1 Corinthians: Authority & The Lord's Supper

Awesome, awesome, man we are so glad that you are here. As always, we wanna say to those in the men's and women's correctional facilities all over the nation, we're honored to have a moment to worship with you. Can we let them know how grateful we are to get to open the word with them? It's awesome. We're continuing our journey through 1 Corinthians. We're in chapter 11. If you got a Bible, you can go ahead and turn there. If not, it will be on the screen. While you're doing that, I don't want us to miss the fact that God allowed us to partner with the city of Brandon and with Hometown Magazine and even several other churches in the area and have a pate on Friday night. And thousands, I don't know what the real number was. I know it was thousands of people, way more than we even anticipated. And here's our heart behind that. And what I wanna say to our faith family, specifically to those that are faithful in your firstfruitsgiving, part of that goes to things like this. Gives us a chance to throw the best parties because I believe, honestly, the Bible will say this, that the people of God should throw the best parties, right? Because we have the most to celebrate, the most freedom. And so what we wanna do, where God has placed us,

we wanna throw parties that represent the kingdom, meaning safe, great atmospheres that are filled with God's life so that we might bridge relationships to let people know, as many people as possible, in Brandon and Rankin County and our whole region, that Jesus is real and is massively in love with them. So, man, a lot of shout-outs we could give to that. Again, City of Brandon, Hometown Magazine, so grateful to partner with them. Our team killed it here specifically, Scott and Brady, but we need to give honor where honor's due. Freedom Fest does not happen without Sidney leading the way that she leads in that. And so when we let her know and them know how appreciative we are of that, you're the best. I know you love it that I did that, but it's the truth. You're awesome, way to lead in that. Now, again, man, in our journey through 1 Corinthians, it's been fun, hasn't it, right? Come on. And we just tackle tough stuff every week, every week. And guess what? We got more to come today. So if you got your Bible, we're gonna get to work in it. It starts real easy, and then it gets into moments that will actually today, we'll learn some things in this text that will help us discern other texts of Scripture, that we can get really a framework that we can look through this passage

and understand other Bible passages that might be hard to understand. Anybody else ever read a passage, and you're like, what does that mean, right? Don't look at me wholly, I ain't impressed, right? Or maybe you try to skip it. Well, what I wanna do is tackle a hard text today so it'll help us see others, but it starts real easy. Verse one, Paul says to the church in Corinth, chapter 11, be imitators of me as I am of Christ. Paul in this moment's not being arrogant, he's not thinking that he's arrived. Paul, if anybody, continues in the progression of saying I'm the least of these, I'm the chief of sinners. Paul knew he had a lot of misses in his own heart, a lot of misses in his own attitude, that he wasn't perfect by any means, but he did know this. He did know that he was in pursuit. What Paul knew about himself was this, I am fragile, I am frail, I'm imperfect, but I do know who I'm following. And what Paul says to the church in Corinth is not saying I'm the perfect example, but what you see in me being imitated that you can find in the life of Christ, you should get after it as well. And what I know, man, listen, I don't know about your family background, we all imitate if we like it or not. Come on, right?

Now listen, you teach what you know, you reproduce who you are. So many times we get around people and we reproduce. Renos were very reproducible, if you know what I mean, right? You never had to wonder how we felt because we gonna let you know, right? You never wondered how we would respond because you're soon to see. And I will say about my own family line, there were some things that were worth imitating. I appreciate my family's work ethic, man. I appreciate things that I learned from them that have nobility and ultimately you can tie back to things that are true in the kingdom. But there was a lot of things that needed, that didn't need to be imitated, it needed to be broken. You know what I'm talking about, right? Things that had to stop somewhere and by God's grace and because of the gospel, they stopped with me. Let me tell you what God did and he filled in the gaps in my own life, he brought into my life other men that I could imitate. And so from the front side of coming to know Jesus Christ, I've had every season, spiritual fathers, coaches, pastors, disciple makers, people that I could follow that were also radically imperfect, but in right pursuit. They hadn't arrived, but that were running after God. So here's something to write down, here's a principle. Those that walk intimately with Jesus are worthy of imitation.

