Communion Service

again we welcome everyone to wednesday night worship service and this special communion service we're so honored to have such a mighty crowd of believers here tonight thank you for being with us once again i do reiterate uh the announcement that pastor whitley made concerning this coming sunday morning be men's fellowship breakfast 7 30 in our cafeteria please all the men we invite you encourage you to be with us for a special time of fellowship sunday morning and then let me also say a special welcome to all those who are joining us online i thank you for being at first apostolic church by way of all of the multi-uh media platforms thank you for worshiping with us tonight i'd like for our ushers to make their way to the front at this time and we'll receive our wednesday evening offering and all the tithe thank you thank you for continuing to give i know god is continuing to reward your faithful giving you can never out give god he will always provide the ultimate blessings let's stand we will bring our offerings i would ask everyone to exit the right side of your pew pass by the orphan container and then enter into the obsidian you give tonight as the lord has blessed you let us pray savior we're grateful and thankful for the privilege that we have of giving in your kingdom lord i thank you that you have provided once again for every need i thank you for life health and strength lord i thank you for all the particulars for our jobs our businesses our families our loved ones now lord i ask that you would in turn reward the faithful givers this night lord we thank you and praise you in jesus name we pray amen you give unto the lord [Music] [Music] thank you so much for your giving thank you musicians for always doing a marvelous job leading us in worship tonight is a very special occasion here at first apostolic church and i am so glad to see such a wonderful crowd of believers joined here tonight frankly in knowing and seeing history of of the church sometimes communion services are not always well attended in some places for it is a very sacred service yet many are to the point that they never feel worthy to be able to partake of the lord's supper so uh i'm thankful for a church that understands the importance of this event and i'm thankful that our bishop has uh so mildly ministered to us and taught us through the years the importance and the proper administration of a communion service and i counted a privilege to teach tonight much of what we will teach and talk about if you've ever been in a communion service here before will be things that you've already heard we teach and preach the same birth of christ at christmas every year we teach the same death burial and resurrection at easter every year but we celebrate those all year long and we teach the same message concerning the communion or celebrating of the lord's supper every year so i would ask you to please give heed to all that we will say tonight for us to be reminded of the purpose of such a sacred and important occasion i would call your attention tonight to the book of first corinthians the 11th chapter first corinthians the 11th chapter and we'll begin reading at verse number 23 first corinthians 11. begin reading at verse number 23 we read 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 and when he had given thanks he break it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you this do in remembrance of me 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 you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye do show the lord's death till he come i want to pull the statement out two statements that are there in this passage and for a title or topic i will say do this in remembrance of me why do we do what we do tonight what is our purpose is this a form is it a ritual is it a habit why do we do what we do since the early church first had to meet secretly because of persecution remembering the death and the resurrection of our jesus has been celebrated in the church and in what we commonly call a communion service or the lord's supper of all the things that we do this service should hold a very sacred and solemn meaning to we the believers and should cause us to be humbled by the message behind this service i want to take a few moments because there's words and there's terminology that involve that evolves that sometimes we hear these words used and we're not sure exactly what they mean and sometimes we're a bit embarrassed to ask because we feel like well i should already know that well i was taught a long time ago in school that the only dumb question was the question you didn't ask if you don't know you should ask so there's some terminology that most of you know but some may not and we may want to clarify we hear the term sacrament used and the dictionary definition of sacrament is a christian right that is believed to have been ordained by christ and that is held to be a means of divine grace or to be a sign or symbol of spiritual reality you've also heard the term when talking of this service you've heard some denominations use the term the eucharist the christian ceremony commemorating the last supper in which bread and wine are consecrated and consumed we use the term communion because that term is interchangeable to us that term communion means the worship that we will do with the bread and the wine and consecration but the term communion also means the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings especially when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level tonight should be a night that we commune with christ tonight should be a night that our minds and our hearts are one with christ of course again the lord's supper is reminding of uh reminding us of the text that we just read when jesus would sit with his disciples and as they ate together he would illustrate and give an illustration of this is the bread it represents my broken body take and eat this is the wine this represents my blood drink this now let me be client let me be plain tonight the apostolic church does not believe nor can you find real scripture that would attest to this idea that some would call transubstantiation if you don't know what that means there are some who believe there is a a supernatural thing that takes place when we take communion that the bread becomes flesh literally in the body that the wine becomes the blood this is a symbolic act and i i give you this example it is no different than the water when we baptize that's good old kub water that's not holy water there's not sins floating in that water when folks have their sins washed away but it is an act of obedience it's a