Binding the Strong Man

Uh we've got a couple of actually, we'll go ahead and read today's scripture.

It's been a lot of scripture reading this morning.

That was so great.

Let's clap again for those.

Yeah.

I love that.

All right.

Can I ask you to stand again?

I mean, I can.

Please stand again.

This is Mark 3, verses 22 to 30.

Mark 3:22–30

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, He is possessed by Beelzebub, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.

And he called them to him and said to them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.

But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man.

Then indeed he may plunder his house.

Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven, the children of man, in whatever blasphemies they utter.

But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.

For they were saying, He has an unclean spirit.

This is the word of the Lord.

Please be seated.

Thanks for joining us this morning.

Yeah, it's just so wonderful seeing all those kids read that scripture.

Well, probably not read, but repeat after their parents that scripture.

Um super fun to see.

Got a couple of announcements this morning before we get started.

Uh, first of all, membership is rolling right now, so if you'd like to become a member at Redemption Church, just email info at redemptiondenver.com and we can follow up with you.

Uh also, um, the Centennial Elementary fundraiser uh that we did.

Just wanted to say thank you so much, everybody, uh, for contributing to that.

We were able to deliver$30$50 gift cards uh to, yeah, clap, that's when that's a good clap line.

To the folks at Centennial Elementary.

They have an outreach uh team that will distribute those to the families in need.

And uh, Krista, were they happy?

They were excited.

Yeah.

Yeah, which is great.

So that's a really fun thing to be a part of uh to get to give uh back to the community a bit during this season.

Uh also, this uh this next year is approaching pretty quickly, and one of the things that we're going to be doing as a church, something that we do it kind of refresh our memories about beginning of each year, is a Bible reading plan.

So uh we're going through the McShane Bible reading plan.

He's a Scottish minister from the 1800s, and he put together this Bible reading plan that you go through the Bible, the whole Bible in a year.

Uh it's a wonderful habit to get into, to just spend time in God's word.

There's really no cheat codes for Christianity.

Uh, a lot of times I'll get asked, like, how do I reignite you know, this uh passion for the Lord and how do I discover the Lord's voice in my life?

You read the Bible and pray.

That's and be obedient.

That's basically it.

Those are the tools that we have as Christians.

Uh, we have God's word, we have him listening to us in prayer, and we have uh the life that he describes for us to live.

So we've got cards printed out that are on uh the new countertop uh out in right when you walk in in the foyer.

There's uh uh some shelves in the counter right there, and there's cards with a Bible if you need a Bible as well, that have the first quarter of the reading plan printed out on it.

The reading plan is also in the app, but we'd notice that a lot of times this is a time where you don't want to have a phone around.

Uh because like I'll pick up the phone and it's like, oh, you know what's more entertaining than this right now?

Instagram is more entertaining than this.

And all of a sudden it's like 20 minutes went by, then you just have to go to work.

Uh so this is a great way to just have an analog version of this.

Take your Bible, the card tells you right where to go, and just read through it to kind of create that space in your life.

So those cards are available.

Uh, just you can just grab one and it's the first quarter, so it's through the end of March, and the next ones we'll have available as well.

Uh uh also, while you're there picking up your McShane uh reading plan card, there's another card lying there for you to sign.

So the counter that you will be signing it on and the cabinetry that's there was just recently installed.

And it was actually a really cool thing.

We just moved into the building and we were looking to you know do all these renovations to kind of make it home.

And Krista emailed a uh kitchen remodeling company that's just down the street on Tennyson, just a couple of blocks.

And they're called Aspen Leaf.

And looking through the type of things that they offer, it was basically like, well, these folks are way out of our price range.

But Krista is very much of the opinion of we'll email them anyway.

And so Krista emailed them anyway, and they got back to us and said, So what's the project?

And we sent them the project and they said, This is so small, we'll just do it for free.

Isn't that insane?

So they uh uh yeah, they they reached out and they're uh Christian folks, they uh the the son-in-law of the owner is kind of managing things over there right now, and he used to be a worship pastor, and I guess he was sent out by the owner and it was like, go check them out, see if they're a legit church.

Uh we passed.

And they just gave us these cabinets for free.

Installation, everything.

It was this incredible act of generosity uh to a brand new church moving into the neighborhood.

So the least we can say is thank you.

So there's a card out there on that countertop, and uh yeah, if you would just sign it with just a little note of thank you so much for the welcome to the community and for your generosity towards us uh that we want to deliver to them.

Uh uh yeah, hopefully soon.

Okay.

Finally, it's Christmas this week.

So Christmas Eve, uh, we have two services available.

We've got a 3 p.m.

and a 4:30 p.m.

Uh the way it's gonna work is it's an offering just like this.

