back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 8.7.2022
Chapters
0:0
10:32 Announcements
25:19 Communion
40:20 Why We Need To Remember
44:55 The Passover Meal
74:0 Social Justice Movement
75:48 The Communion Table
00:06:58.480 |
for us to gather together to worship in spirit and truth. 00:07:02.380 |
So let us seek the Lord together this morning 00:08:21.880 |
♪ You are my friends and you are my brethren ♪ 00:08:33.880 |
♪ I love you more than you may ever so much be ♪ 00:10:31.760 |
Let me jump right into the announcements this morning. 00:10:35.520 |
Next Sunday, we have our family retreat that we're going, 00:10:42.240 |
and young couples are headed out to the retreat site 00:10:48.520 |
But we will have a full service here at church, 00:10:54.240 |
So you guys, if you're normally coming to 11, 00:10:57.780 |
but we do not have a nine o'clock service, only 11 o'clock. 00:11:06.420 |
and Sunday school teachers and even youth group leaders, 00:11:11.760 |
So we are gonna have normal service at 11 here, 00:11:15.120 |
and we will not have an outside setup that Sunday either 00:11:27.820 |
Pastor James Lee from Lighthouse Bible Church in San Diego. 00:11:32.560 |
He's gonna come and speak for us at 11 o'clock. 00:11:39.440 |
Everything's gonna be normal here at 11 o'clock, 00:11:41.240 |
but again, our family's gonna be out in the retreat site, 00:11:48.420 |
Second Peter Bible study, if you haven't signed up yet, 00:11:53.440 |
We are right in the middle of putting the groups together, 00:12:04.680 |
Intentional Sisters Fellowship is starting again, 00:12:08.280 |
and so it's at Fridays at 9.30 to 11.30, or Monday evenings. 00:12:12.360 |
And so if you're interested in participating in that, 00:12:19.400 |
will be on the Facebook page, so you can look for that. 00:12:25.800 |
So more announcements will be given as we get closer to that, 00:12:28.380 |
but just wanted to give you a heads up on it. 00:12:31.360 |
One last thing is I was asked from our finance team 00:12:35.640 |
to ask that, even though on our slides it says PayPal, 00:12:42.480 |
if you have access to Zelle, we're asking you to do that 00:12:54.320 |
but we've been having some issues with PayPal. 00:12:56.960 |
They're starting to charge every transaction, 00:13:04.280 |
so some of you guys who don't know what Zelle is, 00:13:06.840 |
let me bring you up to 22nd century, okay, 21st century. 00:13:13.800 |
Zelle is connected to almost all of your bank accounts, 00:13:17.600 |
And so if you go on your website and you see, 00:13:33.400 |
and then if you do not, then you can go to PayPal. 00:13:36.800 |
finance team asked me to pass on that information, 00:13:40.240 |
so if you can transfer that, that would be appreciated. 00:13:49.520 |
As you're exiting, you'll see a table out there, 00:14:08.080 |
So as you're exiting, you'll see under that big clock, 00:14:11.760 |
so you can drop it off there after the service is over. 00:14:15.820 |
and then I'll give you a minute to give your offering, 00:14:19.100 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you so much, Lord God, 00:14:28.480 |
Help us, Lord, to give our heart fully to you. 00:14:36.500 |
Help us, Lord, to give you our best in our heart. 00:14:39.680 |
Whatever distractions that we may have brought 00:14:50.680 |
36 hundredfold for the purpose of your kingdom. 00:15:37.240 |
Church family, would you please stand with us 00:16:02.080 |
♪ The Lord has held the oceans in his hands ♪ 00:16:07.080 |
♪ The Lord has numbered every grain of sand ♪ 00:17:23.120 |
♪ And heaven and hell come at his adornment ♪ 00:17:42.100 |
♪ The Lord has felt the nails upon his hands ♪ 00:25:22.040 |
and we wanna make sure that we're all on the same page 00:25:27.740 |
And so, we wanna take some time to look at the passage 00:25:41.440 |
but I'm just going to be highlighting the text 00:25:52.160 |
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered 00:26:00.180 |
When He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 00:26:05.840 |
In the same way, He took the cup also after supper, 00:26:09.240 |
saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. 00:26:11.620 |
"Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. 00:26:14.700 |
"For as often as you eat the bread and drink the cup, 00:26:16.940 |
"you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." 00:26:20.360 |
Heavenly Father, we pray that you would bless this time. 00:26:26.040 |
May your word have power to change our hearts, 00:26:31.600 |
