The recent election results show how divided our country is. It’s refreshing to come to church and be with people who you are unified with. Yet, it is possible that people can be unified in our country. We even can be united with people anywhere or in any nation.
The act of communion is a proclamation that we are God’s people. When we gather together to celebrate communion, we are thanking God for our common unity under the blood of Jesus. The believers and the apostles gathered together regularly to encourage, support and equip each other to continue serving and worshipping Christ. The apostle Luke emphasized the scope of this unity in the book of Acts.
Acts 1:14 “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.”
Acts 2:1 “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”
Acts 2:42 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
Acts 2:46 “And they, continued daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.”
Their corporate gathering affected many others. You and I are the continuing story. The apostle John wrote:
1 John 1:3 “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.”
As the apostle Paul wrote:
1 Corinthians 1:9 “God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
When I celebrate communion, fellowship with others is the one of first ideas that I meditate on. We have fellowship in Christ because of what Christ had done for us. He atoned for our sin so we can have a relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit and with each person who believes in His name for the remission of sin.
Fellowship in Christ has a purpose. Fellowship in Christ will encourage us in our Christian journey. Fellowship will also strengthen our faith in GOD. Fellowship unites us together to accomplish the work of the ministry. Fellowship will also equip us for ministry by learning to build relationships that matter.
One example of a success story is the Smith family. Many of you don’t know them but they were part of us. As young adults they invested in us and we invested in them through our fellowship. Today there is a church in a closed country that has believers and we had a part in preparing Matthew and Julie for that ministry work.
You are about to hear a song that is one of New Life’s (church) favorite worship songs! The recording and video were created and uploaded over a year ago by brother Simo before he was arrested. The words at the end of the chorus translated are: “I will follow you without turning back, my beloved, my Jesus.”
Why do I want to reflect on the Smith’s and their ministry? Because I hope that our fellowship can continue to encourage young and old to continue their fellowship with Christ and others, and you will appreciate the impact that fellowship can have!
As we participate in communion, we are reminded that we are bought with a high price and are called to love and serve Him. Our unity and service have an amazing impact here in our church, in our community, and in the world.
Let’s take a personal moment before we take these elements to reflect or repent on our life testimony to the truth of this table that declares our fellowship in Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;
24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
Our tradition is to take a special offering following our participation in the Lord’s Supper. This offering supplies for the needs for our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is a voluntary offering and we ask that you give as you are led. We base our giving on the Scriptural text:
I John 3:17-18; 23 “But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in Him? Little children let us not love with word or with tongue, but in-deed and truth.
Now this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
Reference note:
Sadly a few years later, the church in Corinth went to celebrat communion they did not desire to fellowship with each other and the Apostle Paul judged them for this in 1Corinthains 10-11. The main problems: They had division, they treated others with less worth. They did not wait for each other. They ate and drank before others arrived.
We are “yoked” to work together.