The Spirit Empowered Table | Pastor Jeremy Saylor | Sunday Service

Put your hands together for that.

We love Kelly and her entire family and what they're doing in Costa Rica and around the world.

Good morning, church.

You look good today, you sound good today.

It's good to be in the house of the Lord.

I have great expectation this morning.

Really anticipation.

My prayer for you all week has been that Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, would become more real to you than he's ever been before in your life.

That who he is and what he's done for you would grip your life in a measure that you've never experienced before.

It's my belief, and I believe many of you hold this same belief.

If you get a revelation of who Jesus is and what he's done for you, it changes everything else in your life.

And this morning we're gonna we're gonna look at that together through the book of Acts.

And so if you have your Bible, turn there with me this morning.

Your Bible, your iPad, your iPhone, whatever it may be, and turn with me to Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Before we go there, though, I uh I've had a lot of comments from many of you that we've had many, many weeks without a dad joke.

And um some of you are thankful, others of you have told me I need a dad joke, Pastor Jeremy.

Like I need one.

Yeah, so I say you hear it right there.

So uh here here's here's a couple dad jokes to kiss off this morning.

How how how do you carve wood?

How do you carve wood?

Well, it's well you carve it whittle by whittle.

That's pretty good.

It's pretty good.

Okay.

Here's the second one.

Why was six afraid of seven?

Because seven eight nine.

That's right.

That's right.

Because seven eight nine.

And last but not least, how do you weigh a millennial?

How do you weigh a millennial?

Well, you weigh them in Instagrams.

It's pretty good, isn't it?

You're welcome.

I'll be here all day.

Thank you very much.

Stand with me where you are as we honor the reading of God's word together today.

Acts chapter 2, verse 42.

Acts 2:42

The Bible says they devoted themselves.

Everybody say devoted.

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship and to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

This is Luke's description of the early church on the backside of the day of Pentecost, and he's giving us a window into the spirit-filled church and their devotion.

And he says they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to breaking of bread, and to prayer.

Verse 43 everyone was filled with the Holy Spirit.

They were filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.

All the believers were together and had everything in common.

They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.

And every day, every day, every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.

They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.

And the Lord added to their number daily.

Added to their number daily.

Some of y'all think I don't know if I want to be a part of that.

Listen, I want to be a part of a church where God's doing such wonders that people are getting saved daily.

The Bible says that we can be a part of that kind of church where people are being saved daily.

Church, this is God's word, and the title of my message this morning is this The Spirit Empowered Table.

The Spirit Empowered Table.

Say that after me this morning.

The Spirit Empowered Table.

Turn to your neighbor and say the Spirit Empowered Table.

Turn your other neighbor and say the Spirit Empowered Table.

Turn around the person behind you and say the Spirit Empowered Table.

Father, we thank you for your word this morning.

Your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light into our path.

It shows us the way to go and how to arrive there safely.

And I pray this morning, Lord, that we would not just be hearers of your word, but Lord, that we would be doers of it.

In Jesus' mighty name.

And everybody said, Amen.

You may be seated.

Thank you, Caleb.

I want us to imagine just for a moment what it must have been like to be there at Pentecost.

The Bible tells us that Jesus, for 40 days after the resurrection, appeared to the disciples, teaching them about the kingdom of God and preparing them for his departure.

And about the 40th day, the Bible says he ascended to the heavens and he told the disciples, go to Jerusalem, wait for the gift that the Father has promised, that you're going to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

So the early apostles, the early church, they went and they gathered there.

And the Bible tells us, about 10 days later, on the day of Pentecost, 50 days, Penta means 50, 50 days after Passover, they're gathered in prayer.

And suddenly there's the sound of a mighty rushing wind, and it and it fills the house where they are praying, and tongues of fire separate and descend upon every one of them.

And they're filled with the Holy Spirit, that God does something so miraculously on the inside of them that it begins to flow out of them.

Everyone who is gathered in Jerusalem begins to hear them declaring the praises of God in their own language.

