Good morning, everyone. Welcome. It's good to see you all. Glad to hear all that buzzing going on. You act like you're glad to see each other. That's always a blessing. Welcome to Bay Presbyterian Church and this Lord's Day service of worship. Want to welcome those who are here in person, those of you who are joining us online. We are delighted to have you and please let us know, those of you who are joining online, whether you're watching live or whether you get this later, if there's any way that we can be of help to you or minister to you in some way, please feel free to contact us by way of email. or phone call or however you'd like to. We'll even take care of your pigeons. Just let us know how we can be of help to you. But welcome one and all. We are looking forward to celebrating the Lord's Supper today and glad to be able to do it in this nicely decorated sanctuary. Thank you to all of you who helped do that last week and get everything in place. It's wonderful. If you are visiting with us and we have not yet had the privilege of receiving from you a record of your attendance, we'd love for you to fill out one of those welcome cards that you should find in a little pocket on the back of a chair near you and let us know, or otherwise, if you have an interest in joining the church. As a matter of fact, just this morning we have had someone join with us on Reaffirmation of Faith, Joe Widener. Joe, stand up so everybody can see you. Hey, Joe's been around here longer than I have. We're just making it official today. He's been a part of our church family for a long time, but I did want to make something of that, and he'll get me back later, so that's okay. You know, my grandmother, before she married, was a whitener, and it's a German word which used to be widener, so we're probably kin. I'm sorry to have to tell him that in front of everybody, but, you know, the Lord is gracious. We don't get to pick our relatives. Anyway, do wanna mention those things. Let's see, number of announcements, wanna get through them quickly. If you're interested in placing a poinsettia this Christmas season, you have an insert in your bulletin, your folder there that will allow you to do that. Otherwise, this week, ladies, remember that you will not have a Bible study here at the church at 10 o'clock on Wednesday. Instead, there is the Christmas luncheon at 11.30. And there may or may not be spaces available. If you are interested in going, see Rachel. And at the very least, we can get you on a waiting list so that you will have something ready if it becomes available. But otherwise, those who have signed up, remember that's this Wednesday at 1130 at the old Florida Chophouse. Remember, we will not have a Thursday evening study until after the first of the year. We'll be picking up with that on January the 9th. Do want to remind you about the annual Bay Christmas dinner coming up on Friday the 13th. Not this coming Friday, but the one following. It's a lucky day. My grandmother was born on the 13th. I don't want to hear those grumps. I'm just kidding. We will meet together here for a wonderful meal and a wonderful musical program. and would love to have you come. But we do need you to sign up. And so there's a sign-up sheet on a clipboard on a music stand near the front door over there. If you could sign up, let us know you're coming. Or otherwise, at least contact the office and somehow inform us that you plan to attend on the 13th of December at 6 PM. Then on that following Sunday, the 15th, we'll go Christmas caroling. And that will all begin at 3 PM. So please look forward to that with us. I do want to point out we still don't have our video screens. Anticipate that work on the reworking of that system will begin on December the 9th. So hopefully that following Sunday, we'll have them up and working. But in the meantime, remember, as we sing our songs, you have sheets in your folder with the lyrics, or you can utilize the hymn number that's there. If you'd really like to hold a hymnal and look at the music and use that, that information is available in your worship folder. Oh, you know, I had a dean of students at seminary. He was a football coach. In fact, Archie Manning was one of his football players in Mendenhall, Mississippi. And Gerald Morgan would get up every once in a while, and he would say, all right, we need to have a coaches chat. And he would tell us something that we didn't necessarily want to hear, but we needed to. This is just a little housekeeping item. Please try your best not to put containers with liquid in them in our trash cans, especially this one back here. Our cleaning lady does such a wonderful job, but when there's liquid in there, it tends to go places where it shouldn't. So just please help us with that. Was that all right? I didn't scold you or anything, did I? Didn't mean to. I may be a guilty one myself. We just all need to be careful, and please try not to do that. One other thing, looking forward to going to two morning worship services beginning the first Sunday in January. Remember, we'll have 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. service in the morning, and then a little later toward the second Sunday in January, we'll