Communion Sunday (2nd service) - Pastor Brad Neuschwander (September 6, 2026) | Life Bible Church

Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We

want to thank you for joining us today, and we

hope you find today's sermon impacting as you

listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk.

To find service times and watch messages online,

see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now,

enjoy this week's message. Let's pray now, and

then we'll get into the Word. Rob, you with me?

All right. Father, in Jesus' name. Lord, I thank

you now for the opportunity to open up the word

of God. And Lord, I'm asking you to highlight

this word in your truth and by your spirit. Lord,

we're going to take a look and dive deep into

the scriptures. Lord, remove from us every excuse

and every area that we would distance ourselves.

Let your word have its full impact. Because Lord,

your word is light. Your word is truth. Your

word is grace. It is, as the psalmist says, your

word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto

my path. Let the light of Christ shine now and

let our feet be strengthened to walk in courage

and in faith for Jesus. And everybody said, amen,

amen. All right, turn to Matthew. Well, you can

turn to Matthew too, it's good. But turn to 1

Corinthians. 1 Corinthians, verse 23 of chapter

11. Last time we had communion, we kind of talked

about this passage. We've been in a series, kind

of a deep series, going from Passover, Jesus'

teaching in the New Testament, connecting Passover

to Pentecost. And as we have kind of dove into

the scriptures at each communion service, talking

about the reality of how Passover has led us

into the full understanding of what we operate

now at the Lord's table. The end of something

started something brand new, although it has

its root systems in that table. Jesus became

the Passover lamb. He fulfilled it. And at Jesus's

table, he did what? He inaugurated the new covenant.

So as the apostle Paul is dealing with the church

in Corinth. Now you have to understand this church

in Corinth is a wily bunch. Right? They're Gentiles.

So you have to understand, everywhere the apostle

Paul went, he went first to. He went first to

the Jew, and then he went to the Greek. It was

the sign of his apostleship. He would go to the

synagogue. He would reason in the synagogue that

Jesus, in fact, was the Messiah. And when they,

in turn, would reject him, then what would happen?

Then he would say, all right. I leave you to

yourself and I will go to the Gentiles for they

will hear it. And that was his pattern in everything

he did in every missionary journey. And so Paul

was a, if we were to call it just this way, Scott,

he would be a doctorate. professor squared. When

he said he was studied of studied under Gamaliel,

he was a, even said it of himself, I was a Pharisee

of Pharisees. Now to be a Pharisee of Pharisee,

you weren't just, didn't just memorize the whole

Bible at that point. They had it memorized. Like

in school, you could quote full chapters and

books that, because remember most, Most synagogues

did not have full range of scrolls of the full

manuscripts of God. There were certain synagogues

that did, such as Jesus' hometown, where they

handed him the full scroll of Isaiah. But a lot

of synagogues only had partial scrolls. They

didn't have everything of the 39, if you will,

39 books of all the minor prophets, major prophets.

They all had sections of the Torah and the Pentateuch

that they would quote Moses of all his writings.

But many of them didn't have all of the things

that we now so enjoy when we look through the

Bible and go, oh, there's 39 old and now there's

a 27 new. They didn't have that. Paul was studied

in all of it. He would have been known in today's

culture and mind as at least a double PhD, maybe

a triple PhD. And I've read some books by triple

PhDs and they are so heady sometimes. It's like.

Okay, can you stay grounded a little bit and

just speak to us in lay terms? But once you get

there and you're studying the minutia of the

law, he was fluent in Arabic, he was fluent in

Koinonia Greek, and he was fluent in Hebrew.

So he was a scholar at every level. And he was

a scholar in the word, How do I say this? He

was a scholar in the hermeneutics of the word.

He was a scholar in the very part of the minutia

of everything connecting to the law of Moses

until God brought him out of exclusive Hebrew

understanding of the Pentateuch through the law

of Moses and brought him as Jesus was the...

The key to unlocking those scriptures, Paul had

known everything with the law, how it interpreted

without Jesus. He had to be reacquainted with

everything now that it made sense with Jesus

being the absolute reason the law was given.

And so in that understanding, he now comes to

Corinth. And just kind of like this group up

here, over here, they had the the conservative

one, and they had the wild one. And that was

the Corinthian church. They had come out of everything

except having really any understanding of Jehovah

or Yahweh. They knew everything else about idolatry.

