Do This in Remembrance of Me

Brother Jim: Today's scripture is up there on the board for you.

Brother Jim: We're looking at Luke twenty two fourteen to twenty in first

Brother Jim: Corinthians eleven twenty six.

Brother Jim: Today's message title is do this in remembrance of me.

Brother Jim: Do this in remembrance of me.

Brother Jim: If you have your Bibles, would you please open to Luke twenty

Brother Jim: two fourteen to twenty?

Brother Jim: I have no doubt for you that have been around a while.

Brother Jim: You've heard these verses many, many times.

Brother Jim: But the significance, the important, the importance of

Brother Jim: these words, the love.

Brother Jim: Sacrifice in these words, they never get old.

Brother Jim: When the hour had come, he sat

Brother Jim: down and the twelve apostles

Brother Jim: with him.

Brother Jim: Then he said to them with fervent desire, I have desired

Brother Jim: to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

Brother Jim: For I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is

Brother Jim: fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

Brother Jim: Then he took the cup and gave thanks, and said, take this, and

Brother Jim: divide it among yourselves, for I say to you, I will not drink

Brother Jim: of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.

Brother Jim: And he took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to

Brother Jim: them, saying, this is my body which is given for you.

Brother Jim: Do this in remembrance of me.

Brother Jim: Likewise he also took the cup after supper, saying, this cup

Brother Jim: is the new Covenant in my blood.

Brother Jim: Which is shed for you.

Brother Jim: Shed for you.

Brother Jim: Today I ask each one of you, us as a family, to slow down and

Brother Jim: think about something we do in church that can become so

Brother Jim: familiar that we sometimes just plain out forget how holy and

Brother Jim: how powerful it is.

Brother Jim: Communion.

Brother Jim: We come to the table.

Brother Jim: We take the bread, we receive the cup, and we pray.

Brother Jim: Is it possible we've done this act of communion so many times

Brother Jim: in our lives?

Brother Jim: We can go through the motions without stopping to ask, why do

Brother Jim: I take communion?

Brother Jim: Fair question, I believe.

Brother Jim: Why did Jesus give us this practice?

Brother Jim: Why did Jesus tell his disciples to do this?

Brother Jim: Why does the church continue to come to the table?

Brother Jim: And perhaps most importantly, what is Jesus trying to remind

Brother Jim: us when we come to this table?

Brother Jim: Jesus gives us the answer.

Brother Jim: Luke, as we just read, tells us that Jesus, he took the bread,

Brother Jim: gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples.

Brother Jim: And then he said, this is my body given for you.

Brother Jim: You do this in remembrance of me.

Brother Jim: Then Jesus took the cup and said that it represented.

Brother Jim: And here's where it gets so good.

Brother Jim: The new covenant in his blood.

Brother Jim: A new covenant, my friends, Jesus was not simply giving his

Brother Jim: disciples a simple task to do.

Brother Jim: Jesus was giving his disciples something to remember.

Brother Jim: And that is where you and I begin this morning.

Brother Jim: We take communion to remember Jesus.

Brother Jim: Jesus said, as we've just mentioned, do this in

Brother Jim: remembrance of me.

Brother Jim: Notice Jesus did not say, remember how good you have been.

Brother Jim: Jesus did not say, remember how religious you are.

Brother Jim: Jesus did not say, remember all

Brother Jim: the things that you have

Brother Jim: accomplished throughout your

Brother Jim: life.

Brother Jim: Jesus said, remember me.

Brother Jim: Communion brings our attention back to Jesus.

Brother Jim: And if you're anything like me, you forget.

Brother Jim: You ever forget church happens to me a lot.

Brother Jim: How about you?

Brother Jim: Let's be honest.

Brother Jim: How many can say, yeah, I forget, Brother Jim, I forget.

Brother Jim: I forget what God has done for me.

Brother Jim: I forget his faithfulness.

Brother Jim: I have forgot his mercy.

Brother Jim: I have forgot his forgiveness.

Brother Jim: I forgot his promises.

Brother Jim: And yeah, there's a lot of times

Brother Jim: I forget what he's actually done

Brother Jim: for me.

