back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 10/3/2021
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We have a bunch of announcements that we need to get at. 00:17:10.000 |
But first of all, Jeremy Chong is going to come and give an announcement for our outreach team. 00:17:21.000 |
The outreach team is inviting you to join us going evangelizing once a month, the first Saturday of every month, at 1 to 2 p.m. 00:17:29.000 |
at The Source in Buena Park and The Spectrum in Irvine. 00:17:35.000 |
And we'd love for you guys to join us to go evangelizing to our community. 00:17:39.000 |
And again, that's the first Sunday of every month. 00:17:42.000 |
I'm sorry, first Saturday of every month from 1 to 2. 00:17:45.000 |
So feel free to go earlier with some friends, grab lunch, and then meet us at 1 to 2. 00:17:50.000 |
Or come join us at 1 and then stay after and hang out as well. 00:17:53.000 |
But we'd love for you to join us in reaching out to our community. 00:17:58.000 |
There is a sign up on the Facebook page and there should be links as well in the different live stage Facebook groups too. 00:18:12.000 |
As our outreach team is kind of leading our church to get our church to be more active in sharing our faith, 00:18:19.000 |
if you're not in the habit of doing that, it's kind of intimidating to go up to non-Christians in a public setting and share the gospel with them. 00:18:26.000 |
And so if you do come, they'll connect you to someone else who is more seasoned in doing that. 00:18:33.000 |
And you can just kind of participate just being and watching that. 00:18:36.000 |
And it'll kind of like build up your muscles. 00:18:38.000 |
Evangelism is kind of like a muscle that if you neglect and it atrophies, and the more it atrophies, the harder it becomes. 00:18:46.000 |
And so this is one of those things that we want to live in obedience in the Great Commission. 00:18:50.000 |
It's not just something that the church does collectively. 00:18:53.000 |
And it's not just the responsibility of people who've committed themselves to full-time ministry. 00:18:57.000 |
This is something that each individual Christian should take to heart. 00:19:01.000 |
And so, again, we're not saying that that's the only way you can evangelize. 00:19:04.000 |
But if you want to practice your muscles in that way and participate, if you sign up, 00:19:11.000 |
again, they'll connect you to somebody who's more seasoned, and you can kind of watch and, again, get your feet wet in that way. 00:19:18.000 |
Our college Sunday welcome lunch, after this service, in this room, there's a separate welcome lunch for the college students. 00:19:25.000 |
So if you happen to be a college student and you are signed up for that, please stick around. 00:19:30.000 |
And they're going to set up the tables, and you'll be doing that. 00:19:33.000 |
And then we have a new members luncheon, introduction members luncheon, that will be taking place in the Sprouts department, OK? 00:19:45.000 |
So if you go up there, the tables will be set, and we're going to have lunch up there to introduce our new members. 00:19:50.000 |
And then next week, we have members meeting at 2.30. 00:19:53.000 |
So it's enough time for you to go grab lunch and come back. 00:19:57.000 |
And at 2.30, if you are a member or you're being introduced as a member, please mark that and do your best to come to that next Sunday at 2.30, OK? 00:20:07.000 |
We have a bunch of other stuff, but let me just focus one more thing. 00:20:11.000 |
ACBC mini-conference. ACBC is the Biblical Counseling. 00:20:16.000 |
And I wanted to again clarify, because typically when we think of counseling, we think of people who are struggling with depression or anxiety, or you have some sort of issue. 00:20:24.000 |
And so I need to find a specific counselor to kind of counsel me out of that. 00:20:29.000 |
The broader understanding of Biblical counseling is basically learning how to use the Scripture to apply it in our lives. 00:20:37.000 |
So either personally or to use that to disciple other people. 00:20:41.000 |
And so we want to really try to encourage our church to begin to go down that path where more and more people are trained in this way to open up the Scriptures. 00:20:50.000 |
And more than just kind of giving pop psychology or opinion on things, to learn how to apply the Scripture in a specific way into specific issues. 00:20:59.000 |
And so that conference is happening on not this coming Friday, but the Friday after that. 00:21:09.000 |
And so the sign-ups for that are taking place outside. 00:21:12.000 |
So there's a booth outside that if you go up to there and let them know that you're coming, the cost is $20 for whatever material and snacks and then lunch that will be provided on Saturday. 00:21:24.000 |
And again, we do not have Bible study that week. 00:21:26.000 |
So we want to encourage as many of you to be able to come to that on again Friday and Saturday. 00:21:32.000 |
OK. All right. So this morning after our main praise, we're going to have our brother Tim Chung, and he's going to come give his testimony and be baptized this morning. 00:21:43.000 |
And we'll give you a minute to prepare your offering. 00:21:46.000 |
And so if you did bring a physical offering, there is a box in the back. 00:21:49.000 |
Otherwise, we'll give you a minute after I pray to give you time to give your offering online. 00:21:59.000 |
Heavenly Father, we want to praise you and thank you. 00:22:03.000 |
The things that we know and the things that we are unaware of. 00:22:08.000 |
We know, Father God, it is only by your grace that we are able to come and worship you. 00:22:14.000 |
That you opened our eyes, softened our hearts, that we may see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:22:20.000 |
We pray this morning, Lord God, as we give our worship, our singing, baptism or communion, all of it, Lord God, may be ordained that Christ and his name may be exalted, that your church may be sanctified, exhorted, and even corrected, Lord God, that we may honor you and worship you in spirit and in truth. 00:22:41.000 |
We pray that the offering that we give to you may be given to you in joy, in sacrifice, as an act of worship may be multiplied for the sake of your name and your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:23:41.000 |
All right, so as we continue our worship, I have a quick announcement for those sitting outside. 00:23:57.000 |
So as our church continues to grow, it's getting a little harder to see the screen out there, so we're going to kindly ask that for those outside, please remain seated during worship. 00:24:08.000 |
So with that said, for those of us inside, would you please join us for worship? Stand and join us. 00:33:56.000 |
Hello, good morning. My name is Tim. I'm currently a fourth year at UCI studying computer science. This is my testimony. 00:34:06.000 |
I was introduced to Christianity when I was very young and I've been exposed to it through all of my life. 00:34:12.000 |
I come from a Christian household. Growing up, my family, we always went to church every Sunday and my parents would pray with me every night and like read Bible stories and all that. 00:34:24.000 |
I learned only about Jesus, about how he loved me and died for my sins. I also attended a private Christian school up through middle school. 00:34:31.000 |
And through church or school I learned about God and many Bible stories. 00:34:36.000 |
I first heard the gospel when I was very young. I was genuinely moved as I heard about God's love, Christ's enormous sacrifice for my sins and the pardoning of my sin. 00:34:49.000 |
