Steve Marsh John 17:20-21

Things all right [Music] thank you well good morning First Baptist Church it's good to be in the house of the Lord today amen we get to start this morning with an awesome occasion we get to start with the baptism so as I just wanted to take a second to introduce you to James Morrison who is being baptized by his dad Rex good morning we're going to hustle because it's still cold James have you realized that your need for Christ as a center yes do you believe that Jesus died and rose again from the dead for forgiveness of your sins yes do you commit to committing your entire life to following Christ yes a matter of the cost yeah you'll be all right I baptize you in the name of the father son so Holy Ghost [Applause] thank you well amen it's always a good day whenever we've got a baptism it's always a good day to gather together isn't it the people of God come together to worship him yeah you all can so if absolutely yeah as you look at your bulletins this morning you may notice that it's a behemoth of a bulletin thank you Deborah for putting all that together we have are Annie Armstrong Easter offering coming up which I think we actually have a short video for you right now so we'll do that when people say Keep Portland Weird you can think oh people there want nothing to do with God nothing to do with the Gospel but there are so few evangelicals in the city that curiosity is like

You're this exotic creature most people have never met a pastor before and so you're definitely the minority if you are a Christian progression Bible Church was the first church I planted we developed lots of deep meaningful friendships with people in that community and our kids did as well but three years ago the Lord made it clear to us that there were other communities in Portland that needed a new healthy Church this particular area of northeast Portland is what you might call a church desert and we were excited to follow the call of God but worried about how our kids would take the news yeah I was not thrilled that we were moving like one of the big things that we have been praying for when we moved here was that I could find some friends in this neighborhood and I found a lot so that's really nice we put ourselves out there in all kinds of ways with neighbors and with people who heard about this new church getting started and it is all hands on deck for the Brown family in this church plant it's been a while since I went to church and just sat and listened instead of doing stuff during it but it's nice to be able to help we've got to see people come to Faith in Jesus Christ grow we've seen leaders raised up and missionaries sent out from our church because a need for Gospel access in this city is really great we started this church believed provide and they've got they've got well God gave us a building and God brought people and I'm sorry it's gonna make me cry they get a front row seat you know to see the Lord provide and it's been really awesome it's really awesome so that is that was from the North American Mission board when you give to the Annie Armstrong Easter offering all

Of that money goes directly toward North American missions through the North American Mission board so I'd ask that you prayerfully consider what the Lord would lead you in giving as we look forward to that which is that next week next week okay I just wanted to make sure I've got my referees over there telling me whenever I do things out of bounds yeah so also coming up next week is Our Youth Camp fundraiser I was able to mention a little bit about this last week but what that is a soup lunch right after church that soup is donated by you all by members of the church we already have several who have offered to make some soup for us but we still need more so if you are able and you would like to do that we'll take it during that we ask that you give a donation just to come and eat lunch if you can't give a donation come and eat lunch anyway it'll be a good time of fellowship and then right after the soup lunch we have a dessert auction those desserts are also donated by you all and again I've got several that are already here but I need more so if you are able to do that just let me know yeah we have a dessert auction and that will be our auctioneers Mr Craig Castle he'll do a much better job than I've done at least that's what I've been told we'll see if he shows up but yeah that is next week I'm pretty excited for that all of that money goes directly toward helping our students go to Camp whether that's our transportation or food costs or most importantly for those students who wouldn't be able to go without your help that's we always tell students money should never be the only reason you can't go with us so this is how we're able to bless them in that one more thing you'll see on the back of your bulletin the Holy Week schedule we've got a couple extra Services going on we have Thursday night communion

Service here we have a good Friday service at Potter's house and then of course we have Easter Sunday Resurrection Sunday on April 9th so that's all I have why don't you all stand up find someone maybe you don't know so well and greet them okay foreign [Music] good morning foreign well good morning church again I promise you won't have to listen to me the whole service I'm not preaching today as you find your way back to your seats now is the time when we set aside just a couple of minutes to take some time where we bow our heads and close our eyes and just ask God to prepare your hearts and Minds for worship Sundays even though you're not you know necessarily like going to work or something they can still be hectic getting kids out the door getting husbands out the door just take some time and ask God to help you to worship and so Lord we come before you together asking that you would help us to worship this morning Lord because you're worthy Lord help us to put aside the distractions to focus on who you are and what you've done for us and Lord let our knowledge of you pour out in worship Lord help us to seek you help us to know you and help us to love you more it's in Jesus name we pray amen I'd invite you now to stand with us as we join together in singing hosts you taste the mountain peaks guys with one wonders [Music] praise the Lord praise the Lord see his grace yes all creation

