Power In The Bood

 There is pow'r, pow'r, wonder-working pow'r

In the blood of the Lamb;

There is pow'r, pow'r, wonder-working pow'r

In the precious blood of the Lamb.

"Where is that blood? Is it just something you have to imagine? Did Jesus find a way to actually give you His blood so that the wonder-working pow'r of the blood can actually come into you physically where you are?

That's the wonderful thing about the Lord's Supper: Christ's body and blood aren't something we have to imagine. How precious it is that Christ comes to us with the very body and blood born of Mary that was shed on the cross, and He gives it to us in a way that doesn't freak us out or gross us out. He gives you His body and blood under the bread and the wine, and with the promise of 'For you, for the forgiveness of your sins.'"

-Pr. Will Weedon

Religion or Relationship?

Part of our post-modern, politically correct world is constantly changing our vocabulary. Certain words become bad, and one of them is religion. The sad thing is the one place where Christians have participated in post-modern political correctness the most enthusiastically is in trashing the word religion. It's a thoroughly biblical word, and what has been put in its place is relationship. We hear it again and again, Christianity is not a religion; it's a relationship. Implying rather strongly that religion is a bad thing and relationship is a good thing. Is that necessarily true or an either-or?

You won't find the word relationship if you read through all of Scripture. What you will find are words like fellowship and communion. What does fellowship mean? What does communion mean? Communion and fellowship are communal things that take place, not individual. So, in this relationship, if you want to say there is individual faith, we are brought into a collective body - the body of Christ, His Church. And within that body is how we communion with Christ and one another.

What's odd about this relationship idea is that Scripture is very clear on how we have that relationship with Jesus; he calls it communion. What is communion? That's the Lord's Supper; that's the fellowship. Jesus is coming to us in His body and blood in the bread and wine to give us His life, salvation, and forgiveness of sins. You can't get any closer to Christ than that. So when we see how the New Testament speaks, it blows this whole idea; "it's not a religion; it's a relationship" out of the water. Even the relationship they think and want to have with Jesus is nothing compared to the communion we individually and collectively have with Christ.

Pr. Richard Futrell

Do This In Remembrance of Me

 Most Protestant churches don't have an altar; they have communion tables. You will almost always see "In remembrance of me on that table." To them, that is the most important thing, thinking back on Jesus' sacrifice for you. If you take that as Jesus meant, how do we know what Jesus meant? Jesus was a Hebrew and spoke in Aramaic, not Greek, even though the New Testament was written in Greek. He spoke Aramaic, and in Aramaic and Hebrew, the word 'remember' means 'continue the action,' bringing the reality of the past into the present and continuing the action.

-Rev. Dr. Charles Spomer

Accommodating Worship

Dr. Joel Elowsky, professor of Historical Theology and Director of the Center for the Study of Early Christian Texts, on the subject of making a church service more accommodating for unbelievers he said: "The early Church would have a real problem with that, and it seems like in the early period of the Church they made it harder to come into the Church, and it was all part of this habitus if you will; nobody could come to Church without a sponsor. They actually had people who watched over the doors, called porters or doorkeepers. The early Church would close the doors when the worship began because they didn't want shall we say, 'cast their pearls before swine... so to be trampled upon.'

When it came time for communion, those who were unbaptized or not catechized were asked to leave the service. So when it came to worship, the early Church didn't let the culture color what they were doing; they saw the church service, i.e., the liturgy, as a way to be refreshed so as to go out into the world the next week to serve the Lord. Still, they didn't see this idea of accommodating their worship for the culture.

-Dr Joel Elowsky

Communion and Fellowship

Part of our post-modern, politically-correct world is the constant changing of our vocabulary. Certain words become bad, and one of them is religion. The sad thing is the one place where Christians have participated in post-modern political correctness the most enthusiastically is in trashing the word religion. It's a thoroughly biblical word, and what has been put in its place is relationship. We hear it again and again, Christianity is not a religion; it's a relationship. Implying rather strongly that religion is a bad thing and relationship is a good thing. Is that necessarily true or an either-or?