be having a 6 p.m. service, as we have had in recent years, which will run through March. This creates a need for more greeters. If you're available to be a greeter for any of those services, particularly the 11 a.m. and the 6 p.m. services, if you would please see Carl Hemm and let him know that you're available to do that, we would be grateful. All you gotta have is a smiling face and maybe hand out a bulletin or just tell somebody you're glad to see them, and we would love to plug you into that ministry. Those are the things I have. I really hope I'm not overlooking anything. Except. There is something. There is something. I didn't see it listed, but I just wanted to remind folks that are in the choir, Tuesday at 6 p.m. right here. It's our Christmas practice. We start our Christmas practices. So if you are new to the choir, come and join. It's a perfect time to jump on board. And former choir members, I was going to say older choir members, but former choir members, just a reminder that this Tuesday at 6 p.m. 6 PM Tuesday, choir practice. Thank you. How in the world could I have overlooked that? I don't know. Thank you. I hope I'm not overlooking anything else, any other announcements. I do remember one. Today is my wife Kathy's birthday, and she's with her mother at the nursing home in Danville, Virginia. So honey, happy birthday. This tie is the closest thing I have to the colors of the University of Virginia. And being a Western Carolina grad myself, I wear it today in honor of my wife, for whom I am so very grateful and thankful on her birthday. So happy birthday, sweetie. And thank you for indulging me. And so today is the first Sunday of Advent. And we have Pete and Carol Roberts who have graciously agreed to read for us the lesson today and to light that first Advent candle. I'm gonna ask them to come up at this time. Lighting a candle is a simple yet profound act. It is a testimony to the power of light over darkness. Even the light of one candle can reveal our faces as we stand near the candle. As we light the candle, we begin our journey to Christmas, a day of joy and celebration. The first candle on the Advent wreath is called the Prophecy Candle. It opens the period that anticipates Christmas and remembers those who first spoke the promise of the coming Christ child. Our scripture reading is from Matthew 1 verses 18 through 24. This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. The virgin shall be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel. which means God with us. When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. And in light of the good news of the coming of the beloved son of God, let's prepare our hearts and minds for worship. You. Good morning, church family. I'm reading the call to worship. It's in the inside cover of your bulletin. It's Hebrews 10. We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. O come, O come, Emmanuel. Stand with me if you're able and let's sing. O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear. ♪ Shall come to thee, O Israel ♪ ♪ O come, thou day-spring, come and cheer ♪ ♪ Our spirit by thy hand ♪ ♪ And death the jail for to flight ♪ ♪ Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel ♪ ♪ Shall come to thee, O Israel ♪ O come, thou wisdom from on high, and order all things far and nigh. To us the path of knowledge show, and cause us Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. O come, Desire of nations, bind all peoples in one heart and mind. With every strife and war, O cease, when all the world defend. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we do rejoice at the coming of your beloved Son, that unspeakable gift that the Lord Christ is, by whose blood we are cleansed of every sin and united together in faith to Him and with all of those who have gone before us into glory. Oh, Father, please accept our worship as we offer it to you in the name of the Lord Jesus, who alone is worthy. Please grant to us that blessing of peace and joy which comes from knowing Him. even in the midst of life's sorrows and trials. Grant that our eyes will be open to the majesty and glory of Jesus Christ, that in trusting in Him we may find a life fulfilled, and that we may have an eternity before us to look forward to in anticipation of that. we offer you our praise and thanksgiving, all in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray, saying, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. You may be seated. This is the reading of the Word of God. 1 Corinthians 10, 14 through 22. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of the blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread. We who are many are one body. For we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything? Or that an idol is anything? No. I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? And now we'll ask our ushers to come forward as we worship the Lord by offering to him tithes and gifts. And let's bow together in prayer. O most gracious Father, you who have shown yourself to be the most generous of all have given selflessly and so we pray, O Lord, for that same spirit to abide within us. that we might not only give of our means, but that we would do so cheerfully and in thanksgiving, out of gratitude for all that you've done for us. And so, our gracious Father, we pray that you will accept these offerings as we give them. In the name of the Lord Jesus, in whose name we pray, amen. Later in the service, we will be partaking of the Lord's Supper or communion. And it may seem a little different that as we celebrate the birth that we're also celebrating the last supper before his death. But you know, that's the reason that he came. And this is a beautiful hymn written in the 1980s, which enables us to think on the reason that this perfect child came into this world for you and me. Listen carefully to these words and be blessed by them. Gathered round your table on this holy morn, viewing Bethlehem's stable, we rejoice yet grieve, joy to see you lying in your manger bed. Weep to see you dying in our sinful stead. Prince of glory gracing, heaven, our time begun. now for us embracing death as son of man by your birth so lowly by your love so true by your cross most holy lord we worship Bethlehem's incarnation, Calvary's bitter cross, wrought for us, salvation by your pain, your loss. Now we fall before you. ♪ In this holy place ♪ ♪ Prostrate we adore you ♪ ♪ For your gift of grace ♪ ♪ With profound dazed wonder ♪ ♪ We your body take ♪ ♪ Late in homey nature ♪ For our sake, hushed in adoration, we approach the cop. Bethlehem's pure oblation, freely offered up. Christmas babe so tender, Lamb who bore our blame. How shall sinners render praises to your name? To your own good pleasure, in the lives we pray. In your ransom treasure reign forever king. Would you stand please and say. And sing the name above all names as he reigns king of our lives. Jesus, Jesus, name above all names, beautiful Savior, glorious Lord, Emmanuel. God is with us, blessed Redeemer, living Word. Jesus, name above all names, beautiful Savior, glorious Lord. You may be seated. Thank you, Gordon Carroll, so much. As we go to the Lord in prayer, just reminding you, as always, you have that sheet in your worship folder with a lot of prayer requests on there. There are individuals and ministries to be lifting up. Yesterday we had a memorial service here for Dr. Don Hardin, his family gathered. His wife Phyllis, however, is ill and unable to attend her husband's memorial service. So if you would please remember Phil Hardin, I know that she would be grateful as her family would be as well. In addition, I was told just before the service, Richard, I believe you said 600 meals were served, Thanksgiving meals at the Cafe of Life, and they ran out. There were a great many who were in need there, so just keep the Cafe of Life as one of those ministries that we pray for, as well as a whole host of others. And I know there are lots of things on our hearts today, so let me give you just a moment to pray silently, and then we'll continue to pray as I lead us. Let's bow our heads and pray. Almighty, everlasting God, our Father, we do come into your presence acknowledging The Lord Jesus and our need of him, as we speak of Emmanuel, how can we even begin to comprehend that our God is with us? Especially when we acknowledge our sin and guilt, that guilt which is real, not merely something felt, but something actual. As your word declares that all have sinned and fallen short of your glory, our consciences bear that out. in addition to the objective truth of your word. And even creation has a way of telling us that things are out of sorts. Please forgive us. Please be merciful to us and gracious as we confess our sin that we may find you as you've promised to be faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. As we realize the Lord Jesus by his coming, by his perfect life, his atoning death on the cross, his glorious resurrection and ascension, and now enthronement, where he is seated at your right hand, interceding for us. Oh, Father, may we truly look unto Jesus as we anticipate the reading and preaching of your word and the celebration of that supper which Jesus gave us. Grant, oh God, that we may Listen and participate and do all things by faith, thanking you for your beloved son. Please, Father, provide for those who are in need today. We pray for healing for Phyllis Harden. We pray for comfort for her and for her family. We pray for a host of others in our congregation who are in need of healing and restoration, and we pray that you will provide for them. We ask you to please bless those ministries that are undertaking to proclaim the gospel and minister in the love of the Lord Jesus. We thank you for the Cafe of Life and we pray that that ministry will not lack for resources in the serving of those in need in our community. And Lord, we pray that the gospel of Jesus will continue to go forth in the world locally and to the furthest reaches that you may be glorified. Oh, Father, please grant to us that minister of your Holy Spirit, wherein, as your word is read and preached, that that same spirit who inspired the word will drive it home, that he will minister to our hearts in just the way needed. Bless Dr. Poland as he comes to minister, as we're so grateful for he and Jean and for their family, and ask your blessing upon them. Bless your servant as he stands