The Lord's Supper (Matthew 26:1-26-29)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning. Good morning. My name is Spencer. I am one of the pastors here. We're going to be in Matthew 26, verses 26 through 29 today. Today we are going to look at the moment that Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper.
So we call this an ordinance. All right, this is something that God has ordained, that Jesus has ordained for us to practice as the church. So we have taught this a few times over the last few years. And we've come at it really hitting it, really the most important parts of it as we've walked through it. Today we're going to walk through this a little bit differently. We're going to give a little more background on this.
So if you love taking notes, today is your day. So we are going to look at this. There's a lot of significance and a lot of debate over the Lord's Supper. So I want to walk through the text in Matthew today and see what the Bible teaches us. Then I want to walk through historically how the Lord's Supper has come about.
The reality is that y'all have opinions on communion or the Eucharist or the Lord's Supper, even how you call it. You have opinions, you don't even know that you do, but that comes from a historical progression and how the church has approached this over the last 2,000 years. So we're going to walk through that. And then I want us to just get real practical at the end and show what we believe about the Lord's Supper and how we practice it. So let me pray and then we'll jump straight in.
And God, I thank you that you've given us this tangible, beautiful practice that we get to keep and remember what the gospel means to us. God, I pray that you'd help us understand this more deeply this morning. You'd help us be present. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, so verse 26.
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread and after blessing it, 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. I tell you, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. Okay, so this part of the meal really builds off of what we were talking about last week. And I hinted at this. This is the Passover meal.
So he has the disciples together in a room to take the Passover meal. So in order to understand the significance of the Lord's Supper, we need to understand Passover and what that means. All right, so Passover comes from the book of Exodus. This is something that was at the forefront of the Jewish calendar. So the Jewish calendar, right at the beginning, you celebrate Passover.
This is a meal of remembrance. It's their Independence Day. It celebrates the biggest redemptive moment of the history of the Israelites, really the formation of the covenant people of God. So, go back to Exodus. You remember Prince of Egypt, the movie? Take your mind there.
It's a classic. You should see it. Go back to Exodus. The Israelites have been slaves for over 400 years in Egypt. 400 years they've been slaves. And God says, no more.
He raises up Moses. He sends Moses to Pharaoh. And Moses goes to Pharaoh and says, let my people go. And Pharaoh says, no. And then one by one, God starts to enact judgment on the land in the form of plagues. So he turns the Nile River into blood.
He sends gnats and locusts and boils and all kinds of things. And at every turn, Pharaoh says, no. I'm not going to let your people go. Then finally comes the last plague. And Moses comes to him and says, if you do not let the people go, he will take the firstborn son of every house in the land. He will kill every firstborn son.
And Pharaoh says, no. So God tells Moses to go and tell the people. He tells the people that they need to take a lamb and slaughter the lamb. So he tells the Israelites, slaughter a lamb and take the blood of the lamb and put it on the doorpost and the lintel, the very top doorpost. Put it all over the door. And when I come through to enact my judgment, I will pass over your house.
Meaning he will not take the firstborn son of the house that has the blood of the lamb on it. So they do this. They slaughter lambs without blemish. They take the blood. They put it on the doorposts. The Lord comes through at night.
And he takes the firstborn son of every house of Egypt. All the Egyptians lose their firstborn son, including Pharaoh. And at that point, Pharaoh says, get out. And they're free. After 400 years of being slaves, they are finally free. He tells them to prepare a meal.
It's of unleavened bread. It's a quick meal for them. And then he says, remember this. You're going to have a celebration. It's called the Feast of Unleavened Bread. That every year at the beginning of your calendar, you're going to remember what I did.
That I saved you. That I redeemed you from being slaves in Egypt. That I saved you. The blood of the lamb saved you. All of that. And then what comes out of that throughout the rest of Exodus is God really forming his covenant people.
All of that history. All of that theology. All of that significance is packed into this meal. Jesus takes that and then says, all right. This is a new meal for my new people. Established on a new covenant.
All of that significance rolls up into this meal. Because in just a few hours after Jesus does this, he is going to the cross. And what is significant about this is that Jesus is going to become the Passover lamb. That the bread and the wine that he has out for them will be his body and his blood. His body will be given just as the lamb was sacrificed. His blood will be shed so that they will no longer be slaves to sin.
They won't feel the power of death through belief in him. That's the significance. Jesus becomes the Passover lamb. And he's holding this meal out for them to remember this. In fact, Luke adds this. He says, do this in remembrance of me.