physical act that takes on supernatural significance so what we do tonight is remembering christ's death we're remembering we're recalling as he said to do in this passage do this not to get your belly full do this not to put on a show do this not to find some saving grace for this is not a salvation ceremony he said do this in remembrance of me it's so i can be reminded of his death i can be reminded of his broken body of his shed blood that was shed for us all this time we call communion or the lord's supper is an opportunity for we the church not to be fearful but to be worshipful remembering what he did for every one of us individually at calvary it's a time when we without hesitation should commemorate our broken and bleeding savior his supreme sacrifice so that we could have salvation and enjoy the abundant life that we enjoy this day it's also very personal we speak of it generally as the church but it's also very personal that we reflect on our own personal walk with jesus tonight as we partake in communion let us all once again be reminded that these verses that we're reading from apply to our own heart and it's a time for examining our own lives on the basis of what the bible says about this event that we call the lord's supper if you are here tonight to look around and see who is here and who is not here you're here for the wrong reason if you're here tonight to watch and see who takes communion and who does not you're here for the wrong reasons tonight is self-examination tonight is a relationship between you and the lord between me and my lord this should be a very personal thing it's not a time for pointing fingers it's not a time for making judgments it's a time for us to examine our own personal relationship with christ i would remind us all we began reading at verse number 23 but that same chapter paul was dealing with the corinthian church and before he ever got to communion let me give you a list of the things he dealt with in that same chapter paul dealt with following christ being followers first corinthians 11. he dealt with the headship the relationship of a husband and wife the headship of man the relationship that would be proper not a master slave relationship but the one flesh union with the man as a leader in the family he dealt with the glory and the power of long uncut hair on a woman before he ever dealt with communion he dealt with the shame of a man having long hair before he ever dealt with communion he dealt with being contentious before he ever dealt with communion he dealt with division or divisions plural in the church long before he dealt with communion he even dealt with the gluttonous attitude that some were taking when they came for the lord's supper they thought it was a meal to fill their bellies they thought it was a feast to satisfy the flesh all of this he mentioned before he reminded the church do this in remembrance of me so tonight we should reflect on the true purpose as we participate in this solemn occasion and i have some bullet points they'll help me with they'll put up first of all tonight is a time of commemoration that term to commemorate means to recall and show respect for something the verses of our text remind us that the lord's supper service is a time for calling to mind the great sacrifice the victorious resurrection of jesus when we gather at the lord's table for communion we are not offering a new sacrifice we are being reminded that he became the sacrifice once and for all this is a reminder hebrews 9 12 said it this way neither by the blood of goats and calves by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us we're reminded that every year we're not pushing our sins ahead another year and bringing animals to represent our sins and then being offered to push our sins ahead for another year but once and for all it said hebrews 10 9 said then said he lo i come to do thy will o god he taketh away the first that he may establish the second by the which will we by the which will we are sacrificed through the offering of the body of christ once and for all that ended blood sacrifice of animals and every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oft times the same sacrifices which can never take away sins but this man speaking of jesus after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever oh hallelujah that ought to make us excited tonight we're commemorating we're being reminded just as sure as we celebrate the death burial and resurrection on easter just as sure as we celebrate his birth on christmas tonight we celebrate that his shed blood and his sacrifice for our sins was forever the idea of remembering is more than just recalling the event it has the idea of stirring up our minds to relive with jesus much of his life his death and the resurrection as humanly possible we have to remember that he left heaven to be born in a human body he became poor that we might become rich he bore our sins in his own body on the cross on the tree he willingly took our place at calvary he wasn't forced to he did it willingly for you he did it willingly for me he shed his blood for my redemption he conquered death for us how long forever we have victory over death because he gave his life and was resurrected and then we must be reminded that he did a sin back into heaven to finish the redemption work and to serve as our high priest forever that's what we commemorate tonight i'm thankful to know that but it's also a closely related word it's a time of contemplation we commemorate and we contemplate or we consider thoughtfully not only are we reminded of what jesus has done for all humanity but this is when it needs to get personal we think what he did for us jesus died on the cross to save sinners if you're not a sinner and you've never been a sinner jesus didn't die for you but first timothy 1 15 said this is a faithful saint and worthy of all acceptation that christ jesus came unto the world to save sinners of whom i am chief we are all sinners what does that mean to me personally think in your mind of all of the things that could be held against you but jesus so mildly has forgiven you the sacrifice he made it ought to move us why does this place get so excited when we start singing about jesus because we revisit every time sunday night i i could see it the holy ghost started moving the power of the holy ghost came down in this place folks started singing about oh i i may not be the greatest singer but when i think of what he's done they they sang it might get loud and it did i mean folks were just having church in this place folks were shouting dancing running why because folks were getting excited once again that's