But I did not realize the meaning and cost of discipleship until I became older. 00:34:54.000 |
Before I was saved and fully surrendered my life to my Lord Jesus, I thought that I wasn't that bad of a sinner because I felt like I was good enough. 00:35:07.000 |
I thought that I could do the things a Christian did so that I could have forgiveness for my sins and escape hell to be in heaven after I died. 00:35:18.000 |
I did not want to fully surrender my life to him. I pridefully wanted to live my life how I wanted. 00:35:24.000 |
I was unrepentant of the sins that I thought weren't serious. 00:35:28.000 |
I did not desire to know God more through his word or to pray to him. And I did not have a personal relationship with him. 00:35:38.000 |
Eventually this led to me questioning who God is and what it means for me to be saved. 00:35:46.000 |
Ultimately I did not love the God of the Bible but I loved a God I made in my own image. 00:35:51.000 |
Later on in my life in college God showed me how sinful I was compared to him, a perfect and holy God who is entitled to punish sin. 00:36:00.000 |
I saw my sinful nature in my hardened sinful heart. I was prideful in thinking that I deserved to be saved. 00:36:09.000 |
I desired the sinful pleasures of the world more than God and it caused me to be uncontent and envious. 00:36:16.000 |
My fear of man caused me to be dishonest when people asked me how I was doing spiritually. 00:36:21.000 |
I felt hopeless with no way out because I couldn't change my heart. 00:36:26.000 |
I counted the cost of full surrender to Christ and it felt impossible for me. 00:36:33.000 |
But as I began to read scripture on my own I began to see for myself who God truly is. 00:36:39.000 |
That though we were sinners, enemies of God, God sent his son Jesus to die for our sins to save us for those who believe. 00:36:47.000 |
One Sunday I heard a sermon about the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:36:53.000 |
In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 17 it says, "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless. You are still in your sins." 00:37:02.000 |
In Romans 6 verse 4 it says, "Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in the newness of life." 00:37:15.000 |
Hearing these truths gave me hope. Not hope based on my own ability to save myself or to be a better person. 00:37:24.000 |
But hope in Christ who alone has the power to change me, to change my heart and to give me new life. 00:37:33.000 |
After hearing this I prayed to God, repented of my sins and put my faith in my Lord Jesus Christ fully surrendering my whole life to him. 00:37:46.000 |
Since then I have grown in my desire to read and to study scripture, to pray and to obey God's word out of love for the one who saved me. 00:37:55.000 |
Over time God has continued to faithfully sanctify me as I struggle with sin and the desires of the world daily. 00:38:02.000 |
But I now live to know God and to make him known because I have a secure hope in Christ. 00:38:09.000 |
I look back and I am so thankful for all that God has done in my life and everything he has been so faithful and loving to me through all the times of blessing and all the times of trial in my life. 00:38:18.000 |
And I look forward to what God has in store for me in the future. Thank you. 00:39:18.000 |
Alright, if you can turn your Bibles with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. 00:39:22.000 |
We're going to be reading in verse 23 to 34 this morning. 00:39:26.000 |
Okay, we're taking a break today so that we can be on the same page as to what we're doing with communion. 00:39:33.000 |
We want to make sure that nothing that we do in church that we just do it because of tradition or something that we've just been used to doing. 00:39:45.000 |
So we want to make sure that we know exactly what it is doing, why we're doing it, and certain things that we do and what the purpose of it is behind it. 00:39:56.000 |
Reading out of the NASB it says, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread. 00:40:05.000 |
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.' 00:40:12.000 |
In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying, 'This cup is a new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. 00:40:20.000 |
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 00:40:26.000 |
Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 00:40:34.000 |
But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 00:40:40.000 |
For he who eats and drinks eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. 00:40:46.000 |
For this reason, many among you are weak and sick and a number asleep. 00:40:51.000 |
But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. 00:40:55.000 |
But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. 00:41:01.000 |
So that my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 00:41:06.000 |
And if you are hungry, let him eat at home so that you will not come together for judgment. 00:41:10.000 |
The remaining matters I will arrange when I come." Let's pray. 00:41:13.000 |
Heavenly Father, we pray for your grace. We pray that you would open our eyes. 00:41:19.000 |
That we may understand your word, and especially, Lord God, as we participate at the Lord's table. 00:41:26.000 |
That we may do it in a manner that is worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:41:32.000 |
And that we may be filled with the grace of your love for understanding and a willingness of heart, Lord God, to obey. 00:41:39.000 |
Many of you may have heard the term "deconstruction." 00:41:44.000 |
Right? And there's a lot of buzzwords that's been going around, especially in the last year or so. 00:41:49.000 |
But there's been more and more people who have been coming online and saying they are deconstructing their faith. 00:41:54.000 |
And a couple weeks ago, I found something very disturbing. 00:41:59.000 |
I did an advertisement inviting people to come to Joshua Harris' deconstruction seminar. 00:42:05.000 |
And if you know who Joshua Harris is, he was a very well-known, influential pastor, a young pastor, 00:42:11.000 |
who basically denied his faith and walked away from his church in a very angry manner. 00:42:16.000 |
Basically gave his church that he's been a pastor over for several decades, basically gave them the middle finger. 00:42:26.000 |
He's denying the fundamental tenets of Christianity. 00:42:29.000 |
And so to have a magazine with the name "Christianity Today" inviting people to come and learn from his seminar was very disturbing. 00:42:37.000 |
And so that's why I keep telling you that we must be Bereans. 00:42:42.000 |
You must carefully examine even the things that are coming off of this pulpit. 00:42:48.000 |
Is it biblical? What does the Bible say about this? 00:42:56.000 |
Even though the term is being used this way, the Bible clearly defines deconstructionism as apostasy. 00:43:04.000 |
That's what we've been studying in the book of Hebrews. 00:43:08.000 |
The whole reason why we've been studying the book of Hebrews is because people were beginning to drift away from their faith and in danger of apostasy. 00:43:16.000 |
So whether you call it deconstructionism, backsliding, whatever it may be, 00:43:20.000 |
when an individual walks away from his faith, it is apostasy. 00:43:28.000 |
Now, if what somebody means by deconstructing is that he is reforming, 00:43:33.000 |
that he is examining everything according to scripture, 00:43:36.000 |
that maybe you grew up in the church, maybe there are certain traditions in your particular church, our church, 00:43:42.000 |
or in a denomination that needs to be examined. 00:43:45.000 |