You won't find the word relationship if you read through all of Scripture. What you will find are words like fellowship and communion. What does fellowship mean? What does communion mean? Communion and fellowship are communal things that take place, not individual. So this relationship, if you want to say, of course, there is individual faith, but we are brought into a collective body - the body of Christ, His Church. And within that body is how we have communion with Christ and with one another.

What's odd about this relationship idea; Scripture is very clear on how we have that relationship with Jesus; he calls it communion. What is communion? That's the Lord's Supper; that's the fellowship. Jesus is coming to us in His body and blood in the bread and wine to give us His life, salvation, and forgiveness of sins. You can't get any closer to Christ than that. So when we see how the New Testament speaks, it's something beautiful that blows this whole idea; "it's not a religion; it's a relationship" out of the water. Even the relationship they think and want to have with Jesus is nothing in comparison to the communion we individually and collectively have with Christ.

-Pr. Richard Futrell

Exhortation To Communicants

Since from the fall and trespass of our first parents, Adam and Eve, we have all fallen into sin and are guilty of everlasting death – and through such sin, have grown weak and corrupted in both body and soul so that we, of ourselves, can do no good thing, much less keep the commandments and will of God – and since according to the Law we are cursed and ought to be eternally damned, as it is written in the book of the Law, and though neither we ourselves nor any other creature in heaven or on earth could help us out of such sorrow and condemnation, God the Almighty has had mercy upon us.

Out of his inexpressible love, he has sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, into this world to take our nature upon Him, taking flesh and blood from the Virgin Mary. On Him were laid our sins and those of the whole world. He bore them for us as on the gallows of the cross He died, and on the third day, he rose again, having atoned for our sin and that of our parents, again reconciling us to God the Almighty so that we are now justified, made children of God, and will have eternal life and salvation.

That we may be sure of this and never forget His great, inexpressible love and kindness, Jesus Christ, as He was about to begin his sufferings, instituted His Supper, giving to His beloved disciples His own body to eat and His blood to drink, and said to them – and to all Christians – that it is His body given for them and His blood shed for them, for the forgiveness of sins, and that as often as they eat and drink of it, they should do so for His remembrance and, as St. Paul says, to proclaim His death until He comes again on the Last Day as judge of the living and the dead.

Therefore we are to do as he has commanded us, that is, to eat his body and drink his blood, remembering and giving thanks for His great kindness in reconciling us to God the heavenly Father and rescuing us from sin, death, and eternal damnation. We ought also to believe what He has said. Namely, “This is My body, given for you; This is My blood, shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins.” When we do as He bids us and believe, we receive according to His word His true body with the bread and His true blood with the wine, and with them all His merits and righteousness: that is, the forgiveness of sins, deliverance from death, the adoption as children, and eternal salvation.

But let only those who hunger and thirst for righteousness go to this most holy sacrament; that is, those who confess their sins, are sorry for them, and who have the intention to do better, and as far as possible live according to God’s will. Therefore, let a man examine himself, and if he finds such a disposition go to the sacrament boldly, for he receives it worthily. And though he is weak, yet still believing, let him go to the sacrament. God will have patience. “A bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he will not quench.” He is pleased with but the beginning of faith. Yet we should pray as in the Gospel: “Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief.” But whoever is not sorry for his sins and has no intention of bettering himself, but plans to continue in open sin and lust, let him stay away from the sacrament, for he receives it to his judgment, as St. Paul says.

Now then, as we are gathered together to observe the Supper of our Lord and to receive His body and blood, in order that we may do so worthily, that our faith may be strengthened, that we might live more according to God’s will, that we might forgive our enemies and love our neighbors and do good to all, let us call on God our Father through Jesus Christ and pray together the holy Our Father.

-Martin Chemnitz