behind this sacred desk, that the words he proclaims may be your words, that you may be glorified, knowing that your word never returns to you void. And so we commit all to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Doctor? Good morning, everybody, and happy Thanksgiving. If your Bibles to First Corinthians chapter 11, and we will begin there, as Pastor Patrick said in the church calendar, today is Kathy's birthday. And so we must attend to that. In fact, because of the importance of that, among the staff, a great search was made. Was there somebody else born and raised in Virginia? Could there be one? And they went through one after another, and like David at the end, the least came forward and said, I was born in Virginia. And so I am preaching this morning. Well, this morning, I want to preach on the origin and meaning of the Lord's Supper as practiced in the PCA church, and also celebrate this important meal together as a fellowship. It's actually, for me, a difficult passage to preach, because there's the weight of what is signified here, but at the same time, the joy of what it seals unto us. So let's read 1 Corinthians 11, and we'll go from 23 to 29. For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it. And he said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, also he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. Grass withers and the flowers fade, but this, the word of God by his decree, will stand forever. Lord Jesus, this morning we both study and participate in the supper you initiated and instructed. We were slaves to sin, and now we are redeemed. We were lost, and you searched for, pursued, and rescued us. We were spiritually hungry, and you fed us. We were doomed to an eternity separated from you, and you tore the curtain that separated us from you. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for it is in your name that we pray, amen. Well, you know the history. The Israelites were enslaved for 430 long years, generation upon generation enslaved. They suffered horrific oppression, literally worked to death. To keep order and compel the Hebrew slaves to do what was ordered, sometimes a leather collar was placed around their neck and one slave tied to another by rope in a long line. Others were compelled to do whatever was asked of them by having a large metal fish hook pulled through their cheek and tied by rope to one another. Amos spoke of this very type of bondage as a slave in chapter four and verse two. The Lord God has sworn by his holiness that behold, the days are coming upon you when they shall take you away with hooks, even the last of you with fish hooks. But, but, An individual could be purchased out of the slave line, set free by paying a price, by being redeemed. The biblical root of the word redeemed has this very meaning. 1 Peter 1 and verse 19 says, you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. Sin is like that fishhook and collar, isn't it? Like all crimes, sin requires justice. Someone must pay the price for the crimes committed. In the case of sin, the penalty is one. Death. Justice must be served. Hebrews 9.22 says, indeed, under the law, almost everything is purified with blood. And without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. We just sang a bit ago, O come, O come, Emmanuel, and I was captured again by the words and ransom captive Israel. We are, of course, the new Israel. And later, order all things far and nigh to the path of knowledge show. and cause us in her ways to go. That almost summarizes the book of Proverbs, doesn't it? Wisdom is metaphorically viewed as a woman who comes to us. It is this notion of justice and redemption that is the underlying basis for the Passover feast. The Israelites had been enslaved by the Egyptians, as we said, for four centuries. God had heard their cry, and he sends Moses as the emerging nation's leader and spokesperson. Moses pleads with Pharaoh to free the Hebrews, but Pharaoh refuses. He stubbornly refuses God's plan. And isn't that, by the way, exactly how sin works? Despite one mighty God display after another, Still, Pharaoh's heart is so hard, again, just like sin, that he refuses to grant the Hebrews freedom. In one final judgment on the Egyptian gods and on Pharaoh, God decrees in Exodus 12 that he will take the life of every firstborn except those who demonstrate obedience and belief in him by painting the horizontal lintel and doorposts of the door of their house with the blood of a sacrificed lamb. It escapes most people's attention, but the horizontal lintel and doorpost foreshadows the cross upon which Christ's blood would also be painted. Blood is a mark that the cost of sin has been paid by the sacrifice of a spotless and unblemished lamb to atone for sin. It marked and set apart those who believed and obeyed God's instructions and would live from those who did not trust God and would die. Celebrating the Lord's Supper is one of only two sacraments in the Reformed church. Why? Because that's the only two that scripture specifies. The sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper are signs of leaving one life and entering another and very different life through regeneration by the Holy Spirit. It