Brother Jim: And that is why Jesus gave us this table.

Brother Jim: Every time we come to it, we are

Brother Jim: reminded Jesus Christ is the

Brother Jim: center.

Brother Jim: He does not take a back seat.

Brother Jim: And we're good at that sometimes, aren't we?

Brother Jim: Let's be honest, sometimes we forget to even put him in the

Brother Jim: car with us.

Brother Jim: The center.

Brother Jim: The center.

Brother Jim: Not me.

Brother Jim: Not my accomplishments.

Brother Jim: Not my failures and not my circumstances.

Brother Jim: Jesus and Jesus alone.

Brother Jim: And if we're honest today, has the church as well as the body

Brother Jim: of Christ forgotten that Jesus Christ is the center.

Brother Jim: Have you forgotten?

Brother Jim: The bread reminds us of his body.

Brother Jim: The cup reminds us of his blood.

Brother Jim: The table reminds us of his sacrifice.

Brother Jim: The entire entire meal points back to Calvary.

Brother Jim: We take communion to remember the cost of our salvation now.

Brother Jim: It's not our cost, is it?

Brother Jim: It's Jesus Christ who paid the cost.

Brother Jim: And let me remind you, church salvation was not cheap.

Brother Jim: Grace is free to us, but it cost Jesus everything.

Brother Jim: Everything.

Brother Jim: How many times do we say Jesus loves me?

Brother Jim: And praise God he does.

Brother Jim: But you know what?

Brother Jim: Never allow those words to become so familiar that we

Brother Jim: forget what his love looks like.

Brother Jim: His love went to the cross.

Brother Jim: His love endured rejection.

Brother Jim: His love endured.

Brother Jim: Suffering that I can't even really comprehend.

Brother Jim: To be honest with you.

Brother Jim: His love took our sin upon himself.

Brother Jim: Would you be willing to do that?

Brother Jim: Would I know?

Brother Jim: His love willingly gave himself for us.

Brother Jim: The cross reminds you and me just how serious sin is.

Brother Jim: Do you ever think about that church?

Brother Jim: How serious our sin is?

Brother Jim: Or is it like so many other things in life we tend to forget

Brother Jim: or we just stuff it away.

Brother Jim: Maybe we put it in a little closet all tucked away neat.

Brother Jim: Nobody knows about.

Brother Jim: Our sin.

Brother Jim: And I don't care how good you think you are.

Brother Jim: We still sin.

Brother Jim: But the good news though, good news.

Brother Jim: The Christ The cross reminds us that God's grace is greater.

Brother Jim: His grace is greater.

Brother Jim: When we take the bread and the cup, we are remembering.

Brother Jim: I didn't save myself.

Brother Jim: No, no, no, Jesus saved me.

Brother Jim: I could not earn it.

Brother Jim: I could not purchase it.

Brother Jim: I could not work hard enough for it.

Brother Jim: And guess what?

Brother Jim: I cannot become good enough.

Brother Jim: Good enough to earn it.

Brother Jim: Jesus, let us just say this Jesus did for me what I could

Brother Jim: never do for myself.

Brother Jim: That is grace, my friends.

Brother Jim: We take communion to remember

Brother Jim: that Jesus established a new

Brother Jim: covenant.

Brother Jim: Jesus said the cup represents the new covenant in his blood.

Brother Jim: Under the Old covenant, sacrifice was central, but Jesus

Brother Jim: was pointing something to something so greater than that.

Brother Jim: The blood of Christ.

Brother Jim: Jesus is saying, in essence, I am the sacrifice.

Brother Jim: I am the sacrifice because the

Brother Jim: blood of Christ represents the

Brother Jim: new covenant between God and His

Brother Jim: people.

Brother Jim: We do not come to God because we have earned the right.

Brother Jim: We come because Jesus opened the way.

Brother Jim: He opened a whole new door for us.

Brother Jim: We do not stand before God saying, look, Lord, everything

Brother Jim: that I've done.

Brother Jim: We stand before him saying, look

Brother Jim: what Jesus Christ has done for

Brother Jim: me.