They knew everything else about paganism. They

knew everything else about how their culture

was, but they did not know anything about how

to serve the one true living God. They were bringing

Greek culture that worshiped a pantheon of gods

that worshiped, where you read the Iliad and

the Odyssey and how many, I don't even want to

know how many went to that movie, you know, just

recently out there. But they would, the Hercules

and the Dianus and the... Aphrodite and all of

the pantheon of the skewedness of that, they

lived for. So there were temples, Temple of Zeus,

Temple of Diana, Aphrodite, all of this stuff,

Bacchus, the god of feast and wine, drunkenness

and sexual perversion. They would have participated

in all of that thing. So when you're dealing

with the Corinthian church, you're dealing with

people that were coming straight out of what

we would say whoa right they had they didn't

like like Solomon they didn't restrain themselves

they had no knowledge of the one true God so

planting a church right in the middle of Corinth

in a stronghold that they had every form of perversion

and the town if you study the history of Corinth

the town was was founded, and the reason Corinth

was founded as a seaport town, the government

said, well, we don't really have the ability

to actually structure this town the way we'd

like. Let's just ask all the retired sailors

and military men to found a town. So if your

founding fathers are former sailors and military

people, We do have a little bit of understanding

that when military people come to port, things

happen not so good. Just think that that's why

your town was founded. Your founding fathers

were like, hey, drunkenness, women, or whatever,

help yourself. We're open for business. That's

where God decides to plant Paul for 18 months

to plant a church and say, all right. Let's bring

in the truth of the gospel and let's get a church.

And Paul says, as the Holy Spirit would do its

thing, they would be more gifted in the Holy

Spirit in their moving and displaying of... partnering

with the gifts of God than any other church at

that time. But in doing so, they were more compromised

and had mixture than any other church at that

time. And so the whole reason that he's writing

these letters, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians,

is to do what? He's pulling the weeds of different

religion and idolatry and immorality and mixture

and the abuse of how to use the Holy Spirit.

He's pulling. all of this stuff out of her. Don't

sue your brother. Why are you taking them to

the court? Why are there arguments and divisions?

In fact, I believe it. Why is Chloe and this

person arguing? Listen, stop it. The whole letter

of 1 Corinthians is like, get your act together

in Jesus' name. Right? And you just had to think

of it from a PhD professor that his whole life

had been trained. It's like, God, why did you

pick me for this? I mean, these people are almost

like animals, right? I mean, in his natural mind,

he would have looked at Scott's lifestyle from

haircut and everything, and he would have, no,

I'm just messing. He would have just said, animal.

Didn't even know God. And yet the Lord, like

he did with Jonah, he did with Paul. I want you

to go there and preach the gospel and set up

a church. and bring my truth so that it will

be a genuine house of the Lord, become a place

where the pillar of truth is released and people

find the transforming power of Christ there.

It's amazing. So he had to weed through this

stuff. Well, by the time we get, this is a long

introduction, so stay with me. So by the time

we get to 1 Corinthians 11, remember we started

in 1 Corinthians 5 of how he had to remove the

one that was in severe idolatry and sexual perversion.

And he said, listen, you have to take the bread

and the cup in a clean place. That goes clear

back. Christ is our Passover lamb. He's already

dealt with that. When he gets to 1 Corinthians

11, remember in six he deals with them not suing

one another for they should be above that. Seven,

he's dealing now with marriages. He gets all

the way through seven. Eight, chapter eight and

nine, he's dealing with his... apostolic authority

and he's dealing with how to steward the grace

of God and how in chapter 8 and 9 and how it

is to give Tiffany touched on a little bit today

of why God wrote on how a minister should make

his living but he's talked more about the idea

of partnering with Kim and when he gets to chapter

10 he starts diving really into the kimchi on

this thing and he starts dealing with mixture

and he starts dealing with how the old Old Testament

people, chapter 10 is probably one of the best

chapters that you should read because it equates

it. He said, these things that were done were

written on account for those who the end of the

ages fall. He's basically saying, these things

that were written and recorded are all recorded

for your sake and your faith to know how to live

at the end of days. And so he recounts how the

people fell in the journey and how. discipline

came and how 23 ,000 were killed because they

lusted after things that they shouldn't have

lusted for. And then he goes into, in chapter

10, he goes into the dividing between eating

at different altars, eating at the altar of,

he just used an altar of another God versus the

altar when you come to the table. He's leading

us up to really speaking about this communion

table. And so he says, listen, do you not know

that when you take things that are at the altar,

listen to what he says, you're sharing the life

of what's given at the altar. So if you eat at

the table of Zeus and that altar, you're eating,

he said, that idol is nothing, but the spirit

behind it, he says, is a demon. So you're sharing

the food and the sacrifice that you just went

to that idol of Zeus with a demonic spirit. You're

now saying, I am linking your life with my life.