I pray, Father God, that what you have intended 00:26:33.720 |
in this text, that it would have its full effect in us. 00:26:50.040 |
because at the core of it, there's some truth. 00:26:55.760 |
if you don't understand the context in which it is said, 00:27:00.720 |
and then you kind of universally apply in all things. 00:27:04.240 |
I think one of the most commonly heard cliches 00:27:07.200 |
in our generation is Christianity is a relationship 00:27:20.360 |
is because we are living in a post-Christian culture, 00:27:45.080 |
And so, again, this is a little bit outdated, 00:27:47.640 |
and I think the number is a bit less than that now, 00:27:51.640 |
but back in the '90s, the number was almost 86% 00:27:56.200 |
of people surveyed said that they were Christian. 00:27:59.100 |
Obviously, we know that that's not true, right? 00:28:01.560 |
We know that, based upon what we know in Scripture, 00:28:11.520 |
or have some sort of Christianity in their home, 00:28:15.080 |
that they themselves believe that they are saved. 00:28:24.520 |
that Christianity is not a religion but a relationship, 00:28:27.640 |
that there needs to be a personal relationship with Christ, 00:28:31.840 |
You can't just come to church and through osmosis 00:28:34.160 |
and just by being in a Christian home make you a Christian. 00:28:37.520 |
There has to be a personal relationship with Christ. 00:29:02.000 |
So Christian religion is distinct from Muslims 00:29:08.840 |
There's a different set of doctrines that they believe 00:29:11.160 |
that causes them to say that we are set apart 00:29:35.300 |
"because it's just personal between me and God." 00:29:38.460 |
Especially in this YouTube generation after the pandemic, 00:29:44.040 |
"because it's about my personal relationship with God." 00:29:48.260 |
It is about your personal relationship with God, 00:29:50.020 |
but there are specific, very focused teaching 00:29:56.060 |
that this is what a Christian ought to believe 00:30:01.100 |
the reason why I introduced my sermon this morning 00:30:03.780 |
is because of the religious things that we talk about, 00:30:06.800 |
there's two things that, if we're not careful, 00:30:18.660 |
we say, "Well, I mean, that sounds very legalistic, 00:30:25.580 |
So it doesn't really matter one way or the other. 00:30:30.660 |
It doesn't save us, it doesn't give us any specific power, 00:30:38.320 |
Well, as I said, religious activity is important 00:30:59.860 |
So when done properly, it reminds us of who we are, 00:31:08.900 |
It's the first act of obedience in the church. 00:31:13.620 |
when he was being baptized by John the Baptist, 00:31:15.580 |
he says, "I'm doing this to fulfill all righteousness." 00:31:29.700 |
and maybe you grew up in the church practicing this, 00:31:33.140 |
and maybe not understanding the significance of it. 00:31:35.820 |
So whether we participate in it, how we participate in it, 00:31:53.700 |
so at some point in my life, I got baptized, so I'm saved. 00:31:59.340 |
We have people coming into our church all the time. 00:32:01.780 |
And I got baptized when I was two or three or five, 00:32:06.020 |
I was at some camp, and we just jumped into the water. 00:32:10.580 |
And everybody who came out, we were all baptized, 00:32:21.620 |
that that somehow covers them from their sins. 00:32:33.460 |
that somehow it has some magical protection power, 00:32:46.300 |
What I wanna look with you this morning through this text, 00:32:58.340 |
it reminds and refreshes our worship to our Savior. 00:33:13.020 |
it restores and unites the fellowship of the body of Christ. 00:33:30.300 |
hopefully when we participate in the communion, 00:33:32.480 |
that we would have a renewed sense of commitment, 00:33:37.320 |
toward what it is that we're doing this morning. 00:33:42.220 |
it reminds us and refreshes us of our worship to our Savior. 00:33:51.460 |
he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you. 00:33:57.280 |
In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, 00:33:59.520 |
saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. 00:34:01.420 |
"Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." 00:34:05.820 |
So first and foremost, we participate in communion. 00:34:21.460 |
is because you and I have a natural tendency to forget. 00:34:25.200 |
How many of you, you don't need to raise your hand, 00:34:28.120 |
but how many of you were adults when 9/11 happened? 00:34:42.580 |
and we've read about war, we've seen movies about wars, 00:34:51.020 |