This arrival of the Holy Spirit is so dramatic.

Those that are witnessing what is happening around them are a little confused.

They think they're drunk with wine.

And then Peter, in that environment, in that moment, under the unction of the Holy Spirit, stands up and says, We are not drunk as you suppose.

No, this is what has been promised from long ago.

That God would pour out his spirit upon all flesh.

The Bible says, as Peter preaches, the hearts of many are rent wide open.

They're torn wide.

And they said, What must we do?

And Peter begins to tell them about Jesus.

And he says, Repent and be baptized.

And then in verse 41, the verse just before our text this morning says that 3,000 of them in that moment bowed the knee to Jesus and gave their life to him.

Acts chapter 2 would be amazing if Luke stopped with verse 41.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

It would be absolutely unparalleled if Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, would have just stopped with verse 41 and the 3,000 people that had committed their life to Jesus in that moment, we would celebrate it.

We would revere it.

Yet the Spirit saw fit to continue the conversation with the text that we read this morning.

Starting in verse 42 through 47, Luke pulls back the veil of the early church, and he gives us a window into what a spirit-filled church looks like.

He gives us a picture of what a spirit-filled people devote themselves to.

And when they devote themselves to these things, he says, This is what happens.

That God adds to their number daily those who are being saved.

So much so that those that have been blessed by the Lord give generously to anyone that has need, so much so that there's no needy, no needy among them.

That through the apostles, God does signs and wonders that confirm the testimony of Jesus.

What were these things that they devoted themselves to?

The Bible says they devoted themselves to four things.

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, which is representative of the word of God.

They devoted themselves to fellowship, which is representative of the community of faith, that in Jesus we are a family, church.

That we are brothers and sisters in Christ through the blood of our Savior.

They devoted themselves to prayer.

And we we typically highlight those three things in our Pentecostal tradition.

But there is actually a fourth thing the Bible says they devoted themselves to that was central to them being a spirit-filled church.

They devoted themselves to the breaking of bread, which is representative of communion.

This morning, I want to spend a few minutes leaning in to this aspect of a spirit-filled church.

Because I believe that it's something in our our our Pentecostal tradition that we recognize, but don't give the full weight of scripture to.

These elements, church, that we're going to partake of at the conclusion of our service today aren't just symbols, but through the power of the Holy Spirit, they make the life of Christ alive to us in unique and wonderful ways.

There's a quote that I that I found this week from one of our early church fathers by the name of Ignatius.

Ignatius in 110 A.D.

is on his way to becoming a martyr.

And this is what he says of communion.

He says the Eucharist, the communion, is the medicine of immortality.

Can I just let that sit for a moment?

That these elements aren't just symbols representative of, but they are the medicine of immortality.

The antidote that we should not die but live forever in Jesus Christ.

Not because the bread is magical, not because it's magical, but because Christ himself meets us there as our healer and our life.

It's food for the journey, strengthening us to share in his resurrection life.

Church, that'll preach.

It is medicine for immortality that allows us to participate in the life of Christ, that that his sacrifice becomes more real to us than we've ever known.

That as the bread is broken, it we experience the breaking of Jesus' body and his impartation of life to us.

We receive his resurrection life and the mission that he has called us to join him in.

As the Father sent Jesus, Jesus looked at his disciples on the night that they participated in the Lord's Supper.

He says, I am sending you.

So this morning we're going to look at the table of the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to make Jesus more real to us than ever before.

And we're going to look at the Lord's table by looking at Paul's description of it in 1 Corinthians chapter 11.

1 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

In verse 23, Paul's giving instruction that he received from the Lord to the church in Corinth.

And he said, For I received from the Lord what I passed on to you.

The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, he took the bread.

And when he had given thanks, he broke it.

And said, This is my body which is broken for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

And in the same way, after the supper, he took the cup, saying, This is the cup of the new covenant.

It is my blood.

Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me.

For whenever you eat this bread and you drink this cup, you're proclaiming the Lord's death, the Lord's death, until He returns, until He comes.