Brother Jim: That is the difference, my

Brother Jim: friends, between religion and

Brother Jim: the gospel.

Brother Jim: Religion says, work your way to God.

Brother Jim: The gospel says God has made a way to you through Jesus Christ.

Brother Jim: We take communion to confess our faith.

Brother Jim: How many have faith, my friends?

Brother Jim: Sure, a lot of times we just put it in our vocabulary.

Brother Jim: But do you really have faith?

Brother Jim: Paul says in first Corinthians eleven twenty six, for as often

Brother Jim: as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the

Brother Jim: Lord's death till he comes.

Brother Jim: Did you hear that, my friends?

Brother Jim: When we when you and I take

Brother Jim: communion, we are proclaiming

Brother Jim: something.

Brother Jim: We are saying, Jesus died.

Brother Jim: Jesus rose.

Brother Jim: Jesus is Lord.

Brother Jim: Jesus saves.

Brother Jim: And guess what?

Brother Jim: Jesus is coming back again one day.

Brother Jim: Communion looks back toward the cross.

Brother Jim: But communion also looks forward to the return of Jesus Christ.

Brother Jim: We remember what Jesus has done.

Brother Jim: We celebrate what Jesus is

Brother Jim: doing, and we best be

Brother Jim: anticipating what he is going to

Brother Jim: do.

Brother Jim: Does anybody ever get excited thinking about what Jesus is

Brother Jim: doing right now?

Brother Jim: Does anybody ever get excited thinking about what Jesus is

Brother Jim: going to do in the future here?

Brother Jim: Coming up.

Brother Jim: It's so easy to moan and groan about our world today.

Brother Jim: My goodness.

Brother Jim: What social.

Brother Jim: Social media said.

Brother Jim: But do we ever get excited about thinking one day this is all

Brother Jim: going to end?

Brother Jim: But there's the question where are you going to be?

Brother Jim: Are you going to be with Jesus?

Brother Jim: Are you going to be somewhere else?

Brother Jim: And I pray all of you take it serious enough to think about

Brother Jim: where am I going to be?

Brother Jim: Because he's coming back.

Brother Jim: Again.

Brother Jim: How many people in this time frame will give their lives to

Brother Jim: Christ, and how many will die in this time period not knowing

Brother Jim: Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?

Brother Jim: One day.

Brother Jim: The King is coming again.

Brother Jim: One day faith will become sight.

Brother Jim: One day we will no longer need to remember him through bread

Brother Jim: and cup because we will see him face to face.

Brother Jim: Doesn't that get you excited?

Brother Jim: Are we just completely dead today?

Brother Jim: I mean, think about it.

Brother Jim: You get to see Jesus Christ face to face.

Brother Jim: That should at least put a smile on your face, church.

Brother Jim: Maybe get a little goosebumps going.

Brother Jim: It is going to be a day.

Brother Jim: Oh, baby, it's going to be a day.

Brother Jim: We take communion to examine our hearts.

Brother Jim: Listen up, my brothers and sisters.

Brother Jim: Communion is not simply some ritual we perform.

Brother Jim: Paul tells believers to examine themselves before participating

Brother Jim: in the Lord's Supper.

Brother Jim: Why?

Brother Jim: Because the table should cause us to look inward, to look

Brother Jim: inward, not to worry about what your neighbor's doing.

Brother Jim: To look right here, not to become obsessed with our

Brother Jim: failures, but to honestly ask.

Brother Jim: And here we go.

Brother Jim: Lord, is there anything in my heart that needs to be

Brother Jim: surrendered to you?

Brother Jim: Surrender to you.

Brother Jim: Is there unforgiveness?

Brother Jim: Is there bitterness?

Brother Jim: Is there pride?

Brother Jim: Is there rebellion?

Brother Jim: And is there something God has been asking you to surrender?

Brother Jim: All tucked away again in that little closet that a lot of us

Brother Jim: have right here in the heart, just hidden away that nobody

Brother Jim: else knows about.

Brother Jim: Guess what?

Brother Jim: Today's the day to surrender it.

Brother Jim: To surrender all of it.

Brother Jim: Communion.