Thousands of people just perished just instantaneously. 00:34:56.840 |
I saw something that I've never seen in my lifetime 00:34:59.560 |
and I'm not sure if I'm gonna ever see it again. 00:35:05.820 |
linked arm to arm, came out in public at Capitol Hill 00:35:11.920 |
and basically saying that we will never forget. 00:35:19.580 |
And as a result of that, it changed the way we flew. 00:35:22.760 |
You couldn't wear shoes anymore to go to the airport. 00:35:25.680 |
All of a sudden, all kinds of liquid had to be banned. 00:35:28.100 |
But at that time, people were more than willing, 00:35:31.460 |
more than willing because they said we will never forget. 00:35:33.740 |
That was the mantra of that period, we will never forget. 00:35:40.560 |
we were reminded that we have people around the world 00:35:45.460 |
and that they will do everything in their power 00:35:49.940 |
So we're gonna be ready, we're gonna be resolved, 00:35:52.620 |
we're gonna be united, we're gonna do whatever it takes. 00:36:07.080 |
Decades have gone by and now the TSA has become a joke, 00:36:16.840 |
all the stuff that was implemented at that time 00:36:19.000 |
being so resolved that we're gonna be ready to fight 00:36:21.720 |
and go to battle, for the most part, we've forgotten. 00:36:31.080 |
the reason why it was so important that we never forget 00:36:33.920 |
is because of the consequences that if we do forget. 00:36:36.840 |
When Jesus says, do this in remembrance of me, 00:36:48.560 |
was the Passover meal that they were participating, 00:36:55.480 |
God commanded the Passover meal to be celebrated every year. 00:36:59.240 |
And this is what he says in Exodus 13, three. 00:37:03.080 |
remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, 00:37:14.060 |
And he implemented this as soon as they left Egypt, 00:37:21.500 |
the moment that you forgot why or how you became a nation, 00:37:26.120 |
you're going to start to imitate all the other nations. 00:37:32.560 |
is because of God's power and his mercy and his covenant. 00:37:41.760 |
when you go out there and then you run into troubles 00:37:44.280 |
and powers that are greater than you physically, 00:37:48.120 |
remember who God is, remember how he delivered you, 00:37:52.320 |
If you say in your heart, these nations are greater than I, 00:37:58.640 |
but you shall remember that the Lord your God 00:38:11.440 |
So will the Lord your God do to all the peoples 00:38:16.400 |
In the time of distress, in the time of trouble, 00:38:19.620 |
and you begin to think that the powers that surround you, 00:38:24.600 |
is greater than you can handle, he says, remember. 00:38:30.780 |
he will carry it unto completion to the day of Christ. 00:38:35.780 |
he loved you so much that he gave his only begotten son, 00:38:38.580 |
and that same power that resurrected Christ dwells in you, 00:38:43.520 |
How much of our depression, how much of our anxiety, 00:38:55.700 |
He loved us so much that he says he counts our very hairs, 00:39:02.400 |
or we fall ill, or something doesn't seem quite right 00:39:06.980 |
going forward, and maybe we didn't save enough 00:39:09.320 |
for retirement, or whatever causes anxiousness, 00:39:12.380 |
how much of that is because we have forgotten 00:39:19.460 |
Why was this so essential for the nation of Israel? 00:39:49.180 |
the moment we begin to forget what it is that we have, 00:39:51.560 |
it's just some theological thing that we check off, 00:39:54.960 |
We sing about it, we memorize, we study the scripture, 00:40:01.820 |
how much of our life actually reflect the faith 00:40:16.440 |
See, fourth and finally, why we need to remember, 00:40:29.320 |
He says, "Take care lest you forget the Lord your God 00:40:33.300 |
"by not keeping the commandments and his rules and statutes 00:40:39.540 |
"and have built good houses and live in them," 00:40:42.060 |
listen carefully, "when everything is going well, 00:40:46.720 |
"you have a nice house and you have a nice car 00:41:14.260 |
right, and I know many of you students are in college, 00:41:36.680 |
you finish your, you know, start getting into your career 00:41:40.860 |
and then you have more money than you actually need 00:41:45.460 |
and then after a while, you look at your faith, 00:41:50.460 |
it's nothing like it was when you were younger 00:41:53.340 |
and you begin to convince yourself that this is normal. 00:42:04.540 |
and you just kind of accepted that as normal. 00:42:10.060 |