Paul tells us that communion here is a threefold participation in the life of Christ.

That when we partake of the Lord's table, the bread and the cup, we experience an identification with and an I and a participation in three things: the sacrifice of our Savior, the resurrection of our Savior, and the mission of our Savior.

See, when we come to the table of the Lord, the Holy Spirit descends upon us in a unique way.

Because our call, although we are spirit-filled, we're spirit-filled to proclaim the testimony of Jesus.

That we have been anointed, that we have been filled with the very life of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we can identify with and participate in his sacrifice, that his sacrifice would be more real to us than we've ever known before.

And that number two, that we would experience his resurrection power.

I thank God today that Jesus may have died, but he's not dead.

So when we come to the table, we're not just celebrating his death, we're celebrating that he's alive forevermore.

And then thirdly, when we come to the table, we are participating in the mission of our Savior.

Jesus said, It is for this reason that I have come to seek and to save the lost.

Is my mission.

Let's talk about these three things for just a moment.

Verse number one, communion is a participation in the sacrifice of Jesus.

When Jesus met with his disciples at the Last Supper, gathered them around himself.

He takes the bread and he takes the juice.

And the Bible says that the first thing that he does is that he breaks the bread.

He breaks it over and over and over again.

Representative of his life that is broken for us.

He was broken for our iniquities.

The chastisement, the brokenness that was placed upon him has become our peace.

See, when we come to the table of the Lord and recognize that the Lord was broken, that he was bruised, that he was battered, and that ultimately he shed his blood for us that we might receive the forgiveness of our sins.

When you come to this table, do you know what you recognize first and foremost?

You can't earn it.

You can't deserve it, you can't work for it.

Your goodness, your perfection is never perfect enough that we in our sin, in our fallness, in our failures, can never earn our way back to God.

But God, who is rich in mercy, made a way for us to come to him.

Actually, church, let me clarify that.

When you come to the table, you don't come with anything you have to offer.

There's not a sacrifice that you can offer that will earn the right to fellowship with God, and God, who is rich in mercy, therefore says, I will offer my life broken for you, that we can have fellowship together.

See, it's at this table that we receive mercy.

We receive grace.

You know what happens when you come to this table is that you can never doubt the reality of your salvation.

I think far too many people in our world today, especially in the West, wrestle with the reality of their salvation because they really haven't come to the brokenness of the table.

To realize that Jesus has paid it all, that he did it all so that we could be forgiven, so that we could be cleansed, that we could be restored into relationship with God, not by works so that no man can boast, but by the grace.

Now, when we come to this table, we realize the brokenness of our Savior and what that has done for us.

But church, we're not called to be consumers, we're called to be contributors.

So when I come to this table, it's not just about receiving grace and mercy and righteousness.

It's about becoming a conduit of that to the world around us.

That I receive his brokenness, that I might be broken for the world around me.

This is what it means to identify and participate in the sacrifice of our Savior.

But can I tell you this?

You you can't come to this revelation of his brokenness for you or extend that brokenness to the world around you on your own.

You have to have the power of the Holy Spirit, and this is why this table was always a part of the spirit-filled church because it was the spirit who illuminated the reality of this to us and then empowered us to live this kind of life to the world around us.

See, the world is looking for a people, it's looking for a church that will be as broken for it as its savior is.

But we would be conduits of it to the world around us.

The second thing that we we learn from this table is that communion is a participation in the resurrection of Jesus.

Look at this in verse 26.

Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

I am so thankful that Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, did not stop with the Lord's death, but he added three little words, three powerful little words at the end of this verse, until he comes.

Until we're gonna proclaim his death, until he comes.

Until he comes means he's not dead.

It means he may have died, but he's not dead.

It means that he is coming again, it means that he has resurrection power that is ready to be released in a church to live the life that he's called us to live.

Oh, I this this this table, it represents a death.

But this is no funeral.

This is no funeral because he's not dead, he's alive forevermore, and the promise of scripture is that even now he sits at the right hand of the father, interceding for you and for you, and for you, and for you, that this table might become more real to you than it's ever been, so that a world can come to the saving knowledge of Jesus.