And then he compares it to the altar of Christ

saying, Do you not know that the blood that we

take from the cup is the blood of Christ? Do

you not know that the bread that we eat is the

body of Jesus? This is all in 1 Corinthians chapter

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

10 right at about verse 20 and following. Praise

God. Okay. I almost forgot you were back there.

Thank you. Okay. Man, the choir is playing. Come

on, Lord. Hallelujah. All right. Okay. And so

as we're in that process, as we're in that, I

got to get back up here. Rob, you scared me back

into the scriptures. Hallelujah. There we go.

Okay, that's good. As we move from this, listen.

you should only have one dedication to one thing

at the altar. Then he gets to chapter 11, and

11's where we're at, and then we talk about,

in chapter 11, he talks about alignment. He talks

about the father, the son, headship of man and

woman, and then the whole idea of honoring how

man and woman, even though there's headship,

there should be authority, for every man comes

from a woman. She gives birth to all things.

Therefore, there's headship, but then there's

partnership in life. There's honor in how God

designed it. Then he moves through and he starts

talking about people that are eating and drinking

as they're coming to the church. creating what?

Sectarianism in the house of God. That's what

chapter 11 is about. He goes, I hear there are

arguments and divisions and I actually believe

it. Do you not, and I'm quoting here, do you

not have houses to eat and drink in? So one comes

hungry and the other is full. Ones are almost

getting drunk and others have nothing. What are

you doing? In essence, he says, what is wrong

with you? He's still what? In this first letter,

he's still pulling. Bad behavior out of those

who he wrote in the first couple of lines. Greetings

and salutations from God our Father and the Lord

Jesus Christ to all the saints in Corinth. He

labels them saints. Not on the basis of their

works. Not on the basis of how they've proven

themselves. Because he's going to write that

they've proved themselves in error. He's going

to write a lot about their error. I don't know

about you, but I would not like to have Life

Bible Church 1 and 2 in the scriptures. Right?

I'm just saying, open up to the book of LBC.

Right? And they could read about the first...

and our beginnings and all of the issues that

they wrote to that had to be corrected over the

years. I'm just glad it was the Corinthian church.

I'm not messing with them too much, but I'm just

saying the reality is that's what he's doing.

You're getting a letter to the church leadership

and to the pastor on how to straighten things

out. Yes. Straighten it out. Right? Kind of just

a little chiropractic. Yeah, all right. Now,

as he's doing that, he gets to 1 Corinthians.

I preach so much, my iPad went dead. All right,

here we go. Verse 23. Listen to what he says.

I want you to get this. For I received from the

Lord. This is chapter 11 verse 23. He's talking

about his encounter that he had with Jesus explaining

what should take place at communion. I received

from the Lord what I also delivered to you that

the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed

took bread and when he had given thanks he broke

it and said this is my body, which is for you.

Now just give me a little something for you.

It's for you. Just think about what Jesus was

saying here. At that table, the bread that we've

just studied in Pentecost was unleavened bread

that represented get the sin out. Now, with just

a little more gospel thought. Now. Oh, I'm giving

it to you. My body, my body, it's true. I'm giving

you the bread of life. Just think about Jesus.

Bryce, maybe turn my monitors up a little bit

because I'm hearing him off the back wall. Just

think about Jesus standing there. Just kind of

just get with me. Just a little Pentecostal here.