and the possibility of doing work for the Lord 00:42:13.740 |
and all these things but now it's just, you know, 00:42:26.860 |
Next thing you know, your heart is hardened toward God 00:42:33.120 |
and you have a form of godliness but there's no power. 00:42:40.380 |
everything's going well and so the temptation is, 00:42:48.100 |
He says the communion table was given to the church 00:42:57.840 |
As soon as we begin to say we're proud and I did this, 00:43:01.060 |
we begin to forget God, we start to just be religious. 00:43:05.800 |
We sing songs but there's no passion behind that. 00:43:10.100 |
You just, you know, you have to have a new song 00:43:25.260 |
to sing praises to God, it's just the newness of things. 00:43:28.260 |
Even the sermons, great, but after you hear it for a while, 00:43:34.840 |
It says in verse 17, beware lest you say in your heart, 00:43:44.860 |
for it is he who gives you power to get wealth. 00:43:49.560 |
that he swore to your fathers, and it is this day. 00:43:54.060 |
and you go after the gods and serve them and worship them, 00:44:03.660 |
any pursuit that is greater than your pursuit of Christ 00:44:13.340 |
and say, I don't trust you, I'm gonna trust Baal instead. 00:44:23.100 |
They never rejected God, they just added that 00:44:25.220 |
and they just ran to it whenever it was more convenient. 00:44:37.800 |
I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 00:44:51.380 |
And in order to prevent them from this danger, 00:44:57.540 |
so that every year that they would be reminded, 00:45:09.740 |
What God has implemented with the nation of Israel, 00:45:27.120 |
all of it is connected to how connected we are 00:45:33.540 |
Remember, in fact, whole nation of Israel's downfall 00:46:03.980 |
when you have relational problems and it gets solved, 00:46:11.180 |
that God gave it to you and answered your prayer 00:46:17.800 |
He said, when they were satisfied, they became proud. 00:46:29.120 |
Tomorrow morning, whether you prayed this week or not, 00:46:45.560 |
whether you're praying to him and seeking him, 00:46:47.740 |
whether you feel this urgency to share the gospel or not, 00:46:50.880 |
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, 00:46:53.100 |
doesn't look any different other than the external pressure 00:46:56.480 |
to meet whatever schedule that has been placed on your table. 00:47:00.280 |
Outside of that, it doesn't look any different. 00:47:02.240 |
Whether you prayed for, didn't pray for a day, 00:47:16.680 |
And as a result of that, whether you admit it or not, 00:47:29.000 |
and maybe compared to other proud people, you may be humble, 00:47:46.580 |
See, the communion table was given to us as a result 00:47:57.280 |
And again, most of the time, not with sinful things, 00:48:01.080 |
just raising kids, paying bills, doing a good job at work, 00:48:12.080 |
And in the midst of all of that, if you're honest, 00:48:26.620 |
You can't remember the last time that God drove you 00:48:32.720 |
this groaning that the Holy Spirit has, desperate for him, 00:48:37.240 |
like wanting to connect with him, wanting to commune with him. 00:48:41.700 |
You can't remember the last time that has happened. 00:48:44.740 |
And so you're just kind of like, well, I'm just gonna do 00:48:47.900 |
what I'm supposed to do, and you've been doing that 00:49:00.400 |
You have a form of godliness, but there's no power. 00:49:23.380 |
You evangelize because it's time to evangelize, 00:49:41.800 |
First generation are the people who believe Christ, 00:49:45.700 |
and they're the ones who go out to missions and sacrifice, 00:49:51.760 |
And he said eventually as they begin to drift, 00:50:08.540 |
from set of doctrines, from things that you profess, 00:50:19.280 |
They've just inherited what the first generation has, 00:50:28.860 |
of lukewarm Christians who are just going through the motion 00:50:38.500 |
They go to church but give the minimum amount 00:51:13.200 |
that when I die, then maybe I'll go to heaven. 00:51:22.940 |
but even just the years that I've been a pastor 00:52:04.660 |
where you have children, parents, and grandparents, 00:52:10.900 |
Maybe the first generation have already passed away. 00:52:13.820 |
Second generation are the ones who are leading the church, 00:52:16.860 |
and then the congregants are the third generation. 00:52:19.700 |
He says to them, you're doing all the right things. 00:52:25.380 |
You test the apostles to see if they're true, 00:52:33.140 |
but he says you have forsaken your first love. 00:52:45.780 |