That the church is commanded to remember the work of Christ. Not just that happens at the cross. But also, he says, he will not drink of this again until they are with him in his father's kingdom. The picture is when all things are made new. This is between the cross and the final wedding feast. When God, when Jesus returns, it makes all things new.
So this meal, we've taught this before. It's a meal of tension for a people in tension. Between the work of Christ on the cross and his blood that was shed for us so that we'd have faith in him. And also, the day when he comes back and makes all things new. That when we take the Lord's Supper, we remember his death. And we remember that sin will no longer remain.
That that is what we get to celebrate as the people of God. As we take part in the Lord's Supper. It is a practice for us to remember that we live in a kingdom that has come, but has not yet been consummated. Has not yet been finished. Alright, so. That's what's packed into the significance of this meal.
And he says, do this in remembrance of me. And the church did this. We see this very early on in the book of Acts. It's in Acts 2. After Peter preaches the Sermon of Pentecost. And 3,000 plus people come to know Jesus.
And place faith in Jesus. It says, and they devote themselves to the apostles' teaching. And the fellowship. To the breaking of bread and prayers. Now, the breaking of bread is significant. It just said they're taking part in meals together.
But that's not just what's being taught here. The breaking of bread is language for taking part in the Lord's Supper. So we kind of see in the New Testament that they would have had a meal together. And they would have taken part in the Lord's Supper. We see it again in Acts 20. In Acts 20 verse 7.
It says, on the first day of the week. When we gather together to break bread. That's not just eating a meal together. That is significant. They gather together on the first day of the week. Which is Sunday.
That's why we gather together on Sundays for worship. And they broke bread. They took part in the Lord's Supper. We're going to see a little bit later. And walk through 1 Corinthians 11. To see some more biblical.
How we should practice this. How we should not practice this. But that's how it begins. And then from there. It's really a 2,000 year history. Of the church developing this.
And thinking more thoughtfully about it. And trying to figure out how to practice it. So that's where we are. That I want to move to now. The reality is. Is that we have opinions on this.
We have opinions on this. Because history has an impact. On the way that we think about the Lord's Supper. First. This may seem tedious. If you don't like history.
Just bear with me for a few moments. But the reason that we. If you have any church background at all. There's a reason you have an opinion on this. My dad reminds me regularly. That I was Christian Lutheran.
He's a very proud Lutheran. He says you're a Christian Lutheran. I said yes I know. You've told me. 10,000 times. So.
I was Christian Lutheran. And the Lutherans. The Lutheran church. Has a different take on this. Than others. Eventually landed in a Presbyterian church.
And I walked through. Confirmation. In a Presbyterian church. So Presbyterians. Methodists. Catholics.
They'll go through something called confirmation. That it prepares them. It confirms their faith. So that. They can take. So that we can take the Lord's Supper.
And Presbyterians have a take on this. That is different. And then one time. I was with a buddy of mine. Who's Catholic. I went to mass with him.
And. I just followed him up there. And they called the Eucharist. So I followed him up there. I took part in the Eucharist. They served real wine.
And drank that. And thought. Oh this is. This is different. And then. Later on the ride home with him.
His mom is the sweetest lady. And she looked at me and said. Don't ever do that again. She said. You are not Catholic. You don't.
You know. Come with us. But don't ever do that again. And I was a little offended. And thrown off. But I appreciate that.
Because she understands. That the way they practice it. Is different. And I should not have taken part of it. And I never will take part in it. Ever again.
Fast forward a little bit later. I became a Christian. In a Methodist church. That's where I came to know Jesus. Methodists have a different take on this. And now I'm a Baptist pastor.
And we have a different take on this. So maybe you didn't follow me. Through the tour to denominations. But. If you have any background. At all.
There's a reason. If you have any opinions. There's a reason. So. Alright. Much of the debate.
Over how to practice the Lord's Supper. Hinges on one word. One very big word. Take. Eat. This.
Is. My body. Tens of thousands. Of pages. Have thought. Of thought.
Have been spent on. That word is. What does is mean? Is it. Jesus is saying. This is literally.
My body. Which has a different weight to it. Or. Is it. No. This.
It's figuratively. This. This is my body. And there's some. Some metaphorical usage here. That's where the.
The range of debate happens. Is on that. Word. And denominations. Are very. Very.
Very. Very. Much split. On what is. Means. So.
I'm going to walk through. Quickly as possible. From the early church. To today. So. The early church fathers.
Alright. This is second. Third. Fourth. Fifth century. All had.
Pretty vague notions. And understandings. Of what that word meant. At least that's what their writing says. They were. Basically.
To summarize it. They thought. That Jesus. Was somewhat. Spiritually. Present.