A little something in the church. I'm breaking

bread today. The bread is on its way. The bread

that I give you is my life. Sitting at the table,

breaking bread with my disciples. The bread that

I give you is my life. Now listen. Can you just

kind of just picture that with me? I know we're

a little white in this church, but come on, help

me out. Help me out, okay? I'm trying to get

you to get this. As he's saying that, he is changing

the nature of the bread. Bread previously was

what? It represented leaven. That's why it was

made with unleavened bread. It represented something

without sin. It represented something that you

took at the Passover that said, I am getting

passed over from the death angel. Protection

has come by a blood of an animal. And I'm eating

the bread that represents my job to search my

heart and my life to get out the sin because

I'm under the blood of God's grace or his mercy.

And now we're eating bread. at the table that

represents a life of purity that represents a

life that doesn't have sin and Jesus sitting

there takes the bread breaks it prays over it

and says this is my body which is given for you

he shifts it off of bread of what to do and he

shifts it come on he shifts it on bread that

is for you He shifts it off of bread of what

you must do to partner to the bread that I give

you is myself. I'm giving you myself. Think of

it what Jesus is saying. I am the word. I am

the life. I am the bread that came down from

heaven to give you more than what you understand.

I am new covenant. I am better than manna. I'm

giving you of everything that I am is now yours.

This bread that is me is given for you. Wow.

Now, when you think about that, he does the same

thing with the cup. He says, take this cup. This

cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this,

take it. Do this as you drink it in remembrance

of me. For as often as you drink this cup and

eat this bread, you proclaim the Lord's death

until he comes. Now, I'm probably not gonna get

too far out of this introduction and we'll have

to carry this on another couple of communion

times, but I need you to understand what he's

saying here. You see, for most of us that take

communion, we think communion is a memorial.

You've heard it preached. Do this in remembrance

of me. Why? Because it says it. The problem is

we are conditioned to think death. Let me say

that again. Jesus is not saying. Think of my

death. He told the disciples that death was coming.

Remember when he came off the mountain of transfiguration?

After he showed himself and all of a sudden they

saw him talking as they looked up because of

the glory. They saw Moses and Elijah talking

to him. And after they came down the mountain

and all they heard was the father's voices. This

is my beloved son. Hear him. And after that mind.

melting encounter. As they walked down the mountain,

Jesus said, now, in a few days, I'm going to

be handed over to the Romans. They're going to

crucify me, scourge me, and they will crucify

me and put me in a tomb. But on the third day,

I will rise again. And the scripture says what?

Their minds and hearts could not understand it.

They had no understanding of it. In fact, as

you can see, at least three different times,

I think it's even four, three or four different

times in the Gospels recorded that Jesus tries

to tell them what is coming and going to happen

to them, but they couldn't receive it. Why? Their

framework was, he's the Messiah. He's everything

we've been promised. The kingdom is coming. That's

why their question was, Lord, when will you establish

the kingdom? Can we sit on your right and on

your left? I mean, you're the fullness of everything

the prophets have prophesied. And Jesus... didn't

say, no, I'm not that. He would just say, it's

not for you to know times or seasons. It's not

for me to give who it's already been prepared

for. He never answered the question, no, this

is not the kingdom because it certainly was the

kingdom. It just was going to work out totally

different than they had preset to believe. Because

they believed that when Jesus came, everything

now was done. No Roman rule, no occupation. We're

finally free from the oppression and it's King

Jesus living and reigning in natural Jerusalem

forever. And it didn't work that way. It was

gonna be a spiritual kingdom. Same thing is happening

now here in the upper room. And here's what's

happening in the upper room. in the upper room,

it's a place of joy. The only time it became

sadness is when what? When Jesus let them know

that betrayal was taking place. When he looked

at him and said, he who dips his hand in the

bowl with me shall soon betray me. And they're

the disciples, because guys, listen, when you

celebrate Passover, It was a joy. It was God

saying in old covenant history, I release death.

I did not restrain death from coming over Egypt

and all the nations, but I selected you on the

basis of covenant. I chose you on the basis of

the promise I made with your forefather Abraham

400 years ago, and I am selecting you because

I'm going to be faithful to a promise you didn't

even know of, and I'm going to cover you by my

mercy, and I'm going to lift my hand and my restraint

on everything else. celebrate Passover even though

they ate roasted lamb by fire with bitter herbs.