He doesn't say to find new ways to worship God. 00:52:48.460 |
He says remember the height from which you have fallen. 00:52:56.420 |
Every time you heard someone else's testimony, 00:53:04.340 |
you were so eager to share the gospel to other people 00:53:09.140 |
even strangers coming into the judgment of God? 00:53:13.460 |
Remember how you dedicated your summers to go overseas 00:53:18.780 |
That you were open if God called you to full-time missions, 00:53:32.920 |
You can't remember the last time you pleaded on your knees 00:53:38.780 |
for even your family members who may not be Christians, 00:53:54.500 |
And yet we know that our hearts have drifted so far. 00:53:58.440 |
See, the communion table was given to us for that purpose 00:54:09.580 |
He knew our tendency to be wrapped up in our lives 00:54:18.880 |
If done correctly, it's supposed to revive us, 00:54:25.300 |
that we would continue what we had from the beginning. 00:54:41.700 |
"and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner 00:54:44.520 |
"shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord." 00:54:57.060 |
I mean, yeah, great, I mean, you showed up today 00:55:19.400 |
because they participate in an unworthy manner, 00:55:21.980 |
he said, verse 28, "But a man must examine himself 00:55:27.820 |
"For he who eats and drinks and eats and drinks 00:55:48.800 |
And if you participate in an unworthy manner, 00:55:58.300 |
In fact, the early church, people were actually 00:56:05.420 |
Imagine how seriously we would take communion 00:56:20.200 |
Even if one person died, out of 700, 800 people, 00:56:43.760 |
that you make sure that you're not participating 00:56:56.500 |
I don't remember the last time I saw somebody 00:56:58.140 |
who got sick, and it's like, oh, it's communion. 00:57:07.500 |
They didn't judge the body correctly, so they died. 00:57:30.640 |
What if God is actually disciplining the church, 00:58:00.320 |
What if that was a result of an unworthy participation 00:58:17.080 |
'cause I don't have any revelation that that is, 00:58:21.600 |
that happens in the church, in the early church. 00:58:30.680 |
some of you are falling asleep and you don't know, 00:58:34.080 |
but that's as a result of your unworthy manner. 00:58:37.120 |
Maybe some of them didn't know that that was the connection, 00:58:39.480 |
and that's why Paul is pointing that out and telling them, 00:58:42.200 |
you don't realize the sickness and the trouble 00:58:44.040 |
that you're having is because you're participating 00:58:47.600 |
Imagine the revival that would break out in the church. 00:58:52.000 |
Unconfessed sins that we will bring to the forefront. 00:58:54.840 |
People who are lukewarm, who just kind of let it be, 00:58:59.680 |
'cause we're busy, how much that would affect the church 00:59:04.640 |
if we actually approached the communion table 00:59:07.580 |
the way it is established in the early church. 00:59:14.800 |
If you don't believe it, all this is nonsense. 00:59:20.200 |
I come to church and this guy's making a big deal 00:59:23.720 |
This guy's making a big deal because as long as I go 00:59:25.960 |
to church, it's a personal relationship, right? 00:59:29.560 |
If as long as I have a relationship with God, 00:59:35.600 |
What I read to you is straight out of the Bible, right? 00:59:38.800 |
The communion table was meant for us to take time, 00:59:55.480 |
You just kind of like, 'cause I don't see any consequence, 00:59:58.080 |
and even though there's all kinds of turmoil in your life, 01:00:07.580 |
'Cause Bible clearly says that those whom he loves, 01:00:24.240 |
and you seek people, but did you ever consider 01:00:28.720 |
maybe it's a discipline from God to bring us, 01:00:35.240 |
to get on our knees, to pray, and to cry out to God, 01:00:54.960 |
For in the first place, when you come together as a church, 01:01:10.280 |
for in your eating, each one takes his own supper, 01:01:17.680 |
and you don't consider the other people in your church, 01:01:21.200 |
he says you're not judging the body correctly. 01:01:26.060 |
There's a reason why we don't take the Lord's supper, 01:02:01.400 |
These people, I don't like the way they talk. 01:02:07.780 |
When you do that, you may not be saying that, 01:02:26.740 |
Something near the mouth, I can tolerate that. 01:02:31.860 |
So you come to church, especially as the church gets bigger, 01:02:34.500 |
you have a sphere of friends that you can tolerate. 01:02:38.740 |