Where did this come from? How did this creep into the church? 00:43:48.000 |
Is this something that the culture has influenced or is this something that the Bible has influenced? 00:43:53.000 |
And so we told you that from the beginning we named our church Berean Community Church 00:43:57.000 |
because we want to make sure that we're examining everything that we're doing. 00:44:04.000 |
So reformation just didn't happen 500 years ago with the reformers. 00:44:08.000 |
Reformation is something that we need to continually examine what the Word of God says. 00:44:14.000 |
If there is something that is not right, whether it is physically or internally, 00:44:21.000 |
In that spirit, we wanted to examine the communion table. 00:44:26.000 |
Because communion is one of those things that if you are, if you've been at church 00:44:31.000 |
and you were raised in a church for any period of time, 00:44:34.000 |
this is one of those religious things that you do, not really realizing, 00:44:38.000 |
many people not really knowing what the significance is, 00:44:44.000 |
And so we may be participating without really recognizing the significance 00:44:49.000 |
of why this is so important in the church and why we do it so regularly. 00:44:57.000 |
examine what is the meaning of this communion, right, through this text. 00:45:02.000 |
And then the sacredness of this communion, why we take this so seriously. 00:45:09.000 |
What are the specific applications that we are making in the church 00:45:15.000 |
So first of all, the meaning behind communion, right. 00:45:19.000 |
Now, I can give you four or five and even possibly six or seven different 00:45:25.000 |
denominations and groups who kind of had nuanced meaning of what the communion is. 00:45:31.000 |
One thing is universal, that whatever you think the meaning is, 00:45:38.000 |
there is no church, there is no denomination who doesn't say that this is a sacred event. 00:45:42.000 |
We all believe that it is very sacred and it has to be practiced in the church. 00:45:47.000 |
But the two main distinction between the meaning is the Catholic view and the Protestant view. 00:45:53.000 |
The Catholic view for many centuries have taught that the bread and the wine 00:46:01.000 |
actually becomes Jesus' physical body and Jesus' physical blood. 00:46:07.000 |
And so we call that doctrine transubstantiation. 00:46:10.000 |
Transubstantiation meaning that they transform and that's where they get that word transubstantiation. 00:46:16.000 |
And the text that they use to support that idea is when Jesus says, 00:46:21.000 |
"This is my body and this is the blood of the new covenant." 00:46:26.000 |
So because Jesus says, "This is," they take it literally. 00:46:30.000 |
Now, throughout the centuries that has been abused in the Catholic church 00:46:36.000 |
because in order for you to receive the communion, you need to be in good standing with the church 00:46:44.000 |
So if you've ever been to a Catholic, if you're from a Catholic background 00:46:47.000 |
or maybe you've seen movies of Catholics taking communion, 00:46:53.000 |
And it only transforms when they give it to you. 00:47:01.000 |
Recently, President Biden has been under fire because he is a self-proclaiming Catholic 00:47:07.000 |
and because of his stance on abortion, which goes against the Catholic church, 00:47:11.000 |
that many of the Catholic priests are saying that he should be refused communion. 00:47:17.000 |
And so if you're a Protestant, you say, "I refuse communion." 00:47:20.000 |
It's like, "Okay, whatever, right? I'll just go to the other church or do it at home." 00:47:24.000 |
Or, you know, maybe he would have had that attitude. 00:47:28.000 |
But for the Catholic church, to refuse communion basically means to be excommunicated. 00:47:32.000 |
That he is, again, according to their doctrine, he's not saved. 00:47:38.000 |
To be refused communion because you are not participating in the literal body, 00:47:49.000 |
Because if that's what the Bible teaches, when the Bible says, "You are sheep" 00:47:57.000 |
When he says, "I am the vine, you are the branches," that we're wood. 00:48:00.000 |
If that's the basis of that doctrine, clearly we do not believe that. 00:48:07.000 |
The Protestant view, for the most part, is symbolic remembrance 00:48:12.000 |
and it's clearly spelled out in this passage in verse 24. 00:48:15.000 |
It says, "This is my body, which is for you to do this in," what? 00:48:24.000 |
Again, in the very next verse, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. 00:48:27.000 |
Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." 00:48:32.000 |
So it is not that literal flesh and the literal blood. 00:48:36.000 |
He says to do this as an act of remembering what Christ has done. 00:48:41.000 |
Now, this was inaugurated to replace the Passover meal. 00:48:46.000 |
Because Jesus says this in Luke chapter 22, verse 15 and verse 19. 00:48:51.000 |
He participates in the Passover meal with his disciples. 00:48:55.000 |
Before he goes to the cross and it's in that meal, 00:48:58.000 |
he gives the matzah bread and he gives the cup of the covenant. 00:49:04.000 |
And the "this" he's referring to is the Passover meal. 00:49:07.000 |
And he said, "From this point on, whenever you have this meal together, 00:49:15.000 |
Which if Jesus was not the Son of God, would have been blasphemous. 00:49:20.000 |
Because God inaugurated the Passover to teach the nation of Israel to remember God. 00:49:27.000 |
God was their deliverer. God is their savior. 00:49:30.000 |
So when Jesus says, "Now, when you think of God the Savior, 00:49:38.000 |
If you remember, the Passover meal was given and it was an annual event 00:49:44.000 |
And the patriarch of the family would gather the families to sacrifice the lamb. 00:49:49.000 |
And then they would retell the story of how God delivered them. 00:49:52.000 |
How he demonstrated his power to deliver Israel from the bondage of Pharaoh. 00:49:58.000 |
But there's a very practical purpose of why they need to remember. 00:50:02.000 |
It's not just so that they can have warm fuzzy feelings. 00:50:08.000 |
"If you should say in your heart, 'These nations are greater than I. 00:50:16.000 |
You shall well remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all of Egypt. 00:50:21.000 |
The great trials which your eyes saw, and the signs and the wonders, 00:50:25.000 |
mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out. 00:50:29.000 |
So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid." 00:50:33.000 |
So there was a practical purpose of why they needed to remember. 00:50:39.000 |
He said, "When you are faced with trials and with enemies that you cannot possibly conquer. 00:50:46.000 |
He says, "The Passover meal is to remind you that there was a greater nation. 00:50:51.000 |
Egypt, Pharaoh, the most powerful human being and nation of that time. 00:50:57.000 |
That God had no power delivering you from them." 00:51:00.000 |
And so by remembering is to give them courage to have faith and to trust in God. 00:51:06.000 |
But the second practical part of why remember is needed to happen is mentioned in Deuteronomy 8, 11. 00:51:14.000 |
Which is just as important, maybe even more important for us. 00:51:18.000 |
He says, "Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments 00:51:23.000 |
and his ordinances and his statutes which I am commanding you today. 00:51:26.000 |
Otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied and have built good houses and lived in them. 00:51:31.000 |
And when your herds and your flocks multiply and your silver and gold multiply 00:51:40.000 |
And you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 00:51:45.000 |