Praise the Lord raise your voice [Music] [Applause] [Music] you reached into the dust in love your spirit breathed you formed a seat [Music] to know your wondrous works [Music] the Lord [Music] raise your voice [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] see his grace the Lord raise your voice [Music] [Applause] thank you praise the Lord praise the Lord sing his grace the Lord raise your voice [Music] All Creatures [Music] we're going to continue to praise the Lord this morning by singing at a very old in a classic Hymn of the faith it's called The Mighty Fortress Is Our God those things A Mighty Fortress Is Our God a bull work never failing the Scriptures tell us that the righteous run into it and they are saved as we sing through this song we also sing about things like that there is an evil one who seeks to devour but our God is bigger amen our God is stronger [Music] thank you for dresses [Music] seek to work as war is [Music] equal [Music]

Does us do that maybe Christ Jesus it is [Music] history [Music] the king of forever [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Immortal Life also the body they may kill God's truth [Music] his kingdom is forever is [Music] lucky forever [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] before and blessed us [Music] you can be seated as the ushers come forward let's pray God our Father we just thank you for the friendship and unity we have here today thank you for this opportunity to back a portion of the many blessings you have given to us we asked Lord that we just give cheerfully and as you desire and bless it to your work we pray this in Christ's name amen as we've seen together today there's so many things that divide us if we were dead ask you about a take any kind of poll there's there's going to be an opinion for each one of us right everyone's got at least one opinion most of us have two of you in Galatians chapter 3 we read this there is neither Jew nor Greek there is neither slave nor free there is no male and female for you are all one in Christ Jesus

As we sing today as We Gather today despite all the many things that can divide us the thing that unites us is greater amen the thing that unites us is greater than anything that could divide so we've sung new hymns we've some old hymns we're going to continue to sing together and this next song We Sing is it's called My Soul finds rest in God alone as you sing about your soul finding rest you can know that all of the other believers in this room also find rest in God alone there is nothing else there is no one else it's all about him thank you [Music] my soul finds rest in God alone my rock and my salvation [Music] against my foes and I will not be shaken and lies like arrows I'll fix my heart on righteousness [Music] good morning [Music] find rest my soul then God Alone amid the words Temptations when evil cease to [Music] hold I agree to my salvation the riches come and reaches go don't set your heart upon them the fields of Hope in which I sow are harvested in him foreign [Music] I accept my Gaze on God alone and trust in him completely with every day pour out my soul and he will prove his Mercy though life is [Music] has crushed the kiss of death [Music] same Hallelujah [Music]

By delighted [Music] Oh Praise [Music] him Oh Praise Him hallelujah hallelujah [Music] we are forever [Music] my God [Music] my worth is not in what I own not in the strength of fashion bones of Love At The Cross my worth is [Music] I rejoice in my Redeemer greatest treasure well screen of my soul I will trust in him no other my soul is satisfied in me alone [Music] as summer flowers [Music] we're not supposed [Music] I rejoice [Music] I will trust in him alone [Music] two wonders hear that I confess my worth and my unworthiness my value fixed my Ransom paid crosses [Music] I rejoice in my Redeemer greatest treasure Whispering of my soul I will trust in him no other my soul is satisfied in him alone sing that last verse together again knowing that for those who believe there is there is nothing in this life that compares to Christ amen for those who believe we get to share in that and it makes us one let's sing it again [Music] my worth and my unworthiness

My value fixed my Ransom page [Music] I rejoice in my redeemed greatest Church my soul I will trust in him [Music] amen Lord help us to be satisfied in help us to grow toward you and as we do so to grow towards one another Lord help us to put aside the differences that we all have and Lord to be United in the Cross of Christ it's in Jesus name we pray amen well good morning y'all I'm up here to say Hello thank you and goodbye because Austin just preached my message he did a good job too I'd like for you to all turn in the Bible that I hope you brought even though it's going to be up on the screen up there at the Gospel of John in chapter 17 John records a prayer that Jesus prayed that's called his high Priestly prayer and Jesus covered a lot of territory in that prayer but in these two verses here he hits on one thought that we can easily lose and that's what I'd want to focus on this morning Jesus is praying here and he says and I won't ask you to stand you can all sit there and be comfortable I have to stand that they may all be one just as you father are in me and I in you that they also may be in US so that the world may believe that you have sent me the glory that you have given me I have given to them that they may be one even as We Are One actually can you skip that back one verse I was looking for verse 20 and 21. These are good times up what I'm hunting work for while they're

