Devoted to the Table: Why We Still Break Bread Together

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Series Intro

What does it really mean to be the Church — not just to attend, but to belong and live devoted? In this series, we explore the four pillars of the early Church and how we can be the kind of people God calls His Church to be: devoted to truth, to one another, to worship, and to prayer.

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Sermon

Devoted to the Table: Why We Still Break Bread Together

Primary Text: Acts 2:42c; Luke 22:14–20; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26

Supporting Texts: John 6:35; Revelation 3:20

Acts 2:42 ESV

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

I. Introduction – The Power of the Table

Start by asking: What’s one of the most meaningful meals you’ve ever had?

Church potlucks!

Thanksgiving meals.

After church lunches!

Why do meals matter so much when it comes to the Christian life?

Going to church with Mammaw…

Why do shared meals matter so much?

Meals form connection, create space for fellowship, and invite us to slow down and remember.

For the early church, the table wasn’t just food — it was worship, it was family, it was spiritual sustenance.

Jesus’s Life Model

Wedding at Cana – John 2:1–11

Jesus attends a wedding feast and turns water into wine.

The disciples believed in Him after seeing this.

Feeding of the 5,000 – Matthew 14:13–21; John 6

He blesses five loaves and two fish to feed a crowd.

John says this was a test of how the disciples would respond.

The people connected this event with prophecy of Deuteronomy 15, “The Lord your God will raise up for you another Prophet…”

Meal at Levi/Matthew’s House – Matthew 9:9–13; Luke 5:27–32

Jesus dines with tax collectors and sinners.

“I desire mercy and not sacrifice… I came to save sinners.”

Dinner at Simon the Pharisee’s House – Luke 7:36–50

A woman anoints Jesus’ feet during the meal.

The pharisee judged Him for allowing a sinner like her to touch Him.

Jesus taught on grace and forgiveness as He forgave her sins.

Meal at Mary, Martha, and Lazarus’ Home – Luke 10:38–42; John 12:1–2

Jesus is served by Martha while Mary listens at His feet.

Feeding of the 4,000 – Matthew 15:32–39

A second miraculous feeding with seven loaves and a few small fish.

Sabbath Meal with a Ruler of the Pharisees – Luke 14:1–14

Jesus heals a man and teaches about humility and hospitality.

The parable of the Great banquet - don’t invite friends and neighbors who can repay you, but invite the outcasts.

Be ready for the banquet when He calls you.

Zacchaeus’ House – Luke 19:1–10

After calling Zacchaeus from the tree, Jesus dines with him.

The Parable of the Taents

The Last Supper – Luke 22:14–20; Matthew 26:17–30

The sacred Passover meal where Jesus institutes communion.

Breakfast on the Shore (Post-Resurrection) – John 21:9–14

Jesus cooks fish and bread and eats with His disciples after His resurrection.

So we can see how Jesus used meals in relating with and teaching those around Him. His meals are very pivotal in His ministry, and I believe He teaches His followers by His own example, especially when He says in Luke 22:

II. The Table as Remembrance

Luke 22:19 – “Do this in remembrance of me.”

This was a celebration of the Passover, instituted for the Jew since their last night in Egypt when God miraculously rescued them.

“I have earnestly desired to eat this meal with you before I suffer.” A deep desire.

Digital Church - we don’t get to have a meal, to break bread, together often, but I believe we all can say we earnestly desire to do so.

This would be the last meal before His crucifixion. During this meal, He would teach His disciples how they should remember His sacrifice as He demonstrated for them this ritualistic meal:

Luke 22:17–20 ESV

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Jesus gave us the bread and cup to remember His sacrifice, of which we will partake in together.

But please understand, this is not just a ritual, but an encounter. Each time, we remember.

We’re drawn into the story of the cross again and again.

Just as the Passover draws the Jew back to the story of the night they were freed from Egyptian slavery, we are drawn back to the Cross and our freedom from slavery to sin and death.

It’s a practice that anchors our faith in what Christ has done.

I believe this is one of the reasons it is highlighted here that the early Church was devoted to the breaking of bread in their homes as Acts 2:42 tells us

III. The Table as Unity

Acts 2:42–46 – They broke bread in their homes and ate together…

This wasn’t just the Lord’s Supper they were doing together everyday, but also regular meals of fellowship.

Acts 2:46–47 (KJV 1900)

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.

Breaking bread means sharing life.

Think about the days when we weren’t so consumed with TV and our devices and we actually sat around the table and talked together. We shared our lives, what went on that day or that week, with one another.

Imagine the early Church doing this every day, as a community, in each other’s homes. The people would have been both encouraged by each other and cared for by each other.

One Accord - Unity.

Allison and I were just talking about unity of believers this morning. The Church is so divided when it comes to various theological views outside of the fact of Jesus’s death on the Cross being the payment for our sins and our offer of salvation. Everything else seeks to divide us.

Communion brings us back into unity with one another — rich or poor, Jew or Gentile, Republican or democrat, Armenian or Calvinist, young or old — all are welcome and equal at Christ’s table. All can come together in agreement in Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection.

Paul speaks on this disunity in his instructions when it comes to the Lord’s Supper, warning the 1 Corinthian Church of their divisiveness when they come together.

The Table should bring us together, not divide us. For the Table is about more than just our individual selves, but about the Church whom Christ redeems.

The table is His heavenly nourishment for us, as it is He Himself who was broken for us, as the Bread of Life.