Otherwise, you may say in your heart, my power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth. 00:51:51.000 |
But you shall remember the Lord your God for it is he who is giving you power to make wealth. 00:51:55.000 |
That he may confirm his covenant which he swore to your fathers as it is this day." 00:52:00.000 |
Not only do people in anxiousness and when trials come and their faith is tested. 00:52:07.000 |
They may sometimes move away from their faith. 00:52:15.000 |
But I can honestly tell you from the years of being a pastor. 00:52:20.000 |
That for every one person that abandoned their faith because the trials that came into their life. 00:52:26.000 |
I can name five other people who just simply neglected their salvation. 00:52:37.000 |
You know, who doesn't want Christ and who doesn't want to go to heaven. 00:52:47.000 |
They have enough money to travel, to do nice things. 00:52:50.000 |
And then Christianity and faith in God is just something that you do on Sunday. 00:52:54.000 |
And so for every individual who may have fallen away and committed apostasy. 00:53:01.000 |
I can name at least five or more people who just simply in neglect just walked away from their faith. 00:53:08.000 |
See, this communion table was given to us in order so that we can remember. 00:53:18.000 |
That we would recognize that he is our answer. 00:53:22.000 |
But also in time of abundance that we do not become arrogant. 00:53:26.000 |
That is to remind us that salvation can only be given by our Lord. 00:53:31.000 |
And so the very reason why we came to faith to begin with is to constantly to recalibrate. 00:53:50.000 |
So this communion is to get us to remember why we're here. 00:53:59.000 |
Like there's a lot of things that we do in life that we don't really ask. 00:54:09.000 |
You know, if you're raising little children, that question why? 00:54:14.000 |
And it's just to the point where you just kind of like, just because I said. 00:54:20.000 |
But they're trying to understand their world. 00:54:27.000 |
They're trying to figure out why are we doing this? 00:54:29.000 |
And how come they, why do they choose red versus green? 00:54:40.000 |
I mean, they ask everything because they're trying to figure out what is going on with their life. 00:54:47.000 |
But at some point in our walk with God, some point in our maturity, we stop. 00:54:56.000 |
Because they said, my teacher said, my pastor said. 00:55:02.000 |
And so there's a lot of things that we do that we don't really fully understand. 00:55:09.000 |
If you're not in the practice of sharing your faith, you may have all kinds of holes in your understanding of your faith. 00:55:31.000 |
And so all of these questions kind of linger around. 00:55:34.000 |
But because we just like, oh, my pastor said this or that, this and that. 00:55:39.000 |
And then until you really meet an antagonist who kind of pushes you on that. 00:55:44.000 |
You don't realize that you don't really have a good answer. 00:55:46.000 |
The communion was given so that we may recalibrate and keep asking that question. 00:56:06.000 |
Why did he call the church to be the witness? 00:56:21.000 |
So all of these questions are to be continued so that we can grow in our salvation and our understanding. 00:56:27.000 |
But when it just becomes habit, we just do it. 00:56:31.000 |
And anything that's a habit, there's no benefit after a while. 00:56:34.000 |
It just becomes something religious that we do. 00:56:39.000 |
So first of all, we understand that it is for the purpose of remembering. 00:56:43.000 |
And remembering, by remembering, we recalibrate what we're supposed to be doing. 00:56:48.000 |
But secondly, to understand the sacredness of what we're doing. 00:56:52.000 |
Because the Protestant view, because we believe that it is symbolic and it is just for remembering, 00:57:00.000 |
our tendency could be, well, if it's just symbolic, right? 00:57:05.000 |
I mean, we should do it, but if we don't do it, it's no big deal. 00:57:08.000 |
How we do it, whether we do it this way or that way, don't make a big deal about the form. 00:57:13.000 |
It just matters like the condition of the heart, right? 00:57:16.000 |
But that's not how it's portrayed in the scripture. 00:57:19.000 |
The word "ordinance," God has given us two ordinances, baptism and communion, right? 00:57:27.000 |
Now, I'm not going to get too much into the baptism, but there's a reason why we take baptism seriously. 00:57:33.000 |
Because the word "ordinance" basically means a set of rules and law. 00:57:37.000 |
So if you remember during the pandemic, certain cities passed an ordinance that there was a curfew at 10 o'clock. 00:57:44.000 |
Right? And so what that means is, if you're in that city, you have to be home by 10. 00:57:49.000 |
And if you didn't go home by 10, what does that mean? 00:57:52.000 |
You're going to get some kind of ticket. There's some penalty for that. 00:57:58.000 |
That's what the word "ordinance" means, right? 00:58:01.000 |
That this is to be taken seriously. These are the rules that are applied. 00:58:14.000 |
Isn't giving sacred? Isn't serving sacred? Isn't studying the Bible? 00:58:20.000 |
But above all of that, those two things have been separated, set apart. 00:58:26.000 |
Specifically for the purpose, so that we can recalibrate and understand. 00:58:34.000 |
Every part of how the baptism is to be practiced, we want to follow exactly what the scripture says. 00:58:39.000 |
Not by tradition, not by how we feel, but by obedience to what it says. 00:58:43.000 |
In the same way, we want to apply that to communion. 00:58:53.000 |
And again, I've done so many weddings in the past years. 00:58:57.000 |
But one thing that I know is, even though I participated in weddings, 00:59:04.000 |
when you participate, it's your first time, right? 00:59:09.000 |
That when you get married, one of the first things that we have to work through is, 00:59:20.000 |
Am I supposed to stand on the left or to the right? 00:59:24.000 |
When the family from the bride or the family from the groom, 00:59:28.000 |
are they supposed to stand to the left or to the right? 00:59:32.000 |
When we march out, who's supposed to march out first? 00:59:46.000 |
So, if you want to walk out first, just walk out first. 00:59:50.000 |
There's nothing. You're not breaking any commands. 00:59:53.000 |
Oh, about the candles, you know, you have the candles, don't have candles. 00:59:58.000 |
You want to have flowers, don't have flowers. 01:00:04.000 |
There's nothing in the Bible that says you can't have it outside. 01:00:09.000 |
We want to make sure that we're reverent in the way that we approach it. 01:00:12.000 |
But the reason why people are so like stickler of what is right and what is wrong, 01:00:18.000 |
because the wedding ceremony is sacred to them. 01:00:26.000 |
But we apply the sacredness to the wedding ceremony because it's important to us. 01:00:33.000 |
Should we not apply that same kind of attention to something that is mentioned in the Bible? 01:00:46.000 |
So, if we're concerned about the sacredness of getting the wedding ceremony right, 01:00:50.000 |
shouldn't we have the same kind of accuracy in the way that we practice communion and baptism? 01:00:56.000 |
In fact, this was so sacred that in verse 27-29 it says, 01:01:02.000 |
"Therefore, whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner 01:01:07.000 |
shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord." 01:01:09.000 |
Verse 29, "For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself 01:01:18.000 |
He says there are consequences of not understanding and not practicing 01:01:22.000 |