is in this manner that sacraments are, as John Calvin defined it, earthly signs and seals which outwardly make visible a promise of God to his covenant people in order to encourage, reassure, and strengthen them. The Westminster Confession of Faith defines them as signs and seals of the covenant of grace. The Westminster Larger Catechism question 162, and I'm sure you know it, explains that a sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ and his church to signify, seal, and exhibit unto those that are within the covenant of grace the benefits of his mediation, to strengthen and increase their faith and all other graces, to oblige them to obedience, to testify and cherish their love and communion one with another, and to distinguish them from those that are without. That is on the outside. In preparation for this sermon, I used a variety of research resources, but want to particularly acknowledge one by John Sitzma entitled, Meeting Jesus at the Feast, Israel's Feasts and Gospel. Remember, as he points out, and we all know, that Jesus took common understandings and the cultural norms of his time and the knowledge of the Old Testament that the Jews had and wove together new understandings that pointed to him as the anointed Messiah, sent by God as the incarnation of his promise. In this manner, Jesus took the meaning and substance of the well-known Passover feast, remember, they had been celebrating it since the Exodus, and reappropriated, or better, extended it as a symbol of his sacrifice of love, of atonement, and of redemption of us. The Jewish Seder meal, or Passover meal, was instituted as a commemorative feast celebrating and remembering the exodus from Egyptian slavery. It was a heavily symbolic drama of grace and redemption by God toward his people. Passover you see meant life or death. If Israel genuinely trusted God, they would have to learn to live by the word of God and by the sacrificed blood of the, who knows, hundreds of thousands, millions of lambs sacrificed. If they failed to mark their doors with the blood of the sacrificed lamb, their firstborn died. If they were protected by the blood covering their doors, they lived. The actual Passover meal provided rich symbols, remembrances of what God wanted all of Israel throughout all history to remember. The bitter herbs recalled the bitter oppression of 430 years of Egyptian slavery The unleavened bread recalls a new beginning and a food staple without which they could not live. But the central focus of the feast was the lamb, a male lamb without blemish that would be sacrificed and its blood splashed on the altar, symbolically covering over or washing away the people's sin. The Hebrew word for Passover is Pesha, from an Egyptian word Pesh, a word that means a god who spreads his wings over his people to protect and save them. This same word and meaning is used in Isaiah 31, verse 5, like birds hovering overhead The Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem. He will shield and deliver it. He will pass over it and will rescue it. To start the feast, male lambs, carefully inspected by the priests and declared blemish-free, were lined up at the temple. And at a precise time, the throats of the lambs were slit. and the blood caught in basins to be poured at the base of the altar, while the great halal, Hebrew for praise prayer, which was all of Psalms 113 through 118, were sung, followed by the people chanting in response, hallelujah, meaning praise the Lord. These lambs, after passing inspection by the priests, were put on public display for the public to see several days before their sacrifice. And at 9 a.m., the lamb was led to the altar and, the word used in Hebrew, staked out to await its slaughter. Around 3 p.m., the lamb was slain. Remember those times. In addition to specific food items, the seder, or order of service, involved four cups of wine. The first one, the opening blessing, or kedush, involved the cup of blessing. I will take you out of Egypt. The second cup of wine was the cup of wrath. I will save you from. The third cup, taken after the meal, was the cup of redemption or blessing. I will redeem you, drunk while singing the halal psalms, the psalms of praise and gratitude for redemption. And finally, the fourth cup, the cup of the kingdom, I will take you as a nation. Ray Vanderlaan has pointed out the richness of how God used these symbols. As one example, in Jesus's time, the negotiation of a marriage was sealed by a cup of wine. The prospective groom's father would negotiate a bride price with the father's bride. I'm still paying it. When an agreement was reached, the groom's father would pour a cup of wine and he would hand it to his son. And the son would take the cup and hand it to his prospective bride and say, I offer you this cup, my life for you. Will you accept my life? The wine represented his blood, his life. Do you see the parallels? Jesus comes to earth as the groom, seeking his bride, the church. He offers the third cup of wine, representing his blood, the cup of redemption and of blessing to us, his bride, and says, I offer my very life to you. Will you spiritually marry me? What you may have never considered is this. When you take the cup