Embracing Unity and Renewal: The Power of Communion

Well, what a beautiful day the Lord has prepared for us. It’s a beautiful time. you know, when he says he prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies? This is what that looks like. It’s a place of life. It’s a place of meeting needs. It’s a place of anointing. It’s a place of communion. It’s a place of fellowship.

It’s a place of being family together and sharing and life together. So, I just I have an assignment today from my pastor and from the Lord to speak about communion, and it couldn’t go more perfectly with what the Lord is already doing and demonstrating and speaking to us, because it’s about his table. It’s about coming into what he has prepared and provided for us.

So, we’re going to we’re going to go on a little, little journey today. You guys know how things go with me. I’m never quite sure I got notes, but, there’s a lot in my heart. And, there’s a lot of the Lord’s been, Breaking up in for me and in me. So, I like it when he lets me, prepare something nice and packaged, and then other times, it just comes out raw.

So I think today is a raw day, guitar triathlon. And he’s do her time here because I’m already crying. So, But, father, I just, I thank you.

I thank you for your faithfulness, your goodness, your mercy. It love toward us, your loving kindness toward us. All that you provided. We come right now to sit at your table to break bread with you together. The bread of your word to be fed by you, to receive from you, to be cleansed and washed together with you. You are teaching us what it really means to be your body, and we thank you for the revelation that brings life in the precious name of Jesus.

Amen. I’m going to read to you a couple passages of Scripture, and then we’re going to we’re going to dive into a few things, but I’m going to start in Matthew 26, verses 26 through 29. And it says, now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it, he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, take, eat, this is my body.

And he took a cup. And when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. First Corinthians 1118 through 32. Now this is Paul. He’s talking to the church in Corinth. He says, for in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you.

And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized when you come together. It is not the Lord’s Supper that you eat for an eating. Each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What? Don’t you have houses to eat and drink in?

Or do you despise the Church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not, for I receive from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 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. In the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant of my blood. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.

Let a person examine himself then, and so eat of the bread, and drink of the cup. For whoever eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

So we have these two passages here. This is two of the main ones about communion, about the Lord’s Supper. And I want to give you a little context about what was leading up to that last Supper with Jesus where this occurred. So there’s a lot of unrest happening in Israel. Jesus has reaching the the culmination of his ministry signs, wonders, miracles, transformed lives.

And as a result, it’s also reaching the peak of turmoil in the country because he’s upset the government and the status quo so much that it’s about to get under control. And so the religious leaders are gathering and they’re saying, we’ve got to do something about this guy. We’re not quite sure what to do. We’re not quite sure when to do it.

We don’t want to cause a huge riot, but we got to do something about Jesus. He’s ruining everything. So they’re scheming. Jesus is with his disciples, and he keeps telling them, I’m going to. I’m going to be crucified. I’m going to die. And somehow I was like, I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear it or whatever.

Like, I don’t know. It didn’t quite register with them, but he’s telling them I’m preparing them for the purpose that I came for. I’m letting you know you’re my friends. This is what’s happening in the middle of all of this. Jesus is in a house and a woman comes in and she brings in with her precious ointment, perfume that’s very costly.

And she pours it out on him and everyone around and gets upset. There’s all kinds of reasons. She’s broken the rules. She’s broken the law. She’s in there with her head hair, you know, which is her covering, wiping his feet. It’s all kinds of inappropriate happening. According to their customs, she’s wasting this precious things. Like. Why? What a waste of this.

It should have been sold, right? There’s all this stuff happening around Jesus during this time. And of course, we know Jesus says, leave her alone. She’s doing this to prepare me for my burial. It’s like I’m telling you guys, what’s happening and you’re not hearing it. She’s preparing me for my purpose. And at that time, something, something clicks in Judas.

Something happens there. Because after that encounter, that incident, he decides, I’ve had enough of this, I gotta go. I’m going to go talk to the religious leaders about how they can have access to Jesus to do what they want. So, I don’t know. There’s a lot of we can speculate. Judas was the money keeper. Maybe it was like, I’m tired of him wasting money.

Or maybe he had fear right for his future. This guy is the way that I’m

living right now. What happens when he dies and all the money’s gone, right? Maybe it’s like, actually, I hear what you’re saying. You. You’re determined to die, and you’re not going to be the redeemer of our nation the way I thought you were.