in a manner in which it is prescribed to us as an ordinance. 01:01:27.000 |
You know what's really interesting is John chapter 6, verse 53-56. 01:01:32.000 |
This is a passage where after Jesus feeds the 5,000, the multitudes are coming after Jesus. 01:01:39.000 |
And then Jesus sees right through their motivations. 01:01:42.000 |
He said, "You're coming after me not because you know who I am, 01:01:45.000 |
not because you saw signs, but because you ate bread and you want more." 01:01:49.000 |
And so Jesus cuts right through in saying, "I am the bread." 01:01:54.000 |
And he said, "Well, how can you be the bread? 01:01:56.000 |
If you're the bread, prove it to us by giving us some bread." 01:01:59.000 |
And so you have this comical interaction with Jesus. 01:02:02.000 |
And finally after repeating multiple times, he says, "I am the bread." 01:02:06.000 |
The only reason why I gave you bread is so that you can recognize that I am the bread. 01:02:11.000 |
And at the end of this interaction, Jesus just cuts in and says something that would have been shocking. 01:02:17.000 |
He says in John chapter 6, 53-56, he said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, 01:02:24.000 |
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourself. 01:02:31.000 |
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day, 01:02:36.000 |
for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 01:02:39.000 |
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him." 01:02:43.000 |
If you grew up in a church, that's not strange. 01:02:47.000 |
Because you participate in communion so many times, we're drinking His blood and we're eating His flesh. 01:02:52.000 |
Imagine if you're not a Christian and you've never heard this for the first time. 01:02:58.000 |
We're going to drink some blood, and then after we drink the blood, we're going to eat some flesh. 01:03:06.000 |
The early church was so exclusive in their gathering, and every time they had communion, 01:03:12.000 |
So there was a reputation that the early church started having, saying that the Christians were cannibals. 01:03:20.000 |
If you don't understand the context of what he just said, Jesus said, "Drink my blood." 01:03:31.000 |
The most sacrilegious thing that you could have done as a Jew is drink the blood of an animal. 01:03:42.000 |
But he says, not only to drink the animal's blood, he said, "You must drink my blood, and you must eat my flesh." 01:03:50.000 |
So all these Jews who are coming after Jesus to forcefully make Him king, 01:03:56.000 |
after he says this, he says, "This is too hard." 01:04:00.000 |
And then they turned away, and they stopped following him. 01:04:03.000 |
And then he turned to his disciples, "Are you going to leave me too?" 01:04:07.000 |
And he said, "I don't get it either, but you have the words of truth. 01:04:12.000 |
You're the Son of God, so even though I don't really get it, I trust you." 01:04:19.000 |
Now, the reason why Jesus says this, and we know now, in retrospect, he was referring to the cross. 01:04:26.000 |
He wasn't actually talking about drinking his blood and eating his flesh. 01:04:30.000 |
And if they did that for any other animal, let alone a human being, they would have been stoned to death. 01:04:38.000 |
But the reason why this was reserved was specifically only by the blood of Christ. 01:04:45.000 |
If any other blood that came into you, you would have been stoned to death, guilty of capital punishment. 01:04:49.000 |
But only the blood of Christ can reverse man's curse. 01:04:54.000 |
Only his blood, instead of bringing death, can give us life. 01:04:58.000 |
Only his flesh, instead of condemning us, can renew us. 01:05:03.000 |
And that's what he was referring to, that if you do not participate in this, 01:05:08.000 |
if you do not have the blood and do not have the flesh, there is no relationship with me. 01:05:13.000 |
So imagine how trembling, how fearful this must have been for people to hear that and understand that. 01:05:20.000 |
Imagine when they first participated in this communion, how sacred this must have been. 01:05:26.000 |
And he says that if you do not judge the body rightly, you eat and drink judgment upon yourself. 01:05:33.000 |
So what does it mean to judge the body rightly? 01:05:35.000 |
One, to recognize the sacredness of what this is. 01:05:40.000 |
Remember, the idea of holiness is you have an article that may have been used for common use. 01:05:46.000 |
You have an animal that may have been with all the other flocks, but as soon as you removed it and dedicated it to the temple, what did it become? 01:05:54.000 |
And because it became sacred and holy, you are no longer to touch that. 01:06:01.000 |
The priest had to go through a cleansing ritual, put on the proper clothing, 01:06:06.000 |
and then sacrifice for sins, for their own sins, and only then, and then only, can they come and participate in this sacred event. 01:06:18.000 |
That even though it is just juice, even though it's only bread, 01:06:21.000 |
that it has been separated for us to symbolize for the purpose of recognizing who Christ is. 01:06:28.000 |
So we ought to understand the sacredness of this event. 01:06:32.000 |
And he says because they weren't taking it seriously, God disciplined the early church. 01:06:38.000 |
If you remember, the first discipline that God brings in Acts chapter 5, 13 to 14. 01:06:44.000 |
Ananas and Sapphira sees other rich people selling their stuff and giving it to the poor. 01:06:51.000 |
So they sell their property and they present it to the church, but they lie. 01:06:55.000 |
Instead of saying that this is all of it, you know, they're giving you all of it, they kept part of it for themselves. 01:07:01.000 |
And they lie to the church and say, "Hey, we did too. We're being generous too." 01:07:05.000 |
And then when Peter sees this and he says, "You're not lying to me. You're lying to the Holy Spirit." 01:07:14.000 |
And the only reason why you're doing this is that you want to present yourself to be more godlier than you are. 01:07:21.000 |
Ananas dies and then Sapphira comes in and then she repeats the lie and then Sapphira dies. 01:07:28.000 |
So you would think that after the capital punishment in the early church, that the church would have died. 01:07:40.000 |
If you go there and you don't give the offering correctly, you die. 01:07:43.000 |
Imagine coming to church and say, "Hey, did you do your Bible study?" 01:07:57.000 |
Here's a tenfold commitment, you know, covenant of the church. 01:08:02.000 |
And then you sign it and you don't practice it. 01:08:11.000 |
I mean, that goes smack dab against everything that we're taught in our society. 01:08:16.000 |
You have to make it so that non-Christians feel comfortable and they're accepted and loved. 01:08:24.000 |
Humanly speaking, we would think that the church would have died in the first century. 01:08:31.000 |
But Acts chapter 5, 13 to 14, this is what it says. 01:08:34.000 |
"But none of the rest dared to associate with them, the apostles. 01:08:39.000 |
However, the people held them in high esteem. 01:08:41.000 |
And all the more, believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number." 01:08:51.000 |
Why would they keep coming to a church that they could possibly die in? 01:08:55.000 |
They didn't do communion in the way that's prescribed in an unworthy manner. 01:09:06.000 |
Doesn't that go against everything that we're taught in our generation? 01:09:11.000 |
That we kind of have to invite the people and make everybody feel comfortable in the church. 01:09:16.000 |
I mean, how can be less seeker friendly than this? 01:09:22.000 |
Because more than comfort, more than friendship, more than my love, than your love. 01:09:37.000 |
