Communion Message
New Beginnings
January 4, 2004
Pastor Leighton Sheley

The apostle Paul wrote for us in 1 Corinthians chapter 11: 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. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. And that is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

Our focus this day is 'if we judged ourselves we would not come under judgment'. In the original language the word there is krino in both cases, and it's translated contend with, it's translated discipline, and it says if we contend with ourselves, discipline ourselves, we would not come under discipline. Our Father who art in heaven disciplines His children as a most perfect Father, and discipline is never a pleasant thing. This passage says if we discipline ourselves, but if we contend with ourselves, we would not come under discipline, and God knows our heart.

There is a contention within mankind, at least those that have within them the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul was perhaps one of the greatest church leaders to ever walk the face of the earth. He was dynamic. He went into the far reaches of the then known world preaching the gospel, establishing churches. He was a missionary, and one of the greatest. He was an author and he wrote many letters that have found their way into our Holy Scripture, in fact almost a third of our New Testament was written by the apostle Paul as he explains our faith and helps us apply it in our daily living.

One of the great writings of Paul is the book of Romans. And in the book of Romans in the seventh chapter Paul, this great, godly, dynamic man of God, confesses that which I would that do I not, and that which I would not that do I do. O wretched man that I am! In that book and others he describes the contention that takes place between the old nature and the new nature. The old nature is the rebellions sin that resides in our flesh. The new nature is the spirit that has been given to us of life, the Holy Spirit, that resides within us that gives us the desire to please God. And so we have within every believer a war that is taking place between the flesh and the spirit. And sometimes the flesh wins and we sin.

Thanks be to God for His holy word that says if we confess our sins He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is the first weekend of a new year. This is a new beginning, and this is an opportunity that we have to come and confess our sins be forgiven and cleansing and not have to carry the burden the shame and the guilt of our sins into this new year. I would 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 word says that we should examine our self.

Lord we are so thankful for new beginnings, Your mercies that are new every morning. Lord we are thankful that You are so faithful even when we are not. That You keep Your promises - He who began a good work in You will be faithful to complete it. We thank you Lord for not giving up on us, and we thank you Lord that we can come to You confessing of our sin and receive forgiveness and cleansing. And Lord as we now partake of these elements we do so in remembrance of You. The price that has been paid for our sin, our salvation, forgive us and cleanse us we pray. Let's partake of the bread and also the cup. Thank you Lord. Thank you Lord for all that You've done, for all that You're going to do, in Jesus' name, and all God's people said...amen. Let's stand and let's greet those who've come to worship with us today.