(64) Matthew 18:21-35: The Call to Forgiveness

Prayer of Adoration

Sovereign Lord, You are the eternal and unchanging God, rich in mercy and abounding in steadfast love. By Your grace alone, undeserved and unearned, You have called us from death to life, not by works so that no one may boast, but by Your sovereign mercy and the blood of Christ. Your grace is the unmerited favor that saves the guilty, heals the broken, and restores the lost. It is the power that sanctifies our hearts, sustains us in weakness, and seals us for glory. We marvel that the infinite God, holy and just, should pour out such abundant grace on sinners like us. May our lives be marked by grateful obedience, reflecting the grace that has transformed us. To You, who alone are worthy, be all glory, honor, and praise forever and ever. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer

Heavenly Father,

We come before You with humble hearts, grateful for Your mercy and grace that have saved us. We thank You for calling us to follow Jesus, our King, and for the transforming power of forgiveness in our lives.

Lord, we lift up our church family to You.

Strengthen us to walk in Your ways, to forgive as we have been forgiven, and to love one another deeply in the freedom of the gospel. Help us to be a community marked by grace, truth, and humble obedience to Your Word.

Father, we bring before You the leaders in our local community here in Steubenville.

Draw them into a deeper love for Christ and a sincere commitment to follow Him in all areas of life and leadership. May they govern with wisdom, justice, and humility, seeking Your kingdom above all else.

We pray for the people of Wheeling as they rebuild from the recent flooding.

Provide them with the resources, encouragement, and strength they need to recover. May Your peace guard their hearts amid the challenges, and may Your church be a beacon of hope and help.

Lord, we lift up the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, especially the war between Israel and Iran.

We confess that these times are difficult and complex, and we as Your church need Your wisdom and patience. Help us to respond not in fear or haste, but with steady faith and godly discernment. Teach us to be peacemakers, to pray fervently, and to act in love and truth. May our words and actions reflect Your kingdom and bring glory to Your name in the midst of turmoil. We pray for our political leaders to act with your supernatural wisdom and not in their earthly wisdom.

We also bring before You the families of the Minnesota state lawmakers who were murdered in their homes.

Comfort them in their grief and loss. Uphold them with Your sustaining grace and bring justice according to Your righteous judgment. May Your presence be their refuge and strength in this dark hour.

Finally, Father, we ask that You bless the preaching of Your Word today.

May the truths we have heard sink deep into our hearts. By Your Spirit, empower us to live lives marked by forgiveness, mercy, and obedience. May we be a people who truly follow King Jesus—living not for comfort but for eternal purpose and glory.

We pray all these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Sermon

Scripture Reading

Matthew 18:21–35 ESV

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Big Idea: The gospel not only cancels our debt—it transforms our hearts to forgive others.

Intro

Six months ago, we opened our Bibles to Matthew 14 and began listening carefully to the voice of our King. Page by page, we’ve walked with Jesus—not just through Galilee, but into the deep places of our own hearts. We’ve seen Him calm storms, feed crowds, confront tradition, heal outsiders, and shape His followers into a people who reflect His kingdom. Again and again, He has called us to follow Him, our King!—not just in what we say, but in how we live our very lives.

Now, in Matthew 18, we've heard the King's call to humble ourselves like children, to guard one another from sin, to seek out wandering brothers, and to pursue restoration through church discipline. Each step has shown us what it means to live as His redeemed community.

Now, as we close this section of Matthew, Jesus ends where He always begins: with grace. With forgiveness. With the kind of mercy that cannot be earned and cannot be repaid.

And once again, He speaks through the audacity of Peter—

Peter, always the one to ask the question we were thinking but were afraid to say out loud.

“Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” (v. 21). It sounds generous. It sounds holy. But Jesus blows the doors off Peter’s categories: “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Why? Because at the heart of the Christian life is this unshakable truth: we are sinners forgiven by a holy God. That forgiveness is not cheap. It cost the blood of Jesus. And it is not private. It reshapes how we live, how we relate to others, how we forgive. The gospel doesn’t stop with us—it flows through us.

