1 Corinthians 11 - 6.6.25

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 11:23-27

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: 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, 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.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 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.”

Observation

In this chapter of the Lords Supper or Communion, Paul is correcting the abuse of the people on how they were handling the Lord’s supper. We just had communion this past Sunday and we do not mixed feast with communion, so I wanted to focus on some points of the communion itself.

Application

One of my favorite teachers from the past had some points to look at when it comes to communion,

1. Devine Command: Assemble with the people of God to celebrate the memorial of Jesus Christ.

2. Blessed Privilege: the table we are called to is the Lords, he is the host, and he has invited us.

3. Necessary Memorial: Reminds us of the cost of our purchased salvation.

4. Humbling Confession: We are imperfect people; we are unworthy, and we need to be humble in our confession of our sin.

5. Essential act of Faith: Our participation in the Lords table is an act of faith.

6. Solemn warning: We should not look at the communion table as just a ritual. Taking communion in an unworthy manner is a sin.

We need to focus on our preparation and approach. Communion is not a ritual but an act of remembrance of His sacrifice for our sins. Pastor Levi has mention more than once when we get up Sunday morning, we need to prepare our hearts for worship at home not when we walk through the doors at church.

If you are struggling on communion Sunday, there are a couple options in preparation for communion: 1) We have great prayer warriors who will pray with you before service starts. Confess what is in your heart. 2) If your heart is not in the right place, it is okay to not partake in communion.

Prayer

Lord, help me to always realize the cost of my purchased salvation. May communion not become a ritual. Forgive me when I came to your table with an unprepared heart. Thank you for the new covenant and your love for me. Thank you in Jesus name. Amen.

- Robert Oberg