Communion Message
Provision for the Journey
September 19, 2004
Pastor Leighton Sheley

Paul wrote: For this is what the Lord himself said, and I pass it on to you just as I received it. On the night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant between God and you, sealed by the shedding of my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it." For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord's death until he comes again.

So if anyone eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily, that person is guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord. That is why you should examine yourself before eating of the bread and drinking of the cup. For if you eat the bread or drink the cup unworthily, that is, not honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God's judgment upon yourself. That is why many among you are weak and sick and some have even died. But if we examine ourselves, we will not be examined by God and judged in this way. But when we are judged and disciplined by the Lord, we will not be condemned with the world.

On the night that he was betrayed, it says, Jesus had gathered with his disciples to celebrate the Passover, an annual festival for the people of Israel that dated back to the exodus from Egypt. Some have asked what is the significance of the bread and the wine. The wine represented the blood of the lamb that was spilled and put upon the doorposts, and the death angel passed over the homes, and those who were in them, that were covered by the blood.

The bread represented the manna, the bread of life, that God provided as the people made their journey from the land of bondage and slavery and death to the Promised Land. The manna was God's provision for the journey. Millions of people trekking across an arid wilderness would have surely starved to death had it not been for God's amazing and miraculous provision of manna, the bread of life, the bread that came down from the sky, the bread of heaven.

Jesus gave a new significance to this celebration for we now celebrate God's provision in leaving the place of slavery and bondage and death under sin to the Promised Land, a city whose builder and maker is God.

The Scriptures say we should examine our self, and I'd like to invite you, if you are physically able, to join with me as we now kneel in the presence of our Lord and Savior.

Lord, your grace to us does amaze us because we are so undeserving and you are so holy. Each and every one of us are sinners and we cannot save our self. We cannot provide for our self, but you have provided everything and all we need to do is come and eat, come and partake, come and accept your invitation to your table.

Lord, forgive us our sins and cleanse us we pray in Jesus' name. We now partake of these elements in remembrance of you. Let's partake of the bread and also the cup.

Thank you Lord for your amazing grace to us. Thank you for being the manna, the bread of heaven, the bread of life, in Jesus' name we pray, and all God's people said...Amen.