So if you're parked outside in your car, you'll be able to park outside in your car and watch the service on your phone.

Uh, but at the end of the service, during the candlelight portion, we're all going to go outside into the front and gather together.

So if you're watching in your car then, join us out front and gather with us.

Uh, and the rest of us will go outside and we'll we'll light our candles outside and we'll all sing together uh the final song outside.

Uh so that's 3 p.m.

and 4:30.

Pick the service that suits your family, and uh yeah, we'll celebrate together.

It's gonna be a pretty short service, uh, a message just for the kids.

Uh, and otherwise we're just singing and celebrating together.

So it should be a really joyful time.

Okay, announcements complete.

Let's talk about the unforgivable sin.

Father, pray that you would attend this time as we look into your word.

Pray that you would move in our hearts so that we can uh grasp what you have for us in this word today.

And Lord, would you work by your spirit so that we might see what it is that you accomplished on our behalf when you came?

Lord, we lift this up in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Okay, so you might have noticed at the end of the text for today uh that Jesus mentions a sin, and he says this whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.

Now, how many of you have heard rumors of this unforgivable sin out there?

Yeah, it's out there, right?

Uh we we all kind of know it.

It's the kind of lingering in the back.

Uh, but what is Jesus talking about when he mentions this sin that is an eternal sin?

It's a different type of category of sin.

Well, today we're gonna look at the context that Jesus explains that in.

And that context is when he is first attacked by uh some scribes that come in from Jerusalem that have a whole new theory as to how Jesus is casting out demons.

And then once they explain their theory into this attack, Jesus responds to it and he explains the danger of what they're doing with an attack on Christ like that.

So let's go ahead and jump in.

We're gonna look at the attack, the response, and the explanation of the sin.

In this, we're going to see a clear picture of the mission that Jesus came to accomplish.

Mark 3, 23 to 25.

And he called oops, I wrong part, Mark 3, 22.

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, He is possessed by Beelzebub, and by the prince of demons, he casts out demons.

Okay, so scribes come down from Jerusalem, they see Jesus casting out demons, and they say, He's possessed by Beelzebel, and it's only by the prince of demons that he's able to cast out demons.

Up until now, when Jesus has cast out demons, when he said he's forgiven sins, the response of the scribes and Pharisees has been one of questions.

Who does he think he is?

Why do your disciples not fast?

Why does this man speak like that?

Who can forgive sins but God alone?

Jesus has been provoking questions in them.

Now we have some new scribes.

These scribes aren't here by happenstance.

They don't just happen to be in the region and see what Jesus is doing.

They didn't just happen to be at that synagogue that Sunday morning and respond with a question.

These scribes are from Jerusalem.

That's the religious epicenter.

And they're sent with a theory.

They no longer have questions, they have accusations.

And the strategic nature of this theory is it takes into account the data that they see from Jesus.

They could walk up and say, look, he doesn't really cast out demons.

This isn't really happening.

And the person who had a demon cast out would be like, excuse me, yeah, he is.

Or the people that see this taking place would be like, look, I saw it with my own eyes, I was there.

You aren't gonna be able to talk me out of that.

So they need to have some theory which takes into account the real actions he is doing that can be looked at and experienced by people and still discredits him, even while he's doing those good actions.

So what do they say?

They say, look, he is possessed by Beelzebel.

Beelzebel, that's that's a strange phrase that we don't see often in scripture.

Uh, and it's just kind of like a more, feels like a pop culture phrase for the devil.

Uh but what it is, is it's uh sort of a combination word that refers to uh Baal, the uh false god, and it's a way of saying the house of Baal or the uh uh the dynasty of Baal.

So he is possessed by this dynasty by this dynastic ruler Baal, who is a false god.

And it became kind of a stand-in term for Satan, but it refers to the hierarchy and the power that Satan has.

Jesus is possessed by this.

Then they say that he casts out demons by the prince of demons, saying that the authority that Jesus is demonstrating to cast out demons does not come from God, but it comes from the only authority over demons, who is the prince of demons, Satan himself.

You see, what this allows them to do is say, look at the goodness that he's accomplishing.

It may look good to you laymen, but if you know what we know, you're able to see that he's actually operating in the power of Satan.

He is not, sure, it looks good, you can test it, but it's not good.

It's just by the power of Satan that Jesus is able to cast out Satan.

Now it's important that they discuss the prince of demons to draw attention to this authority structure.

You know, the spiritual world is just like our world, it operates under hierarchies and under particular authority structures.

You're all involved in them, they're a fact of life.

And the demonic world is no different than that.

If a demon is told to move, well, it depends on the hierarchy that they're involved with, whether or not they're compelled to move.

And so there is a prince of demons.

There is Satan, the one who has the highest authority over the demonic realm.

