One-Off: Partaking of the Lord's Table (12.29.24)

Good morning, and welcome to Family Worship with the church body of Eastern Hills. Whether you are here in the room, or online, thanks for being part of our celebration of Jesus today.

If you are visiting with us for the first time this morning, thanks for choosing to worship with Eastern Hills! We would like to be able to thank you personally for your visit and to pray for you, so if you wouldn’t mind, please take a moment during the sermon to fill out a visitor card, which you’ll find in the back of the pew in front of you. If you’re online, you can let us know about your visit by filling out the communication form at the bottom of our “I’m new“ page. If you’re here in the room today, you can get that card back to us in one of two ways: you can put it in the boxes by the doors at the close of service, or I would love the opportunity to meet you personally, so after service, you can bring that card to me directly, and I have a gift to give you to thank you for your visit today.

I wanted to remind everyone in the church family that we have a great Christian school as a ministry of Eastern Hills, and the board, administrators, staff, teachers, and students can all really use our prayers and support. It’s a blessing to be able to offer great Christ-centered education to children in this day and age, and our school does so exceptionally well. Several of our teachers are a part of our church family as well, and we appreciate their service.

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Opening

Today we commemorate an ancient Christian practice—one that is nearly 2,000 years old. When we observe the Lord’s Supper, or communion, or the eucharist (which is just the English version of the Greek word eucharistia, which means “thanksgiving”) together, we participate in a form of worship that is literally as old as Christianity itself. The Lord’s Supper observance was inaugurated by Jesus on the eve of His crucifixion according to Matt 26:26-28.

I love that we usually take the Lord’s Supper on either the last Sunday or the first Sunday of the year, because it comes right after Advent. Last week, we gathered at the manger, so to speak, to worship the Infant King. This morning, we gather at the table of the Lord and worship the crucified and risen Christ through this observance together.

I have preached several messages specifically on the Lord’s Supper on Sundays when we have taken it together over my seven years as senior pastor. This morning we will turn the diamond just a little bit and consider a slightly different facet. Our focal passage this morning will be in 1 Corinthians 11—Paul’s instruction and admonition to the church in Corinth regarding their abuses of the Supper.

So as you are able, please turn to verses 17-34 of 1 Corinthians 11 in your Bibles or Bible apps, and stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word:

1 Corinthians 11:17–34 CSB

17 Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you. 20 When you come together, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. 21 For at the meal, each one eats his own supper. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk! 22 Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter! 23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 So, then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep. 31 If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged, 32 but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned with the world. 33 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment. I will give instructions about the other matters whenever I come.

PRAYER (pray for EHCA)

It’s important for us to step back occasionally and consider the Lord’s Supper and its meaning for us as believers. Remember that the Supper is what is known as an “ordinance” of the church, or a prescribed practice or religious rite. Jesus only gave the church two ordinances that we practice: the Lord’s Supper and baptism, and the two are related to one another. Baptism is the doorway into identifiable membership in the church, and the Lord’s Supper is the repeated, renewing sign of membership in the church.

The Lord’s Supper is practiced in various ways by various churches. Some churches take the Supper every week. Some once a month. Here at EHBC, we have decided that we want to take the Supper at least once per quarter. And while we aren’t legalistic about it, in order to make sure we plan to regularly participate in the taking of the Supper, we put it on the calendar every time a month has five Sundays. We move it around a little, depending on what we’re preaching on a given week. Some take it with wine, some with juice. We’re Baptists… so it’s juice here, with the possible exception of when the single-serve things during COVID were a little on the strong side, if you know what I mean.

Churches also differ in who they invite to share the Supper when they do gather to observe it. There are three basic approaches to this:

First, there’s what is known as “CLOSED” Communion. In closed communion, the church only allows those who are members OF THAT PARTICULAR CHURCH FELLOWSHIP, and who are in good standing with the church family, to participate in the ordinance.

On the other end of the spectrum are churches that practice “OPEN” Communion. Open communion churches invite everyone who is present to participate in the observance of the Supper, without reservation or qualification.

What we practice here at Eastern Hills is the third method, which is known as “CLOSE” Communion. In close communion, everyone present is invited to participate, but first they are admonished to consider the warnings of Scripture about taking the Supper in an unworthy manner—particularly as an unbeliever. Everyone present is encouraged to practice self-examination regarding their relationship with the Lord, and then if they can in good conscience partake of the Supper, then they are invited to do so as visiting family members with the church body. In other words, only those who are in close communion with the Lord Jesus are encouraged to participate.