What our nation and our generation and all generation needs is not my love. 01:09:53.000 |
What they need, the whole world needs more than anything else, is Christ. 01:10:02.000 |
Even if it shakes them out of their comfort zone. 01:10:05.000 |
So, our goal here is not to draw as many people to church and make them feel as comfortable as possible. 01:10:13.000 |
Is to proclaim the truth in season and out of season. 01:10:16.000 |
So that when his children hear his voice that they will follow him. 01:10:27.000 |
Some people may ask, "Well, if that's the case, how come people don't die today?" 01:10:39.000 |
So, if you don't die, so maybe God changed his mind. 01:10:43.000 |
Maybe it was sacred in the early church and it's not sacred today. 01:10:46.000 |
Maybe that's why he's kind of lenient to the church. 01:10:51.000 |
If you raise children, you know exactly what I'm talking about. 01:10:56.000 |
Are you more disciplinarian when they are younger or when they're older? 01:11:07.000 |
But a lot of the physical discipline happens when they're young. 01:11:12.000 |
We don't physically discipline them as much because it's not effective. 01:11:21.000 |
In order to instill in them when they're young the importance of obedience. 01:11:28.000 |
And so that when they are growing up that they would remember these things. 01:11:32.000 |
And that you taught them the right things and that they will go in the right direction. 01:11:36.000 |
But we don't discipline 5 year olds and 3 year olds the same way we would discipline an 18 or 19 year old. 01:11:43.000 |
It doesn't mean that it is any less sacred today because people are not falling and dying and falling sick. 01:11:50.000 |
It just means that in the early church he was instilling in all of us for generations to come to take this seriously. 01:12:04.000 |
That we are to approach it and never to participate in it in a way that dishonors God. 01:12:15.000 |
So to recognize the body of Christ to recognize what it is that we are handling. 01:12:22.000 |
Secondly to recognize the body of Christ he's talking about the church itself. 01:12:27.000 |
To recognize who God is and what it represents. 01:12:32.000 |
But what it also represents in the body of Christ. 01:12:35.000 |
In Matthew 5 23-24 it says, "Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, 01:12:41.000 |
and there remember that your brother has something against you, 01:12:45.000 |
leave your offering there before the altar and go. 01:12:47.000 |
First be reconciled to your brother and then come and present your offering." 01:12:52.000 |
So each time we take communion we tell the church ahead of time, "Hey we're having communion." 01:13:01.000 |
If you are not recognizing the body of Christ. 01:13:04.000 |
Meaning that, "You know what I'm just going to live my life and not care about the other people." 01:13:10.000 |
Because the meaning behind this communion is come union. 01:13:14.000 |
That we are being united under the banner of Christ. 01:13:19.000 |
And so our unity isn't because of our skin color. 01:13:23.000 |
It's not because of our language or common background or we have similar interests. 01:13:31.000 |
We're united because we are constantly focusing on the things that unite us. 01:13:38.000 |
And the further we drift away from the cross, 01:13:40.000 |
all the unity that we say are united, it's not unity, it's just conformity. 01:13:48.000 |
In fact, he was addressing a very specific problem in the previous verses in 18 and 22. 01:13:54.000 |
See in the early church you had the rich and the poor all in the same church. 01:14:01.000 |
You have the rich neighborhood, you have the poor neighborhood, 01:14:03.000 |
you have one ethnic group here and the other ethnic group on the other side. 01:14:07.000 |
And so, you know, it shouldn't be but we are very segregated based upon the preferences that we have. 01:14:13.000 |
You know, superficially, "Oh there's a lot of black hair in here so I want to be at a church." 01:14:19.000 |
You know, "Oh they like sports here so I want to be here." 01:14:24.000 |
But in the early church, they were all in one church. 01:14:28.000 |
So one of the practical problems that they had was the rich people were getting together 01:14:32.000 |
and so for them bringing a lot of delicious food was not a problem. 01:14:37.000 |
So they would gather together and the way that they practiced communion was, 01:14:43.000 |
So the rich people would come, get their Korean barbecue, sushi, whatever it is that they brought for their potluck, 01:14:50.000 |
and they would eat it and they're done, they're all celebrating. 01:14:52.000 |
And then the poor who had to work in the field all day long, 01:14:56.000 |
and they don't have the resources that they do, by the time they came it was done. 01:15:00.000 |
And so Peter was rebuking this culture of people not recognizing the body. 01:15:06.000 |
That the purpose of this communion is to bring us all together. 01:15:11.000 |
And that's why he says, "He who does not examine himself, 01:15:15.000 |
before he takes and participates, he eats and drinks judgment upon himself." 01:15:21.000 |
In Philippians chapter 2, 1-2, it says, "Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, 01:15:26.000 |
if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of spirit, 01:15:30.000 |
if there is any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind." 01:15:34.000 |
Maintain the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose, 01:15:38.000 |
and then ultimately he breaks into the hymn that we know in this text about Jesus. 01:15:46.000 |
But did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but he emptied himself, became nothing. 01:15:52.000 |
And he says, "If you have any encouragement in Christ." 01:15:56.000 |
So is he saying that there are some Christians who have encouragement, and some Christians who don't? 01:16:01.000 |
If you have any consolation in love, if you've been affected by love at all, 01:16:05.000 |
are there some Christians who are affected by the love of Christ, and some Christians who are not? 01:16:11.000 |
Can you be a Christian if there is no fellowship of the spirit? 01:16:17.000 |
If you don't have fellowship of the spirit, you're not a Christian. 01:16:22.000 |
The Holy Spirit has, if you're a genuine believer in Christ, we've all been baptized by the Holy Spirit. 01:16:28.000 |
He's basically saying, "Remember what you have in Christ." 01:16:32.000 |
Remember what you have in Christ, so that you would practice the love that Jesus practiced with you. 01:16:42.000 |
As he considered us better than his life, you live that way as Christ lived. 01:16:49.000 |
So every time we come to the communion table, it is to remind us 01:16:53.000 |
that our dignity, our life, our honor is not found in this world. 01:16:58.000 |
That our jockeying to get ahead of one another, to be in a higher position, to lead, 01:17:05.000 |
whatever that may be, the worldly ambition, we have been crucified with Christ, 01:17:10.000 |
is no longer us who live, but Christ who lives in us. 01:17:17.000 |
To be reminded of this, so that he would continually bring us together as one. 01:17:22.000 |
So to judge the body rightly means to judge the union, what it is that we have with Christ, 01:17:28.000 |
and as a result of that, that it brings us together as a church. 01:17:31.000 |
So before we participate in communion, we always ask, if you have unconfessed sins, to confess. 01:17:39.000 |
If you have people that you've been stiff-arming, you're holding grudges, and you're bitter, and you're angry, 01:17:47.000 |