offered in the Lord's Supper, something we will do together in a moment, you are accepting his offer of marriage. You're saying, in effect, I realize your great sacrifice and what you did for me, and I accept your proposal. I give my life to you in return. Jesus reenacts this and literally becomes the Passover feast in the New Testament. The Apostle John in chapter one in verse 29 foreshadowed all of this in a way nobody understood at the time with the words, behold, the Lamb of God, who did what? Takes away the sin of the world. Remember that the Passover lamb had to be inspected and declared without blemish. In like fashion, Jesus was examined and questioned by the Jewish and Roman authorities. The final Pharisee verdict was recorded in Matthew chapter 22 and verses 34 through 46. They found no fault in him. No one could say a word in reply. And from that day on, no one dared ask him any more questions. The final Roman verdict was recorded in John 18. Pilate pronounces him innocent, saying, there is no basis for a charge against this man. The final God verdict occurred immediately after Christ's death. The temple curtain was torn from top to bottom. An earthquake occurred and the dead rose from the graves, Matthew records. As the Roman centurion exclaimed as all this was happening, surely he was the son of God. These parallels and symbolism between the Passover and the Lord's Supper become deeper and richer. Jesus was nailed on the cross at 9 a.m. just as the sacrificial lambs were being staked out for slaughter to atone for the sins of the people. He died at about 3 p.m. at the same time as the sacrificial lambs were being slaughtered as the priest offered the standard liturgical proclamation. Are you ready for this? What the priest said as they slit the throat. It is finished. just as Christ would proclaim, it is finished as he died on the cross. Go back to that Passover meal that night in the upper room. The third cup, the cup of redemption or blessing, becomes the central focus of the meal. The normal practice during the Passover meal was to pass the cup for all to drink. But suddenly, and completely out of the norm, Jesus abruptly changes the liturgy. He takes the unleavened bread, dipping it into the cup and said, take, this is my body. Moments later, he passed the cup and said, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. This is so momentous that Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record this in their gospels. The apostles immediately understood an important undertone of what was happening, for they knew, they knew their Hebrew Bible. Jesus was saying, my shed blood initiates the new covenant you have heard about, that Jeremiah prophesied about in chapter 31. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them. I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother saying, know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more. But what about the meaning of the elements, the bread and the wine? All Reformed theologians reject the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, the idea that the bread and the wine literally become Christ's body and blood. Scripture doesn't say that. And the idea that the supper is a sacrifice. They also reject the Lutheran doctrine of consubstantiation, the sacramental union in which Christ is said to be in, with, and under the elements. In Reformed theology, we believe what Scripture says. that Christ is spiritually present in his divine nature. We do not believe that the bread is the actual body of the Lord. We do not believe that the cup is the actual blood. Rather, they are symbols, just as Jesus used them, of his spiritual body and blood present with us. Christ taught his disciples that he was the Passover lamb who would be sacrificed to save his people from their sins and death. He taught that his broken body and his spilled blood were the atoning sacrifice once for all, not over and over sacrificed as in a mass. Christ also made clear that the Passover was now replaced, or maybe a better way to say it was, is enlarged to become the Lord's Supper. We celebrate this sacrament. We celebrate this sacrament in order to, number one, remember Christ's sacrifice that delivered us from sin and death. Number two, to be a sign and a seal of what Christ did for us in our place. Thirdly, to remember that Christ has done for us what we could not do ourselves, that we are completely and totally dependent upon God to save us from sin. Fourthly, we remember that we received new life from him. And lastly, through this sacrament, we seal our hearts and our minds to union with Jesus. And since he now lives in us, we have been crucified in the world, to the world, to sin, and we inherit eternal life with Christ. So the Lord's Supper is a powerful way to make visible to us the truth of God's word and the reality of the gospel and all its promises. So what were the lessons that God was teaching his people? And here you can fill in your bulletins. What was he teaching through the Passover as pointers to the coming redemption and atonement that his son would bring? Well, the first is grace. It was by God's grace that the firstborns of obedient Israelites could be saved from death. It