Hunting for it is that Jesus specifically expanded those he was praying for Beyond just the Twelve Disciples which is what we always look at but he says he's praying for those who will believe through their Ministry guess who that includes us we are the ones he's praying for here and we're getting closer got the reference up there there we go good I do not ask for these only but also for those who will believe in me through their word okay we have their word the apostles that he was referring to there wrote a bunch of the New Testament at God's Direction through that we have come to know Christ and thus we're included in God's prayer here that we would be one as believers so that's Jesus prayer for us and you look at you know the things that make for answered prayer right we've got to be praying for something that God wants I guess this covers that we need to be praying in Jesus name right under his authority is this included here yeah it's Jesus doing the praying so we can claim it as being prayed in Jesus name and yet are we one in our experience or is there division are there problems within the church does that ever happen yeah it happens so we want to look at what makes for Unity what Unity is and what it is not just for some examples here how many of you raise your hand because I will are following the NCAA March Madness basketball games several okay anybody have a bracket left done but you know that's something that people can get excited about and get together on and okay we're unified and really being into this how about cooking how many of you are really into cooking more hands and different hands than the ones that are really into NCAA basketball okay so there's a unified group say that are unified by their interest how many hunters and fishermen are in this room way more okay there's something else that people can have in common and so there's some sense of unity there and within a church our local body here there are differences of interests differences of opinions and those are they bad is anything evil about hunting and fishing no how about cooking is that bad not bad I won't go into NCAA basketball there might be different opinions about that one but what we have in common in the church as Believers is Jesus Christ and that's something that we all share and as we all share that unity in Christ we are in common there that's our position in Christ we don't have to work to achieve it Jesus has done that for us as Believers we're indwelt by his Holy Spirit and that is the same for all of us so that Unity is ours what we contribute to it though is things that break our Unity that divide and there's a lot in Scripture about

Divisions and factions within the body so we want to be aware of that and know how to deal with these things when they come up because we do have different opinions about a lot of things how can we deal with that and stay together and stay unified for the Lord in first John chapter 3 the first couple verses talk about something that we are we are God's kids we are his children as Believers and as that we're we're members of the same family you know we have one common father in God and we individually are his children that makes us Brothers and Sisters in Christ we use that terminology a lot and because of that we share a lot of things in common one of the things is you know a practice of just getting together on Sunday mornings other times as well to Worship the Lord that we have in common but as a family do families ever fight probably not yours maybe yeah there are differences in families and they can get out of hand they can become a fight what causes that I'm not looking for answers here but think within your families you know look back you know maybe 12 15 years ago the last time you had a fight or maybe it's a little a little more recent but look at some of the causes of things that go wrong and end up in really disagreement within a family divisions fights there are a few things that happen here I'm going to read you a couple of verses out of First Corinthians that happened in other churches too it's not just First Baptist Paul is writing to the Corinthian Church here and in verses 10 and 11 he says this now I exhort you Brethren be of the by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ then you all agree and that there be no divisions among you

But that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment for I've been informed concerning you my brethren that there are quarrels among you now I mean this that each one of you is saying I am a Paul I'm of Apollos I'm of cephas I am of Christ there were factions in that early church and they were based on who they followed as a leader as a teacher and none of those were bad you know Paul was a good teacher Peter was a good teacher Apollos is praised in Scripture as a good teacher but they got Beyond just saying he's a good teacher and said I'm his disciple or I'm his disciple and that is where the factions and the divisions came in and that became such an issue that the church was fighting among themselves because of that okay what about this church do we ever have divisions here I haven't been here forever but in recent years we've had differing opinions about what you're sitting on we used to have pews in here and then we decided we some decided that we needed chairs and so we did that and while that was going on there was a lot of discussion within this body about what should we be doing here and what should we not be here's another one that's still going on music styles Austin gets the brunt of it but there's a verse in Scripture that says wherever two or three are gathered together there I am in the midst of them a paraphrase of that is wherever two or three are gathered together they disagree about music amen from Austin yeah music styles I mean there are lots of music Styles we