Anybody you don't tolerate, they're like acquaintances, 01:02:56.040 |
And we practice everything that we're taught. 01:03:00.700 |
You have to be patient with them, but only with these people. 01:03:03.700 |
Outside of this that I've created, that's not my response. 01:03:18.380 |
We're a family of God, whether we're 60 or 600 or 6,000. 01:03:24.620 |
The only criteria for my brothers to be my brothers 01:03:44.060 |
But we don't say, oh, my brother doesn't like joking around, 01:03:48.660 |
I like playing basketball, but he doesn't play basketball, 01:03:53.900 |
No, the only criteria for them to be my brother 01:04:00.660 |
They are my brothers as long as they have the same father, 01:04:16.580 |
The early church had Jews and Gentiles in the same church. 01:05:02.680 |
was that the Jews were not feeding the Hellenistic widows. 01:05:10.600 |
because they started adapting to the Greek culture 01:05:12.600 |
and they said, well, you guys are not as bad as the Gentiles 01:05:21.280 |
'Cause if you don't feed the widows, what happens? 01:05:31.280 |
So if they didn't deal with this problem in a wise manner, 01:05:35.520 |
it could have completely divided the church from the get-go. 01:05:39.680 |
And in fact, every letter that's written in the New Testament 01:05:42.880 |
addresses that issue between Jews and Gentiles, 01:05:45.840 |
Jews and Gentiles, that we're one, we're one, we're one, 01:05:49.480 |
because they had such a hard time bringing them together. 01:05:54.400 |
Slaves and slave owners, I mean, think about that. 01:06:25.120 |
is sitting there having to submit to his leadership. 01:06:28.680 |
Imagine what that would have done to the church. 01:06:36.600 |
I mean, in our generation, we have the poor in one town, 01:06:43.320 |
Years ago, when I was actively in homeless ministry, 01:06:48.400 |
when I used to take the students out to feed the homeless, 01:07:23.760 |
He doesn't have a car, so you gotta pick him up. 01:07:26.000 |
He can't afford clothes, so you gotta buy him clothes. 01:07:28.520 |
We wanna play basketball, he didn't have shoes, 01:08:06.200 |
There's certain people that make you feel uncomfortable. 01:08:31.760 |
And it could be as frivolous as something like that. 01:08:39.300 |
is based upon, "I like him, I don't like him. 01:08:44.280 |
And so we come, and you've created your own community 01:08:50.360 |
He says, "When you do that, that's not the Lord's table 01:09:01.360 |
"You're just having a piece of chip in your mouth. 01:09:04.880 |
But when done correctly, when done correctly, 01:09:34.520 |
We have various backgrounds, various cultures. 01:09:37.960 |
And there are some people who are sitting around you. 01:09:40.880 |
If you weren't a Christian, you would never cross paths. 01:09:46.800 |
'cause you have nothing in common outside of Christ. 01:09:50.640 |
So the moment that we begin to drift away from Christ, 01:10:16.560 |
And so as soon as you stop talking about Jesus, 01:10:40.460 |
Because the only reason why we're here together, 01:10:42.520 |
that brings all of us together, is because of Christ. 01:10:45.880 |
So the moment we begin to drift away from Christ, 01:10:55.480 |
you know, it's gonna be hard for me to be around you. 01:10:57.840 |
So the communion table is meant to bring us back together 01:11:06.840 |
it is our natural instinct to find our communities, 01:11:15.800 |
It goes against our nature to be surrounded by people 01:11:23.400 |
One of the greatest witnesses in the early church 01:11:32.480 |
why did the Jews and the Gentiles, even to this day, 01:11:42.640 |
And then they realize Barnabas and all these people 01:11:45.160 |
who are rich sold their land and they spread it out. 01:11:49.840 |
Oh, it was all because they were up this political things. 01:12:00.760 |
So the power of the early church was their fellowship. 01:12:04.820 |
The people who would have hated each other got together 01:12:09.920 |
and called each other brothers and sisters in Christ 01:12:15.480 |
Let me ask you, 'cause I'm at the end of this, 01:12:19.680 |
how much of your life you've created to make you comfortable? 01:12:26.120 |
How much of your life have you created to glorify God? 01:12:38.120 |
even inside the church, even as we're active, 01:12:46.960 |
How much of the decisions that you're making, 01:12:52.680 |
is about building up the church and the body of Christ? 01:13:03.720 |
to come alongside them, to be patient with them. 01:13:07.560 |
but to come alongside them, not to stiff arm them, 01:13:12.560 |