And unleavened bread, even though there was that,

it was joy. That's why they're in a Seder process

of celebrating true Jewish Passover. There are

four cups of wine. Four cups of wine represent

what? On every direction you move in Passover,

it's God's joy that comes. That's why water being

turned into wine was such a big deal. It was

taking ceremonial water and turning it into a

celebration of what? was legal and what was religious

and every dot and I crossed all of a sudden in

the vessels meant for ceremony God turns water

into wine saying I'm moving systems a new covenant

is coming and it's the wine of the spirit that

will identify what I come to bring in So when

we get to, come on, I'm preaching to somebody.

When we get to, come on, now don't be offended

now, bro. Come on. No, I'm messing with him.

When we get to Passover, this was not a solemn

thing. This was a happy thing. When he said,

you go prayer room, he said, I can't wait to

have this meal with you. And in part, we've always

looked at it as negative. He knew what was coming,

the cross. Yes, he did. But he also had the other

side, is he knew. that he was about ready to

bridge something that they couldn't do for themselves

and the joy that he started with his first miracle

in Canaan and Galilee was now going to begin

to take place because there would flow out of

people streams of living water that would now

be able to flow like wine. Why? Because something

new was about to take place. So when we get to

communion table, and we get to the bread, and

we get to the cup, do this in remembrance of

me. We've been conditioned to think about the

cross, the suffering, the scourging, the pain,

the heartache, the betrayal, all of the disciples

leaving. At the end, everyone fleeing. Peter's

denial. Jesus dropping sweats of blood because

of the intensity of the wrestle in the Garden

of Gethsemane and all of the process that would

take place in the next 24 to 48 hours and then

in the death in the tomb. But Jesus wasn't saying

that. Memorialize my suffering. He's saying,

take the bread. And take the cup and understand

it's a new covenant of what I've already chosen

to do for you in advance. He's not saying memorialize

it in remembrance of all that you need to do

to get right. He's saying I want you to come

to the table and understand the joy and the elation.

That I now can call you back to the table of

where sin actually breached in the garden. And

we now can have fellowship. My body was given

for you. This cup represents blood that was given

for you. I don't want you to connect only the

suffering. I need you to connect the relationship.

So when it says in here, do this in remembrance

of me, then Paul goes into something quickly.

It was very quick. In verse 27, he says this.

He says, whoever therefore, whoever therefore

eats this bread and drinks this cup. When you

eat it, you can just lift off. Whoever, sorry,

whoever therefore eats this bread or drinks this

cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be

guilty of profaning the body and the blood of

the Lord. Let a person examine themselves and

so eat the bread and the cup. If anyone drinks

without discerning the body, they eat and drink

judgment on themselves. Okay, how do I get this

in real time to you guys? We read that and we

start thinking about all the things that we're

not. We think about all the times that we've

failed. We think all the times that we really,

that when we process that, many times we've heard,

listen, I've been in church. I was born on Wednesday,

in church on Sunday. I have heard thousands of

messages. I have preached this passage. I've

heard hundreds of messages on this passage. I've

never heard anybody teach what I'm about to say

right now. As you're reading this, and I did

listen to E .W. Kenyon, and it was. he had this

same thing. And I thought, Lord, there it is.

That this table is not a table of mourning. When

we focus on all of our, let's just say things

that are still inside of us that are not godly.

And we come to the table only as a table of repentance

and only as a table that is a mere of our character

and our nature and our natural. We're only getting

a half truth. This is not what the table is only

for. The table is actually for, and this is what

I want to get to, notice it says, without discerning

the body, eats and drinks judgment to oneself.

The word discerning, in the Greek is the word

diakoneo. And diakoneo, diakoneo is the word

dia and krino. If you just look at the Greek

word, krino always represents judgment. Krino

is what Jesus talked about and Paul talked about

it. He said, if you judge krino, your neighbor,

Which doesn't mean just a judging on the basis

of fruit or on the basis of lifestyle where it's

clearly obvious. It's actually saying a judging

as a final result. So if you make a judgment,

Anthony, and you go, she will never change. I've

been with this woman. I've been with this woman

how many years? I've been with this, I know,

married. And you've been together seven and married.

So I've been seven years. I've given the Lord

the perfect number of time for him to deal with

this woman. And cry no means what? I have judged

her. And the final decision is she is a mule.