With this framework in mind, this morning I would like for us to consider what the Apostle Paul had to say about the Lord’s Supper in these verses. My hope is that through this evaluation, we will find a deeper and more meaningful appreciation of the blessing, power, and holiness of the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper.

1: The Supper is a symbolic service.

Please hear me that the Supper isn’t merely symbolic. However, the Scripture is clear that the Supper is to be taken as a method of remembrance—it is to recall to our minds the reality of the sacrifice that Christ has made for us on the cross. The Supper is not that reality itself, so it is therefore symbolic of it. We see this in verses 23-25 of our focal passage:

1 Corinthians 11:23–25 CSB

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

The Gospel of Luke, which we will be our focus for most of 2025, records the instituting of the Lord’s Supper in chapter 22:

Luke 22:19–20 CSB

19 And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

To be completely clear, our position on the Lord’s Supper, which we believe the Scriptures affirm, does not hold to the Roman Catholic idea known as transubstantiation. Catholics believe that in the act of communion, the bread and wine literally become to body and blood of Jesus, and that Jesus is thus being re-sacrificed for us in a way whenever Mass is held, because those partaking are literally eating the body and blood of Christ. Though Jesus said that the bread is His body and the wine is His blood, He was not saying those things in a literal sense. The bread and wine are signs that point to the real substance. Transubstantiation is not a biblical perspective on the Supper.

We also do not hold to the Lutheran view of consubstantiation—the idea that the bread and wine contain the body and blood of Jesus “with, in, and under” them. The idea there is that through taking the body and blood of Jesus contained within the elements, then the partaker receives forgiveness of sins and confirmation of their faith. But the Bible says that faith in Jesus saves, not faith in the Supper. Consubstantiation is not a biblical perspective on the Supper either.

So our position is a memorial position: We take the Supper in obedience, remembering what Jesus has done for us through His sacrificial death, and anticipating the complete realization of His new Kingdom in the new covenant. This is why the Supper is only for those who have already believed—because it doesn’t make sense for someone to symbolize and memorialize something that they don’t believe is true.

But as long as we’re at this moment, if you’re someone who has never believed the Gospel, I want you to know that the Scriptures are true. The Bible tells us that we have a problem called sin. It’s all the ways that we refuse to live the way God wants us to live, whether by what we do (or don’t do), say, or think. The Scriptures tell us that we are separated from God because of our sin, and because we’re sinful, we can’t fix that separation. But because God loves us, Jesus Christ, who is both fully God and fully man, was really born of a virgin, and really lived a sinless life among us as one of us (which we studied in our Christmas series). He really died on the cross, paying the price necessary to remove the separation between us and God. Then He was buried, but rose again to eternal life. And He will return to judge the world and restore it to the state it was meant to be in at the beginning. And when we believe in Jesus’ death to save us, surrendering our lives to Him in faith, we are saved.

Will you believe the Gospel and be saved? Will you stop your rebellion against God and surrender your life to Him as your Savior and Lord? Trust Jesus, even right now, right where you are.

So the Supper recalls how Jesus suffered and died for us. That is what the bread and the juice represent—the broken body and shed blood of Jesus. When we engage in this observance, we are to remember the terrible price that Jesus paid so that we could be saved. When He died on that cross, He was dying the death that we deserve, and the suffering He experienced should have been ours:

Isaiah 53:3–6 CSB

3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him. 4 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. 6 We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all.

The Supper also recalls how Jesus overcame death on our behalf and rose from the grave. This victory over death—Jesus’s resurrection in the flesh—was recorded in the Gospels, such as in Luke:

Luke 24:36–40 CSB

36 As they were saying these things, he himself stood in their midst. He said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and terrified and thought they were seeing a ghost. 38 “Why are you troubled?” he asked them. “And why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself! Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” 40 Having said this, he showed them his hands and feet.

So the Supper recalls how Jesus died and how He rose, but it also looks forward to the time when Jesus will return to receive His people to Himself forever, as Jesus Himself promised:

Matthew 26:29 CSB

29 But I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Every time we take the Supper, we are showing a lost world that we believe in a returning Lord. So the Supper is indeed a symbolic service. But it is also, as I said, more than that.

2: The Supper is a sacred service.