what should happen in this time of service we're contemplating what he's done for us personally oh i'm thankful for what he did for all of y'all but he's been better to me than he has anybody else now the reason i can say that without a lot of pushback i'm the one got the mic right now i've got a feeling if i handed out a microphone we could be here a while everybody's saying i just want you to know what he did for me i want you to know where i came from i want you to know the addiction that he delivered me from i want you to know the hell that i was living in that he brought me out of oh i want to contemplate that tonight i want to be reminded [Applause] let me reflect on my personal relationship with the lord and then tonight is also a time of identification when we take the lord's supper in this public forum we are publicly identifying ourselves with christ we do this not for show but we are not ashamed to take his body and to take his blood it's i've had folks ask me is it possible for a lost person to take communion it absolutely is for you see this event in and of itself holds no saving power those of us who are saved and claimed salvation we are declaring publicly that we believe in the power of his death this is not just some fairy tale it's not just some fable this is not just something to make us look good in the community we believe in a literal death we believe in a literal burial we believe that jesus died and rose again on the third day for our redemption we're saying to this whole world we believe it and we practice this because we identify with christ that's who i am that's who i'm part of he changed me when i was baptized in his name i took on the name of jesus [Applause] in fact mark said it this way in mark 8 38 whosoever there shall therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his father with a holy angel the lord's supper serves to identify you with christ and then let me ask you what did you come expecting tonight for tonight should be a night or a time of expectation we're reminded that this time serves to stir up our thoughts and concerns about this present day but we should be reminded that he's coming back to get his people the greatest expectation i have that i'll word it is elder johnny james used to say it until i die or until i fly he's coming back for me he's coming back for his church he's coming back for a spotless people who have not forgotten his redemptive power why did jesus say in john 14 1 let not your heart be troubled don't let a service like this make you nervous don't let your heart be troubled if you believe in god believe also on me in my father's house or many mansions if it were not so i would have told you i go to prepare a place for jesus went to make me a place jesus went to make you a place i'm not fearful and afraid whatever life brings me whatever tomorrow has for me i know he went away to prepare a place for me and he said and if i go and prepare a place for you i jesus will come again and receive you unto myself that where i am there ye may be also first thessalonians 4 14 said for if we believe that jesus died and rose again and we do even so then also which sleep in jesus will god bring with him we've lost loved ones but it's a temporary separation when you know jesus brother jones you've conducted a lot of services but the believers we have that blessed assurance our hearts are not troubled oh our humanity and our flesh may be sorry for the temporary separation he said even so them also which sleep in jesus will god bring with him for this we say unto you by the word of the lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the lord shall not prevent them that are asleep for the lord himself shall descend from heaven if he went up he's coming back with a shout with the voice of the archangel with the trump of god and the dead and christ shall rise first and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the and so shall we ever be with the lord wherefore comfort one another with these words this service should be a service of comfort if you've lost a loved one if you're facing a trial that may feel like it's unto death this is the time to be excited i'm expecting the lord to come back and get his people and then let me say tonight should be a time of examination first corinthians 11 our text went on to say in verse 27 wherefore whosoever shall eat this cup or eat this bread and drink this cup of the lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body of the blood of christ of the lord but let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup for he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself not discerning the lord's body what's he saying is this some ominous thing that we're worried somebody's going to be struck dead because they took communion what it's telling us again is we need to examine ourselves it's the truth of consideration and being honest with yourself it's a warning to the lost that you should not partake if you have unrepented sin in your life it's dangerous to do so if you're harboring sin in your life it's a warning to the backslider when we come to the lord's table with sin in our lives we open our lives to god's judgment according to verse 29 he will chasten his children when they profess to be right with god and yet they are harboring sin in their hearts and it's a warning against taking this event lightly that's why we must never see this as form and ritual it must not become just a custom and a ceremony but instead it must be very personal between us and the lord for you see it's not for us to come and find condemnation it's for us to come tonight with a repentant heart my bible tells me that godly sorrow worketh repentance the bible also tells me to when i stand praying forgive what that means is tonight is a time and in just a few moments we're going to have a season of prayer and repentance oh brother mccool you mean you're going to repent tonight you better know i am the apostle paul said i die daily what that means is i say lord i'm sorry that i know of i have no unrepentant sin in my life but i want to die daily before the lord i want to stand before him clean and say lord please look down inside me if you find any evil way if you find any hidden things i want you to cleanse me from all unrighteousness that's what repentance is about a few moments we're going to take the time to have a season of repentance of all who are here a time of personal talking to the lord i remember just before it was time to eat would say all right wash up it's about time for supper well repentance is our wash up time that's the time we're cleansing ourselves we're giving all to the lord