She's stubborn. She won't change. But I'm committed

to her for life. I'm married a mule. Done. Okay,

I'm messing with you. You're a good sport. That

crino means judge not lest ye be judged. Meaning

what? You are now just saying, I put a final

verdict on this woman. The grace of God, the

mercy of God, the change transforming power of

Christ will not enter her life. Why? Because

I've already judged that she won't change based

on my experience. And I enter a final verdict.

Are you there? That's why it says don't do it.

Because if you do that, final verdicts start

coming into your life. Diacrino or crino, diacrino

means what? It means to distinguish or discriminate.

Now that word discriminate, all of a sudden,

when we're in our culture, absolutely is an evil

word. Why? Because when you hear discrimination,

our own constitution as Americans, right? The

whole thing of civil war, the whole thing of

slavery, the whole thing now of race and color

and religion, what are we talking about? The

idea that you cannot discriminate. Yet that word

discriminate, which means what? It means to separate.

It means to, in addition to that word discrimination

in the Greek here, means to separate thoroughly,

to hesitate, to pause, and to make a decision

and a judgment. Same word we use today in English

of discrimination comes from that root word diakirino.

It means what? To discern, judge, and make a

judgment. Yet the Bible says we are to discriminate.

Huh, what are you teaching, pastor? I'll tell

you what I'm teaching. I'm teaching you that

a word has shaped your interpretation of the

scriptures. I'm telling you that a culture, and

I agree with it, we should not discriminate against

race, against color, against tribes or people.

That's not what we do. That's evil. This word

discriminate, in fact, is it's used three different

times. I can't because of time. It's used three

different times in the book of Acts, starting

in Acts chapter 11, as Peter's telling his story

Acts 11 · chapter mention

to the apostles about what happened when the

sheet appeared three times and unclean animals

came down. And there was all sorts of things.

There was creepy crawly things and things that

were on hoof feet and camels and unclean birds.

All of it was all right there as it came down

on the sheet. a voice from the Lord saying, rise,

kill and eat Peter. And Peter said, absolutely

not Lord. I have been clean from my youth. And

what did the Holy Spirit say? Quotes it. Do not

call unclean what I have called clean. Hang on

to that. Because what was happening is Peter

was still operating in the discrimination of

old covenant understanding. The old covenant

tied you in, Tim, to discriminate in everything

you did. Because you married a Jewish person

right here that got saved. Thank God she got

saved, right? Amen. Because you married into

the Jewish family, here's what you would do.

If she was still form of Judaism and she was

Orthodox, you would still be dealing with discrimination

today in natural things. You'd discriminate your

food. Was this cooked on a kosher kitchen? Does

this have any form of pork or shellfish or anything?

Everything in your life would have been discrimination.

Why? Because in the flesh, according to the old

covenant, that people group had to discriminate

everything. Now, not against race or color or...

Creed, right? But against everything they were

trained to discriminate. When you get to the

table of the Lord, the discrimination of natural

things goes away. That's why Paul could say,

in Christ Jesus now, it's not male or female.

It's not slave or free. It's not Scythian or

barbarian, but you're all one in Christ, meaning

no longer are you going to have to discriminate

of who and what on color, on race, and divide,

because it's not going to be on natural things.

That's done. That's what this table did. This

table removed discrimination on fleshly, soulish

things. or fleshly things primarily. But it did

not remove, and I'll just leave us with this,

it did not remove spiritual discrimination. It

removed them where your view of discrimination

can only operate. Spiritual discrimination now

does not come against a person. The only thing

God's asking you to discriminate is your own

self. That's why he says, did you discern the

body? Did you discriminate the body? He's not

talking about individual body of Christ as a

church. He's talking about you personally. He

said, that's why, and I'll forward it. He said,

that's why you're weak. That's why you're ill.

That's why many fall asleep prematurely. They

did not discern the body and they ate and drank

a meal. Now let me give you the key indicator

where they didn't actually apply faith. I'm adding

into here so this is the context. They didn't

apply faith to who they really were at the table.

See, if you view this table as a memorial that

always points out your sin, you'll never actually

pull down on what this table is to bring. If

you stay in the perspective, I just have so many

faults. I don't know if I can make it. I know

the grace of God is there and I'm thankful I'm

saved, but I'm constantly messing up. I'm constantly

blown through things and I feel like, God, I'm

just a worm. I'm no good. I'm no good I'm no

good Jesus help me yeah and if that's the only

thing that's that table you will stay in that

loop over and over but when you recognize that

this table is actually a table that is speaking

to your sainthood this table is actually speaking

to who you really are Jody, it's speaking to

you already entered into covenant and grace has

come. The body of Christ now is for you where

the exchange took place already on that body.