So let’s hear the parable our King tells. Let’s listen to His voice again. And let’s begin where He does: with a call to forgiveness that has no limits.

I. God's Justice Demands Payment (vv. 23–25)

Jesus’ parable begins with the just actions of a king settling accounts. This is a picture of divine justice—real sin incurs real debt before a holy God.

And you need to think right now: what if God called all that you owe to him to be settled right now? What if you had to stand before him alone and he said,

“Now it's time to pay up for all those times you've murdered in your heart by hating someone and calling them a fool.

It's time to pay up for every time you have listed after someone you were not in a covenant marriage with.

It's time to pay up for all the times you have taken on the name of my son and then misrepresented him with your sinful pride, bitterness, or compromise before the world.

It's time to pay up for every time you have committed cosmic treason by determining for yourself what is wrong and what is right.

Because friends, real sin incurs a real debt. And we shouldnt be shocked by this!

If you stole a candy bar from your sibling—the one they saved up their allowance to buy—what’s the just response? To restore what was taken. To make it right. If someone steals your car and wrecks it, they owe you. In the same way, when we sin, we incur a debt.

But here’s what we need to grasp: sin isn’t just horizontal—it’s vertical. Sin is ultimately an offense against God, because it violates His holy character and righteous law.

David said to God, “Against you, you only, have I sinned” (Psalm 51:4).

Joseph refused to sin with Potiphar’s wife because it would be “a great wickedness and sin against God” (Genesis 39:9).

Daniel and Nehemiah confessed the people’s sins against God, not just against others (Nehemiah 1:6–7).

Sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4).

Every lie, every lustful thought, every moment of pride or rebellion—it’s all a breach of trust with the One who created you, loves you, and commands your obedience. Every act of sin deepens our debt to Him.

And the debt described in this parable (10,000 talents) is unfathomable. A talent was the largest measure for money in the ancient world. It was 75-100 pounds in gold. Many of us know that a denarius was one day’s wage in Jesus’ time. 1 talent was worth about 6,000 denarii.

In modern terms, the debt was about 12 billion dollars—an absurd number to Jesus' listeners!

along the lines of a child saying "this guy owed the King a million, gazillion dollars.”

So the point is not the actual value of the debt; the point is that the debt is absolutely and totally unpayable. So the king justly orders consequences: the servant, his family, and his possessions were to be sold. Justice demands a reckoning (cf. Romans 6:23).

And the king responds with justice. The servant, his family, and everything he owns are to be sold. This wasn’t cruelty—it was fairness according to the standards of the time. Because justice demands a reckoning.

And that’s exactly what Scripture says about our standing before God. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Not inconvenience. Not discomfort. Death. Eternal separation from the holy presence of God. Why? Because our debt is greater than we can imagine.

Every sin—every act of pride, lust, anger, rebellion—has been a willful refusal to honor the God who gave us breath. And none of it is forgotten. He is not a forgetful grandfather in the sky. He is a holy King. And He keeps the books.

So we must ask the question again: Where will you stand when God calls your account? Will you argue? Will you plead your intentions? Your effort? Your religious record?

Friend, on that day, all self-justification will evaporate. All that will remain is the debt you owe. And unless that debt is dealt with—you will face judgment.

This is the terrifying weight of the story Jesus is telling. And if this were the end of the parable, we’d have no hope. But thank God, this is not where the story ends. Because the King is not only just—He is merciful.

And what He does next is unlike any earthly king. It is completely undeserved, completely unexpected, and completely transformative.

Let’s look at it.

II. God’s Mercy Cancels Our Debt (vv. 26–27)

But just when you expect judgment to fall—just when the weight of justice is about to crush the servant—we get the most unexpected turn.

“Have patience with me,” the servant begs, “and I will pay you everything.”