He's interceding at the right hand of the Father, so that resurrection power, that the life, the Bible says, at the moment on the third day, that there was a release of energy, that the earth began to shake, that the heavens began to become illuminated, that the same power, if you study the Hebrew and the Greek, what you understand is the verbiage in that passage when Jesus was rose from the grave, when God raised him from the grave, the same power that was released at that moment was the same power released in Genesis chapter 1 when God said, Let there be light, and light came forth.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

See, there's resurrection power in the name of Jesus.

So, yes, I come to this table and I receive the brokenness of my savior and the mission to participate in that brokenness as a representation to the world of a God who loves you so much.

There's nothing he's willing to withhold from you.

But this is no funeral.

This is a participation in the resurrection power of Jesus, that here at this stable church, we are born again.

That there is new life, that there is new vitality, that there is an infusion of the power of the Spirit of God to enable you to live like a born-again creation.

Paul said it this way in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17: that if any man is in Christ, he is a what kind of creation?

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

New creation.

How does that new creation take hold?

How does it become rooted?

How does it begin to blossom?

How does it begin to bloom?

How does it begin to grow through the power of the Holy Spirit?

We begin to live the Christ life.

Listen, you can't live Jesus' words throughout the gospel, you can't live the Sermon on the Mount in your strength.

I can't live victoriously without him.

I can't live as more than a conqueror without him.

I can't love my enemy without him.

I can't bless those who curse me without him.

I can't give generously without him.

See, at this table, we encounter the risen Savior, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, he imparts part of himself so that we can live the resurrection life, so that we can be what he said in Matthew chapter 5, a city on a hill that cannot be hidden.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

You, he says, are the light of the world.

Let your light shine so that men may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

You don't have a light apart from him.

Here at the table, we receive resurrection.

Life.

Can I just I'm just going to give this to you this morning?

This is in my notes.

I have it as a as something that you need, but this is just really free of charge for you today.

Salvation is not mainly about getting us to heaven someday.

It's about getting heaven into us today.

That's what the resurrection life of Christ is about.

It's about a future reality finding its way back to us through the corridors of time and touching something of eternity in the future, but making it real today.

That through the power of the Holy Spirit, we get to live like we're in heaven today.

That is what this table makes available to us.

And thirdly, communion is a participation in the mission of Jesus.

That every time the early church came to the table, they were acknowledging the sacrifice of our Savior and their call to represent him to the world.

They're recognizing that he is alive forevermore.

And his life, he is imparted to them through the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we could be, they could be his ambassadors to the world.

Verse 26: when you eat this bread and you drink this cup, you proclaim.

You participate in the mission of Jesus.

You proclaim.

When I partake of this bread and I partake of this cup, it means that I have recognized that Jesus is Lord.

I recognize that I can't earn my way back to God.

But God, through His goodness, has come to us.

Not just so we get to heaven.

But so that we can take as many people to heaven with us as we possibly can.

So that I can be a witness of Jesus to my family, to my friends, to my co-workers, person that I work out with in the gym, that I can witness to them that I am participating in the mission of Jesus.

Acts chapter 1, verse 8.

Acts 1:8

This is what Jesus told the disciples right before he was ascended into the heavens.

And you will be my witnesses to the world.

First, here in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

See, when we come to the table, we're remembering his sacrifice, we're tasting his resurrection life, and we're signing up for his mission in the world.

You know what we're really doing?

When we come to the table to participate in the mission of Christ, what we are saying is let your kingdom come here in me, in Birmingham, and may it be known through me to Birmingham.

That's what we're saying.

And this is what that really means.

It means that Jesus doesn't just save us from something.

Jesus didn't go through what he went through.

He wasn't broken, he wasn't bruised, he wasn't battered, he didn't shed his blood just to save us from something.

He did it to save us for something.

For our neighbor, for our friend, for our coworker, for our family, for the person that we come in contact with.

