The Lord's Supper as Thanksgiving and Communion

The Lord’s Supper
Sermon #2 Looking Around:
The Lord’s Supper as Thanksgiving and Communion
Westney Heights Baptist Church, Dr. Craig Carter
Sunday, August 12, 2012
The Lord’s Supper: A Five-Part Sermon Series
1. Looking Back: The Lord’s Supper as Remembrance and Covenant (Lk. 22:7-20)
2. Looking Around: The Lord’s Supper as Thanksgiving and Communion (Mk. 14:12-26)
3. Looking Forward: The Lord’s Supper & the Second Coming and Kingdom of God (Mt. 26:17-30)
4. The Flesh of Christ as our Spiritual Food (Jn. 6:25-59, Ex. 16:1-38)
5. How to Approach the Lord’s Supper (I Cor. 11:17-34)
Review:
Last time we saw that in the Lord’s Supper, we look back: (Luke 22:7-20)
1) We look back and remember the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross for us
2) We look back to the Old Covenant & gladly celebrate our membership in the New Covenant
Question: Does the celebration of the Lord’s Supper move you?
This week, we will meditate on the fact that, In the Lord’s Supper, we look around:
1) we are engaged in an act of thanksgiving as we recall the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross for us
• Gr. word eucharisto – “to give thanks” (Eucharist)
2) we are engaged in an act of fellowship with our brothers & sisters in Christ (horizontal)
• Gr. word koinonia – “communion or fellowship”
Question: Is worship your highest priority in life?
I. The Lord’s Supper as Thanksgiving “and when he had given thanks” (Mk. 14:22)
• A. Giving thanks is the essence of worship
• The giving of thanks for the bread & the cup is the central act of Christian worship
• Everything in the service leads up to this climax
• The LS should be frequent because it is the climax of Christian worship
• Should it be weekly?
Weekly Communion: History
• From the Book of Acts to the Reformation (1500’s) – weekly
• RC Church since Reformation – weekly
• Protestantism is split on this issue
- Lutherans, Anglicans, Brethren – weekly
- Reformed (incl. Presbyterians, Baptists) – quarterly or monthly
- Most Evangelicals (incl. Pentecostals) – monthly
Weekly Communion: Issues
• Why not weekly? – the main concern is: “mindless ritualism”
• This is one way the Reformed tradition has used to differentiate itself from the RC Church
• But the danger of ‘going through the motions’ is a real danger no matter what kind of worship we have
• All denominations have some sort of ritual or liturgy
• 1) High Ch Liturgical, 2) Traditional hymns & order of service, 3) Pentecostal, 4) Praise/Worship Band
• No approach is perfect but people worship sincerely in all of them & mindless ritualism is a danger in all
• We should focus on the theology of worship, rather than the dangers of abuse of a certain style of
worship

Biblical Principles of Worship
1) True worship is be God-centered rather than human-centered
2) Worship should be Gospel-centered & use the words & narrative of Scripture as much as possible
3) Thanksgiving is the heart of worship
4) The goal of worship is union with Christ & thanksgiving takes us into God
B. Worship is the center of the Christian life
• A life centered on thankfulness
• A life centered on Christ & what he has done
• A life centered on worship
II. The Lord’s Supper as Communion “we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”
(I Cor. 10:17b)
• A. Communion with God through union with Christ
• Eating the bread means taking Christ into us
• This is not just a metaphor; there is a real union
• B. Communion with each other through union with Christ
• Our communion with each other is dependent on our communion with Christ
• Our communion with each other reflects the degree of communion we have with Christ
“The cup of 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.” (I Cor. 10:16-17)
• Note the word “participation”
• We do not often think of sal. in terms of dying & rising with Christ & becoming one with him
• Too often, we think of it as a judicial decision only
• The “many” become “one’’ through this participation
• The more we are one with Christ, the more we are one with other believers
• This is why worship is communal, not individual
• We can add 2 more principles of Christian worship
Biblical Principles of Worship
1) True worship is be God-centered rather than human-centered
2) Worship should be Gospel-centered & use the words & narrative of Scripture as much as possible
3) Thanksgiving is the heart of worship
4) The goal of worship is union with Christ & thanksgiving takes us into God
5) Our unity with Christ causes unity with other believers, so worship must be communal
6) Worship shapes our lives so it must be accompanied by a lifestyle of love
Today’s Worship Crisis
• Many people attend church sporadically today . . . Why?
• For many, church is just a matter of what you get out of it spiritually & in other ways
• Many Christians do not understand what worship is
• Yet, worship is the heart of the Christian life
• And Thanksgiving, which leads to communion, is the heart of Christian worship
• Why, then, are so many so lackadaisical about worship attendance?
Call to Worship
• Scripture says: “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love & to good works: Not forsaking
the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: & so much
the more, as you see the day approaching.” (Heb.10:24-25)
• Jesus says: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live
forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." (Jn. 6:51)