And it they see that Jesus is uh commanding demons to silence, that he's casting them out of people.

And so they see he is operating with a real authority over the spiritual and the demonic realm.

Now, if he isn't operating under the authority of the prince of demons, well, there's only one other authority by which Jesus could be commanding the demons that they must listen.

And that's the authority of God himself.

And so it must be by the Prince of Demons.

If it isn't God, they're left with one option that they could uh that they could slander Jesus' name with.

And so they choose that option.

You see, it's it's uh it's a very particular argument that they've made in order to discredit Jesus.

They're trying to craft a narrative just to say Jesus' power is not from God.

Now here's Jesus' response.

Mark 3, 23 to 25.

And he called them to him and said to them in parables, how can Satan cast out Satan?

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

Okay, so Jesus hears the accusation and he doesn't let the rumor spread.

He immediately calls them to himself.

Uh he called them to him and said to them in parables, You're casting out demons by Satan.

Come here, let's talk about that.

And then he lays out these simple arguments.

Says, uh, can Satan cast out Satan?

Can a kingdom divided against itself stand?

Can a house divided against itself stand?

See he's playing off of this house language in Beelzebol, that meaning the house or the dynasty of Baal.

He's saying, can a dynasty like that, if it's divided against itself, then it means it's just coming to an end.

A house like that, if it's divided against itself, it's just coming to an end.

A George divided against himself cannot stand.

I had to say it.

I had to say it.

See, there's a simple logic here, but in order to grasp the simplicity of the logic, we need to understand the battle that's taking place.

Look, there's only one place that this spiritual battle wages of consequence, and that's in human hearts.

All of the power that the demonic realm has over the world is because they have taken over the hearts of humanity.

Who is given dominion over the world in the beginning?

It's people.

Man and woman are given dominion over creation.

The demonic realm is given no dominion, but they capture it because they capture us, because they capture our hearts.

This being the only contested space of any meaning to the hearts of people in this spiritual battle of good and evil.

What we see is that it's senseless to say that Satan is casting out demons from a particular people.

There's there's uh it's this is the only contested battleground.

And it's a zero-sum game.

You either get more space and more human hearts, or you lose it.

That's it.

That's the shape of the battle.

So for Jesus to say, look, your argument is just absurd.

You're saying that by Satan, by the power of Satan, Satan is losing ground.

You have to do a complete mischaracterization of what it would mean for a demon to be cast out, what it would mean for someone to be set free from demonic power.

It's impossible for someone to be set free from demonic power and that to be anything other than a loss for Satan.

And so their argument in itself, in its simplest forms, is just absurd.

There's no other ground where this fight outrages.

So then Jesus explains what he is doing.

See, he deconstructs their argument.

It's absurd.

And then he shows what he is doing in Mark 3.27.

But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man, then indeed he may plunder his house.

All right, we're back to that house language.

See, this is about a kingdom and a dynasty.

We're talking kings in successions.

Even you can't be caught unawares.

That's from the Lion King.

Scar sings that.

And the dynasty that's being discussed is the dynasty of Satan who has ruled the world because he has taken possession of our hearts.

To be out of the kingdom of God is to be in the kingdom of darkness.

There is no neutral ground.

And then Jesus entertains this picture of a house, and he says, look, you can't plunder a strong man's house when he's at home.

In order to plunder a strong man's house, you first need to bind the strong man.

Then you can plunder his house.

Jesus is explaining his mission and his purpose.

Jesus came to bind the strong man.

Jesus came so that Satan would be bound, and he might take what then belongs to him.

He might plunder Satan's house, which is full of Satan's captives.

It's full of us.

In order for us to be rescued from the captivity of Satan's dominion, Satan must first be bound.

And that's what Jesus came to do.

Jesus came to bind the strongman, to bind Satan so that we might be set free.

This harkens, Jesus is using the same shape of this prophecy in Isaiah 49, 24 to 25.

It says, listen, it's the same shape of the argument that Jesus is making.

Can the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?

What's the answer?

No.

Prey can't be taken from the mighty.

You know, I mentioned earlier, we just like the spiritual realm, we live in a world of hierarchies and real structures that are that are built into it.

And part of that structure is stronger people beat weaker people.

If you have a race, faster people beat slower people.

You know, these these are hierarchies and structures that are just built into the world.

It's there those sentences are true just by definition, right?

That's what the words mean.

Faster means beat slower.

That's just built into the fabric of reality.

In the same way, the tyrant is someone who you can't free captives from.

That's what that word means.

You can't rescue someone from a tyrant unless there's someone stronger.

Unless there's someone mightier who comes in and binds the tyrant.

Then we can be saved.

Then we can be set free.

Look at the shape of the situation that we're in.

We are bound by Satan, somebody who is stronger than us, who traps us in his world of darkness.