In. The bread. And the wine. Kind of. It just. It was.
General. Fuzziness. Augustine. One of the early church fathers. Who. When I googled.
A picture of Augustine. I could not resist putting a picture of Kanye up there with him. Augustine. For the five of you that appreciate Kanye. Even when he's crazy. Augustine.
Had. Had a lot to say about it. And still. In all of his writings. Was just. Real fuzzy on it.
Just yet. Jesus is present. In. Kind of. The bread. And the one.
So. The early church fathers. Had things to say about it. It was real mysterious. It wasn't real. Well defined.
Then. Fast forward. Seven hundred years. The Catholic church. Started to develop this. Further.
And further. And further. Until you get to. 1215. The year 1215. In 1215.
The church. The Catholic church. At the fourth. Lateran council. Finally had a position on this. They said.
This is what we believe. We believe in. Transubstantiation. That is a big word. Okay. But just transubstance.
Is what you need to see out of that. That when. This is what Catholics believe. That when you take the body. And the bread. And the wine.
It literally becomes. The body. And the blood. Of Christ. Literally. It.
Transubstances. I say transforms. But they would. Take issue with that. That it becomes. As they're drinking.
And as they're eating. The literal body. And blood. Of Christ. That was their position. They cemented finally.
After years of thinking about it. And if you want to nerd out. About how that came to be. With Aristotelian philosophy. We can do that later. I'm not going to bore.
The rest of you. But. That's the reasoning. That they came to. And they got really aggressive. About it.
Very quickly. Very quickly. They started to. They forced this. On the western church. This understanding.
That if you. As you're handling. The bread. And the wine. You are getting ready. To handle the literal.
Body. And blood. Of. Christ. To the point where. They started.
Stopped giving it. The wine. To lay people. Because they thought. If it got spilled. Oh no.
We're going to mess this up. Completely. And it just got crazy. And guess what? Some people. Did not like this.
Some people. You could say. Protested this. Some of those protesters. Were called. Protestants.
So if you're wondering. Why we're called Protestants. It's because we're the OG protesters. Okay. That. That is what they began to do.
One of them's name. Was John Wycliffe. John Wycliffe said. The church has. Lost its mind. This is crazy.
The Bible does not teach this. The early church fathers. Do not agree with this. What are we doing? He taught a lot of things. He's one of the reasons why.
Bible translation came into being. We have so much to be thankful for. From John Wycliffe. And the Catholic church. Appreciated him so much. That when he died.
They unearthed his body. And they burned his bones. We had Twitter. They had unearthing and desecrating bodies. That is what they did. They were very mad at his teachings.
So. This began to turn to a movement. Of protesters. Of Protestants. And one of them was a very ornery. German monk.
Who really was the biggest protester of all. And his name was Martin Luther. Martin Luther comes along. And we have so much to be thankful for. About Martin Luther. Luther.
He taught things like. Sola Scriptura. Which is Latin for. Scripture alone. It is the reason why we go. The Bible.
That's our understanding. That's our authority. Of how God has spoken. The Catholic church looks to. Doctrines and teachings. Of the church.
And we say. No. The Bible. What does the Bible say? He's the reason why we believe in faith alone. Which is sola fide.
It's the idea that we're not saved. By our works. You hear that all the time here. We're saved by. Faith in Jesus. It's not faith and works.
No. Faith. There's so many things we're thankful for. That Luther helped shape us. The reason that we're here. In this room today.
By God's sovereign plan. Is bringing about people like Luther. He said. No. However. Luther didn't get very far from the Catholic church.
On the teaching that comes with the Lord's Supper. That's why Lutherans are kind of seen a little bit. As diet Catholic. Catholic light. They look very similar. In a lot of ways.
Which would make Luther roll in his grave. But that's the reality. I found out. Like a month ago. That my grandmother. On my dad's side.
Was Catholic. Never knew this. And I was like. That's crazy. He said. Yeah.
So when she married your grandfather. And. And. And. And. She wanted.
You know. It was easy for her to become a Protestant. Because he was Lutheran. It was the easy jump. And I was like. Oh.
That makes a lot of sense. And the. The reason it does. Is because of his teaching. On the Lord's Supper. And that is consubstantiation.
Big word. Consubstantiation. Which answers the question. Does the bread. And the wine. Become the literal.
Body. And blood. Of Christ. And the answer is. Yes. Maybe.
No. Kind of. Sort of. General position. Of the Lutheran church. On this.
So literally what they say is. It teaches that the body. And the blood of Christ. Are present. In. With.