So if you’re determined to die, then I’m done with you. Or maybe he was the woman thing, right? There’s all kind of whatever it was, something shifted in him after that time. He goes to the religious leaders. I’m going to help you. What will you give me? I’ll give you Jesus. And he makes a covenant with them. That’s what the word says.

Interesting. We’re going to talk more about covenants today.

In the middle of all of this Passover coming religious turmoil, political turmoil, betrayal happening, Jesus must have been in such anguish in his soul, knowing what was coming, trying to impart his last words to people who weren’t getting it. And in the middle of all of this, he’s the most important thing for him, was to come and sit with his disciples and have a meal and break bread with them.

This was Jesus’s top priority in the few hours that he had left was, I’m going to sit with you and share a meal with you and share a life with you.

As they’re sitting, he teaches his last lesson before he enters into the time of his passion betrayal, torture, rejection, and ultimately his death. This is his last lesson to his disciples.

And what does he say? Let me show you.

Your hands. I just need someone to hold the microphone. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for helping me. Yeah, yeah. He says he’s sitting with them. This is my body.

And this is what’s going to happen to me for your sake.

This is what I’m doing for you.

Sarah. Here.

And then he says. And this is the blood that’s in my veins right now. This is what’s going to happen for you.

This is what he’s telling them.

And then he says, this is my covenant with you. And one with another.

And then he does something else. Yes.

He says I’m showing you what this new lives will look like. It’s a life that’s poured out, that’s willing to be broken and given. And he’s saying, I’m going to demonstrate what this will look like for you among each other. And he takes up a towel. See, we forget these things are together. We think of the Last Supper, and we know he washed his disciples feet.

We forget these happened at the same time. They’re part of the same message. This is what a life looks like that’s poured out for someone else. And he takes the towel. And he takes off his robe. He disarms himself, he makes himself vulnerable, and he wraps the towel around them. I’m not going to demonstrate that right now. Sorry.

I love you. Go.

And he takes the towel. Which is his covering. And he uses it to minister to the feet of his disciples. In other words, I’ll take the thing that protects me and preserves my dignity. I’ll use to clean your walk. And if it gets dirty, I’ll bear that.

I’m not worried about my reputation. If it means I can cleanse your life.

Part of the cleaning was an anointing.

Of Jesus.

Thank you. Yeah.

All this bread up here. I’m thinking today healing is the bread of the children.

See, we’re praying for healing. God, why don’t you heal this person? Why don’t you do it? Lord, I come against this. I come against that. He’s like, just ask me for bread. I want to feed you. The broken body of Jesus becomes the bread of healing for his children. I think the main question is, do we know that we are children of God?

Yeah. Or do we come as an orphan begging for scraps? And he’s saying, here you go. Oh, no one wants to catch the healing. Oh, that was a bad throw. Jesus is much better throwing than I am. Watch out!

I told you, you never know what’s gonna happen.

See, when we join in the Lord’s Supper together, we’re not just participating in a Christian ritual. We are renewing our covenant with him and with one another. See? Listen. Hey, y’all ain’t from the same bread. And they drank from the same cup. There was no separation. It wasn’t. You have yours and you have. And I have mine. And maybe every now and then we come together and we interact.

We’re eating. We eat from the same source of life. We are covered by the same blood of the same covenant. It’s one covenant together. That is what it means to partake in the Lord’s cup at the Lord’s Table is, I remember, and I renew my covenant with you and with those who are born of my bond and flesh of my flesh.

When Paul is talking to the Corinthians, he’s saying, you don’t understand what this means. You think it’s about coming and getting something for yourself. Who can get there first? Can they take all they want before someone else gets any? What do I come to church for? What do I come together with the church for? He said, you’re coming in.

You don’t understand who you are. You think that you’re separate from someone else. You think that you’re coming here to get something because you’re coming here to share something. That’s what it actually means to be the church and to be the body of Christ is that we come coming together to break ourselves open for one another and to be poured out.

It’s like you don’t understand what this is. When we partake in the cup of the Lord, we partake in his death and also his resurrection. You gotta hear this today. This is what the Lord has been trying to get us to understand all day is there’s a resurrection life that is released in the body of Christ, that comes together in love and in care and in service to one another.

Psalm 133. The unity of the brethren together there is a commending of the blessing of life. And he’s telling the Corinthians, you think you’re just observing some ritual? I’m trying to get you to understand that when you come together to share, to break bread, and to share life with one another, that the light of God begins to flow through you to one another, there’s healing that happens, there’s cleansing that happens.