Had a mix this morning of new and old hymns okay some of you prefer the old ones some of you prefer the new ones and I don't know if it's true or not but I'm looking that way when I say the old ones and this way when I say the new ones however that works something else that people in this church have disagreed about and this happens big time when we change pastors which we have also done several times in this church is preaching Styles teaching styles well I liked him better I didn't like him and there's been lots of discussion about that another one that will probably get more interest in as weather warms up is dress styles or dress codes what is appropriate in church you're going to start seeing guys show up wearing shorts especially when he gets 105 degrees outside and everything else is that appropriate in church and people have different opinions about that I'm not here to solve that problem by the way yeah but how do we deal with those things because these are all matters that this church has dealt with in one way or another and I know some people have actually left this church over those very issues is that worthwhile is that something we should be doing but we want to take a look at that because these differences of opinion can cause Division if we don't handle them properly is it right that we have different opinions think about that for a minute

I mean I mentioned some things that are not scriptural like NCAA basketball but is it okay that we have different opinions about things like that yeah if you have a group of people and they all think exactly the same we have a name for them the four-letter word it's called The Cult we don't want to go there the freedom that we have in Christ is that we are individuals and we can think for ourselves and we'll come to different conclusions some of those different conclusions can cause offense one to another and it's how we handle that offense that binds us or divides us if you have the Bible you brought with you turn to Matthew chapter 18. In Matthew 18 Jesus actually gives instruction to the church most of his teaching was directed to the Jews because that was the people that he was teaching at that time there wasn't a church as we know it because Christ had not yet gone to the Cross so he didn't have believers who were indwelt by the spirit so you look at his teaching and you well that's for the Jews and that's for the Jews and that's for the Jews here in Matthew 18 verse 15 we read this if your brother sins Go and show him his fault in private if he listens to you have won your brother all right that sounds pretty straightforward right and that's in a matter of sin in some translations it'll say if your brother offends you which doesn't have to be a matter of sin now I may think it is I'll pick on Larry Larry comes up and says something and I

He said what that's that's crazy and then I go until Dan did you hear what Larry said is that what Matthew 18 15 says I should do no the one who says what I'm offended at or does what I'm offended at I'm supposed to go to him and say brother I may have misunderstood this but here's how I took what you said and is that really what you meant and he says yup then we may have a problem that we have to work out often though the offense that I take at what somebody else says is my misunderstanding or I'll read into what they said a motive that is not theirs in that case who's got the problem me and that's where a lot of division comes from I or you will have an issue with somebody else and instead of seeking to resolve it which is what this verse says if your brother hears you've won your brother you've got reconciliation but sometimes I'll take that offense and I'll go home and just Maul over it now I can't imagine why he did such a thing boy who should I tell and now I'm going to tell somebody that isn't the person and then you've got this thread spreading that's known as gossip which that is a division of a lot of churches has that ever happened here by the way yeah it has even though we know better we know we're not supposed to talk to somebody else about her problem a lot of it is handled very spiritually did you know that so and so

Has this problem we need to pray for her isn't that spiritual no spreading that word around rather than going to the person is the wrong approach we need to be able to stand up before the Lord and say I need to talk to that brother that just doesn't sound right or it didn't look right doing anything else rather than following the Lord's instruction here is life like me actually to become a source of division and then the church pays the price for that as a whole it isn't just a one-to-one issue now it spreads we don't want that turn in the Bible you brought to Ephesians chapter 4. Like to look at another verse here because this is significant in the saying of maintaining Unity I'm glad to hear actually this goes way back an old-time preacher would say when he'd ask people to turn to a passage and we didn't have you know Powerpoints and verses on the screen and things like that he'd say the sound of the Bible page is turning is the sound of Angel swings keep that in mind as I ask you to turn to different passages in chapter four of Ephesians in verse 3. He says that we are to be diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace other translations would say make every effort to preserve your Unity okay diligence effort work so the idea here is that Unity isn't

Something that just magically happens and then never goes away it is the position that we're given in Christ that we are one in this body with other believers however that Unity that peace is easily messed up and it takes effort on our parts to maintain it we all of us probably this morning someone in here has heard someone say something that hit them wrong I just didn't like that doesn't sound right okay so that happens if it didn't happen this week it'll happen next week and if it didn't happen on a Sunday morning it'll happen some other time it happens because we're different people we have different opinions about different things those differences if not handled properly are what can fester and grow within a church and it takes effort it takes diligence to keep that from spreading and that effort that diligence is on my part as I hear somebody say something that I don't think so I shouldn't talk to him he's he's in another Sunday school community group you know I should let that teacher take care of maybe I'll talk to that teacher about that no I should go and talk to that person and say I heard you say this and this is what I thought I heard could you explain that a little more to me and work it out between the two of you there may be a difference that is serious and needs to be dealt with or it may just be misunderstanding but that's where it needs to start okay the differences of opinion are going to happen as they happen it's how we handle them it makes all the difference