Those that walk intimately with Jesus are. Worthy of imitation, meaning you find someone that smells like Jesus and you follow their steps. You follow somebody that's got the nature and the mannerisms that will remind you of Jesus and follow them. And then the second charge is this, look at us. Look to me right now. You be someone that's worthy of imitation. And the only way you get there is not by faking it, it's by following. Come on now, I'm having more fun preaching than you are amening already. We gotta get going, okay? I know you stayed up late with fireworks, but get fired up this morning, all right? That if you wanna live a life that's worthy of imitation, walk intimately with Jesus. Get to know him and others listen to you will follow you. I told in the first service, I'll say it again here. Man, this last week when we were traveling, I read the first few chapters of Brother David's new book that's gonna come out, God is a Talker, which is fantastic. And man, fresh tears filled my eyes because the guy that discipled me is a guy that he discipled. And I remember early in my faith, him looking at me and saying, Kyle, you gotta come to believe this, God actually wants to speak to you.

And so since my first steps of following Christ, I actually believe that this word speaks. That it's not something God once said, it is something God is still saying. Man, I still believe that the spirit of God would speak in my inner being and would teach me the ways of the kingdom of God. And I had to learn that through others that I could imitate, others that I could follow. So walk intimately with it. Now we're gonna tackle some stuff in these passages of scripture that's hard to quite understand until you get really deep down within the context of it. In this moment right now, Paul's about to address something that women were stepping into roles that they were not intended to in the church. It's not chauvinistic, it's not dogmatic, it's none of those things. But there was a right order that was getting out of order early in the church and so he had to address it. And then he's gonna move into the next section that they're going about partaking in the Lord's Supper in the wrong way. Then in the next three weeks, we're gonna talk about spiritual gifts, which is gonna be fantastic. And he's gonna show, hey, listen to me, but you're not walking in the right order

and decency inside of that. And so what God's trying to do in these chapters of scripture is to rightly position the church, listen to me, not to get rigid, not to get religious, so that they might experience real power. And if you get in the right position, God can pour out his power in a real way. So write this down, sort of set up where we're going in the scripture. Order matters for the church to flourish. Anything, listen to me, this is true from creation till the end of time, when things get out of order, when a nation gets out of order, when it gets disorder, when chaos enters the story, when anarchy starts to roll down the streets, when you get out of alignment, anything can happen. And what is true in the church is true in a country. When you get out of right alignment, when people don't rightly fulfill roles, anything can really happen. So Paul's trying to address this for the sake of them experiencing real power. Not so they can become a denomination or a religion, but so they could be a real kingdom. He goes on in verse two, it says, "'Now I commend you because you remember me in everything "'and maintain the traditions, "'even as I have delivered them to you.'" Now when I say tradition, I gotta teach a little bit more

than preach this morning, though I got some preaching in me. He says tradition, it's not what you and I say. When I say tradition and you think church, you think pews, you think color carpet, you think maybe a certain genre of music, you might think hairstyle, come on now, right? When I say tradition, many things come to mind, but the sad truth is tradition's not a bad thing if it's the right kind of tradition. The word tradition literally means from hand to hand. And the traditions of the kingdom, hear me now, are the kind of things that once passed hand for hand, if you could follow it through, will ultimately get to some hands that have nail scars. And then will move from hands that have nail scars ultimately to the God that created all things. So hear me, people of God, hear me those that are wondering about the faith, ultimately the traditions of our faith get back to the one that has total truth. The one that actually sees the way things were intended to work. The kind of traditions that we have to hold on to. Verse three it says, but I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, who he's rightly bringing us back to order. And the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. And what he's saying in this one text of scripture, Paul is reaffirming creation order

while starting to address a real issue in this new church. And I wanna say this, because in our time everybody wants to dodge tough topics. And the fear of man. does not exist, listen to me, in the church of God. Come on now. And we gotta say the things that rightly help free us to live what we're intended. No religion in the world has broke more barriers than Christianity, hallelujah. No leader broke more rules than Jesus Christ himself. Jesus went right to, listen to me, specifically in ministry to women. And he would start conversations, he would move miraculously on their behalf, he would set their hearts free, set their bodies free, set their minds free, invite them. I love this. Now, Jesus would invite women to follow him as he established his kingdom, gave them roles and places in the work of extending the kingdom of God to far from God people. So Jesus wasn't, hear me say this, and Jesus isn't suppressive toward women ever. Yet the Bible from the beginning does make sure that we know, but there is still clear distinction between a man and a woman. There's still great distinction in the roles they have in the work of the kingdom, specifically in the leadership of the local church