And under. The elements. Under. And with. The bread. And.
The wine. Is that. Is that. Is that clear. Clear. Clear as mud.
I mean. Like I said. Did you put cyanide in the punch. You said. No. No.
I didn't. It's not. It's not. It's not cyanide in it. It's just. In.
With. Under it. It's just. We're fine. You go. Wait.
What? Exactly. And that is what the Protestant movement said. They said. No. You did not go far enough.
We are. We are. We are completely ditching this. And the Protestant movement. Went even further. And one of those men that came along.
That. That fought that. Was named. Zwingli. Zwingli. I will not pronounce his first name.
Because it is Swiss. And I'm not going to try. But. Zwingli came along. And he debated Luther on this. He agreed with Luther on all these other things.
But not this. He said no. He presented something called the memorial view. The memorial view. And that view. Is that the.
The bread and the wine. Is a sign. It is a symbol. That when Jesus said. Do this in remembrance of me. That's all it was meant to be.
Was a sign. Was a symbol. To remember what Jesus has done. That Jesus. After his death. Ascended to.
The right hand of God. That is where he is. He is not. All up in the elements. Around it. With it.
Transformed. No. It is a sign. That helps us remember. What Jesus has done. So after that.
I'll give you one more. Along came a man named John Calvin. And the fact that none of you. Jumped that joke. Means. This is the wrong room.
Maybe later. All right. Calvin. Came along. And he said no. It was kind of a middle ground.
Between Lutherans. And Zwingli. He said no. He called the spiritual. Presence view. All right.
The spiritual. Presence view. This was. Saying no. It's not just a sign. It's not just a sign.
But also. No. It's not this in with around. No. Jesus is present. Really in a mysterious way.
My professor summarized the position this way. He said the bread and the wine are still symbols. But not empty symbols. Although the elements do not become the body and blood of Christ. They are a sign that Christ himself is really present. He would say things like no.
Jesus is divine. He's not just confined to being at the right hand of the Father of God. He's omnipresent. It means he's everywhere. So no.
He absolutely can be present. But ultimately I appreciate this one thing that Calvin said. He said it is a secret too lofty for either my mind to comprehend or my words to declare. And to speak more plainly. I'd rather experience than understand it. So he just left a lot of mystery.
That Jesus is somehow present in it. But we just don't know fully. Now okay. That's a lot of history all at once. And that's a lot of taking all at once. But the reality is that if you're Catholic.
Or Catholic background. Or Baptist. Or Anglican. Or Presbyterian. Or Methodist. Or any of that background.
It flows from that long progression of history. The reason you have opinions on it. Comes from this. So. Given all of that. And given how we walk through the scriptures.
And the importance of it. We're going to see in a moment. We want to handle this meal carefully. And reverently. And thoughtfully. Like we want to understand this.
And as good Baptists. Our approach is. Yes. History is nice. What does the Bible say about this? That's the drum we beat.
What does the Bible teach on this? So. I wanted to. Give us just six very practical. This is. We as a church.
What we believe about the Lord's Supper. And how we practice it. Just these are questions that we've gotten over the years. And I just want to be able to walk through this together. And how the Bible approaches this. Alright.
So. So. Six things that we believe about the Lord's Supper. Alright. So. And all those positions that I gave.
And all the different views on the Lord's Supper. And how you believe what it is. We are. Memorialists. And. Jesus is present in the moment.
So. We. We as a church. Our approach is. Is a little bit in a squishy middle ground. Between believing.
What Zwingli taught. Which is a classical Baptist position. That it is a sign that helps us remember. And. But we're not as far as the spiritual presence.
That. That. That. That. That Calvin taught. Either.
We're somewhere in the middle. We believe. That when Jesus said. This is my body. He did not mean that literally. You know how we know this?
Because he said. I am the door. I am the vine. And I don't look at doors in our church and go. Maybe. Maybe he's present.
We don't do that. It was clearly a metaphor. I mean Jesus is giving the bread and the wine. Literally. It's. It.
It. He's detached from it. The experience itself. When he instituted this. He gives it away. He is not saying.
I am literally. This bread. And this wine. I don't know how you get to that. Biblically. And we don't.
Believe that. But also. We believe the Holy Spirit. Is doing something. Very unique. Very mysterious.
There's a lot of gravity. Given to the moment of communion. We believe that Jesus. Absolutely. Is present in the moment. I agree with Calvin.
We don't. Think he's just confined to the right hand. The Father of God. He's with us. When we're. When we're.
Worshipping. He's with us. As we're sitting with the authority of God's word. He's with us. As we take. The Lord's Supper.