but to learn how to care for those who are weak, 01:13:23.320 |
so that we can be a greater witness for Christ? 01:13:41.680 |
and minor, minor, which means you and I have a tendency, 01:13:45.000 |
every generation, and I've seen maybe about two or three 01:13:47.920 |
huge movements come along just during the period 01:13:54.280 |
people jump on board, oh, this is what we need, 01:14:04.320 |
and say, we need to do this, how come we're not doing this? 01:14:08.020 |
The problem wasn't that we should care for the poor, 01:14:13.640 |
Of course we should care about sex trafficking 01:14:21.420 |
when the movement and what's going on around the world 01:14:25.480 |
causes us to stray from the real power of God, 01:14:29.120 |
all you've done is commit to put a band-aid on cancer, 01:14:58.420 |
and the only power to deliver mankind from sin 01:15:04.840 |
Not politicians, not money, not better organization, 01:15:08.360 |
not the right politicians in the right place, 01:15:13.560 |
Foolishness to the world, to those who are perishing, 01:15:16.640 |
but power of God for those who are being saved. 01:15:19.360 |
So the communion puts the gospel and constantly reminds us 01:15:40.860 |
that the true power is in the blood and the body of Christ. 01:15:46.360 |
So this morning, as we participate in the communion table, 01:15:50.520 |
as I ask the praise team to come up to prepare, 01:15:54.020 |
I pray that you would take a few minutes to reflect. 01:16:03.220 |
Take every part of what you heard this morning seriously. 01:16:11.720 |
The thought of communion was the last thing on your mind? 01:16:15.080 |
Just get this over with, 'cause I got an appointment, 01:16:46.040 |
and see if there's any anxious thoughts in me, 01:16:51.260 |
When's the last time you came before the Lord, 01:16:58.780 |
Change your attitude, change your perspective, 01:17:07.020 |
search me, Lord, see if there's any hurtful ways in me, 01:17:10.800 |
and be ready to confess that and put that behind. 01:17:32.540 |
you've justified the disobedience on this other side? 01:18:03.380 |
and then you sprinkle some Jesus on all of it. 01:18:14.060 |
Let's take a few minutes to come before the Lord 01:18:25.740 |
So I'm gonna give you a few minutes to pray, get ready, 01:18:31.420 |
and we'll participate in the communion together. 01:21:18.180 |
- Before we participate, if you can get ready, 01:21:29.980 |
just take off the first lid and then get that ready, 01:21:48.380 |
But at the same time, this is not the ideal way 01:21:59.740 |
we ask people to stand up and come to the front 01:22:01.780 |
and get your elements and then go back to your seat. 01:22:23.400 |
but we don't want people to participate in a passive way 01:22:27.660 |
and you just open it and you put it in your mouth, 01:22:41.160 |
that we would feel comfortable enough to come to the front. 01:22:48.640 |
I wanted to give an encouragement and a warning 01:23:01.620 |
So if you've never had this union with Christ, 01:23:03.940 |
you never confessed your sins and been forgiven, 01:23:07.100 |
and you have this personal relationship with Christ, 01:23:10.060 |
that this is meant for those who have done that 01:23:13.080 |
to remind us, but if that has never happened, 01:23:20.320 |
So I ask that you guys just kind of sit there 01:23:22.120 |
and be reflective, and even if you're not a believer, 01:23:37.920 |
and so take that time to reflect, to ask questions. 01:23:48.980 |
to really personally come before the Lord and pray. 01:24:04.500 |
and ask the Lord, not only for us personally, 01:24:19.220 |
that if we've drifted to make Christ central, 01:24:22.380 |
and that we would recommit ourselves to the gospel. 01:24:39.820 |
"In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, 01:24:43.220 |
"saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. 01:24:45.600 |
"'Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. 01:24:48.340 |
"'For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, 01:24:50.760 |
"'you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.'" 01:26:49.800 |
♪ I'll be out of the riches of your glorious gifts ♪ 01:29:36.300 |
- We pray to him who is able to keep you from stumbling 01:29:38.800 |
and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, 01:29:43.300 |
to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. 01:31:29.800 |
♪ Worthy of all the praise we could ever hear ♪ 01:31:38.800 |
♪ Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