We want to be a unified Body of Christ that's what the Lord wants us to be that's what he prayed for that we would be one just as God the father and God the son are one in Scripture I'm not going to have you turn to it now but I am going to ask you to read it this week maybe even more than once but Romans 14 starting in chapter one read that through Romans 15 verse 7. 14 1 starts off I'm safe here Romans 14 starts off by saying accept one another in the Lord okay that's easy enough and Romans 15 7 says therefore accept one another it's what's in between that gives us instruction about how to actually do that there's several different things that were problems in the early church and that's what was addressed here A big one was what to do about food meat offered to idols because when people would kill a cow before they take it over to McDonald's they would first sacrifice that cow to a God that happened all the time and those gods were all kinds of things in the Roman world but that meat was then dedicated to that God some Christians looked at that and said I can't eat that meat it's dedicated to this horrible Idol others Christians looked at that and said I can eat them eat that Idol's nothing that's meaningless what they did both were believers looked at Scripture and said here's why I believe what I believe and came to different conclusions and what do you know

They just padded out it became a division issue in the church so Paul in this case was dealing with it and I'll flap the angel wings here for just a moment in Romans 14 in verse 6 this describes another issue they had to whether or not to or how to handle holy days you know we call them holidays now but they started out life as holy days for worshiping this that or the other deity okay it says here in Romans 14 6 he who observes the day observes it for the Lord and he who eats does so for the Lord for he gives thanks to God and he who eats not for the Lord he does not eat and he gives thanks to God you have both of these groups with differing opinions doing it for the Lord can they have Fellowship together yeah they can be that isn't a Salvation issue that's a wisdom issue that's how to deal with your local culture but you're both Believers you both are here to honor God and so I who will not eat meat sacrificed idols I can still have fellowship with Austin that says I'll eat anything because we are in Christ and we have Christ in common we have different opinions about this that and the other but we have Christ in common and that's what the Lord has given us as a common issue that we want to focus on in that same chapter 14 in verse 19. He says this so then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another that's kind of towards the end of a conclusion here as he's dealt with these different issues if our focus is building one another up in Christ

Maintaining increasing the peace that we have in the Lord we will have Fellowship even when we have different opinions we will have different opinions we already do and just before the last verse in that section I've asked you to read Romans 15 6. Says all of these things will handle so that with one Accord you may with one voice glorify the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ that's the purpose and that's what we gather her together for on a Sunday morning we've gathered together to praise the Lord to enjoy our fellowship with him and with one another and so if we keep that as a focus these things that come up that cause offense or that are different different opinions I blew it I figured somebody here would be wearing a hat this morning I don't see one I've said about that because you shouldn't wear a hat in church but if we're still focused on worshiping the Lord I can deal with a hat you can tell I haven't won hat for a long time and there's an effect for that okay so you have these differences of opinion we have a scriptural way to deal with them we also have issues that should divide believers and these are things that we don't like to talk about but that passage I read the one verse I read in that in Matthew 18 verse 15. Talks about if you have a difference with a another brother go to it work it out if that works You've Won your brother but if he doesn't hear you if you don't work it out if you have a Clash and it's a visible

Ongoing unrepentant issue of sin you take it to the church you first go with a couple others but then the church Gathers and if you have an unrepentant ongoing sinner you ask him to leave there is a division there but it's because of a sin issue that can infect the whole body there's another one that is mentioned in Scripture it's at the end of Romans chapter 16. It's false teachers if I'm up here spewing stuff that is unbiblical I need to hear from a lot of you and say you know this is wrong this is not true here's my evidence if I keep doing that if I keep spewing out unbiblical statements what it says in Romans 16 17 is that you as a body need to separate yourselves from me because I'm causing division in the body by my heresy those are a couple of issues there are others under which division is given to us in Scripture but those are big issues that usually aren't what cause divisions within a local body the things that really bug us are the wrong small things like chairs versus pews like music Styles like that we should be able to handle as believers time being what it is I think I'll leave that with you for now we're gonna be revisiting the idea of unity periodically because things come up within a body that need to be dealt with the best way to handle them is one on one when they occur but sometimes they grow beyond that