IV. The Table as Nourishment

John 6:35 ESV

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

See Him recalling this to the disciples as He ate the Last Supper with them.

As we partake of the Communion meal together today, recall these words to you.

John 6:48–51 ESV

I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

He points back to the Exodus here again, as the Israelites complained in the desert journey, very early on, of being hungry in the wilderness. In response God gave them manna, a flakey substance that the Bible says fell like dew on the ground.

They were to gather and eat this bread from Heaven daily while in the wilderness. It was their daily bread, their daily sustenance. They did so as a community.

This bread was miraculous and so important that once the Ark of the Covenant was built, they were told to put a jar of it inside the Ark so that they would carry it around and remember forever. You also have the loaves of bread that were baked daily outside the the tent of meeting in the Tabernacle and later the Temple.

All of these “breads” pointed to Jesus, and with the Last Supper He brings this all together for the Disciples.

His Body, the Bread from Heaven, He invites us to feed upon, and we will live forever.

It is an act of faith every time we partake of it. This act, nourishes our souls.

Communion reminds us that His grace is our daily bread. It is our sustenance for daily living in the faith. The bread and cup don’t save us, but they point us to the One who does.

This practice fuels our devotion — to each other and to Him, spiritually, emotionally, and relationally.

It’s the reminder that we are family, united in Him, all fed by Him, and sustained by Him.

It’s not about the bread or juice itself, but what it points to: Jesus is the source of life.

His our El Shaddai, the All Sufficient One who nourishes and sustains.

And this table, this communion table with its bread and wine, is open to all. It is an invitation to all who will come.

Psalm 23:5 ESV

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

V. The Table as Invitation

Revelation 3:20 – “I stand at the door and knock…”

Remember what He said in response to the religious Pharisees when He ate at Matthew’s home with the sinners and tax collectors? “I came to save sinners.”

That’s you and me.

Remember in Luke 14 when He ate at the ruler of the Pharisees’ home and He taught about the Great Banquet, and the kind of people He said to invite? The poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind?

That’s you and me.

Remember how He goes on to say, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God?” An invitation was sent out to those who were invited initially and they declined because they had more important things to do, and so He told His servant to go out into the highways and hedges and compel people to come?

The table is open to all of us, but we need to be all in and place its importance, place Jesus, and dining with Him, above all other things in this life.

The Table invites us to draw near. To take hold, of the Kingdom He offers.

Even if you’ve drifted from God, the Table says: “Come back. Remember who you are in Me.”

It’s for the weary, the broken, the hungry.

If you’re devoted to Jesus, you should be devoted to the breaking of bread with His family.

VI. Come to the Table

Like any meal at your mom’s house, you’re told to be clean. Wash your hands she’d say right?

Well, before coming to the table, we are told to prepare our hearts. TO make sure we’ve been cleansed.

In his instructions to the Corinthians Paul says, “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”

The focus here is not only of our cleanliness, but also our attitude and behavior toward the table as well as with one another.

Have I confessed my sins to the Lord and sought His forgiveness?- my hands have been cleansed.

Have I recognized the magnitude and work of Jesus Christ as He took my punishment, becoming the broken body for my sin, when He was crucified dead and buried?

Am I in good standing with the Body of Christ in my relationship with one another. Loving one another as Christ has loved me?

IF we are devoted to the breaking of bread together, then we are a people, the Church, devoted to remembering and proclaiming Jesus.

Every time we come to the Table, we say: “I still believe. I still belong. I still need Jesus.”

We will break bread together, as our Communion meal, following this song.

During the song, take time to confess your sin and prepare your heart with God.

VII. The Invitation

Instruction: We will partake together at the end. You will see when I partake… Please note, the Communion meal is for repentant sinners, not the perfect.

Though we are not together in one room, it is perfectly valid for us to do this together, in our own spaces, and with our own family or gathering together.

Use what you have on hand. It is about remembrance, not the items themselves.

As the Table is now set, you are invited to join together as we begin with a prayer of confession for our cleansing.

I ask that you will pray with me, from your own heart:

Most merciful God,

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

we confess that we have sinned

in thought, word and deed.

We have not loved you with our whole heart.

We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.

In your mercy

forgive what we have been,

help us to amend what we are,

and direct what we shall be;

that we may do justly,

love mercy,

and walk humbly with you, our God.

Amen.

Hear the words of comfort our Saviour Christ says

to all who truly turn to him:

Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest. Matthew 11.28

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,

that whoever believes in him should not perish

but have eternal life. John 3.16

Hear what Saint Paul says:

This saying is true, and worthy of full acceptance,

that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 1 Timothy 1.15

Hear what Saint John says:

If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father,

Jesus Christ the righteous;

and he is the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 2.1, 2

The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts.  We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty (almighty God), creator of heaven and earth. You formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life. When we turned away, and our love failed, your love remained steadfast. You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God, and spoke to us through your prophets.

And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. Your Spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to announce that the time had come when you would save your people. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and ate with sinners. By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection you gave birth to your Church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit. At his ascension you exalted him to sit and reign with you at your right hand.

On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

When the supper was over he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.

By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father (God), now and for ever.

Amen.

The Body of Christ, given for you and the forgiveness of sin.

The Blood of Christ, poured out for you.

Closing Prayer

Devoted to the Fellowship and Breaking of Bread Daily

How can we live out this idea of breaking bread daily together as a digital fellowship?

Sharing our lives together