The Lord’s Supper is not merely symbolic because it’s making a statement about who we are and what we believe. The Supper isn’t just a marker that we set in place like a trophy to memorialize Christ’s sacrifice, but an act of worship that we undertake both individually and corporately to show what—or more accurately, Who—is of utmost value in our lives. Whenever we take the Supper together, we say something about who Jesus is and what He has done, as well as about our relationship to Him, both to the watching world and to one another. So it is also a sacred time—a sacrament, as well as an ordinance. Verse 26 tells us what we declare in the Supper:

1 Corinthians 11:26 CSB

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

We are to see the Supper as a sacred time for three basic reasons:

A: It was instituted by Christ

Jesus prescribed our taking of the Supper as a remembrance of His sacrificial death when He said, “Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (1 Cor 11:25). Since Jesus gave us this ordinance as both a gift and an instruction, we should see it as a sacred honor to participate in.

B: It witnesses to Christ

As we have seen in verse 26, when we take the Supper together, we collectively declare the Lord’s death until He comes. Not only that, but through declaring His death, we are also declaring the truth of His burial, resurrection, ascension, and return. Please don’t misunderstand this point: taking the Supper doesn’t save us. A person could take the Supper and be just as lost afterwards as they were beforehand, even if they think it somehow saved them. Only Jesus saves, and the Supper is an image pointing to that reality.

C: It witnesses about Christ

While the Lord’s Supper declares the faith of those who partake of it, it also points to the truth of the Gospel to those who do not know the Lord yet. Every time we take it, we tell the world that Jesus, Son of Man and Son of God, went to a cross and died for the sins of humanity, that He rose from the dead, and that He lives today and will return for His people. It is a powerful witness.

So the Supper is also a sacred time for us. However, it calls us to a particular posture as well: a posture of submission.

3: The Supper is a submissive service.

The Lord’s Supper service offers the church an important opportunity to come together with a particular focus. Five times in our focal passage, Paul writes about the church “coming together” for the Supper (17, 18, 20, 33, 34… which says “gather together”). Any time the saints of God can gather themselves together and focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, it is a special time. The church is to gather together around the table in unity and fellowship in order to worship the Lord, not to engage in gluttony or drunkeness. So Paul admonishes them in verses 28-34:

1 Corinthians 11:27–34 CSB

27 So, then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep. 31 If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged, 32 but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned with the world. 33 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment. I will give instructions about the other matters whenever I come.

The observance should be special to us because it allows us the time and space to do two very important things through examination: Repent and renew.

Before any of us takes part in the Lord’s Supper, we need to submit to the Lord in the examination of our hearts, and come before God in confession and repentance for any selfishness and sin that we find there. Consider what the Psalmist said in Psalm 139:

Psalm 139:23–24 CSB

23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.

We will see in a moment how the selfishness of the Corinthians was playing itself out in their celebration of the Supper. But for now, notice what Paul tells them: that to take the cup in an unworthy manner is to be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. The Corinthians were apparently taking the Supper lightly—through things such as their acceptance of sin (an example of which Paul addressed in chapter 5 ), or through their refusal to humbly walk in their commitment to the Lord and to one another (see chapters 3 and 4 for examples of this). And because of this, we see that some of them had gotten sick, and some had even died because of their sin!

The table of the Lord is an opportunity to face both our sinfulness and our selfishness, and to confess those to the Lord, seeing them the way God sees them—as horrible enough to deserve death, which Jesus willingly paid. We can then turn from those things and turn to Him in faith.

And as we surrender those sins and our selfishness to the Lord, we can then ask the Lord to renew our passion and desire for following Jesus as His disciples by His Spirit, as David did in Psalm 51:10:

Psalm 51:10 CSB

10 God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

The Supper is a great time to remember why we are here, church. It’s a time to be reminded and convicted about what we’ve committed to the Lord, and to renew those commitments. Many of us experience “sin creep:” where we’ve compromised little by little, and have now found ourselves a bit off track of where we should be with the Lord. This time around the table of the Lord is a good time to submit to God and return to our first love (as the church at Ephesus was called to do in Revelation 2:4-5).

So the Supper is a submissive service. And along with that submissiveness, it also tends to be a solemn service.

4: The Supper is a solemn service.

Unfortunately for the church at Corinth, many in the church were approaching the Supper with the wrong attitude, motive, and care for one another. Paul already had addressed the divisions that the church had among them way back in chapter 1. They had problems. And since they had problems of division, Paul wasn’t all that shocked that their approach to the Supper was dysfunctional as well. The funny thing is that it seems that they might have pointed to their observance of communion as something they thought Paul should have praised them for. Boy, were they wrong:

1 Corinthians 11:17–22 CSB

Paul’s criticism of the Corinthians is brutal. I think that you could really summarize it with verse 20: When they came together for what they called the Lord’s Supper, it wasn’t the Lord’s Supper they were eating at all. Ouch. Really, they were just using it as an excuse to all eat and drink together at the same place and time. I don’t think we would call our potlucks “the Lord’s Supper,” would we?

