Communion Message
(Business with God)
September 16-17, 2000
Pastor Donald Sheley

For I have received from the Lord that which I also delivered unto 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 oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as ye 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 the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

The hymns that we have sung today set the stage or at least the setting for our communion service. To us the communion time is a time when we handle spiritual transactions with God, for each of us come to the table with a different spiritual need. Some have joined with us for this hour of worship and you're a searcher, you're seeking for God. You don't know exactly how to frame it in your mind. You don't know how to understand it in your heart. You just know that you came to church today and you want God. You're welcome. And when we kneel together just tell God how you feel. Say, God, I'm here. I don't know how to talk to You. I don't know how to explain myself. I just, I need You and I open my heart and my life to You, O God. Somehow reveal Yourself to me today so I understand my spiritual need, and know how to respond.

If you'll be honest with God, in that prayer, the response is that God will be honest with you. You can get up from your knees today a totally transformed person because God will meet your need. Some of us are here today and we need God's forgiveness because we've sinned terribly this week. So we need to seek His forgiveness and ask Him to draw us to Himself and strengthen us so we don't make those sins again. But all of us come to the table and each of us, God knows our needs, knows our heart. So I'm going to ask you to kneel with me and let's transact business with God, shall we?

Lord Jesus we sang the chorus ‘We come to the cross seeking mercy and grace. We come to the cross where You died in our place.’ And so, out of our weakness and into Your strength, Jesus we come to Your cross. Each of us come with a different prayer, a different need. We're at a different place, each of us, in life's journey. This beautiful opportunity brings us together on our knees in Your presence, 0 wonderful Christ. Some of us are here today and we need to know You in a very personal way dear Jesus. Life is empty without You. Sin and its guilt and its burden is too much for us to bear. Please forgive us dear Jesus. We come just as we are. Your grace is sufficient. Your mercy is from everlasting to everlasting. Your love reaches out to all of us today.

Lord Jesus, we come asking forgiveness for our transgressions, for our waywardness and rebellion, our disobedience. Our humanness becomes so obvious so frequently. We really do want to serve You. We want You to find joy in observing our life as we live it for Your glory with the strength of Your precious Holy Spirit. We want our testimony to be valid and honest, open, a blessing to others. We need You dear Jesus, so we come to this communion table anticipating that You will meet our spiritual needs. Let's take the bread together, shall we? And then the cup. Would You deal with each of us dear Jesus. May we not leave the sanctuary the same as we came. May You have transformed our lives by Your presence and Your love, 0 Jesus we pray, and everybody said? Amen. Let's stand and greet one another, shall we?