

We will only find completion and fulfillment when we are reconciled to God.

Until we live in a relationship with our Creator, we live for ourselves, looking for meaning from within, but not finding it.

Bread and wine reveal that there is only one person, Jesus, in whom the divine and human unite, and through whom our relationship with God is restored.

God Himself took on human form as one of us; the eternal Creator-King humbled Himself to death on a cross for us.

The bread and the cup are the image of the union of the human and divine, the infinite God who became flesh for the sake of our salvation.

Response: Corporate Prayer

Heavenly Father, we used to be alienated from You.

We were not Your children—we were Your enemies because of our sin.

But You sent Your Son to save Your enemies from death.

Lord Jesus, You stepped down from the splendor of Heaven and took on flesh as a human being.

You showed us what true humanity is like, and then you reconciled us with God the Father through the death of your physical body.

You took our sins, our selfishness, our pride, our lusts, our addictions, our abuse, our brokenness, our stains, and our blemishes on Yourself.

And You gave us Your perfect righteousness in exchange.

Lord, have mercy on us.

We are sinners and we are in desperate need of You.

O that we would follow You all the days of our lives; forgive us when we stray!

Grant us the grace, humility, and power through Your Holy Spirit that You had when You walked this earth in the flesh.

Establish our faith; help our unbelief.

Give us strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.

In the name of the God who became a man to save us, the name that is above every other name, the only name given under Heaven by which anyone is saved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

Communion reminds us of the sacrifice of Christ.

The Lord’s Supper recalls redemption.

Scripture

Reflection

When we celebrate Communion, we remember Jesus’ sacrifice, and we understand that his life of sacrifice is to become our life of self-sacrifice.

The fulfilled and meaningful life is not the life of acquisition, power, fame, sexual freedom, consumerism, or materialism, but it is the life that daily takes up its cross and follows Christ.

It is the life that is lived out of the crucifixion.

It is willingly, voluntarily choosing to give yourself to others, to endure suffering for the needs of others.

Communion reveals the meaning of life as the act of giving up the self to do the will of God for the good of others because that’s what Jesus did for us—one Man’s sacrifice brought salvation for all who believe.

Response: Silent Confession

Communion reminds us of the victory of Christ over evil.

The Lord’s Supper recalls the resurrection.

Scripture

Reflection

An early Christian prayer, written in the first centuries of the Church, says this about Jesus: “He was betrayed to voluntary suffering that He might destroy death, and break the bonds of the devil, and tread hell, and shine upon the righteous, and manifest the resurrection.”

Communion reminds us of Christ’s death, but Communion is a celebration because we also remember that He’s not still dead!

Jesus defeated death, and triumphed over the powers of darkness and evil, making a public spectacle of them on the cross.

The resurrection gives us the hope in a hopeless world.

No matter how bad things in this world seem to be, there is victory in Jesus.

No matter how hard things in our lives seem to be, there is victory in Jesus.

Response: Song

Communion reminds us of the Eternal Kingdom.

The Lord’s Supper recalls the coming restoration of all things.

Scripture

Reflection

Communion reminds us that Jesus didn’t come only to save us.

He came to redeem and rescue the whole world!

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son.

Bread and wine reveal God’s plan for the whole world.

Paul said in Romans 8 that Creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Communion proclaims to the world its own ultimate destiny—just as Communion demonstrates the union of God and Man, it also declares the union of Heaven and Earth.

It looks forward to another meal—not a funeral dinner, but a wedding supper—when Jesus, the Lamb of God, establishes His eternal kingdom and literally creates Heaven on Earth.

Response: Jesus has invited you to the wedding supper.

Have you RSVP’d?

Conclusion

Summary

Communion reminds us of the personal presence of God among us.

Communion reminds us that the infinite God became flesh.

Communion reminds us of the sacrifice of Christ.

Communion reminds us of the victory of Christ over evil.

Communion reminds us of the Eternal Kingdom.

Response: The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended to hell.

The third day He rose again from the dead.

He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From there He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy worldwide Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Amen.