And not just have bad feelings, "Oh, I feel bad about that," but to actually reconcile. 01:17:52.000 |
Not to give the devil an opportunity to destroy the church. 01:17:56.000 |
When the church is destroyed, majority of the time it's not destroyed simply because of major events 01:18:04.000 |
that happen, because of trials and persecution. 01:18:07.000 |
Most of the time when the church erodes, it's because of unreconciled differences. 01:18:14.000 |
You have something against somebody that you're not dealing with. 01:18:18.000 |
"I'll come to church, but don't let me sit with them." 01:18:22.000 |
"I'll be in this small group, but don't let me sit at this table." 01:18:26.000 |
"I'll participate, but I'm just going to go here because I don't want to be around them." 01:18:30.000 |
And then the Satan uses that to kind of chip away at your walk with God. 01:18:36.000 |
And then eventually your heart becomes hardened, and you have a bunch of people at church whose hearts are hardened. 01:18:42.000 |
The Word of God is no longer penetrating in them. 01:18:44.000 |
And then all you have is tender for the devil to come and light the church on fire in a very bad way. 01:18:51.000 |
So the communion is to bring us to reconcile the sins in our hearts with God and with one another. 01:19:00.000 |
So thirdly, I want to talk about practically what does this mean in practice. 01:19:05.000 |
One, it must be set apart from what is common. 01:19:10.000 |
So when we participate in communion, it should not be like any other day. 01:19:15.000 |
But when we have communion, we ought to take a serious look and examine ourselves. 01:19:21.000 |
To not participate in it in a way that is dishonoring God. 01:19:27.000 |
Not recognizing the sacredness of what it is that we're doing. 01:19:30.000 |
In verse 33 it says, "So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another." 01:19:35.000 |
"If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home so that you will not come together for judgment." 01:19:40.000 |
"The remaining matters I will arrange when I come." 01:19:42.000 |
In some circles, what we're doing is called a sacrament. 01:19:46.000 |
And the word sacrament literally means sacred. 01:19:52.000 |
And we are not to handle it in just any manner. 01:19:55.000 |
Like I said, what we're doing today, this is out of necessity. 01:19:58.000 |
And we're going to try to get back to what we did as soon as we can. 01:20:03.000 |
Because we want to convey the sacredness of what we're doing. 01:20:06.000 |
And that's why when we have communion, we usually have it in the front. 01:20:11.000 |
And I usually ask just the elders and the pastors to handle the elements. 01:20:20.000 |
It's to convey the sacredness of what we're doing. 01:20:29.000 |
That you don't sit there kind of half asleep through the service. 01:20:35.000 |
It's not just something that you do because, oh, everybody else is doing it. 01:20:38.000 |
So we ask you to stand up and come to the front and get it. 01:20:49.000 |
It's like we have too many people. It takes too long. 01:20:53.000 |
But the reason why we're being stubborn about that is for that reason. 01:20:56.000 |
We want all of you to understand the sacredness of what it is that we do. 01:21:02.000 |
Secondly, it must be done in the context of the whole community. 01:21:07.000 |
During the pandemic, we've had a lot of people saying, 01:21:12.000 |
like, can you just send the communion stuff to the home? 01:21:16.000 |
Or, you know, every once in a while, somebody said, can we do it at our wedding? 01:21:21.000 |
And we want to make it a romantic thing with Christ in the middle. 01:21:26.000 |
You can carve a cross out and put it in the middle. 01:21:28.000 |
But communion is not to be participated in that manner. 01:21:33.000 |
Now, we're not saying that the Bible prohibits this and you can't do this in your home. 01:21:37.000 |
But the reason why we do it in the context of the whole community 01:21:40.000 |
is because the meaning behind it is to recognize the whole body of Christ. 01:21:44.000 |
It was not meant to be something to be done just individually. 01:21:53.000 |
We'd rather wait and make sure that everybody is here. 01:21:57.000 |
And everybody is able to participate together so that we can see what we are doing. 01:22:01.000 |
That we are united in Christ because of the blood of Christ. 01:22:07.000 |
"There is one body, one spirit, as also you were called in one hope of your calling, 01:22:12.000 |
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, 01:22:19.000 |
And so, every time we participate in communion is to convey that thought. 01:22:25.000 |
Not just because we come from the same church, 01:22:28.000 |
but in spirit and heart, the people we are sitting around us are not strangers. 01:22:35.000 |
You may never even have conversations with them because the church is size. 01:22:44.000 |
And we are called to love them, care for them, pray for them, 01:22:49.000 |
suffer with them, and rejoice with them as Christ did with us. 01:23:02.000 |
Again, as I said, we normally ask the people to actively come to the front and participate. 01:23:09.000 |
But in Psalm 139, 23, it says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart. 01:23:14.000 |
Try me and know my anxious thoughts, and see if there be any hurtful way in me, 01:23:21.000 |
A Christian who does not regularly come before God and praise this prayer 01:23:26.000 |
is an individual who is deliberately hardening his heart. 01:23:30.000 |
Sanctification means that we're coming before the Lord and asking the Lord, 01:23:35.000 |
asking the Word of God to judge the thoughts and intentions of our heart. 01:23:42.000 |
So that your sanctification is not because I live longer or I have more wisdom or I read more. 01:23:54.000 |
Sanctification is allowing God's Spirit in His Word to judge the thoughts and intentions of our heart. 01:24:00.000 |
And the central place where we are called to do that is at the communion table. 01:24:05.000 |
Before you come to the communion, to examine oneself. 01:24:09.000 |
To see, have I allowed or harbored bitterness in my heart that I'm not dealing with? 01:24:14.000 |
Is there division in my life that I should be reconciling? 01:24:20.000 |
Have I been drifting and I've just been okay with it? 01:24:23.000 |
Are there any sins that I need to confess and receive forgiveness? 01:24:28.000 |
No Christian can come up to the communion table by their own righteousness. 01:24:34.000 |
So we're not saying that only those who've done their quiet time and live righteously 01:24:39.000 |
and have never sinned can come up to the front. 01:24:45.000 |
If you can earn your way into the presence of God, Christ didn't have to die. 01:24:49.000 |
But the only way that you and I can actually have righteousness 01:24:56.000 |
So, communion table is to cause us to examine where we're at 01:25:02.000 |
so that we can repent and ask for forgiveness. 01:25:05.000 |
And only forgiven sinners who recognize that my righteousness can only be had by the blood of Christ 01:25:16.000 |
So whether we are weak in our faith and repentant, 01:25:23.000 |
the road that brings us to the cross is the same road. 01:25:28.000 |
There's some people in this room that needs to be humbled. 01:25:31.000 |
You know, maybe you've been reading a lot of scriptures and memorizing 01:25:36.000 |
and you've been evangelizing and you're coming and you're just angry with the world 01:25:42.000 |
And somehow pride can easily creep in and there's nothing wrong with what you're doing, 01:25:47.000 |
but it's a self-righteousness that kind of creeps in. 01:25:50.000 |
And there's some people that need to repent of that. 01:25:53.000 |