And then it becomes an issue for the body as a whole but the focus here is on maintaining the unity that God has given us in Christ so I'll go with the head hard hand issues here for your head know your position know that God has given you his spirit and he's given his Spirit to other believers and because of that we are one in your heart believe that truth and this is where it gets iffy sometimes because okay yeah that's true I recognize it and yeah I believe it but I don't like him because it's kind of like for salvation somebody can hear the Gospel yeah I understand that message I know that Jesus died yeah he rose again that's great I believe that and I sure hope I'm good enough to get into heaven did that drive did not because if I'm hoping I'm good enough to get into heaven what am I trusting and Trust in how good I am which is not what the Lord gives as an entrance requirement for his kingdom I have to be trusting that what Christ did for me covered my lack of doing so when we look at this head heart hand we want to go beyond just acknowledging truth we want to say yeah I'm going to let that sway affect how I act how I think how I speak and as for hand something I would like for you to do I already mentioned it read Romans 14 through excuse me yeah Romans 14 1 through Romans 15 7. And if I can dare say this read it more than once read that same passage a couple of times and think of how dealing with issues on that level

Allows us to maintain our Unity I am not throwing this out there by the way because I suspect that we are you know falling apart I'm really I'm glad that the unity we have in this body but it takes effort it takes diligence to maintain that so look over that chapter plus and just ask the Lord where you fit in that context I mean whether we're 12 or 120. That's for all of us we need to be able to function within those parameters okay at this point we're going to be moving into the Lord's Supper we call it communion and that word communion comes from two words common Union and that common Union we have with one another is also the union we have because of Christ we have a common Union with him and we want to celebrate that this morning the elements look like that if you haven't got one already this is your chance go get one back over there or out in front if you do we'll move right along good don't don't be shy if you don't have one go get one in the verses we usually look at for communion they're in First Corinthians in chapter 11. And it's usually like verses 23 to 26. We're going to look at those again this morning but I want to put them in the context of what's on both sides of them in First Corinthians starting in verse 17 Paul talks about the proper functioning of the body of Christ and within that is partaking the Lord's Supper that's what we call one of the ordinances of the church and in doing that we want to do it in a way that

Recognizes the body of Christ okay in looking at the body of Christ in that larger context you have the meeting together of the body of Christ then following those communion verses if I can call them that you have the function of the body in terms of spiritual gifting how everybody has a different gift and how the exercise of those gifts is to bring the body together towards maturity in Christ so when we read these verses in First Corinthians we want to keep that context in mind often we look at it in a very individualistic way and when we read the warnings about examine yourself we think oh okay what have I done that the Lord wouldn't like nothing wrong with that but the context of the examination is how I am in fellowship with the body of Christ us and if I miss that I can kind of blow it Jesus gave an example in The Sermon on the Mount saying if you have a gift that you want to present at the altar and you're on your way to do that and there remember that your brother has something against you says leave your gift there and go make a right with your brother then come back and present your offering I think properly understood that's how we ought to deal with the Lord's Supper so if any of us in the room right now know that we have a issue with another of our brothers and sisters here in the room I would recommend that unless you can make a right right on the spot you hold off don't partake but then go and make it right goes to that brother or sister and take care of whatever the offense might be then partake of the Lord's Supper

And honestly you could do it just the two of you it doesn't have to be a large group meeting the funny thing is that in the first century communion was an actual meal it wasn't just a little wafer and a little cup they ate together and that's what Paul was chewing them out for because when they come to eat together there's a lot of me first stuff and people would rush in and get the good cuts of meat and the ones who didn't get there in time or whatever they got left out and they went hungry so they weren't functioning as a body they were functioning as individuals almost against one another and that's what we want to look at here is the body of Christ we want to honor so as we partake let's keep that in mind we are the body of Christ oh at this point we'll read these verses here in First Corinthians and in verse 23 Paul says for I receive from the Lord that which I have 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 so father we would just thank you for your body that you gave up on the cross to produce this body of Believers today we thank you for the bread take it easy going on he said in the same way he took the cup also after supper saying this cup is New Covenant Covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me

Make the cup drinks father we do thank you that you have brought us together we remember and celebrate what you've done for us in terms of this communion and we pray that in the common Union we have with you we would make every effort to develop that with one another and we thank you for it in Christ's name amen thank you we are dismissed and didn't see one in the bulletin but I thought it asked