and the leadership in the home. And it's not ever, the Bible never paints a picture of inferiority or inequality, not once. Just distinction. What Paul was addressing for context's sake, and you'll see in a minute, was the reality that many women in Corinth, and you had this like unbelievable melting pot of culture. You had Jews, and then you had idol worshipers, right? You had people that were uber religious, and then you had people that were cray-cray, like over here. And you have them all come into saving faith in Jesus Christ and some, in this moment, specifically a few women, were taking this moment, they were coming to know Christ and experiencing, tasting the freedom that is theirs in Jesus Christ, but moving, listen to me, because they lacked maturity, away from authority, away from God, and he's gonna speak to that. So we're walking into the gathering, some ladies that were free in Christ now, we're walking in the gatherings, and we're trying to do things outside of order. And Paul's gonna address it in these next, and before, listen to me, and before it sounds chauvinistic, or it sounds suppressive, go back to the verse and see what it says. As the head of Christ is God. So the order he goes through,

hey, don't forget, Christ is the head of man, that man has a role in leading his wife, and Christ is the head of God. Do you know in the triune God, in the Trinity, Father, Son, Spirit, fully God, amen, right? Distinct in role. Jesus said, this is mind-blowing, the Savior of the world, the Son of God, he said, I'll only do what I see my Father doing. He said, I'll only speak what I hear from my Father, I'm here to fulfill the work of my Father, and the establishing of his kingdom, I've come to glorify my Father. So Jesus knew the distinction of his role. So, by the way, don't forget the third part of the Godhead, third person, God the Holy Spirit, who is, by the way, the helper. Distinct in role, fully God. So, listen, let me tell you what I love about the Bible. The Bible wants to make sure that, listen, that no woman anywhere would ever see in the scripture that this is suppressive, because it's not suppressive, it's not demoralizing, it's not inequality, because there's no inequality in the Godhead. He's not promoting some man-domineering dogma in the church, and I will say this, religion will ruin the right witness of what God intended. So, any time you see the macho, bravado kind of deal that, listen to me, that would make any woman

feel unwanted, or feel suppressed, that's from the flesh, that's not from the Father. So, he continues on to bring some clarity to it, and I'm gonna give us three principles that'll help you frame up any scripture you might struggle with in a second. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but every wife, I'll explain the cultural significance of that in a second, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head was shaven. You're like, what in the world does that mean? Well, let me help you. Often when the people address this text, they miss the affirmation before they see the significance. Let me tell you the affirmation. Let me tell you what that passage affirms. It affirms the need for women's prayers and prophecies, because never once in this does it say that a woman shouldn't be beseeching God, crying out to God, begging God that we need to be saved. It affirms the need for women's prayers and prophecies. More women of God crying out on behalf of the church of God, on behalf of the country. It never says that a woman can't get a word from God, understand what he's saying, and can help be a part of bringing that forth to the church in a way that would mutually benefit everybody. What he's making sure is clear in this moment is that the order is still established, that the authority structures are still seen. The picture of not having a head covering in discussion about the length of hair wasn't, was a cultural issue, but it still has spiritual significance.

They were basically saying, so I want you to get it now, listen, so women were coming to know Christ in their culture. We don't understand this because it ain't going on in our house today. I don't see the head coverings happening here, but in their culture to have a head covering was the same as a wedding ring. It was saying that, listen, I'm in covenant with this man. Yet women were coming to know Christ, walking into the gathering and saying, now that I'm free in Christ, I'm free from his authority. I'm going to lead in this way. Can you imagine how demoralizing that was for the husband? Can you imagine how distracting that was for the church? And let me tell you what he's after here. Paul's saying, this is hindering worship of the one true King. This is hindering the advancement of the kingdom. And I want to say this, listen, this was not all the women. It was a few. It was a few women in this moment that were saying, we're going to step, we're going to get all we can get out of this. In this moment, there was an order problem and authority problem in this moment. So I'll make a couple of clarifying statements. So take that text of scripture. If you read the next few verses, it says the same thing in a couple of different ways. And let me give you three principles that'll help us in this passage, but will also help you with any difficult passage. Tomorrow morning, when you read the word and you're like, bro, what in the world is that talking about? Let me give you three principles that'll help you. One is this, creation always gives us clues about original intention. If you're wondering about something that happened in Corinth, go back to creation. Cause this to me, God doesn't depart from his original intent. He redeems it. Come on. Let me tell you what he's doing. Listen to me. The father is getting us back to what he originally intended before sin entered into the story and what's happening in this moment. Guys, hear me and what's happening in this room. It's happening in marriages. It's happening in culture. It's happening in, it happens in the church. The moment we start departing from what God originally designed, then comes destruction. Two passages make this pretty clear. Genesis 3 verses 8 and 9. He said, and they heard, this is after the fall. Remember Adam sits passively. Eve moves forward aggressively. And then this is how, this is how God addresses the sin issue. And they said, and they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord. By the way, sin and shame will always make us want to run and hide. And I would say this to you on behalf of the father, don't, don't run and hide from the one that can actually heal. He already knows our struggles. Let me tell you a secret. God has

