Communion Message
(1 John)
October 20, 2002
Pastor Leighton Sheley

We find these words in 1 John chapter 3: How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world -- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does -- comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and this word has no place in our lives.

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense -- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

If anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense. Scriptures say at times like these that we should examine ourselves, and so I'd like to invite you, if you're physically able, to join with me now as we kneel in the presence of our Lord and Savior -- the one who speaks to the Father in our defense.

Lord we thank you for your love towards us. The elements that we hold in our hands now remind us of your graciousness and your goodness and your love. They remind us of how highly you value us, so much so that you sent your Son to come into the world and die on Calvary's cross to pay the wages of our sin.

Lord, thank you; thank you for hope, thank you for forgiveness, thank you for promise, thank you for goodness, thank you for light, thank you for revealing to us your light, your life and your salvation. As we partake of these elements we do so in remembrance of you Lord. Let's partake of the bread and also the cup.

Lord with how you have loved us first, how could we respond in any other fashion but to love you in return.