That we, in the presence of God, no one is righteous. 01:25:57.000 |
When we compare our righteousness with other sinners, that's what makes us proud. 01:26:01.000 |
But when we look to the cross, we're all humbled. 01:26:04.000 |
And then there's some of us who've been struggling. 01:26:07.000 |
And when we struggle, we naturally think, "Gosh, I don't deserve that." 01:26:15.000 |
Whatever causes you to run from Christ is apostasy. 01:26:19.000 |
It is our weakness that's the reason why Christ came. 01:26:23.000 |
It is because we are weak, because we are desperately in need, 01:26:27.000 |
that we continue to come to the cross and ask for forgiveness 01:26:33.000 |
So whether you are doing well or whether you are struggling, 01:26:37.000 |
the cross, there's only one road to get to the cross. 01:26:40.000 |
To humble us, to lift us up, to encourage us. 01:26:43.000 |
And in that way, the church is purified and it causes us to be anchored in Christ. 01:26:48.000 |
And fourth and finally, that's exactly what this is for. 01:26:53.000 |
He says that whenever we do this, we proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. 01:27:00.000 |
Like every funeral that we go to, what do we celebrate about that person? 01:27:05.000 |
Imagine if the presider came up and said, "You know what? 01:27:10.000 |
Right? That would be a weird thing to say at a funeral. 01:27:14.000 |
Usually when people pass, we celebrate their life. 01:27:17.000 |
Well in Christ, the whole purpose of this is to remember His death. 01:27:22.000 |
Every single one of us came into this world kicking and screaming to live. 01:27:28.000 |
We go to the gym so that we can be healthier, so that we can live longer. 01:27:32.000 |
We avoid certain places that we think are not safe because we want to live longer. 01:27:41.000 |
Christ was the only human being who was born specifically for the purpose to die. 01:27:55.000 |
So every time we participate in the communion, we proclaim His death until He comes. 01:28:03.000 |
And the minute, the moment that we forget that that's the reason why we're here, 01:28:12.000 |
We want to have what the other families have. 01:28:15.000 |
We want to put away more money than this family. 01:28:19.000 |
We want to experience what they're experiencing. 01:28:27.000 |
the moment we forget that we're going to go to eternity, 01:28:31.000 |
where we're going to be glorified with Christ and enjoy His presence for eternity, 01:28:36.000 |
that our life is going to be found in Christ when He comes, 01:28:41.000 |
everything else in this world becomes more tempting. 01:28:44.000 |
That's why we need to participate in this communion in a worthy manner. 01:28:51.000 |
If you've drifted in any way, if your heart has been hardened in any way, 01:28:55.000 |
if you've compromised, if your relationship has been soured 01:29:01.000 |
the communion table is given to us, set apart for the purposes of His glory, 01:29:06.000 |
unity of the church, that His death may be proclaimed in the church and outside the church. 01:29:12.000 |
So this morning, as we participate in this communion, 01:29:20.000 |
Just like we said, to give you some time, I'm going to give you a few minutes just to pray. 01:29:39.000 |
but you haven't asked, you haven't pursued, you haven't knocked. 01:29:47.000 |
But before we participate in the communion, decide. 01:29:57.000 |
If you have pride in your heart that somehow I deserve this more than other people, 01:30:03.000 |
take your eyes off of other people that frustrate you and look to Christ. 01:30:17.000 |
those of you who don't feel worthy this morning, 01:30:28.000 |
And so this morning, as we come before the Lord together, 01:30:33.000 |
to take some time to examine, and we're going to ask you, 01:30:35.000 |
we're going to ask the A.V. team to turn some music on, 01:30:38.000 |
and after about three minutes, we're going to participate all together. 01:30:42.000 |
Okay? So until then, I invite you to take some time to reflect and to pray. 01:32:44.000 |
If you can, those of you who've done this before, 01:32:47.000 |
you can just take the front part off, the top part, 01:32:53.000 |
And I want to remind you that communion is to be taken by baptized believers 01:33:00.000 |
who have already been united with Christ in baptism. 01:33:03.000 |
Because baptism is, if you can maybe for us, easier for us to understand, 01:33:09.000 |
it's kind of like the wedding ceremony, and communion is kind of like an anniversary. 01:33:17.000 |
and so if you have not been united with Christ in baptism, 01:33:21.000 |
And so if you haven't been baptized, please come talk to us, 01:33:24.000 |
and you want to, and hopefully next time that you can. 01:33:27.000 |
And so talk to one of the pastors or the leaders here, 01:33:29.000 |
and we'll kind of guide you through the process to be able to do that. 01:33:32.000 |
And those of you who are participating, again, if you can take that, 01:33:42.000 |
And then we'll do it together, to symbolize our union together. 01:33:45.000 |
In verse 23 it says, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, 01:33:51.000 |
that the Lord Jesus, in the night in which he was betrayed, took bread. 01:33:55.000 |
And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 01:33:57.000 |
'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' 01:34:01.000 |
In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying, 01:34:07.000 |
Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. 01:34:10.000 |
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, 01:34:13.000 |
you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.'" 01:34:47.000 |
We thank you that you've shown us mercy, adopted us as your children, 01:34:54.000 |
Lord, teach us what it means to have our lives hidden with Christ, 01:34:59.000 |
that when Christ comes in full glory, that we will be glorified with him, 01:35:05.000 |
that it is that glory that we live for, that we pursue, 01:35:09.000 |
that that is what gives us strength and hope, that is our refuge. 01:35:14.000 |
So we pray, Father God, that as we remember the blood shed for us, 01:35:22.000 |
that we may be able to come and pray to you, to worship you, 01:35:27.000 |
I pray, Father God, that you would continue to keep us at the center of the cross, 01:35:33.000 |
that all that we do may be an overflow of your mighty work that you have already done. 01:35:41.000 |
cause us, Lord God, to honor and magnify you, 01:35:45.000 |
especially as the world becomes darker and darker, 01:35:48.000 |
that your light through the church would shine brighter and brighter. 01:35:54.000 |
Why don't we all stand up for the closing praise. 01:40:13.000 |
We pray. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling 01:40:18.000 |
and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, 01:40:21.000 |
blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, 01:40:24.000 |
through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority 01:42:01.000 |
If you can take the empty cups, there will be trash cans outside 01:42:05.000 |
and just as you go, you guys can just drop it off there. Thank you. 01:42:16.000 |
Okay, well, also we're going to be having our college welcome lunch in here 01:42:20.000 |
so if I could ask for those of you who are here, 01:42:23.000 |
if you are not a part of the college ministry, the cafe is open. 01:42:27.000 |
You guys can spend some time outside also in the courtyard. 01:42:30.000 |
If you are college-aged and you have not signed up for the welcome lunch, 01:42:36.000 |
So all college students, we're going to need to clear out this middle area, 01:42:39.000 |
set up about 20 tables, so we actually kind of need all of you.