This morning's sermon outline, 16 of 40

The Last Supper Mark 14:12-26; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 March, 3 2013

Both Jesus and Paul tell us that we need to take communion in the right mind set, by remembering and having self-judgment

The importance of remembering – Jesus says that we should take communion in remembrance of him, Paul echoes that

What does it say to us? – What is our attitude about communion? Why are we taking it? Is it to look good, to show other people our “relationship” with Jesus is in good standing? We should be taking communion in the act of remembering, remembering everything Jesus did for us, from birth to death to life, remembering his pain and suffering, his tears and miracles, his grace and love, for even though the bread is just bread and the juice is just juice, what we are doing has meaning

The importance of self-judgment – Paul also tells us to examine ourselves that we are taking communion in a worthy manner, and if we are not we should not partake in communion

What does it say to us? – It first says that we need to understand who we are and why we are taking communion, this does not mean to say that you have to be entirely sanctified in order to take communion, you don’t have to be sinless, you don’t have to have been sin free for a few days or weeks or hours, what it does mean is that communion has to mean something to you, what Jesus did has to have meaning for you, and you want to reply, we reply by singing songs, we reply by praying, we reply by giving tithes and offerings, we reply by being baptized, we reply by taking communion

The importance of taking it together – Paul also tells us to take it together, Communion looked different in Paul’s time, it was taken in conjunction with an Agape Feast, what we would call a community dinner or pot-luck, people ate an entire meal and then took the traditional elements, but they weren't waiting for everyone, they were rushing ahead, some getting full and drunk and others going hungry

What does it say to us? – we still often come to communion as a people not together, we have disagreements, we hold grudges, sometimes we’re judging each other, it goes back to the Sermon on the Mount – if you remember you have an issue with your brother go fix that first

The importance of being open – As I say every month here in the Church of God we practice an open table, meaning that if you want to take communion with us you are welcome, if it’s your first time in our doors you are welcome, we have no requirements, no classes to take, no interview, and that means something, because a lot of churches don’t work that way, in some you have to be an official member, in some you have to have been through a class or a set of classes, others want a record of your baptism, we do not, here you are welcome because it is not our table, it is Jesus’ and he welcomes us all