Brother Jim: Communion allows you and me to come before God.

Brother Jim: Honestly.

Brother Jim: No pretending, no performing.

Brother Jim: No hiding but saying.

Brother Jim: Lord, search.

Brother Jim: Search my heart.

Brother Jim: And if God reveals something to you, to you, do not run from it.

Brother Jim: Do not run from him.

Brother Jim: Run to him.

Brother Jim: The table is a reminder of grace.

Brother Jim: We take communion because we belong to one body.

Brother Jim: Communion is just not about me.

Brother Jim: It is also about us together.

Brother Jim: Paul teaches in first Corinthians ten that there.

Brother Jim: That because there was one bread, we are also one body.

Brother Jim: Look around this church my friends.

Brother Jim: We are different.

Brother Jim: Different backgrounds, different

Brother Jim: experiences, different

Brother Jim: personalities, different ages,

Brother Jim: different opinions and different

Brother Jim: stories.

Brother Jim: But at the table, you know what?

Brother Jim: That all goes away because we are one one in Christ.

Brother Jim: The ground level at the foot of

Brother Jim: the cross, we are on the ground

Brother Jim: level.

Brother Jim: Nobody comes to the table saying, I'm better than you.

Brother Jim: Nobody comes saying, I. I don't need grace.

Brother Jim: When all come as people who need Jesus.

Brother Jim: Anybody here not need Jesus.

Brother Jim: I'll let you come up here and finish out for me.

Brother Jim: Okay?

Brother Jim: Because let me tell you, I need Jesus.

Brother Jim: I need Jesus a lot.

Brother Jim: The successful person needs Jesus.

Brother Jim: The struggling person needs Jesus.

Brother Jim: The strong person needs Jesus.

Brother Jim: The person who's been in church

Brother Jim: for fifty years still needs

Brother Jim: Jesus.

Brother Jim: The person who is just beginning to seek Jesus.

Brother Jim: They really need him to.

Brother Jim: Let us be honest this morning.

Brother Jim: We all need Jesus and that is

Brother Jim: what makes this table so

Brother Jim: beautiful.

Brother Jim: You ever feel alone, my friends?

Brother Jim: You ever feel alone?

Brother Jim: Guess what?

Brother Jim: Communion reminds us that we are not alone.

Brother Jim: And yeah, let's be honest.

Brother Jim: There can be moments when we feel like we're all alone.

Brother Jim: Nobody cares.

Brother Jim: Nobody understands.

Brother Jim: Nobody understands what I'm going through, Brother Jim.

Brother Jim: And maybe somebody sitting here today has been carrying a burden

Brother Jim: nobody else knows about.

Brother Jim: Maybe you are grieving.

Brother Jim: Maybe you are worried.

Brother Jim: Maybe you are tired.

Brother Jim: Maybe you're facing a decision.

Brother Jim: Maybe you've been praying for something for a very long time.

Brother Jim: There is hope, my friends.

Brother Jim: And today Jesus invites you to his table.

Brother Jim: Not because you've got everything figured out because

Brother Jim: he is with you.

Brother Jim: The table reminds us you are not forgotten, you are not

Brother Jim: abandoned, and God has not stopped loving you today.

Brother Jim: You as well as the world.

Brother Jim: We need to know and understand that Jesus gave himself for you,

Brother Jim: for all mankind.

Brother Jim: Rockford Church do we understand

Brother Jim: the communion should change how

Brother Jim: we live?

Brother Jim: Church.

Brother Jim: Here is where the table becomes personal for you and I. We

Brother Jim: cannot come to the table remembering Jesus Christ's

Brother Jim: sacrifice and then walk out like nothing ever happened.

Brother Jim: I used to do that all the time.

Brother Jim: Get my Sunday morning on, get my

Brother Jim: Jesus on, and then walk right

Brother Jim: back out the door, living like a

Brother Jim: heathen.

Brother Jim: How many of you?

Brother Jim: You don't have to raise your

Brother Jim: hand and say, yeah, brother Jim,

Brother Jim: I kind of understand what you're

Brother Jim: saying.

Brother Jim: If Jesus has forgiven us, we should forgive.