illustrated that redemption from sin is not and cannot be based on the efforts of those who are in bondage to sin, us, but only by the substitutionary price paid by another. The second lesson is atonement. Atonement means literally a covering with blood. God provided a spotless lamb, his very own son, whose blood would be spilled to cover our sins. You can probably guess the third one. It's justification. Passover was, in fact, the very enactment of the truth of justification by faith. Justification means we are declared not guilty of our sins when covered by the blood of the Lamb. And the last lesson, praise God, is adoption. In the New Testament, the Apostle John says, to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. Paul's in agreement in Romans 8. He says, you received the Spirit of Sonship. The Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs, joint heirs of God and with Christ. So I want to summarize the Lord's Supper this way. I want no one to misunderstand the significance of what we are about to do. The Lord's Supperment is a sacrament of the Church. Jesus Christ is truly, though spiritually, present and received. We celebrate the Lord's Supper because it is spiritual nourishment and because it conveys the benefits of the death and resurrection of Christ to believers who approach this table by faith. So this is a meal for believers only. The Apostle Paul makes clear in 1 Corinthians 11, 27 to 31, a portion of which we read, that we should come prepared for this sacrament. Proper preparation involves this. That's why you all know, that's why this church does exactly what we should do. You have advanced notice of the Lord's Supper. You know that it will occur the first Sunday of every month until the Lord returns. Till the end of time as we understand it, it will be happening. What are we to do? Examine our lives and ask forgiveness for any unconfessed sin in our lives before we partake of the elements. Examine ourselves to see that we have understood the unselfish and atoning nature of Christ's death for us. Thirdly, given the above, we imitate Christ in putting to death our sinful, selfish selves in order to serve others. So to summarize what we've learned, every time we take the Lord's Supper, we celebrate that we too have been delivered, not from Egyptian slavery. That one would be easy. but from the much worse slavery and bondage of sin. Jesus died for us that our sins would be forgiven, our lives transformed so that we would live as children of God. These elements of bread and wine are symbolic of the elements of life, of food and drink. Unless you eat and drink, you will die. and you take food and drink into yourself and into your inmost being. Receiving the communion elements is taking the symbolic representation of the broken body and shed blood of Jesus into our inmost being, receiving Jesus who died for our forgiveness and transformation. We depend upon these elements for our very life. We depend, that is to say, upon Jesus for our very life. So understanding what Christ has done, I ask you the question of how you will respond. You have been given, you and I have been given new life, freed from slavery and redeemed from your crimes. You have been declared not guilty of treason and rebellion against the God who created you. How now shall you live your life? May God grant us a deeper and deeper understanding of this mystery and sacrament to the sanctification of our souls. Lord, what more can we say but thank you and to turn our lives over to your spiritual guidance and direction. Thank you for forgiveness, Lord. Thank you for redemption. Lord, we accept your marriage proposal. For it is in the atoning work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, that we live and breathe and have our very being. Amen. Patience is a virtue, and one I'm still learning, obviously. You have heard the Lord's Supper called the communion or Eucharist, which is simply Greek for thanksgiving. An apt name for our response to what Christ did for us. It is a covenantal meal, signifying God's initiative as a sign or covenant of his grace. What we are about to share is blood and juice that serve as symbolic signs of Christ's body and blood. But at the same time, visible signs that Christ is spiritually present here with us. This meal is in the Greek a koinonia, a fellowship or communion. It is a meal for all that are in the body of Christ. Consider, who are we that like Noah and his family, we find ourselves on an arc of salvation, escaping the judgment of God? Who are we that like Israel of old, the angel of death should pass over us? And who are we that Jesus, the Creator and Sustainer of this world, should take on human flesh and suffer and die for you and me? Almighty God, as we now prepare to celebrate this meal that you have prepared for us, this bread and this cup are tangible and visible signs and reminders of the supreme sacrifice of your son for our sin, his body broken and his blood shed for us and our salvation. Lord, you call all to account. With shame, Lord, we now confess the sins we have committed against you in word, thought, and deed. We rightly deserve your condemnation. We turn from our sins and are truly sorry for them. They are a burden we cannot bear. Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father, for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ. So Lord, as we meditate on the realities of our sin and our salvation in the quiet for a few moments, we ask for your help in fully confessing our sins as we prepare to solemnly partake of the bread and the blood of your Son. Lord, forgive us all that is past. Enable us to serve you in newness of life, to your honor and glory, and fill us afresh with your Holy Spirit. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. This sacred time at the Lord's table is meant only for those who have been born again. That is, those who have placed all their hope on the death and resurrection of Christ and who are walking faithfully with the Lord. This is a serious matter. The Apostle Paul warns us in 1 Corinthians 11, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lamb. Now what not one of us is spotless. but we have confessed our sin, and we covenant to turn in a different direction, Holy Spirit helping us. This table is not for those who are free from sin, but for those who are humble of heart and contrite in spirit, God invites to this supper all sinners who confess utter dependence upon him for pardon and cleansing based solely on the sacrifice of Christ and who seek by the power of the Spirit to crucify their old natures and to continue to follow Christ. Examine your heart and mind to determine whether or not you should partake of this meal. If you are not yet a committed believer, please refrain from partaking until you come to faith in Christ and then, at the appropriate time, joyfully partake along with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Lord, the bread that we are about to eat is symbolic of the human flesh you took on and dwelt, sinless among us. And when you were sacrificed, crucified, you bore our sins in your body on the cross that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. And by your wounds, we are healed. You took our place and paid a price we could never pay. Seal this promise to our hearts as we eat the bread representative of your body broken for us. The Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed instituted the sacrament of his body and blood called the Lord's Supper to be observed in his church up to the end of the world, again, for the purpose of the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of himself in death, the sealing of his benefits to believers, for spiritual nourishment and growth in him, for further commitment in and to all duties to which we owe God and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him and with each other as members of his mystical body. So if the elders would come forward. And so the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Please take the bread and hold it until all are served, and we will partake together as a fellowship. you You. Let us eat together. And as we have heard so wonderfully proclaimed, this salvation that we now commemorate is indeed by grace through the atonement of our Lord Jesus so that we are declared righteous on the basis of our faith in him alone and therefore justified and adopted into his forever family. And so I remind you that the cup is a symbol of the new covenant in the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which has been shed for us And so that as we partake of it by faith, we are reminded that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. But oh, Christian, there is forgiveness, because blood has been shed. Bless his name. the the so so so in remembrance of him. And let's pray. Most gracious father and our God, we thank you. Oh, Lord, as we have celebrated this supper, remembering all that Christ has done and yet in anticipation of what we shall yet get to do, we thank you and give you praise through Christ our Lord. And let's stand together and sing as the disciples did on that evening when they sang a hymn before they went to the Mount of Olives. Come, thou long-expected Jesus. Come, thou long-expected Jesus, good to set thy people free. ♪ Of our fears and sins release us ♪ ♪ Let us find our rest in Thee ♪ ♪ Israel, strength and consolation ♪ ♪ Hope of all, the earth of God ♪ ♪ Dear desire of all ♪ ♪ Born by people to deliver ♪ ♪ Born a child and yet a king ♪ ♪ Born to reign in us forever ♪ ♪ Now thy gracious kingdom bring ♪ ♪ By thine own eternal Spirit ♪ ♪ Full in all the lives of the world ♪ By thy laws, the fish and parrot, praise us to thy glory. Before Pastor Greg pronounces the benediction, I just want to remind you, if you have anything you would like to pray about this morning, if I could ask Rachel and some of our elders and others, perhaps, to be available here at the front or at our doorways, and you can share that prayer request, and we'll pray for you today. May God bless you. In a moment, I will pronounce the benediction. But before I do, I remind us all that when we leave this place, we go out into our mission field marked, covered over by the blood of Christ, redeemed by his sacrifice, and commanded to point others to the way of salvation. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it. And all of God's people together said, amen. Yeah.