![]() ![]() And of course there was always the dilemma of chronic sins. I would try to do that, but usually we weren’t given very long. Then we would be admonished to examine our lives for any unconfessed sins, and to confess them so that we would not bring judgment upon ourselves by eating and drinking unworthily. 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. ![]() 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. Usually at some point in the service the pastor or preacher would read very solemnly and rather sternly from I Corinthians 11:27-30 in the King James Version:Ģ7 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. That was because many of the typical Communion service of my youth left me feeling guilty, and even a bit depressed. But I think there was another, more fundamental reason. ![]() One reason, I suppose, was that it usually meant that the church service was going to be longer than usual. I didn’t like Communion services much when I was growing up. I have been present in communion services from my very earliest memory, and I have been a participant in them since I was about 11 years old. So we will be looking at Communion first, and then look at baptism next week. However, today is the first Friday of the month, and, as is our usual practice, we will be observing the Lord’s Supper at the conclusion of our service today. Baptism is an initiation rite, a symbol of entrance into the church and into the new life in Christ, where as the Lord’s Supper is an ongoing participation in the fellowship or “communion” of faith. You may not agree with us in every detail, but at least you will understand our practice and be able to participate meaningfully as God calls you to do so.Īs we approach these two symbolic ceremonies, in a logical and ideal sequence we would look at baptism first and then the Lord’s Supper. But since we do practice both of these ceremonies here at ECC, we feel that it is important from time to time to stop and look at what these mean to us here and why we practice them as we do. Well, we are not going to unravel and unpack almost two millennia of church history and expound on all these differences in these messages. Our vocabulary reflects these differences do we call them “ordinances” or do we call them “sacraments”? Major church battles have been fought over these differences, and major church schisms have occurred because of these differences. When I say that these two ceremonies have divided the Church of Jesus Christ, I am also cognizant of the fact that there is a wide diversity of ways that these two ceremonies have been practiced in different traditions, and an even wider diversity in the meaning and theological interpretation placed on the significance of these two ceremonies. When I say that these two ceremonies have united the Church of Jesus Christ, I am basing this statement on the fact that, with a very few exceptions, every branch of the church, every denomination, every expression of the Christian church around the world and throughout church history has observed these two ceremonies in some form. I am speaking of the ceremonial practices of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, or Communion. In a real sense, the messages from today and next Friday are a continuation of that series on the church.Īs we think of the larger church, church with a capital C, the universal Church of Jesus Christ, there are two ceremonial observances that have both united and divided the Church of Jesus Christ down through church history. Last week we concluded a 2-part series on the church of Jesus Christ, and specifically at our purpose here at ECC. Find out what these two clues are and see if they change the way you participate in the Lord’s Supper. ![]() But as a young pastor he discovered two clues in the passage (1 Corinthians 11:17-34) that changed his perspective and set him free. In this message, Pastor Cam admits that when he was growing up, he did not enjoy these services. Synopsis: Every month, we observe the Lord’s Supper (or Communion) as a church. ![]()
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