Series: DEVOTED ; Devoted to Communion

DEVOTED TO COMMUNION

Acts 2:42-47, Genesis 12:8, 1Corinthians 11:23-26

Act 2:42  And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43  And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44  And all that believed were together, and had all things common;  45  And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46  And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47  Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. 

Genesis 12:8  And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. 

1Corinthians 11:23 - 26  For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:  24  And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 

Prayer - “Father, help us focus our attention on you as we come together today and on next Sunday when we share in holy communion with one another. Let us be quick to forgive, slow to anger, and devoted to one another through the power of your unfailing love.”

Introduction

Glad to have you here today as we tackle part 3 of our Devoted series. Our guiding text for the series has been Acts 2:42 where we learn that the early church was devoted to four specific practices of faith:

● Teaching

● Fellowship

● Breaking of Bread (Communion)

● Prayer

We’ve already worked through teaching and fellowship, and today we’ll be looking at the practice of breaking bread, also known as communion. And if you like eating, hosting, or sharing meals with others, then this is the practice for you. In fact, since all of us here generally eat a few meals everyday, this could be the most accessible and enjoyable of all the practices we’ll study together.

But make no mistake, breaking bread with other believers isn’t simply about passing the mashed potatoes around a dinner table. It’s a holy time of remembrance, praise, and community… made possible by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

It has been said that, “When Jesus wanted to explain to His disciples what His death was all about, He didn’t give them a theory, He gave them a meal.”

So today, as we look at the practice of breaking bread, we also remember it is only possible, through Christ, that we are here today. He built the trail so we could walk the path. And thankfully, he included food as an integral part of the journey. DEVOTED TO COMMUNION

Main Teaching

Breaking bread, or communion is incredibly important. Here's why the early church was stubbornly devoted to breaking bread together.

Read 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 (KJV 1900)

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

Communion is about remembering Jesus.

His life.

His sacrifice on the cross.

His body, broken for you and me.

His blood, the marker of a new and final covenant between God and man.

His death.

His resurrection.

His promise to return again for His church.

These are realities for the believer that we simply cannot forget. And because communion is implicitly done with others, it follows that we celebrate and remember Jesus together.

Think about it like this: Our common union, the thing that brings believers together all around the world, is Jesus Christ. We have talked about this before when we looked at the practice of fellowship, or koinonia. Our common bond is Jesus. Communion is our divine opportunity to remember Him every time we get together in fellowship.

- The Power of Remembrance

I think we can all agree, as a general rule, humans are pretty forgetful.

Pastor - Share a brief story here about a time you forgot something. Maybe like the time you forgot you put your glasses on top of your head and you spent an hour looking around the house for them. Try to highlight how easy and how often we forget things.

In order to combat our forgetfulness many of us write notes to ourselves, make recurring events on our Google calendars, or set alarms on our phones throughout the day. These devices and tricks help trigger our memories and keep us focused on things that matter. In fact, this practice is almost as ancient as humanity itself. Turn with me to the book of Genesis;

Explain Genesis 12:1-7. Read vs 8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. 

Abram built this altar, a remeberance of his time with God. Now, if you’ve read through the Old Testament any time recently, you’ll notice that building altars was a pretty normal practice, and many of them are referred to as altars of remembrance. Here’s what one biblical commentator says about them:

“Our altars of remembrance are a symbol of God’s faithfulness in the midst of wilderness, change, and transition. It’s important to remember those times of God’s faithfulness for our future self when doubt and difficulty arise in new ways, but they are also a reminder to future generations. These are the defining seasons of our life story that need to be remembered and shared with our children and grandchildren as a means to point them to God.[1]”

With this in mind, we can see how important it is to remember certain points of our faith. We can see why a practice like communion is so important as we collectively focus our memories on Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. We can see why the early church was so devoted to the practice.

We can also see why it’s so important to keep the practice of communion unpolluted by our division, anger, and sin.The Power of Remembrance

- Seek Reconciliation

Look at God. The Sunday School lesson this morning was titled, an appeal for reconcilitaion.

If we’re going to look at the practice of breaking bread together, we need to make sure we look at the good and the bad. And with communion specifically, there’s something Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount that’s worth mentioning.

Read Matthew 5:22-24 (TLB) But I have added to that rule and tell you that if you are only angry, even in your own home, you are in danger of judgment! If you call your friend an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse him, you are in danger of the fires of hell. 23  “So if you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and suddenly remember that a friend has something against you, 24  leave your sacrifice there beside the altar and go and apologize and be reconciled to him, and then come and offer your sacrifice to God.  

The instruction here is to be mindful of where you take your anger. In this example, when the altar was still a place to make sacrifices, Jesus says if you’re angry or at odds with another believer, you should go and be reconciled with them before bringing your sacrifice to the altar. In 1 Corinthians 11:27 the Apostle Paul warns us about taking communion in an unworthy manner. All this to say, I think it’s important to remember taking communion is a holy act of worship for those who believe.

Here’s another way to think about it… During communion we remember Jesus and all He did on our behalf. He traded His life for ours, so we could be reconciled to God and become co-heirs in the eternal kingdom of God. That’s a pretty huge thing Jesus did for us.

So it makes sense we should do all we can to be reconciled with others, at peace with our family and friends, and free from sin in our lives. We should be willing to forgive others, just as God has forgiven us through Christ.

We should deal with our anger and sin before partaking in communion. Not because it’s some random rule we need to follow, and definitely not as a way to exclude people from the communion table. But as believers, we are united in our common bond with Christ, and we should seek unity with others as much as we possibly can.

Imagine for a moment, an entire church completely devoted to unity, forgiveness, charity, and generosity with one another. I know it sounds crazy, idealistic, and difficult, but if I could dream for a moment… I imagine this is the kind of community described in Acts 2:44-47.

Seek Reconciliation

- BE ON ONE ACCORD

Read Acts. 2:44-47

And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

It takes a lot of effort to be “of one accord.” And it takes a lot of humility to sell our possessions to help provide for others. But in Communion, we focus on what we have in common, our faith in Jesus, and not on what makes us different. In communion, we set aside our differences, our anger, and our frustrations so we can gaze upon Christ together, and remember his sacrifice.

In communion we look back, but we also look ahead and celebrate our future hope as one church under Christ.

Conclusion

As we come to a close today, I’d like for all of us to take some time reflecting on our faith. Where have you seen God in your life? How did you come to faith? What are some of your favorite things about Jesus?

I’d also like you to look forward to the future. Where do you sense God leading you? How do you hope to grow in your faith over the next few years? Are there relationships you’d like to see reconciled?

Whenever we take communion together I want to remind you of Luke 1:37 when the angel Gabriel reminds Mary the mother of Jesus, “For nothing is impossible with God.”

God can and will do exceedingly, abundantly more than you could ask or imagine… You just have to be willing.

The Power of Remembrance

Seek Reconciliation

BE ON ONE ACCORD

[1] Accessed here: https://danielpassini.org/why-you-need-altars-of-remembrance/