And remember. What he has done for us. So we're in the middle ground. Between the two. Realizing this helps us. Remember the work of Christ.
And he is with us. As we take. The Lord's Supper. All right. So. The next two big questions we get.
Is on who can take the Lord's Supper. And. Who can administer it. Who can actually give. The Lord's Supper. And in order to understand.
Those questions. We have to go. To what the Bible teaches on this. And the case study that we get. That teaches us. How to take the Lord's Supper.
How not to take the Lord's Supper. Is. First Corinthians 11. First Corinthians 11. Gives us that case study. Of how this went terribly wrong.
In the church. Of Corinth. So. First Corinthians 11. Verse. 20.
You guys are doing great. I know there's a lot. When you come together. It is not the Lord's Supper. That you eat. For in eating.
Each one goes ahead. With his own meal. One goes hungry. Another gets drunk. What. Do you not 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. All right.
So what is he getting at there. Because we just jumped into. A situation. One of the fruits. Of the gospel. Is.
Unity. Unity. Unity in the body of Christ. It shows up again. And again. In the New Testament letters.
It is why. That we wrote a song about it. As a church. We care. About. Unity.
Because God. Cares. About. Unity. Unity matters. And here is what the church of Corinth.
Was doing. They met in homes. For worship gatherings. Homes of richer. Christians. The richer Christians.
Would start. The meal. Would start. The part of the Lord's Supper. And they would eat. And be filled.
And they would drink. So much. That they got drunk. That when the poor Christians. Showed up. There was.
Nothing. They had nothing. To take part in. They used. Hear this. They used the Lord's Supper.
As a way. To divide. People. In the church. Brothers and sisters. Based on their socioeconomic class.
Based on who had money. And who did not. It's absolutely. Wicked. That not only. That Christians.
Would be separated. In different classes. When it comes to who has money. And who has not. But that they would use.
The Lord's Supper. To do that. God. Was not pleased. At all. Fast forward.
Down to verse 27. Whoever. Therefore. Eats. The bread. And drinks.
The cup. Of the Lord. In an unworthy manner. Will be guilty. Concerning the body. And the blood.
Of. The Lord. And that is a warning. That applies directly. To that church. And how they were misusing it.
That applies broadly. To the. To the rest. Of the church. That if you. Do this.
In an unworthy manner. That's the heart. Why people debated this. For so long. That's the heart. To do this.
In an unworthy manner. You just have to understand. The context. Of what he's getting at. You do this. In an unworthy manner.
You will be guilty. Verse 28. Let a person. Examine. Himself. That is why.
When we. Present the Lord's Supper. We say. Take a moment. Don't just come up here. Flippantly.
Don't just come up here. Just because it's part of the process. It's what we do. No. Take some time. And reflect.
To think upon your own sin. To remember what your sin. Cost. Remember how good the gospel is. That Jesus. Died for our sins.
To remember your sin. And remember your. Savior. That's what we say. Examine yourself. To check your own heart.
To understand. The gravity of this moment. When we come and take the Lord's Supper. Let a person examine himself then. And so eat. Of the bread.
And drink. Of the cup. For if anyone who eats. And drinks. Without discerning the body. Eats.
And drinks. Judgment. On himself. That if you do this. Not reverently. If you don't discern.
Your own heart. If you don't do this. In a way that honors this. You'll bring judgment on yourself. Verse 30. That is why many of you are weak and ill.
And some have died. And catch what he said there. Weak. Ill. Some of you have died. Some people would be like.
You know. I don't like the Old Testament God. Because he's really violent. And people get struck down. I like the New Testament God. Because I like.
I like Jesus. Because he's. He's loving. He never would do any of this. And it's like. I don't think you've read the Old.
Or the New Testament. That God is abundantly loving. And gracious in the Old Testament. And also. God brings the hammer down. In judgment.
In the New Testament. That the New Testament church. Did this. Some got weak. Some got sick. And some.
Died. There's a lot of. That. This is why the church. Has been so. Paranoid.
In a good way. Sometimes not. In trying to understand this. Because this. Matters. Immensely.
We don't want judgment. To be brought upon us. In how we take this. So. When you understand that. And walking through.
Kind of all that. And understanding. Of how to take part. In the Lord's Supper. To do this reverently. To understand.
When you. When you get there. Then you can answer the question. Who can take part in this. And who can. Administer this.
So the second one. Who can take part in this. Christians. Walking in faith. And repentance. Can participate.
In the Lord's Supper. So. The Protestant church. Has largely taught. This meal. Is a meal.
