You are communicant members of the body of Christ. That means that one of the great privileges of grace you have been given is that of participating, of communing, at this Table. When we discipline someone, as we have done this morning, this is the center of what they are being excluded from. The prefix …
And Me
Recently, one of my grandchildren (she is only one) saw the bread being distributed during this Supper, and began cheerfully saying, “And me. And me.” This is something we all need to learn how to say, because it is right at the heart of biblical faith. This is the child-like approach that Jesus required of …
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No Need to Crawl
God is kind to His people, tender with them. He forgives us, and He provided us with the means of forgiveness when He knew how desperately we needed it. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He did not do this because He saw how good we were being. This means that when …
True Companions
Meals together are to be a time of harmony. We are all of us companions here. The Latin word for companion comes from two words meaning “one who shares bread together with you.” As companions, we should want to be companions on more than just one level. We are growing together, being knit together as …
The Table at the Center of the World
God has fashioned the human race in such a way that sitting down for a meal is the center of all family life. Guests are certainly welcome, but in the day-in and day-out pattern of living, the meal is the center. This is one of the reasons we can tell that the modern family is …
Strength for the Way
When the service culminates here at the Table, as we believe it does, we are not displacing the Word, or the proclamation of it. We still have a very high view of the need for preaching. But we don’t believe that declaring and hearing the Word is to be treated as an end in itself. …
God’s Knitting Needles
You have heard many times that this Table is not the time or place for confession of sin. If you have ignored these exhortations, and have come to the Table with unconfessed sin in your life, then confessing sin here is far better than not confessing sin at all. So take care of whatever it …
And He Will Flee From You
The message today was on the right response when desire, lust, gotta-have-it-now, has you by the throat. The text does not just say, “resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Many Christians have felt ripped off by God because they did resist the devil, and then again some more, and then they resisted …
Direct and Indirect
We have been speaking a great deal about money, wealth, Mammon, gold. But as we come to the Lord’s Table again, we should be mindful of one other thing concerning gold. You can’t eat it. God has given us a covenant we can drink. He has given us a salvation we can eat. And it …
All the Trees are Yours
Our God is a God who says no to that which destroys us, but His character is not fundamentally negative. When He put our first parents in the Garden, He said yes to every tree in the Garden but one. That tree was restricted, and only for a time. It is commonly assumed by Christians …