never been surprised by your sinfulness. That's good. He sort of died for it. So when he shows up, maybe he's showing up today, don't run from him, but run to him. They hid among the trees of the garden, but listen, but what happens? How does God address this issue that's played out in sinfulness? But the Lord God called to who? To the man and said to him, where are you? Now I want you to see the significance of this. When God came to hold humanity accountable for the sin that had played out in the garden, who did he come to? He came to Adam. Why? Because Adam had not led and protected his wife. Because the husband had not been a shield in the authority of God on behalf of his family, which shows us that God's got a structure. And listen to me, it's not about lording over her, it's about loving her. It's not about being dogmatic, it's about being a defense. It's not about bravado, it's about bravery. What God is essentially saying is, Adam, where were you at? I gave you one job, dude, one. Where did you go when it got dark, when it got hard? He went passive. So, we see the sin issue in Adam. Now, will we see the sin issue in Eve? God says to Eve, let me tell you what's going on in your heart, Eve. Genesis 3.16, and you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you. He said, let me let you know what's going on in your heart in this, Eve. You're gonna want to get, you're gonna want to get out ahead of this, and as you do that, what you do is encourage his passivity with your aggression. And what it does, it just gets you spinning on a crazy cycle, and it hurts both of you. Instead of humility, come and understand and headship and helpmate. Listen to me, no more role more significant, just distinct in its purpose. Distinct in its design. Well, and what was happening in the church in Corinth, get this now, this is why you got to go back to creation. What a few women that happened to be wives were doing, they were walking into the gathering, they're taking off their head covering, saying I'm coming out of underneath, listen to me, I'm coming out from underneath his authority, and I'll tell you what that meant for them in the church, and they were also not looking for authority in the church. They, listen to me, they wanted to be their own authority. And I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna tell you a principle of the kingdom, until you're willing to be under authority, you never need to be an authority. One of the greatest dangers in

our culture, in our country today, is we hate authority. We rail against it. You know what problem that is? It's a garden problem. It's a problem that began in the very beginning. So that's the first way, go back to creation. When you're discerning a text of Scripture like this, what's another principle to help frame it up? What's another way to picture it? Well, the whole of Scripture, write this down, the whole of Scripture helps you understand any one section of Scripture. The whole of Scripture helps you understand any one section of Scripture. Can I tell you how many times there's a pastor I've sat with a person that was confused because they took one passage, and they're saying, I think this is what God's saying to me. I'm like, bro, you better hope there's some context for that. I mean, while God can give you a word in one verse, God's giving you a story in all the Scripture. Come on now. The Bible interprets the Bible. That's why you don't need to randomly cherry-pick one passage. Don't just do the, it might work every once in a while, you know, you might turn to a random verse and be like, get it, but if you keep living by that, you're gonna get to some passages you ain't gonna like one day. But what God had intended, listen to me, this right here is the story of God, listen to me, that it's not just something he said, it's something he's saying. And listen, and you can't read just 1st Corinthians without reading the rest of the Bible. Because, listen to me, if you do, you'll think, well, I guess women just supposed to sit silent. Well, the problem with that is the story of the Bible. That God has used women to bring about the work of the kingdom of God since the very beginning. God gave words to women across the whole story that God spoke, God used. You get to the New Testament, you got prophetesses, you got people that are speaking, you got Paul affirming even to Timothy, hey, the faith that you have that was passed down to you from your mother and your grandmother. So the Bible is not suppressing, you got to read the whole story. You got to see that there's more to it. And when you read the whole story, guys, listen to me, you get the framework even for spiritual leadership inside of the church. That's why Paul says, for instance, in Titus, in Titus 1 verses 5 through 9, when he specifically