What a ridiculous promise! Imagine standing before the IRS with $12 billion in debt and saying, “Just give me a little time—I’ll pay it back.” This isn’t a king or a billionaire. This is a servant. He’s not getting there with a payment plan. It’s absurd. And that’s the point.

The man is desperate. He’s asking for patience so he can work off a debt that would take 1,645 years of daily, no breaks, labor to pay off! That doesn’t include other expenses you rack up in that time too!

Come on now! This guy is delusional if he thinks he could ever pay his King back!

But if you haven’t realized it yet—this servant is you.

You owe your King a debt you cannot pay. You’ve broken His law, rejected His rule, and dishonored His holiness. And no amount of effort, church attendance, good deeds, or moral resolve can erase what you owe. But look at the King.

“And out of compassion, the master of that servant released him and forgave the debt.”

This is where the story turns from terrifying to breathtaking. The King doesn’t give him more time. He doesn’t reduce the debt. He cancels it—all of it. Not because the servant earned it. Not because the servant could repay it. But because the King is merciful.

The word Jesus uses for “forgive” is the same word we see in the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt 6:12). It’s also the same word used at the Last Supper: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt 26:28).

Forgiveness is not cheap. It is central to the kingdom. And it comes at a cost—not to the servant, but to the King.

What God has done in Christ is no less than this:

He looked at your infinite moral debt—the sin you could never repay—and instead of demanding it from you, He placed it on His Son.

“For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus paid it all—not with gold or silver, but with His own blood. That’s how your debt gets canceled. Not by working harder. Not by being religious. But by trusting the mercy of the King.

And if you've received that mercy, if you know that your impossible debt has been wiped clean, the only proper response is worship, wonder, and humility.

This parable is a beautiful picture of the free gift of the gospel.

But Jesus’ story doesn’t end there because, too often, we forget the forgiveness of God and the whole point of this parable is to answer Peter’s question about how many times of forgiveness is enough.

III. Unforgiveness Reveals a Gospel Problem (vv. 28–30)

What happens next is shocking—and tragically familiar. The forgiven servant walks out and finds a fellow servant who owes him about 100 denarii. That’s about three months’ wages—a real debt. Significant. Painful. But compared to the 10,000 talents he was just forgiven, it’s nothing.

Still, he grabs the man and chokes him, demanding payment. And when that fellow servant pleads—with the exact same words the first servant had just used—he refuses. No mercy. No patience. No hint that he had just been forgiven a mountain of debt.

This is Jesus holding up a mirror. Because here’s the truth: we are tempted to do the same thing.

Someone gossiped about you?

Someone betrayed your trust?

Someone hurt your child, your spouse, your reputation?

Someone in the church disappointed or offended you?

Hear me, those wounds are real. That debt is not an imaginary debt.

But Jesus is asking: How does that debt compare to the one you were forgiven?

When we withhold forgiveness, what we’re really saying is:

“What they did to me is worse than what I did to God.” “They owe me more than I ever owed Him.”

1 Timothy 1:15 ESV

15 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

So unforgiveness is not just relational brokenness. It’s a gospel problem.

Because those who truly grasp the cross—those who have fallen at Jesus’ feet and heard, “Your debt is gone”—cannot walk away and choke their neighbor.

So let me press this gently but directly:

Is there someone in your life that you’re still choking—if not with your hands, then with your silence? With your bitterness? With the way you relive the offense again and again in your mind?

Is there someone whose debt you have been holding onto, while claiming to worship a King who forgives?

Is there someone—even in this church—who needs to hear the words from you: “I forgive you”?

Some of you are harboring wounds that go far deeper than petty slights. This isn't easy. Forgiveness is not pretending that wrongs don't matter. It's not automatic trust. It’s not sweeping things under the rug. But forgiveness is releasing your right to vengeance. It’s entrusting the debt to God. It’s canceling the IOU, because Christ already paid yours.

So here’s the heart of this point:

When we refuse to forgive, we are denying the gospel with our lives.

But when we forgive—even when it’s slow, even when it’s hard—we are showing that grace has truly taken root. We are proving that we belong to the King.