But they weren’t even that good. The wealthy would bring a feast and eat it all themselves, and the poor would have nothing to bring, and would just sit and watch as the rich stuffed their faces and got plastered! How did that promote worship?

We don’t have the same problem that the church in Corinth had, because we don’t manage the Supper the same way. No one had to bring their own food and drink this morning, and we have enough for everyone to partake. But we might be carrying the same divisive spirit with us, the same idea of pride or superiority, the same thinking that some brother or sister in this room right now is somehow “less than” or unworthy of your fellowship. I hope and pray that this is not the case.

But there is a certain solemnity with which we should approach our time at the table this morning. Truly, there is nothing or no one who should get glory through this time except the Lord. All of us are equal at the foot of the cross—we all need Jesus and His saving grace. When we receive the Supper in humility and gladness with faith, Jesus is glorified, we are edified, the lost are evangelized, and the Father is exalted. There is no room for pride or position here at the table of the Lord.

I get to lead the Supper and the deacons get to serve the Supper not because we are any more holy or special, but because we have been called to these positions by the Lord and by the church. We are but servants of the fellowship during this time. It is our humble privilege to serve.

Closing

After hearing all of this, one might wonder if any of us are worthy to partake of the Lord’s Table this morning. The honest answer is that apart from Christ, we aren’t worthy at all. We aren’t saved because we’re worthy to take the Supper. We’re worthy to take the Supper because Jesus has saved us, and we’re covered in His righteousness instead of our sinfulness.

And if you’re here this morning and you’ve never trusted in Jesus to save you, then I want to be absolutely clear: None of the people here who are Christians are worthy in themselves to take the Supper. It’s only because of what Jesus has done and our belonging to Him in faith that makes us worthy. You might have terrible sins in your past. Jesus died so you could be forgiven of those. You might think you’re not worthy of coming to Jesus. None of us are, but He died for us anyway. You might think that you need to get some things in your life straightened out before you surrender to Jesus. Jesus calls you to come just as you are right now, and let Him straighten your life out.

The band is going to come and lead us in a song of response. If you’ve never believed in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, trusting in what He has done to save you, and surrendering your life to Him, and this morning you believe that God is calling you to faith in Christ, then give up. Right now, where you are. And when the band is playing, come and share that with us, so this church family can celebrate your new life with you. If you’re online, reach out.

Baptism

Church membership

Prayer

Giving

PRAYER

Lord’s Supper Celebration

In just a moment, we are going to take the Supper together. Before we do, however, I want to reiterate that if you are not a believer, please do not take the Supper this morning. I don’t say this to offend or exclude, but according to Scripture, taking the Lord’s Supper is a declaration of the truth of the Lord Jesus’s death on the cross, and a reminder of the covenant that those who believe in Christ have entered into. If you don’t believe in Christ, then you are not in the covenant, but please know that we love you and are so glad you’re here. We would relish the opportunity to answer any questions you have about the Gospel. Hopefully our taking the Supper is a testimony to you of the unity and love that we have as believers, and will itself be a testimony of Jesus’s love for you.

Call down the deacons to serve.

As the deacons come, I’d like for us to take a moment and obey Paul’s instructions in verse 33 of 1 Corinthians 11: Everyone please stand, and welcome those around you to the table of the Lord.

You may be seated again.

Today, through taking these elements together, we are declaring as one family what Jesus has done for us by willingly laying down His body and His blood, and we are declaring to each other and to the watching world that we have entered into that new covenant by faith.

Distribute the bread to the deacons.

Luke records that Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to His disciples.

Have someone give thanks for the bread.

Luke then records that Jesus said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”

Distribute the cup to the deacons.

Luke records that Jesus also treated the cup in the same way after supper.

Have someone give thanks for the cup.

The Scripture records that Jesus said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

Send the deacons back. Pray.

Closing Remarks

Bible reading plan (Isa 49-50, Pro 24:1-22)

No Pastor’s Study

No Prayer Meeting

Instructions for guests

Benediction

1 Corinthians 10:16–17 CSB

16 The cup of blessing that we bless, 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? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, since all of us share the one bread.

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