speaks to leadership structures in the church and why things were off, beginning to get off the bubble in Corinth, this is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained, what does it say, into order and appoint elders in every town as I directed you. If anyone is above reproach, let me ask you a question when you read this thing. We talked about in the word pastor, elder, overseer, all those words interchangeable. In every town I direct you is, if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife and his children are believers and are not up to the charge of debauchery or insubordination, for an overseer as God's steward must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant, quick-tempered, a drunkard, or violent, or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he might be able to give instruction and sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. Do you read that passage and go... I guess leaders in the local church should be arrogant and loud. Now you read that and go, man, listen, to be a leader in the local church is to be someone that's poured out, that's humbled, that can't believe that God would even allow them to be in any kind of position, to bring about any kind of direction to discern the will of God. Now, let me tell you what people do. People mess up everything. Can I get an amen, right? And so somebody gets an illustration of some dude that leads in some local church that's a dictator that just puts out his agenda and all those kinds of things and they go, man, I don't want that. Well, guess what? God never intended that. God intended the plurality of humble, God-seeking, fearful of the Lord and trying to be faithful and leading their own personal family while radically imperfect, still in pursuit. The whole of scripture gives us the context for what was going on in 1 Corinthians. Hey man, these kinds of things should be happening.

Now what does that mean? Does that mean that women can't lead spiritually in a gathering or in God's church? Hear me, that's not what he's saying. Women can exercise spiritual giftings just like anybody else can. The gifts that we're gonna walk through in chapter 12, 13, or 14 are not for men only. I got a newsflash, you ready? The Great Commission, Matthew 28, is not a mantra for men. When he says, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, it's for every follower of Jesus Christ, male or female. I'm about to drop the Lord's Supper's elements. It's not for, listen to me, it's not for some, it's for all, while, listen to me, while rightly aligned to the leadership structure God put in place. So men in the house, you can tell you what we should hear? The clear call, listen to me, that in humility to lead spiritually. To men in the house, what we should hear is the clear responsibility not to lord over but to love, to lead. To the women of God in the house, what Paul would say to you, your prayers are needed, your prophecy, your ability to speak truth, your personal disciple making is needed. And then the third thing, they'll help you with this text and any text of scripture. I love moments like this because it helps us read the Bible better. It's always wise to consider the cultural context of any specific passage. What was true for Corinth, listen to me, is not necessarily gonna be true for Ephesus. What was true, the same kingdom truth is in there but the cultural connection might be different. In that context, head coverings was a deal. We ain't got head coverings in the house and we ain't trying to bring them back, amen? But for them, and listen to me, think about that as it applies to a Middle Eastern context. What Paul is saying is like, he's saying, hey, hold on. Can you imagine how much disruption it would have brought to that culture for the advancement of the kingdom's sake?

If on the other side of hearing the gospel, all the women just got rid of the head coverings and stepped outside of their relationship with their husband, how much destruction it could have brought to gospel expansion? He's saying, back up. Stop for us, humble our hearts and see how we do this best, how we get to those places. Find the kingdom truth within and consider the cultural context. Now I want us to transition because he's not, this is about worship there and it's about worship when it pertains to the Lord's Supper. Go to verse 17. But in the following instructions, I do not commend you because when you come together, he says, I do not commend you. Make sure you get this. He said, hey, I'm not saying you're okay, you're not okay. I do not commend you because when you come together, it's not for the better, but for the worse. For in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear there's divisions among you and I believe it in part for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you come together, is it not the Lord's Supper that you eat? For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry. Listen, another gets drunk. I can just imagine Paul writing this. He goes, what is going on? Y'all done lost your ever-loving mind. Y'all come to the Lord's Supper, man, and y'all throw a spring break party? I'm like, I'm home. I thought it was funnier in my head than y'all acted like. One goes hungry, another gets drunk, and then he goes, what? Do you not have houses to eat and drink in or do you despise the church of God and humiliate

those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. Sorry, you can go ahead and come. What he's saying is, guys, listen to me. God gave us the Lord's Supper not merely to have an ordinance, but listen to me, but we might rightly get an order that we might remember. Yet some of you are using it to flex your wealth. Some of you are using it as a party scene. When, listen to me, if there's division as we come to the Lord's table, there's division everywhere else. And guys, feel it for a second. What he's saying is, nothing should bring us together like the gospel. Come on now. Nothing should bring us together at the table of God. You know what this is? This is a reminder that one day we're gonna sit with him forever. That this is a reminder that the body of Christ was broken, the blood of Christ was shed so that we might be a family and sit and one day feast with him forever. He said, man, I don't commend you if there's divisions, man, you're a wrong reflection of the kingdom. That this disorder is gonna cause distrust.