There’s restoration that happens because you’re not just drinking of your cup, you’re drinking of the Lord’s cup. We remember his death and we partake of his life. And he said, the reason that people among you are sick and weak and this is, you know, died. And there’s this translation, but it’s asleep. And the new King James, which can mean death, but it also means when you’re lulled to sleep, he’s like the reason people are falling asleep in church and churches, their lot, they, they at some point they stop walking and they just sit down and they lie down.

The reason is because you don’t understand about

The body of Christ. And as a result, life cannot come the way I want it to because you’re not drinking from the Lord’s cup. But when you do. When you do understand, I come together to be with brothers and sisters. We receive from our father. I don’t have my life separate from your life or one.

That the life of God flow freely in the way he wants it to. I hope this is making some sense today. I just know I’m part and part it. The heart of God or His church, because he wants so much for us to understand why he was broken and torn. Why he poured out every last drop. I’m gonna say both of blood and of water.

What came out of Jesus’s side when he was pierced? It was the blood and the water. He’s trying. I’m trying to get you to understand. It’s a blood of the covenant, but it’s the willingness to wash each other’s feet to to earn un, robe yourself and be vulnerable and get on your knees and serve and love and deal with the the calluses.

Deal with the dirt, deal with the unloving this and cover it. When that woman came in, she used her hair. She was using her covering. You understand this? There’s something that God is trying to speak to us about. Our willingness to really be joined with each other. And I mean, get past fears, get past past disappointments, past wrongs.

We all have them. We all have scar tissue, he said. My blood is enough for that to, if you will, drink my cup.

This is communion. This is the Lord’s table that he prepares for us in the presence of enemies. And we sit together and we feast.

He brought me to his banqueting table. I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is my.

We are going to partake in communion today.

And before we enter into this, I want to give opportunity. If there’s someone here who is hearing about the blood of Jesus being poured out and his body broken for us, and you haven’t made yet the decision for him to be yours and for you to be his. There’s no better day like today. The love of God, so strong.

And he did it because he wanted to. We didn’t plan it. We couldn’t plan well enough to entice him to come the way he did today. This was his purpose. He would like to know Jesus and enter into this walk with him, which is a life that is full of goodness and joy and peace. Peace for your mind, the love of people who are flawed.

But we are doing our best to walk together anyway, I want to invite you. Come right now. Just come right now. The Lord is here to redeem our lives and to exchange with us death for life.

It’s a beautiful opportunity. I also want to stand. I extend the invitation.

If you want to renew your covenant. With Jesus Savior. It’s a personal thing. But there’s an open invitation. And we have people who will pray with you, who will help you start your journey back. I want to invite you to be bold and take a step and come. Just come. It’s the best step you will ever take. It’s a step toward Jesus.

He’s calling us. He calls and we answer. That’s how it works.

I’m going to give just a little more time. I know it can be hard. But like I said, it’s the best thing you will ever do in your life.

Hallelujah. Thank you for.

Hallelujah. Thank you, father.

Hallelujah. Thank you for.

Jesus.

Jesus.

Jesus. Jesus.

Jesus. We remember.

Jesus. We hear you.

I know you.

Thank you. Lord.

Thank you Lord. We are going to receive the Lord’s Supper together. I’ve asked some teams to come. You guys go ahead and come first. What they’re going to do is they’re going to receive the bread and the juice, and they’re going to go to a place in the sanctuary, and you guys can gather around them groups ten, 12, whatever that looks like.

And we’re going to receive communion a little bit differently. But I want you to watch the bread being torn for you. And I want us to understand the significance of each of us receiving a piece of the whole. We each receive a piece.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Thank you. Father. Hallelujah.

I love you, thank you.

Oh, you can stand up here anywhere. We’re doing a little bit differently today. I, you know, a lot of time. Thank you. A lot of times we we used a little cups, and I understand that, there’s nothing against that. But I think for today, the purpose is understand thing. I’m not an isolated capsule unto myself. I receive from the body of Christ.

The same way my brother and sister does. We’re part of the same thing. Everyone has a piece. Everyone is a piece of the body of Christ. It’s intended to bring life. So we’re going to share in the cup of Jesus together the life of Jesus. Today I’m believing for further resurrection life to be ministered during this time. And I want to encourage you, let’s just take off the the guards and the the coverings and be the body of Christ together.

So please go ahead and stand. You can go to anyone in the room. It’s gathered together and they are going to lead you and taking the Lord’s Supper.