IV. God Judges the Hypocrisy of the Unmerciful (vv. 31–34)

The hypocrisy doesn't go unnoticed. The other servants—the community—see what’s happened, and they are grieved (v. 31). Rightly so. They watched mercy extended from the king... only to see it hoarded and withheld by one who had been forgiven much.

So they go and tell the king. And the king is not indifferent. He is righteously angry. He summons the servant, rebukes him, and revokes his mercy, delivering him over—not just to prison, but to the torturers. This is a picture of divine judgment.

And Jesus’ message is clear:

Forgiveness is not just something we receive—it’s something that must transform us.

This is where the parable lands with terrifying force. It is not enough to have heard of grace. It is not enough to have said, “Lord, have mercy.” If God’s mercy has truly touched your heart, it will change the way you treat others.

Theological Weight:

This is not salvation by works. Jesus is not saying you earn God’s forgiveness by forgiving others. But He is saying:

A heart that refuses to forgive is a heart that has likely never known God’s forgiveness at all.

This servant’s actions revealed that he had never truly grasped the mercy he was shown. He thought he’d gotten away with something. He didn’t see himself as a debtor rescued by grace. And so he walked out unchanged—and ended up condemned.

Unforgiveness is a gospel issue. And unrepentant unforgiveness can become a judgment issue.

Jesus’ parable vividly illustrates a divine principle that’s also found in the Lord’s Prayer: “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matt 6:12). And we too often overlook that word “as”. That means, “in the same way”. Jesus is telling us to say, “God forgive us in the same way we forgive others!”

And with a little self-reflection, I think that should terrify all of us.

Notice how the king’s mercy to the first servant is directly linked to that servant’s willingness to forgive others. This is not about earning forgiveness by our works, but about the evidence of it.

When God forgives us—cancels our impossible debt—it transforms our hearts. We no longer hold grudges or keep a record of wrongs. But when we refuse to forgive, we show that we have misunderstood or rejected the forgiveness God has freely given us.

The king’s harsh response to the unforgiving servant is a warning: God’s mercy is genuine, and it demands a transformed heart. Forgiveness isn’t optional for those who have experienced it. It’s the hallmark of belonging to the kingdom of God. If we want to receive God’s forgiveness fully, we must be willing to extend that same grace to others.

This is the rhythm of the Christian life: forgiven and forgiving, loved and loving. When the heart is truly changed by grace, mercy flows out naturally.

Church, this parable is a warning against playing games with grace.

It is possible to be around the gospel for decades and never be changed by it.

It is possible to mouth the words “forgive us our debts” while tightening your grip around someone else’s throat.

It is possible to sing about the cross while silently nursing a grudge.

Jesus is telling us: that kind of faith is counterfeit and will not be in His Kingdom.

And in verse 35 we see that God will judge us in the same way we judge other people.

V. Forgiveness Is a Heart Issue (v. 35)

Jesus doesn’t leave the parable hanging there. He drives it home. This isn’t just a story. It’s a warning. It’s a test of true discipleship.

And He makes it deeply personal. After detailing the punishment for the unforgiving servant, Jesus tells His followers:

Matthew 18:35 ESV

35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

You might ask, “What does “from the heart” mean?”

It means more than just saying the words “I forgive you” while seething inside. It means more than pretending to forget or pushing the pain away just to keep the peace.

Forgiving from the heart means a deep, Spirit-enabled release of bitterness—a sincere desire for the good of the one who wronged you.

This is not sentimentality. It is supernatural. It doesn’t come naturally to us—it only comes to hearts transformed by grace.

The gospel doesn’t just command us to forgive. It gives us new hearts that want to forgive.

Jesus’ language here is deliberate. He echoes Genesis 4:24—where Lamech boasts that if Cain’s vengeance was sevenfold, his would be seventy-sevenfold. Lamech celebrates limitless vengeance. But Jesus calls His disciples to limitless mercy.

