Communion /
Significant Relationships: Our
relationships should strengthen our spiritual lives. Intentional relationship building, which facilitates
spiritual growth.
Have you come
together lately? On October 24,
1981 my wife, Lynn and I came together to begin our relationship as husband
and wife. We made a commitment
that day that God helping us we will continue to enjoy.
Yet, we still need to get together.
We meet daily for fellowship, food, and fun. This week we are planning on taking a couple of nights
together to celebrate the past 20 years of marriage and make plans for 50
more. Our relationships with one
another have to be continually strengthened and polished.
Why should our relationship with the Lord be any different?
God doesn’t change, but we do. To
begin with we need to make that initial commitment to the Lord, but then we
need to continually get together with Him and with one another.
Thus, we have the ordinance of communion.
We have fellowship dinners. We
get together to worship, to study, and to pray.
We need to continue to get together.
Scripture Text:
1Cor 11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I
delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the [same] night in which he was
betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake [it], and
said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in
remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also [he took] the cup, when he
had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye,
as oft as ye drink [it], in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat
this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 27
Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink [this] cup of the Lord,
unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a
man examine himself, and so let him eat of [that] bread, and drink of [that]
cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh
damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this cause many
[are] weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge
ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are
chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. 33
Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.
34 And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together
unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.
He came together with us.
He came to
meet us. He came to know us.
He came to talk to us. He
came to walk with us. He came to
eat with us. He came to live with
us. He came to die for us.
He came to raise for us on the third day.
He came to us, so that we could come together with Him to know Him.
Jesus extends the hand of fellowship to all those who will accept Him.
To those who choose to sit at the table of the Lord we enjoy the new
covenant. He will never leave us
or forsake us. He will provide
for our every need.
Will we come together? Why? How ?
When? Where?
To Meet the Lord.
Have you met the Lord? Will
you meet Him again? Once you have
met the Lord then you have the opportunity to know the Lord as your Savior.
Then He becomes your reason for living.
Come back to see Him again and again.
He is still there waiting for you to have a seat at the table.
The table is set and the food is hot.
Don’t wait too long because your dinner will get cold.
You may miss out on your opportunity to know the Lord forever.
Without the Lord you won’t be able to make it through.
You will be lost forever. Come
to know Him today.
To Eat Dinner.
Have you eaten from His Table? Will
you allow God to provide you’re your needs?
He created you and He knows what you like and what you need. He knows
what is best for you, even though you may not believe it.
He Look to Him to meet the needs of the whole person.
When you eat from the table of the Lord you will come together as a
whole person. We realize that at
His table you find not only food, but you also find health and wealth.
Health and wealth are not only found in the physical, but also in the
spiritual. We are made whole and
Holy through the sacrifice that He has made.
That is why we eat the Bread and the Fruit of the vine, which
represents his sacrifice for our sin. Shouldn’t
we eat at home? Yes, but not only
there. When we get together for
fellowship and food we do so in the name of the Lord in the place that has
been prepared for the feast of fellowship.
We must get together to get to know each other.
To Greet the Family: Through
my years as a Pastor and as a Pastor’s son I have met the best people in the
world. When Dad pastored the
Jeanette Baptist Church and the Keeny’s Creek Baptist Church we would always
eat at someone’s house between the Sunday Services.
Leck McVeigh was a widow who prepared the best meal of all.
We couldn’t wait to eat at Leck’s house.
You may ask if they were all the best.
I will tell you that the people of God are all together the best that
the world has to offer. We
aren’t perfect, but our Lord is. We
trust that He will provide each of us the love that we need to stick together.
To Love one another is not human it is divine.
This love will come from Him if we ask Him.
Everyone in the family may not be lovable, but we can love everyone
with the Lord’s love. We
don’t have any love when compared to Him.
If you need some ask and He will give.
We can even love our enemies with the love and forgiveness that God can
give.
To Beat Death: What a friend we have in Jesus.
He is the big brother who has already defeated the worst big bully of
all time. Death was the
unconquerable enemy until Jesus came down.
He went down to the tomb for a short stay.
He then rose again.
To Walk on the Streets:
If we meet with Him and join with Him now, then we will have the
opportunity to walk with Him on the streets of gold that He is preparing for
us.
Teresa
of Avila was an ordinary nun who went about her daily offices routinely.
She recalls that it was with empty formality and in a coldly familiar
way, that she passed the crucifix on hundreds of occasions to enter the chapel
every few hours for scheduled prayers. Then
one day she saw with clear eyes the crucifix and through it the cross of
Christ. She really saw her Lord's
passion. The selfless surrender,
the awful loneliness, the agony, the bloody sweat, the uncalculating love that
pays any price - the sacrifice of heaven's very best. Falling to her knees, she dedicated herself then and there,
holding nothing back, to the service of this crucified King.
She became a saint, going deeper and yet deeper in service to her
brothers and sisters, in communion with God, in companionship with Christ.
Behold your King!