SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/14/2017 9:40 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
It was a Christ-Centered Church
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts 2:42d
Message of the verse: “to the breaking of bread.”
In our last SD we looked at fellowship and it was because
their fellowship was symbolized by obedience to the breaking of bread, which is
a reference to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, or as it is sometimes
called Communion. Different churches
have the Lord’s Supper at different times, some do it once a week, and some do
it once a month. The two churches that I
have been members of do it once a month, sometimes in the morning service and
some times in the evening service. Once
in a while in our church we do a full communion service in the morning where
the entire service is focused around the Lord’s Supper with the music and also
the preaching of the Word dedicated to the remembrance of what Christ has done
for us on the cross. These are moving
services to be sure.
Participating in the Lord’s Supper is not optional for
true believers in Jesus Christ as Paul speaks of In 1 Corinthians 11:24-29 “23 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; 24 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." 25 In the same way He took the cup also after
supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as
often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." 26 For as often as you eat
this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. 27
Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy
manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a man
must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of
the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if
he does not judge the body rightly.”
This section of Scripture is the one that is most read before a
Communion service and we see in it the requirements of partaking in it. One must be a believer who is walking with
the Lord, who does not continue to commit a sin that they are unwilling to
confess before the Lord. Everyone sins, but
John tells us when we sin we are to confess it to the Lord and He will forgive
us. This is not the issue, but if a
person is enjoying a particular sin and refuses to confess it to the Lord then
they should not partake of the Lord’s Supper.
John MacArthur writes “In Communion, all believers meet
on common ground at the foot of the cross (Eph. 2:16; Col. 1:20), since all are
sinners saved by the grace of God in Christ.
Communion acknowledges the wondrous work of the Lord Jesus on the
cross. Communion further exemplifies the
unity of believes, since in it all partake together symbolically of the same
Lord (Eph. 4:5). Paul wrote in 1
Corinthians 10:16-17, ‘16 Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing
in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body
of Christ? 17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we
all partake of the one bread.’
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I am thankful to
the Lord that He has allowed me to remember what He has done for me on the
cross, and my prayer is that I will never take this lightly when having the
opportunity to partake of the Lord’s Supper.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust that the Lord desires for me to
continue teaching Sunday school for the next year or so, teaching through the
book of Revelation.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Crumbs that fell from the
rich man’s table” (Luke 16:20-21).
Today’s Bible
question: “From which book of the
prophets did Jesus read at the synagogue?”
Answer in our next SD.
8/14/2017 10:10 AM
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