“Not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Vengeance, and celebration over people’s downfall, is the way of the world. Mercy is the way of the King.

So here’s the challenge, church:

Are you merely tolerating people? Or have you forgiven them from the heart?

Are you holding someone hostage to your anger, your silence, or thinly veiled sarcasm?

Are you waiting for them to deserve forgiveness before you give it?

If so, the warning is real:

“So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you…” This is not a threat for those who stumble to forgive—it’s a warning for those who refuse to. Unforgiveness isn't a flaw to manage. It's a red flag on your soul.

But here’s the good news:

If you feel the weight of this… If you see the bitterness in your own heart… If you feel how impossible this kind of forgiveness is on your own… Then you’re right where Jesus wants you.

Because He is the servant who bore our unpayable debt. He is the King who looked on us with compassion. And He is the one who can give you a heart like His.

Come to Him again. Be humbled by His mercy. Be renewed by His grace. And then go and forgive… from the heart.

Now, let me pause and say something important:

Forgiveness does not mean everything goes back to how it was.

It doesn’t mean trust is immediately restored.

It doesn’t mean you stay in a harmful or abusive situation.

If someone has sinned against you in a way that endangers your safety or the safety of others—especially in cases of abuse—you are not obligated to put yourself back in harm’s way.

Forgiveness does not mean giving the other person freedom to do whatever they want to you.

It does means you’ve stopped choking them with your bitterness.

You’ve stopped holding their debt over their head.

You’re handing that debt over to the Lord and saying, “Vengeance belongs to You, not me.”

You probably still need boundaries. You probably still need help. That’s why the church community exists—to pursue truth, justice, and healing together.

But forgiveness is a heart posture. It’s letting go of revenge. It’s choosing mercy over malice. And even if the relationship isn’t fully restored, your soul can be.

Conclusion

So, as we come to the close of Matthew 14–18, we’ve spent six months walking in the footsteps of Jesus, listening to His voice, watching His heart, and being shaped by His call. These chapters haven’t just given us stories—they’ve given us summons. This is what it means to follow King Jesus.

Our King has called:

To face rejection with trust in the Father's will.

To have compassion for the hurting and hungry.

To walk by faith, not fear, even in the storm.

To participate in His work, offering what little we have for His purposes.

To trust Him when we don’t understand.

To pursue purity of heart, not just outward obedience.

To forsake empty tradition in favor of true devotion.

To engage in His mission to outsiders, showing mercy beyond our comfort zones.

To be on guard against false teaching and subtle pride.

To confess Christ as the Son of God and our King, no matter the cost.

To be willing to suffer for the sake of the gospel.

To gaze upon the glory of Christ and listen to the beloved Son.

To live in daily dependence on Christ, not our own strength.

To love one another in the freedom of the gospel.

To be great in our humility, low before others and lifted by grace.

To kill sin ruthlessly before it kills us or others.

To seek out restoration with wandering brothers and sisters.

To practice godly discipline, not to shame but to save.

And now, finally, to forgive lavishly—as we have been forgiven.

This is the call of the Kingdom. Not a call to comfort, but to Christ. Not a path of ease, but of eternal purpose. The call of the King has rung out across these chapters—will you follow Him?

Let’s Pray

Confession

Father in heaven, We bow before You as the King who is just and merciful. You have every right to call us to account for the debt we owe You— A debt of sin we could never repay, A lifetime of rebellion, selfishness, and pride. We confess, Lord, that we have not loved as we ought. We have held onto grudges. We have harbored bitterness. We have withheld forgiveness from those You’ve called us to forgive. We’ve too often demanded justice for others while pleading for mercy for ourselves. Forgive us, Lord.

Create in us clean hearts, O God. Hearts softened by Your grace. Hearts that release the debt others owe us because You have released ours. Help us to forgive—not just with words, but from the heart. Not with denial or cheap peace, But with sincerity, courage, and Christlike compassion.

