We’re back to a full schedule with Sunday School (9:45) and Worship service (11 am) followed by Fellowship (snacks provided, no potluck) on Sundays, Food Pantry 5-7 on Tuesdays (hot dogs every other week), and Bible Study on Wednesdays 6-7:30 (studying Exodus). We’re also looking to get some book clubs going; talk to Pastor Steve if you’re interested. And collect your pennies (or big bills!) because for the next two weeks we’re collecting a mission offering. All proceeds will go to the Heifer Project to help fund economic development around the world. Just drop your offering in the little church-shaped box in the back of the sanctuary, and on Mother’s Day we’ll announce what we raised. See below for this week’s sermon, recorded live.
25 April 2021 Sunday Message: “Lunch and Learn, with God”
Call to Worship Reading: John 10:11-18
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
Invitation, Praises, and Prayer Concerns: Father in Heaven and universe beyond, Lord we humbly come to you today to thank you for all of the blessings you have visited upon this little church and on each of us individually. Lord we pray that you would continue to bless us with growth as we seek to mature in you. Amen!
Message Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:23-34
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 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.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. 32 Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.
33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. 34 Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.
Message: “Lunch and Learn with God”
Last week we spoke of when eating is more than a meal, and it is always that way when we are in sync with our Lord and each other as a Faith-family. This week I wanted to continue the discussion about our communal life in the Lord as a church, the Body of Christ, and as the Faith Family of God. Communion is an entry way, a sustainer, and a refreshment of our very being, in our common faithwalk in the Lord.
This area of reflection is so big, so important because it’s so central to who we are as a faith family, that it deserves looking at for another week. So, let’s begin with, what is The Lord’s Supper or Last Supper?
It along with Baptism are the two commands we recognize as ordnances given to us by the Lord in the Gospel. First, we have the Last supper instituted by our Lord as we spoke of last week from the following passages:
- Matthew 26:26-29
- Mark 14:22-25
- Luke 22:17-20
- 1 Corinthians 11:23-25
Additionally, we have “The Great Commission” instructing us to share the good news with the rest of the world, and instituted by the Lord just before His assent into Heaven from Matthew 27:16:20;
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
These two ordinances (Baptism & The Lord’s Supper) are used by the church to initiate, and then sustain members of the Church, our Congregation, the Family of God. Both are anchored with continual instruction through fellowship, bible study classes, and Sunday Morning messaging from scripture.
All the above begin and end with our praying to the Lord for His presence and guidance in all our efforts on His behalf. This is our Church’s approach in reflecting how the first century Christians in the book of Acts put their faith hope and love through trust in the Lord and in each other. Then applying their understanding of the Lord into our common and individual Faithwalks.
After being told the truth about who the Lord was, and what all of humanity had done to Jesus Christ because of our unbelief, fears, egos, and pride, the Church was built on a foundation of repentance, forgiveness, and salvation. The Church is sustained on our commitment to the above mentioned, fresh and anew each day. By remembering the early Church, and the first Christian’s commitment to God and to each other. Reading from Acts 2:36-43;
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
** Side Note; This was followed by The Fellowship of the Believers in the new Communion of the Saints. Continuing on;
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.
This was the first century version of Lunch and Learn with God! When we come together in our fellowship, Bible study, and worshiping our Lord God, we get a glimpse of what the first Christians must have felt all those years ago. From the beginning of the Church in those first days in Jerusalem into today, all of our actions are focused on who Christ was and is! In history, in the Church, and in our lives. Christ reigns supreme! We as Christians of today keep in mind the teachings of our Lord, and of who he was, and is today in our reality. Taking us back to today’s Call to Worship reading John 10:11-18;
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
Beginning with the last comment first; Jesus is leading us by example. Here is the creator of the universe showing that in this walk of life, even Jesus answered to and submitted to the commands from the Godhead in Heaven. And let me add that it is our willingness to follow the examples of submission and service for others through our Lord, that opens up a host of possibilities for our making our corner of this society a better place.
My thought is we are not being asked to lay down our lives (die) for others as Jesus did for us, but to lay down our lives in a different way. Through a servant mindset, perhaps in some ways even harder than dying for other people, we are called to live for others. The Lord’s voice becomes even clearer in our minds.
We are directed to commit our lives to helping, caring, and loving others as the Lord did and does to this day for us. And when we have shared the good news with someone, we get to experience the miracle of people knowing the Good Shepherd’s voice, in a world cluttered with useless noise.
Another gift that comes from the Good Shepherd (our Savoir), is that of a whole new way of living. Instead of being all consumed by rules and regulations that act as a stumbling block, a roadblock from God, Jesus opens the door to a life of possibilities in the Lord, with our God in a new mind set.
Before Jesus, life for humanity was all about hundreds of rules. Things you had to do, and things you must not do to be holy. Now, because God’s love has been unleashed into the world (the Holy Spirit), we are filled with the spirit of all of God’s law in our very being. Here is a quick look at how things have changed:
Before; no murder was allowed.
Now; I need to get hate and anger out of my life.
Before; no adultery allowed
Now; I need to stop thinking of people as objects for my pleasure and use
Before; no stealing allowed
Now; I am concerned about if my neighbor has enough to get by
Before; a trip to the temple for animal sacrifice for forgiveness was required
Now; I need to work on forgiving as I have been forgiven, when I sincerely repent my junk!
Before; only the right sort was included in worship
Now; all are included because there is no right sort.
Before; I was all consumed with following rules.
Now; I don’t want to let my family down, because this is who I am now, and this is how my family does it!
Everything changes when we are about the business of our Lord and not our own! When we cease to create stumbling blocks for other people’s faithwalks, worship, and service, we open up all kinds of possibilities that make this a better place of life. Even our Lord’s Supper, Communion, Sacrament, or Eucharist observances with the Good Shephard, elevates in its reverence to God.
Reminding us of Paul’s words to the Church in Corinth, from his letter in 1 Corinthians 10, this time starting at verse 26.
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. 32 Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.
33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. 34 Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.
Paul was reflecting that when we partake in the Lord’s Supper, we are to reflect on our relationship with and in the Lord, remembering the voice of the Good Shepherd and His message of loving God with all we have and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Remember: There is no room for hoarding; the gifts of the Spirit, the Eucharist, or this moment to yourself.
This is the time when the whole family of God reverently come to;
- The Table of the Lord for nourishment, sustenance, and rejuvenation.
- Release ourselves from all of our hang-ups that have been keeping us from the Lord.
- Ego
- Fear
- Pride
- Selfishness
- Judgmental attitudes
- Reflect on our relationships with God, and other people.
Perhaps one way to look at the Lord’s Supper is to consider it a way for us to learn how to more closely follow our Lord in His footsteps of selflessness. Remembering that the Lord knew on that night that he was going to be utterly deserted by all of those devout disciples very soon, and still offered himself up along with a Passover meal.
Perhaps this is why Paul was so incensed about how the Last Supper specifically, and the Fellowship of the Saints generally, was practiced in the Church at Corinth. Reading this time from 1 Corinthians 10: 17-22
17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk.
**Side Note: (In Church!)
22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!
This is why we are directed to think of others before ourselves in all things, and when we do everything changes. Kind of like the following of rules has been replaced with; “Loving God with all of our being, and loving our neighbor as ourselves”, as a Christian mind-set.
My hope and prayer for you this week as you discover your beautiful lives in Him who created all, is that you begin today at the Communion Table in reflection. That we come to this table as a family, and leave with an even stronger bond in God and each other.
Amen!
Benediction: Numbers 6:24-26