Church, we've been saved for a world that needs Jesus.

And at Pentecost, Spirit breathes upon this table, enables us to participate in the sacrifice, the resurrection, and the mission of Jesus to our world.

You stand with me where you are this morning.

You came in today, you should have received some communion elements.

And if you would, please grab those.

If you do not have any communion elements, will you please raise your hand so that one of our ushers can make sure you get some communion elements this morning?

We're going to partake of communion together this morning.

The Bible tells us that as we prepare ourselves to partake of these elements, that we are to evaluate our hearts, that we are to examine our spirit, and we're to allow the Holy Spirit to put his finger on any area in our life that isn't right.

We don't come haphazardly to this table.

We don't come casually to this table.

It was at this table that the Lord was broken, and so I want to come to this table with reverence.

I want to come to this table with honor.

I want to revere this table because this table is my life.

So I want you to bow your heads and close your eyes for just a moment.

And I want you to ask the Holy Spirit to show you any area in your life where you may have wandered.

Any area in your life where you may have drifted from Him.

Any area of your life where you may have compromised with the world.

Any area in your life where you need comfort and strength today.

Any area in your life where you need to repent.

And as the Holy Spirit illuminates those areas to you, I just there to yourself, maybe just under your breath.

Ask the Lord to forgive you.

Forgive, Lord Jesus, forgive us for the areas that we've wandered.

We repent of that.

We repent of that.

Lord, we don't just ask you to forgive us for the areas that we've wandered.

We come to the table today because we need your strength.

And I pray, Lord, today, that you would strengthen us to live your life to our world.

We thank you today that there is forgiveness.

We thank you that there is grace.

We thank you for your mercy.

God, we thank you that we can't earn it or deserve it, but you give it freely.

So we receive it today gratefully.

Goodness.

As we prepare to partake of this table this morning, we remember your son's body that was broken for us.

Your word says, by your stripes we are healed.

And so this morning, I pray, God, as we partake of the bread in just a moment, that as we do, if there's any area in our life that is broken, that is diseased, that is unwell, I speak healing in Jesus' name.

Lord, as we partake of the cup in just a moment, any area that we need forgiveness, I declare there is forgiveness today.

In Jesus' mighty name.

With the bread and the cup in hand, and I'm going to grab it for myself this morning.

The bread that we break.

The cup that we bless.

We who are many are one body.

Holy Spirit, form us into the kind of church.

You may take the bread this morning.

Lord, we thank you today for your body that was broken for us.

We receive your healing.

Now you may partake of the cup.

Jesus, we receive today the blood of the new covenant.

Holy Spirit, my prayer over your church this morning is that you would make the sacrifice of our Savior, the resurrection of our Savior, and the mission of our Savior more real to us than it's ever been before.

In Jesus' name.

And everybody said, Amen.

The end of the right side of the rows are buckets.

You may pass them down and put your communion elements in them.

I don't know that we have one for every row, but if you'll just share it, we'll pass it down for every person to put their elements there.

Now, before we go this morning, we're going to spend a moment in worship, in the praise and exaltation of our Savior who has given us everything.

And I'm asking that the Holy Spirit meets you in a new, wonderful way.

I'm going to ask my prayer team to join me to my right and to my left this morning.

If you're here this morning and you're struggling with dying to yourself in a particular area, we would love to pray with you this morning.

We would love to declare that the Holy Spirit would help you live that sacrificial life of Christ.

If you're here this morning and you need resurrection life, you need a fresh touch of the Holy Spirit to revive you.

Don't stay in your seat, but get out of it and come and receive what God would have for you.

If there's a mission that you know that God is calling you to, and you need somebody to pray with you this morning, I'm going to invite you to get out of your seat and come and pray with one of our prayer team members.

Finally, maybe this morning, you don't need anybody to pray with you, but you want to come and kneel at the front of this altar and turn it into your personal altar to meet with the Lord.

I'm going to invite you to do that as the worship team leaves us in the conclusion of our service this morning.

Let's invite the Holy Spirit.