Thank You for the cross, Where the unpayable debt of our sin was paid in full. Thank You for the blood of Jesus, The only currency that could cancel what we owed. Let that mercy so fill us that we cannot help but extend it to others.

And now, as we come to the end of this journey through Matthew 14–18, Help us not just to remember what we’ve heard—but to obey. You have called us to trust, to follow, to love, to restore, to forgive. May the call of the King echo in our hearts beyond this moment. And may we follow You—whatever it costs, wherever it leads— Not out of guilt, but out of gratitude. Not to earn Your love, but because we already have it in Christ.

We pray all of this in the strong and merciful name of Jesus, Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

Psalm 130 ESV

1 Out of the depths we cry to you, O Lord! 2 O Lord, hear our voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of our pleas for mercy! 3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. 5 We wait for the Lord, our souls wait, and in his word we hope; 7 ...hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. 8 And he will redeem you from all your iniquities.

Because of Christ, your debt is paid in full. You are no longer condemned, but forgiven. You have been freed by His grace. In Christ, you are forgiven. Go and forgive as you have been forgiven.

Praise the Lord!

Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper

1. Invitation to the Table

Having confessed our sins, received assurance of pardon, and praised our Redeemer, we now come to the Table.

This meal belongs to those who belong to Christ—those who have repented and believed the gospel, who have been baptized, and are walking in fellowship with a gospel-proclaiming church.

So please, examine yourself to see if this is true of you. If you're not yet a follower of Jesus, let the plate pass today and instead consider what it would mean to repent and believe in Him. If you are in Christ and not under discipline from the church where you are a member, eat with joy.

And if you are a Christian and realize you hold unforgiveness toward someone in this room, or if you have not repented of sin against someone in this room, go and be restored to them before you join in the meal.

This bread and this cup are a visible sermon: they proclaim the death of Jesus Christ until He comes again.

As we come to the Lord’s Table, we are reminded that this meal is not just a ritual—it is a response. A response to the mercy of our King. A visible reminder of the debt that has been paid in full by the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ.

If you have trusted in Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins—if you have laid your debt at the foot of the cross—then this meal is for you. But if you are harboring bitterness or withholding forgiveness from someone today, take this moment seriously. Examine your heart.

Not to see if you are worthy—none of us are. But to see if you are willing to come to Jesus in humble repentance and renewed faith.

Introduction to “How Sweet and Awe-Full...”

As we sing “How Sweet and Aweful Is the Place,” and receive the elements of the Lord’s Supper, let the words of the song stir your heart toward reverent gratitude and self-examination.

And when we sing the word “awful”, remember that it is not awful as in terrible. It is Awe-full, as in filled with awe.

So, brothers and sisters, be filled with Awe at the mercy of God that has welcomed you to His table—and prepare to partake in remembrance of the One who paid it all.

Blessing the Elements

Gracious Father, set apart this bread and this cup from their common use to this holy purpose. As we partake, feed our souls, deepen our love for Christ, and unite us as one body. In Jesus' name, amen.

Let’s sing as we receive the bread and fruit of the vine.

Distribute the elements during the song

2. Scripture Reading

Let us hear the words from the apostle Paul:

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he 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, saying, “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.

3. Communion Prayer

Father, thank You for giving Your Son. Lord Jesus, thank You for offering Your body and shedding Your blood. Holy Spirit, strengthen our faith now as we eat and drink. May this meal nourish our hearts in the grace of Christ. Amen.

4. Partaking

Before the bread: “This is the body of Christ, broken for you. Take and eat.”

Before the cup: “This is the blood of the covenant, poured out for the forgiveness of sins. Drink of it, all of you.”

Let’s lift our praise to our Trinitarian God with one more proclamation of adoration.

8. Doxology

Benediction

Go now in the peace of Christ, Remembering the debt you could never repay— And the mercy that canceled it all. Walk as those who have been forgiven, And forgive as those who know the weight of grace. Follow your King not in fear, but in faith, Not with clenched fists, but with open hands— Extending the mercy you have received.

And may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, now and always. Amen.