For. Christians. It is a meal. For Christians. If you are not a Christian. We even say this.
When we do it. When we present it. Well if you are not a Christian. Well we do not want you. To take part in this. Part of it is.
Is we don't want you. To bring judgment. Upon yourself. But other part of it is. Is why would you take something. And miss the meaning completely.
This is a meal. For the people of God. To remember. And understand. What it means. So.
Protestants. Of largely greed. No. This is a meal. For Christians. Baptists.
Well we have some. Even more positions. On this. You might be thinking. Seriously. There are more.
Positions on this. Yes. There are. I don't know if you know this. Baptists have a lot of positions. On a lot of things.
From drinking. To dancing. We have lots of positions. We are like the SEC. Of denominations. It just means more.
For those who watch the SEC network. All right. Baptists. Real quick. Three different positions. The first position is.
Something called. Closed. With a D. Communion. And that idea is. Is that for anyone.
To come and take part. In this Lord's Supper. You have to. Be a baptized. And when we say baptized. We mean.
That you must. Believe in Jesus. And then be baptized. Which is the. Bad position. Position of baptism.
That you must be. Baptized as a believer. And be a member. Of this exact. Local church. That is closed communion.
Nope. That's not us. That's. That's. That is. That is a minority position.
But that does exist. The next position. Is called. Closed. Without a D. Closed.
Communion. And that is. The idea. That you can be a Baptist. At another church. As long as you've been.
Baptized after belief. Come. Take part in the Lord's Supper. That is who can take it alone. We also. Do not agree.
With that position. If you want to talk more about that. And why we believe that. We can. We don't have the space for it now. We do not agree.
With that position. The last position for Baptists. Is called. Open communion. And that is what we believe. Open communion.
Says that if you are a Christian. If you believe in Jesus. If you are not. We had a caveat. If you're not. Under church discipline somewhere.
Meaning you're in good standing. You're not running away from Jesus. That if you believe in Jesus. I don't care what your position is on baptism. Come and take part in this meal. Because that.
Listen. I'm not going to disunify you. Because you have a different take on baptism. That would be treating you like you are not a Christian. And that's not what we're going to do. If you believe in Jesus.
Come. Take part in this meal. And if you want to talk about that later. We can. That is our position as a church. If you're a Christian.
Come. Take part. Third. It deals with who can administer it. We believe it is wise. For pastors and those under our authority.
To administer the Lord's Supper. So. We believe it is wise. I use that word intentionally. Wise. Not mandating.
This is how things have to be done everywhere. For our church. We believe it's wise. The Catholic Church. Placed. A very heavy emphasis.
On clergy only. Clergy. The only ones that can handle it. And that makes sense. If you understand their theology on it. You're handling the literal body and blood of Christ.
So. Protestants have rejected that notion. And there's disagreements. On who can actually handle it. Some believe. No.
It only has to be a pastor. Others will say. No. It can be. It can be a deacon. Others can say.
No. Whatever. Two or three are gathered. It doesn't matter. We can take it. We wouldn't hold to that.
Either. Some believe. It can only be done on Sundays. As we gather for worship. Others would say. No.
It can be done in homes. Which is what the early church did. They would have a meal together. Because we do see the Lord's Supper. Was. You know.
Attached to. A fellowship. Meal event. And they would take the Lord's Supper. Here's what we believe. We believe.
That the normative. The normal pattern. Of how we practice the Lord's Supper. Is us as pastors. Presenting the Lord's Supper. And then us taking this together.
But we also believe. It is very special. And y'all. It is very good. When this happens. Occasionally.
In our groups. That we authorize our group leaders. Our group leaders are deacons. That we trust them. That we trust them. To correctly handle.
The Lord's Supper. There's a lot of beautiful. Gospel. Forgiveness. And repenting of sin. After a fellowship meal together.
When it happens in. The home. So we authorize our community. Group leaders who are deacons. Yes. On occasion.
Do this in. Your home. But the normative pattern. Is us coming together. And presenting this. Because we want to make sure.
That we are doing this. In a way that honors. And gives reverence to that. If you want to talk more about that later. Also. I'll be around to talk about that as well.
All right. The next question is. How often do we do it? That's the fourth thing we'll get into. We believe. It is.
We believe in regular. Regular observance. Of the Lord's Supper. We believe in regular. And I would add. Almost weekly.
Observance. Of the Lord's Supper. Now. There are a lot of churches. Lots of churches. Even.
Lots of Baptist churches. That do it quarterly. And some of the heart behind that. Is. Everything we just talked about. And revering it.
