Communion Message
(The problem is separation)
December 4-5, 1999
Pastor Don Sheley

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 

We have learned here at the church that communion time is a time of personal spiritual examination. It happens every Sunday here. We are confronted with the claims of Christ and His cross. We must do something about where we stand with God, and it happens almost in every service, eternal decisions are made. Really folks, this is why we're here. We're here so that men and women might come to know Jesus Christ, whom to know is life eternal. That's our primary reason. There are those who come to the service, even now, who are searching. You're honest. You just, something's missing. You don't know what it is. Maybe God hasn't been a part of your life. There's an emptiness. There's a void. You just felt, I'll to go church today, and you're here searching. For you I'm often concerned as a pastor because I think sometimes we as preachers make the gospel so complex. We use such big words and sometimes those who are searching who have little knowledge of spiritual matters find us hard to understand. So it's wise of us to find some way we can transmit the message in simple words that everybody understands. And thus, we on occasions choose one of the beautiful tracts that are available that are used around the world to tell people about Jesus. That's what we've done today. I'd like for you to take the sheet of paper, if you have it there with you. And for you that are searching I want you to follow very, very closely because this will be very simple. It will explain salvation, the new birth, and how you might be at peace with God. 

You see God has a purpose. God loves you and He wants you to experience peace and life. Life abundant here and now, and life eternal in the hereafter. And the Bible says that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. And Jesus said, I have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. So since God has planned for us to have peace and the abundant life right now, why is it that most people are not experiencing this? Well here's the problem. Separation. God created us in His own image to have an abundant life. He did not make us as robots to automatically love and obey Him, but He gave us a will and a freedom of choice and sadly we choose to disobey God and go our own willful way. We still make this choice every day. The result is separation from God. The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And the graphic paints the story very simple. We are sinful people. God is a holy God, and there is a deep chasm that separates us. That's that aching emptiness you feel down inside. That's that chasm there because every heart was created to have fellowship with God. Well, we try to bridge that chasm through the ages. Individuals have tried in many ways without success. Notice the graphic again. Some try through good works, others through religion, through philosophy, morality, but it's an effort that never succeeds or is successful. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it leads to death. Old Isaiah says your iniquities have separated you from God and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear you. There's the problem. Here's the remedy. It's the cross. Jesus Christ is the only answer to this problem. He died on the cross and rose from the grave paying the penalty for our sin, and bridging that gap between God and us. One translation of the Bible says God is on one side and all the people are on the other side, and Christ Jesus Himself man, He became man in the flesh, is between them to bring them to God, to bring them together. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. For God demonstrates His own love for us in this, that while we were sinners Christ died for us, and the graphics again, we're over here as a sinner. The only way we're going to bridge this gap to God is by putting our trust in Jesus Christ who died at Calvary's cross. And there must be a response. We must trust Jesus Christ and receive Him by personal invitation. The Bible says in Jesus the words He spoke, behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him and he with me. But as many as received Him to them gave He the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name. And if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and you believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. So here are the graphics. We as sinful rebellious people separated from God put our trust in Christ who died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, and He brings us to a God of peace and forgiveness and abundant life. Now in the little tract that we took this from there's a prayer. We're going to pray it in just a moment. The Bible says whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved, and the Bible says that he who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that ye may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. The gospel is simple. We're sinners. Our sin separates us from the God who loves us. That separation is lived out in a sense of uselessness and a sense of void, a sense of (pats his chest) emptiness, the only solution. You see we were created to have fellowship with God. That was the reason why God created man. Sin has robbed us of that wonderful fellowship. We come to Christ, ask Him to forgive us, trust Him as our Savior, and the miracle of divine birth takes place. He forgives us. The separation no longer exists and we now have fellowship with our wonderful God. That's the gospel, and that's what you came to hear today.

Let's kneel together, shall we? Lord Jesus surely there are those with us this morning who came to church seeking. Maybe not knowing what. They just felt led. They just felt compelled and urged to be here. Their heart is reaching out to You today dear God and they've learned through this very simple presentation that the answer to life's sin and its aching problems of voidness and uselessness is found in Jesus who died on a cross as our Savior. And these emblems that we have in our hands tell us that in His body represented by the bread, Jesus, You became our substitute. You took our sin in Your body. You who knew no sin became sin for us so that we might be made the righteousness of God. And the cup even though we don't understand its glorious mystery, the Bible tells us that it's the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses from all sin. We may not understand it. We just believe it. So today Lord Jesus we identify with You and Your cross by taking of the bread and the cup. We put our trust In You dear Jesus as our Savior. Let's take the bread together, shall we? And then the cup. Now every head it bowed and every eye is closed in worship. Maybe you're the person who came today in search for reality and this is the day you have put your trust in Jesus Christ, would you as an act of faith, it's just between you and God, raise your hand heavenward and in your heart of hearts just simply say; Jesus, thank you for being my Savior today. Thank you dear Jesus. And everybody said, amen. Let's stand and greet one another, shall we?