Communion

1 Corinthians 11: 23-27, “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which 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.’  For as often as you eat this bread or drink the cup, you proclaim the Lords death until He comes.  Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
     
Facts about the Communion meal:  At the time they were observing the Passover meal, they were also participating in an act of submission.  Obedience is primary in our relationship with our heavenly Father.  Obedience always brings about promise.
     
Communion is an act of commemoration.  Until now the observation of the “Passover Supper”, was done in remembrance of what God did to deliver Israel from the captivity of Egypt.
     
The feast was now to be a covenant and remembrance.  The covenant was that of fellowship.  The items signifying the “Peace Offering” were not consumed by fire and were therefore for the consumption of the priest and the people.  Jesus was saying that their receiving of these portions were more than symbolic of their participation in His death.  Furthermore, they were now to remember His death as deliverance from eternal captivity to eternal life.
     
Jesus picked up the cup, filled with wine, set aside for the anticipated Messiah.  He was proclaiming to them that He was the fulfillment of everything they had been waiting for.  This was an act of proclamation.  Partaking of the settings of the Lords table is a proclamation on our part that we believe in Calvary, Jesus and everything  fulfilled through both.
     
An act of Anticipation.  We do not come to this table because it is the popular thing to do.  We come because we show the anticipation of his return.
     
A word needs to be said about the warning against eating and drinking unworthily.  Many who have misunderstood this have abstained from partaking.  The unworthiness has nothing to do with the person, but the manner in which the portion is taken.  The warning referred to the Corinthians greedy and intemperate manner as described in 1 Corinthians 11: 20- 22, “Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another drunk.  What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink?  Or do you despise the Church of God, and shame those who have nothing?  What shall I say to you?  In this I will not praise you.
     
Conclusion; communion a precious practice reserved for those who accept the life made available to them through the blood of Jesus.  It is an act which includes submission to the Lords command, commemoration of the atoning act of Jesus, a proclamation of faith; and a statement of the anticipation of the return of Christ to finalize His redeeming work.

A Child Learns What He Lives

When I was young, I had a poster on my wall, in my room.  Laying on my bunk bed, I looked at that poster many, many times.  At the top, the poster read, “A Child Learns What He Lives.”  Around the edges were cute little pastel colored kids, and in the middle, a list of things that children learn from parents actions.  For some reason, even after the poster is gone, the message has always stayed with me.
     
As I went from a child to a teen, I went from having small problems to having very large problems, for myself and my parents.  I feel very fortunate to have had parents that taught by example.  There are some parents that go by the saying, “Do as I say, not as I do.”  Then they wonder why their teens have all the bad habits that they have.  Even though I was far from perfect as a teen, I saw my parents living a moral life, and that life, gave me the roots that I needed to get back on track after those teen years were over.
     
“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”  Proverbs 22:6.  The poster that hung on my wall, when I was a child, said the same thing in different words.  I have to thank God, for imprinting that message on my heart when I was young, and for giving me parents that not only taught morals, but lived what they were teaching.