In a way that we won't want to do it. So often. That we would lose. The value. And the meaning. So.
So. If you do it too much. Then you'll. You'll miss out on. All the. All the.
It's supposed to mean. You'll just. It'll just be this ritual. That you go through. And I understand. I understand that critique.
But we look at passages. Like 1 Corinthians 11. When it says. When you come together. Which gives. The.
This is happening regularly. We look at the book of Acts. Where it seems they came together regularly. And see. This is actually a regular part of worship. And y'all.
We need. The gospel. Every week. To be reminded. Of the gospel. When we come and worship together.
And this is a very tangible. Reminder. Of how much we need Jesus. Of how much we need. Repentance of sins. Of how good.
His grace is. So we shoot for. Regular observance. We have. You know. Reasons that we haven't done it regularly.
One being. A global pandemic. We haven't done it. In a year. Actually. Like a year.
Maybe. I think this week. Or next week. Because we just said. No. It's not wise for us.
In this period of time. To be doing this. But as the pandemic. Is waning. We're going to. To be.
Starting to bring this back in. Around. A monthly ish. Over the coming months. We'll be doing this. Until we get back to.
Regular. Weekly. Doing this. And then other times. We'll have prayer. Instead of this.
Sometimes we'll do baptism. Instead of this. But we want to. Regularly come. And take part. In the Lord's Supper together.
All right. Two more you guys. Should it be juice. Or should it be wine. That's a question we get sometimes. We believe it's wise.
For our church. To use juice. Now. Some people believe. That Jesus. Only drank.
Grape juice. That what they're actually drinking. In the New Testament. Is not wine. That is not true. It's not historically true.
Not even close. Thomas Welch. Invented grape juice. In the 1800s. That is why we have. Welch's grape juice.
He figured out. Literally. That's why. Welch's came from. Welch's came from. Thomas Welch.
Who was a Methodist. Who said. I want to have. Something that. That alcoholics. That wouldn't be able to take part in.
That we can serve. At our churches. And he figured out. The process. Of how to make grape juice. Without alcohol.
In it. Some on the other hand. Will say. No. Jesus used wine. Therefore.
We have to use wine. I came from a church. Before. Our church. Where they gave two cups. Someone was holding juice.
And wine. And it was your conscience. Whatever you wanted. You took part in either. Here's the deal. We believe as Baptists.
That it's a sign. It's a sign. That Jesus is present in the moment. But it is a sign. Therefore. We think juice is a very acceptable sign.
And we're not going to serve wine. Because it would. It would. It would violate the consciousness. Of some of the people in our church. And we're not going to do that.
Why. Why would we create disunity. In how we take this. We're not going to do that. Juice is completely. Acceptable.
And for the ones who serve only wine. I don't think you're thinking about those. Who may be addicted to alcohol. And your presence. So we believe.
No. Juice is absolutely acceptable. And if you want to have a discussion about. If it's bread. If it should be unleavened. Like pita.
Or should it be leavened bread. We can have that later. The church has had some things to say. But not a ton to say about that. We believe it's a sign. So it's fine.
Some people will go. Well can you do Oreos and Mountain Dew? No. That's dumb. We believe juice. Bread.
Alright. All of that. All 37 and 20. 37 minutes and 26 seconds. Of all of that background. Okay.
I think it's helpful. Have it in the back of your head. Okay. Because I think it's helpful to understand. Why you approach the Lord's Supper. Here's where we've preached entire sermons on.
And is the most important aspect of the Lord's Supper. It is this right here. The Lord's Supper. Is a unique act of worship. That gives us a tangible reminder of the gospel. That's it.
That's where we post up. Most of our time. Most of our thought. Is right there. It is a unique act of worship. That gives us a tangible reminder.
To remember the gospel. Every week we present it. Is an opportunity for you to think about. The sin. Maybe the sin that you fell into this week. And the sin that you feel shame over.
The sin struggles that are plaguing you. And we say remember. Remember that Christ died for your sins. That He loves you so much. That He didn't leave you in your sin. And your brokenness.
That He came and His blood was spilt. And poured out for you. So that you could have fellowship. And faith with Jesus. For the long haul. And it's not just that.
It is a reminder that. We live between the cross. And when all things are made new. And for those of you that are struggling right now. And your sin. It is a reminder for you to remember.
That this is not the end. That the sin that you feel so heavy. On your soul. That's not the final picture. One day Jesus comes back. And all things will be made new.
And when that day comes. Sin will be a distant memory. Your broken and failing body. Will be a distant memory. All we will have. Is beautiful.
