Lords Supper
Notes
Transcript
Good morning, church. Thank you for being here this morning.
We will be in Psalm 43 this morning. If you don’t have a Bible with you, there are plenty in the pew backs, and it will also be up on the screen. Please read along with me.
Vindicate me, God, and champion my cause
against an unfaithful nation;
rescue me from the deceitful and unjust person.
For you are the God of my refuge.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?
Send your light and your truth; let them lead me.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling place.
Then I will come to the altar of God,
to God, my greatest joy.
I will praise you with the lyre,
God, my God.
Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him,
my Savior and my God.
Now, we often move through this portion of the service rather quickly, and often without much regard for those who may be visiting with us, or may not be quite familiar with what we’re doing. So this morning, I wanted to take a few minutes and share briefly about the Lords Supper. It’s also good for all of us to be reminded from time to time why we do this.
So, I want to start by looking at the institution of the Lords Supper. We find this in several places, but we will look specifically at Matthew 26:26-29.
As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take and eat it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 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.”
If you think back for a moment to the establishment of the Passover, you’ll remember that the Jewish people were instructed to sacrifice a lamb, spread some blood on their doorposts, and eat the Passover meal. The sacrificial lamb and the Passover meal, together observed as “the Passover” were the enduring reminder, throughout generations, of the Lords faithfulness to His people.
In this passage, Jesus and His disciples are observing the Passover meal together. All of the disciples obviously understood the significance of the Passover meal, and they recognized Jesus as the Messiah, but we know from our study through John that often it took a while for them to really “get it” when it came to Jesus teaching. And I believe thats certainly the case here. The disciples recognized Jesus words as historically significant, but perhaps not contemporarily significant. In other words, it may have seemed as those Jesus were simply acknowledging the Passover observance itself.
But I think even we, with the benefit of two millennia of hindsight, still often don't appreciate the depth of Jesus’ words here.
“This is MY blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Jesus’ blood was poured out as the lamb’s. The difference - the blood of the lamb spared the children of Israel. The blood of Christ has spared all who believe.
And this is what we remember, what we proclaim, what we celebrate during this time.
But this practice is a time of remembrance not only for what the Lord has done, but also why he has done it.
Paul reminds us of this in 1 Cor 11:27-29
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. Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.
So as we prepare to eat this bread and drink this cup together, I want to encourage you all to take these next few minutes and look inward. Seek the Lord earnestly in prayer as you examine yourself in the light of our Lord’s sacrifice, and seek to receive these elements in a “worthy manner.”
In a sermon on The Lords Supper, Dr Jerry Winfield shares this quote that I just love.
Perhaps we are never more the church, the bride of Christ, than when we gather at the table to worship by remembering Him. May we never forget.
For those who may be visiting with us this morning, we are now entering into our time of prayer and communion - what we call the “call to worship.” During this time, we encourage you to take time to pray with your family or join someone around you, and pray over the psalm we just read together. There will be some prayer prompts up on the screen to help guide you as needed, but certainly do feel free to pray as the Spirit leads.
Following the prayer time, we will have the elements of the Lords Supper available right over here.
For those who are here regularly, we are going to change things up just a little bit this morning. I’m going to ask that when you go up to receive the elements, please take them back to your seat, but hold on to them. Following our prayer time, we will partake in the Lords Supper together.
Prayer Time
Prayer Time
Lords Supper
Lords Supper
On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
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.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Let’s pray