How many, listen to me, how many disunified churches have hindered the witness of Jesus Christ? Right? How many of they can't come together and be reminded, like, listen to me, we didn't bring anything to the table. Jesus brought everything to the table. We got different stories, we got different backgrounds, we got different brokenness, man, we got different issues. We come from different sides of the tracks, man, we come from different family genealogies, man, we come from different races and creeds, man, we got different issues in us, different issues on our shoulders, different issues on our backs, different issues in us, different issues around us, but one thing brought us together, that Jesus Christ came and lived perfectly, yet took on my sin, took on your sin, took on my shame, took on my wrath, and then he died in my place. He drank the cup of the suffering of all humanity, past, present, future, took my sin, took God's wrath on himself, drank it, to the dregs and what the psalm says, turned the cup over and said, it is finished. Come on. Then defeated death in his resurrection, so that you and I, not Baptists, not Presbyterians, not Church of God, not non-denoms, followers of Jesus, might come to this table and say,

I remember the blood, I remember the body. It would all be a reflection of one day, listen to me, we're not gonna take the Lord's Supper anymore, because we're gonna dine with him. Come on, right? But until then, Paul's going, what are you doing? How did this get so far off so quick? Because listen, we can break anything. So he encourages them, I'm gonna skip the Lord's Supper passages, because we're gonna partake in a minute of the Lord's Supper. Matter of fact, if you got the elements when you came in, you can go ahead and get them in your hand. Not quite there yet. If you missed them, all good. We got people stationed around the room to get them to you, but you gotta help us know that you need the Lord's Supper. And I say again, you don't have to be a member of this church, you just have to be a follower of Jesus Christ. If you're not a follower of Jesus Christ, that's okay. Glad you're here. Watch as we partake. Maybe God would use even that to help you understand the gospel more fully. If you need some, raise your hand. All you gotta do is raise your hand, leave it up, and they will get the Lord's Supper elements to you. Just raise your hand, say, I need it, we got some here. We got folks moving to and fro.

Just leave it up until you get it. This is what it says. Whoever therefore eats and drinks the cup, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and the blood of the Lord. It says, let a person examine himself. Y'all hear that? Then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill. Some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. but when we are judged by the Lord we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world me tell you what he's saying here this now the Lord is saying that the Lord's Supper is spiritually serious what he's saying hey there's more to this than merely for us taking a little wafer in our mouth or drinking a little juice he's saying don't listen don't skip the seriousness of this moment we're the family of God coming into the presence of God remembering the work of Jesus examine yourself what it means is be reminded of the gospel that set you free and let the Spirit of God show you things listen to me that's a hindrance to your relationship with God right now so don't you just do this for a second just bow your head for a moment if that helps you close your eyes or if you need to lift your face toward the heavens you can is there anything between you and the Lord just any unconfessed sin man might be a habit a hang-up a way that you a way that you're thinking guys not looking from a thousand I'm sorry's this morning one true confession

or I confess this I turn from it ask for forgiveness stay in the spirit of that listen to these words for I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and he said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me if you're here now and you have the elements if you want to open the side that holds a little wafer you take it in your hand once you think about this for a second once you think about the gospel of Jesus that shows us the perfect life of Christ that was born just like everybody else has to be born but was fully God knows cold they experienced in this world things we experienced yet overcome perfectly that his body was tore open that he bore on his body our stripes he took on himself our sin he who knew no sin became sin that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ they took on the fullness of the Father's wrath in his very body and being he was crushed as you think on it when you're ready to worship him in that way in remembrance take and eat in the same way also he took the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes if you want to prepare you can take and open the sign that holds the Jews I want you to think for a second about the blood of Jesus Christ remember it the Bible makes it explicitly clear that there's no forgiveness without the shedding of blood and that the blood of Jesus was poured out for you for I and we might be covered don't you think about that about the blood applied to your sin so that we might be at one with God when you're ready in the act of worship take and drink I wants to do this wants to stand together and we're gonna worship my favorite part of that verse scripture 26 it says for as often as you eat and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes one day no matter what way you take it

bread juice a little wafer and all that one day we won't need this one day he's gonna come and we will be with him fully forever and we will work listen to me worship at that point won't be an option it sure ain't a personality type worship will in that moment and fully resurrected states just rock because you see him but I'm gonna tell you what I hope for for us is that we wouldn't wait to worship him until then we would choose to worship him right now so just a moment we're gonna do something a little bit different we're gonna sing one really verse of this we'll have the blessing prayed over you and then you're gonna be dismissed we're gonna have prayer leaders here after the service that would love to pray with you about anything going on in your life any healing you might need hope you might need we pray with people every week don't miss this moment to be prayed for if you need to but right now in light of what we just saw in the word let's worship him