2006-04-23 Communion Dedication – Baldwin Christian Church

1 Corinthians 10:16-17

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?  For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

You are what you eat.

At the Last Supper, Jesus said, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.  We are told, “as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come” (1 Corinthians 11:25-26).  As a community, we must lift this cup with the understanding of the power it represents.  As a loving and sharing group, we must admit that we all need the redemption offered in the blood of Jesus.  As a fellowship, we must realize that our highest praises fall short of what Jesus did to offer us this cup.  As individuals, we must prefer one another, knowing that diversities and differences have a purpose, but there is only one Lord, only one body.

When we drink this cup, we are in communion, in fellowship with the blood of Christ.  When we partake of this bread, we are in fellowship with His body, and we are tangled-up with Him.  This is a principle that may be easy to understand on Sunday morning, but we should be examining ourselves to see how we apply this principle the rest of the week.  With who, or with what do we fellowship when we are not gathered here?

Example:  If I am upset because I missed my TV show, I am tangled-up in the altar of the television programming gods.  At that point, I am vulnerable to whatever bill of goods they want to sell me because I have consecrated (set apart) a time of fellowship with a certain cast of characters, on a certain program, on a certain channel, which I simply cannot bear to miss seeing.

Example:  If I am upset because my shiny new car has a shiny new scratch in the paint, suddenly I have submitted to the gods of materialism.  I have allowed myself to be brought under the power of my possessions, and before I even realize it, I am staying away from the body of Christ because Sunday morning is such a pretty day for a drive, and our shiny new cars beckon us, “drive me”.

While examining ourselves today, we may find many things that we have submitted to, that we are tangled-up in, things that hold sway over our lives, but have nothing to do with Jesus.  Communion is a time of sharing and becoming tangled-up with Jesus; we enter into fellowship with Him; we delight in Him, and we yield to Him.  All those other things that have power in your life, that hold a sway over your emotions, should all become as nothing.  Jesus is essential to our lives and our salvation, and He gave His life that we might have this body of fellowship.  We give so much of our time, energy and emotions to the non-essential things, but only give a couple of hours a week to the one thing we truly need (communion with Jesus). Let us examine ourselves, and guard against sitting down at the feast of worldliness this week.  We have no communion with idolatry.  We should be cutting the strings that entangle us with worldliness, and strengthening the ties we have with each other; the bond that He made possible.