Communion Message
Spiritual Blessings
June 12, 2005
Pastor Leighton Sheley

Let's listen to what Paul writes for us in the first chapter of Ephesians. He writes: "How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ. Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.

So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son. He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and our sins are forgiven. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. God's secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed long ago according to his good pleasure.

And this is his plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ--everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago. God's purpose was that we who were the first to trust in Christ should praise our glorious God. And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God."

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord! Oh God is good. God's love is from everlasting to everlasting. Now these words that we have been singing have been things that we have been thinking about and praying, and one of the last words that we sang was, it's my joy to honor You in all I do, and we all know that we are not perfect in honoring God in all that we do all the time. Because even though God has given us a new spirit, His Holy Spirit resides within us, a new spirit that wants to obey God and please God, there's still the old spirit alive in our members that is fighting against the new spirit.

There is a contention that takes place, and sometimes that old rebellious spirit overwhelms the new spirit that God has given us and we make decisions that are not pleasing to God. We sin against God. Thanks be to God for His word that says if we confess our sin He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

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

Lord we are forever thankful for what You have done. The elements remind us of how much You loved us. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Lord the elements that we hold remind us that You gave Your Son completely, that He suffered and died completely, to say the wages of our sin.

The elements that we hold remind us of the price that has been paid for our sin, and the elements remind us that the price has been paid in full. Thank you Lord for Your great love for us. We partake of these elements in remembrance of You. Let's partake of the bread and also the cup.

Thank you Lord that we don't have to leave this place the same as when we walked in. Thank you Lord for forgiving us, for cleansing us, for refreshing us in Your Spirit. Thank you Lord, in Jesus' name we pray, and all God's people said, amen.