Brother Jim: If Jesus has loved us, we should love.

Brother Jim: If Jesus has served us, we should serve.

Brother Jim: If Jesus has shown us mercy, we should show mercy.

Brother Jim: And if Jesus gave himself for

Brother Jim: us, we should give ourselves to

Brother Jim: him.

Brother Jim: Communion is not just about what happens at the table as well.

Brother Jim: Communion is about what happens after we leave this table.

Brother Jim: As I just mentioned, we do not take communion so we can feel

Brother Jim: religious for a few minutes.

Brother Jim: We take communion so that we can remember Jesus and then live.

Brother Jim: Here we go.

Brother Jim: And then live like the people who belong to Jesus.

Brother Jim: When you walk out those doors,

Brother Jim: does your actions, does your

Brother Jim: words?

Brother Jim: Does your lifestyle show that you belong to Jesus?

Brother Jim: Or you belong to the world?

Brother Jim: So why do we take communion?

Brother Jim: We take communion because Jesus told us to.

Brother Jim: We take communion to remember his sacrifice.

Brother Jim: We take communion to celebrate God's grace.

Brother Jim: We take communion to proclaim our faith.

Brother Jim: We take communion to examine our hearts.

Brother Jim: We take communion to remember that we.

Brother Jim: We. Here are one body.

Brother Jim: We take communion to anticipate the return of Christ.

Brother Jim: And we take communion because

Brother Jim: Jesus invites you and me to come

Brother Jim: near.

Brother Jim: The table is the invitation.

Brother Jim: Jesus invites us to participate in a sacred remembrance of what

Brother Jim: he has done.

Brother Jim: The bread says, remember his body.

Brother Jim: The cup says, remember his blood.

Brother Jim: The table says, remember his sacrifice.

Brother Jim: And the gospel says, remember his grace.

Brother Jim: So we.

Brother Jim: Oh!

Brother Jim: So we think about what he has given us.

Brother Jim: And as we prepare to come to the

Brother Jim: Lord's Table today, do not come

Brother Jim: casually.

Brother Jim: Do not come simply because that

Brother Jim: is what we do on Communion

Brother Jim: Sunday.

Brother Jim: Come remembering.

Brother Jim: Remember the cross.

Brother Jim: Remember the empty tomb.

Brother Jim: Remember his forgiveness.

Brother Jim: Remember the mercy.

Brother Jim: Remember the love.

Brother Jim: remember the sacrifice, remember the Savior.

Brother Jim: And perhaps most and most, most importantly.

Brother Jim: Jesus did it for you.

Brother Jim: Did it for you.

Brother Jim: Did it for you.

Brother Jim: Did it for you.

Brother Jim: Did it for all of us.

Brother Jim: Rockford church.

Brother Jim: There is a reason Jesus said, do this in remembrance of me.

Brother Jim: Let's be honest for a moment, because Jesus knew we'd forget.

Brother Jim: We would get too busy.

Brother Jim: We would become too distracted.

Brother Jim: We would become discouraged.

Brother Jim: We would face trials, and we would lose our focus.

Brother Jim: So Jesus gave us the table.

Brother Jim: And that table points you and I back to him.

Brother Jim: So today, as we come to this table, let us not simply see

Brother Jim: bread, see his body given.

Brother Jim: For you do not simply see the cup.

Brother Jim: Remember his blood poured out for you.

Brother Jim: Do not simply see a church or a religious tradition.

Brother Jim: See the grace of God.

Brother Jim: Do not simply remember the cross.

Brother Jim: Remember the empty tomb and do not look backward.

Brother Jim: Please let us look forward.

Brother Jim: Because the same Jesus who died for us rose for us.

Brother Jim: And the same Jesus who rose.

Brother Jim: Oh, baby, he's coming back again.

Brother Jim: So, church, let us come to the table with humble hearts.

Brother Jim: Let us come with grateful hearts.

Brother Jim: Let us come with repentant hearts.

Brother Jim: And let us come with expectant hearts.

Brother Jim: And let us remember the words of Jesus.

Brother Jim: Do this in remembrance of me.

Brother Jim: Amen.