Wonderful. Fellowship with the King. That is what this meal. Gives me a reminder of. And we get to come. Every week that we take it.
And remember. How good Jesus is. I'm going to close. With one reading. It's from the Heidelberg Catechism. It's like a 400 year old catechism.
Catechism is a question and answer style. It helps you understand. Truth. And I'm just going to read. From the Heidelberg Catechism. Because I think this is a great word.
To set us up. The question. That is presented. In the Heidelberg Catechism. Is this. How does.
The Lord's Supper. Remind you. And assure you. That you shared. Christ's one sacrifice. On the cross.
And in all. His gifts. Hear this. Here's the answer. In this way. Christ has commanded me.
And all believers. To eat this broken bread. And to drink this cup. With this command. He gave the promise. First.
As surely. Hear this. As I see. As I see. With my eyes. The bread of the Lord.
Broken for me. And the cup. Given to me. Y'all look. Upstairs. Look back there.
Look. Look at it. As you see it. With your eyes. As you visualize. His body broken.
His blood shed. So surely. His body was offered. And broken for me. And his blood poured out for me. On the cross.
Second. As surely. As I receive. From the hand of him. Who serves. Verse.
And hear this. Taste with my mouth. The bread. And the cup of the Lord. That as you eat. And drink this.
As you are literally. Tasting it. It is a. It is a. It is a way for you to remember. His body.
Was broken for my sin. That his blood was poured out. For my sin. How good. Is my God. Taste with my mouth.
The bread. And the cup of the Lord. Given me. As sure signs. Of Christ's body. And blood.
So surely. He nourishes. And refreshes. My soul. For eternal life. With his crucified body.
And poured out blood. Amen. The band is going to come up. We are going to take. The Lord's Supper. For the first time.
In a year. Now. Before I present this. Let me just give you. Some logistics on it. Because it is a little bit different.
If you have been here. With us before. We usually have. A bowl. Or basket. Of bread.
That you choose from. And a cup. That you can dip in. And right now. We are not going that route. By the end of the year.
God willing. We will get back there. But for right now. We have individual cups. Those individual cups. Were prepared by people.
Who washed their hands. I think they wore gloves. I wasn't here. Because I was doing something else. Were they wearing gloves. Chet?
Yes. They were wearing gloves. They had masks on. They put them very carefully. And those cups. They are clean.
They are sanitized. What I want you to do logistically. Is to come up as you are ready. Give some distance. Between the person. You and the next person.
Alright. Give some feet of distance. Grab two of those. Go back to your seat. Take part in the Lord's Supper. Put the cup underneath your seat.
When you are done. And when we leave for today. There will be a trash can out there. Please put it in the trash can. When you leave. Alright.
That is the logistics. Let me present this for us. On the night that Jesus betrayed. He took bread. And he broke it. He said.
This is my body. It was broken for you. And he took the cup. Which is the cup of the new covenant. He said. This is my blood.
That was shed for you. That as often as you eat. And drink this. You proclaim my death. Until I return. And that is what we get to do right now.
Some of you came into here. With burdens on your soul. Some of you have been dealing with sin. Some of you. Some of you. Some of you.
You have disunity with another Christian. Right now. That you have resentment with them. That you are struggling with them. I would actually. Invite you to not take part in this right now.
I would ask you right now. To remember the unity of the gospel. And maybe you need to leave this room. And make a phone call before. Before. But before you can take this meal.
I want you to be unified. With another brother and sister in Christ. But Christian. Come. Joyfully to the table. And remember.
That Jesus died for our sins. And how good is it. That by grace. We have been saved through faith. We don't have to earn his favor. But this reminds us.
Of how good he is towards us. If you are not a Christian. Please. Do not take part in this meal. I want you right now. To take part.
In Christ. I want you to believe in him. I want you to understand. That the God of the universe. Loves you so much. That he gave his life for you.
So believe. In him. For those of you who are Christians. Come forward. There are tables in the back as well. And for those in the back.
There are tables up there. Take part in the Lord's summer. Remember how good our Savior is. Let me pray. God I pray. That you would.
Help us see. Help us taste. And see. Right now. That you are good. That your steadfast love.
Was shown so beautifully on the cross. For our sins. That we come in repentance. That right now. We sit. In a moment of reflection.
That we come. To the table. God I pray. That you would help us. Understand this. And the gravity of this moment.
That you be with us. God I pray. There is anyone here. That has not trusted in you. Lord. May you help them.
See. You are worth it. We believe you are better than everything else. And may they believe it too. And may they trust. And believe in you.
In Jesus name. Amen. Amen.