Do you know what Jesus's body became in Isaiah

53? When you read Isaiah 53, you've got to attach

Deuteronomy 28. What's Deuteronomy 28? Deuteronomy

28 is every, 27 and 28, every curse of the law

that came from disobedience. You'll be cursed

in your bowl. You'll be cursed in the bread.

You'll be cursed in your body. You'll be cursed

in the womb. You'll be cursed in the field. You'll

be cursed wherever you go. Sickness and illness

and all the diseases of the Egyptians will come

before you. You read the curses in Deuteronomy?

It's twice the number of words that it is of

the blessings. Jesus' body became what? Accursed

in the exchange for you. So when you eat the

bread, what are you pulling down on? I'm pulling

down on the fact that Jesus' body took my sin,

went into the grave, and three days later, he

rose because of life. He now lives in a new body.

breaking every curse and defilement. And when

I eat this bread, I don't come, but what's wrong

with me? I come to pull down on his life that

should flow into me by grace and faith. And the

table becomes a place of celebration. The table

becomes a place of life. The table no longer

becomes a memorial. It becomes a celebration

that death now was swallowed up in life. And

now as I live, if I discern that, Garrett, I

come up and I take a non -glutenized piece of

bread. And I'm not just thinking about I'm forgiven,

which I'm grateful for. That's a platform. But

I now pull down on the fact that the author of

life has canceled every curse that used to be

associated with me. And by faith, I begin to

pull down with joy and gladness that now eating

and drinking this, if I could say this carefully

without being sacrilegious, please sit with me.

This is a prop. to get to the real reality. That's

why Jesus said, I am the bread that comes down

from heaven. That was the great lie. Come on,

I'm just going to say it to you straight. The

great lie of the Catholic church in the middle

ages was declaring that this was the real body

of Jesus Christ. It is not. This is wonder bread.

I'll eat it anyway. The principle is the truth

behind the bread. That's why it says in Isaiah

55, come, drink, eat. Drink freely, eat freely.

What did Jesus say? The kingdom of God is not

meat or drink, but righteousness, peace, and

joy in the Holy Spirit. The bread is where we

connect my faith. I now put a point of contact

of faith that I'm drawing from the truth of who

Christ is and I'm allowing his life, what is

represented in spiritual truth, authority. That's

why Jesus told the woman at the well, he said,

Now on the Father is looking for those who will

worship him in spirit and in truth. Why? Because

when he changes you into a saint, when you come

to communion, that's why it's a belief. Oh my

goodness. Are you with me? That's why when you

come to communion, it's called the believer's

meal. Why is it believers? Because you're pulling

down on the truth of who he is. You're pulling

into your life the reality that his life is now

flowing into my life. And I'm celebrating that

I'm no longer who I was, but I've now been called

a son. You've now been called a daughter. And

now you have what? Your inheritance is coming

with what? The truth to confront everything that's

in the fallen nature. You now have his life flowing

to you. When you eat this bread and drink this

cup, we better stand and get ready to do it.

You are taking of the life of Christ. And that's

why it's not only a place that we celebrate the

death. For us, his death is our life. And we're

invited to pull down on that. Can we do that

this morning? Let's pray. Father, thank you.

Thank you for the communion table. Thank you

for the bread. Thank you for the cup. Lord, we

recognize. It is by faith. Everything in the

New Testament is by faith. But these principles,

these sacred elements, Lord, there is no transubstantiation

in the cup. There's no transubstantiation in

the bread. It is the reality of by faith. You

gave us these to pull on the truth that you are

the resurrection and the life. And because your

body took our illness, we can now receive life

from you. I now ask now for a blessing of the

Lord to come upon each person as we receive the

bread and the cup. Let's take it now. You come

on both sides. Come back. We'll take it together

as one. Go ahead, church. Funnel both sides.

Let's worship. Thank you for taking the time

to listen to this week's message. We are so grateful

for those who tune in each week and have given

generously to this ministry. If you are in need

of prayer, send us a text message at 541 -625

-1365. We would love to pray with you.