This is the condition of the human heart.

It is bound by Satan.

The good news of Jesus is that he is stronger.

Who can bind the strong man?

Only one who is stronger.

Then the house can be plundered.

Sorry, I didn't keep I didn't finish reading the scripture.

I just started preaching.

Can the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?

No.

For thus says the Lord.

Listen to what the Lord The Lord says, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.

This is what Jesus says to you.

I will contend with those who contend with you.

I will contend with those who contend with you.

If somebody tries to make you a captive, I am the one who will go and fight them.

I will go fight them on your behalf.

If someone is a tyrant over you, an oppressor over you, I will go in and I will free you from their oppression.

Weak human, you have a champion now.

What is the gospel?

You have a champion in Jesus.

He is stronger.

Now, what does this mean at kind of a practical experiential level?

Because do you want to know what it feels like to um uh look?

We've all had times in our lives where we've been bound by Satan.

And that's one of those things where the phrase is so incredible and unthinkable and it blasts our imaginations into the spiritual realm that we can't really seem to grasp anything in a tangible way.

But uh, what does a world that is under Satan's dominion look like?

It kind of looks like this.

Okay, it's not uh it's not so far away.

This is not some fantasy conversation that we're having.

It's this is um these terms are descriptors of the world that you live in, just viewed properly.

You know, these are the more accurate metaphors for what's going on.

This is the reality beneath what's going on.

If you if you were using physics metaphors, you'd say something like entropy, right?

But the more accurate metaphor that speaks to the truth of the matter is under the domain of Satan.

See, the Bible gives us the proper imagination to view reality.

And so, what are the tools that Satan uses to bind us?

Let's go back to the beginning.

What did Satan do to Eve?

In the garden.

Whisper it to your neighbor.

Good.

Good.

I don't know what you said.

All right, now whisper it to me.

Deceived her.

So, what is the tool that Satan uses to bind us?

Deceit.

Lies.

He breaks you out of the reality of the world that God created, and he brings you into the false reality of his lies, and you're bound to it now.

You can't tell light from darkness.

If the light is dark to you, you don't stand a chance.

You can't even interpret your way out of the situation.

You're bound by his lies.

What lie did he tell her?

First, he starts off with that little insinuation.

Did God really say?

Did God really say you couldn't eat any of the fruit?

What's he insinuating?

God's holding back.

God's word can't be trusted.

God's holding back.

Sure, get close to God.

Just wait.

He's just here to betray you.

He's just here to trick you.

And then he comes out with a particular lie.

Because Eve corrects him.

He didn't say we couldn't eat of any tree in the garden.

He said we couldn't eat of that tree in the garden.

For if we eat of it, we'll we'll die.

And what does Satan say?

You will not surely die.

Just an outright lie.

Outright deception.

Good is now called bad.

Bad is now called good.

Look at how we see this type of dynamic develop in a culture that can't understand what good is and what bad is.

What happens when that infects the world is we start to look at the goodness of creation as it's been given to us, and we start to call it bad.

I mean, there's clear examples of that, right, that are explicit where we see we do that with things like gender, something that we've just received from God, we now call a system of oppression.

Or things like, you know, sexuality in our relationships, things that we've received from God that are self-evident in the ways that we make more of us.

We now link that into a system of oppression.

We call goodness bad.

But we do it in all sorts of other ways too, where we uh where we say that there, that the problem is not that we've been deceived, but the problem is some aspect of creation that will finally uh the problem is some aspect of creation that we demonize, and the solution is some other aspect of creation that we idolize.

Now, in our culture, the framework that we've adopted for that is a framework of power.

Every conversation of, I mean, maybe there's four or five conversations that aren't like this, but the general structure of the conversations in our culture about uh justice or about uh progress are structured just around the concept of power.

We'd say power is the most fundamental aspect of existence.

And what that means is that we would idolize certain types of power and then we demonize other types of power.

And in doing so, we're trapped in a world where the reality is power is good.

It can be used for goodness.

And when power is used for evil and wickedness, you know the driver there?

It's our sin.

It's the wicked hearts of humanity.

So we need somebody who can come in and who can take the power back and wield it properly, perhaps even on our behalf.

Listen to this.

And uh and so uh the answer to those things is uh let me link these two thoughts together.

So we're talking about power and how that becomes the fundamental aspect of interpreting reality.

And so, what do we call claims to truth then?

Well, we don't really have a category for it.

Truth claims are just related to power plays.

If I'm making a truth claim, if I'm saying this is true and that is false, we're able to step back and say, those words true and false don't have any actual bearing.

What that person is doing who's making truth claims is just trying to claim some sort of power over me.

And that's an oppressive action.

Do you see the dynamic that takes place?

But the mechanism that Satan has is a mechanism of deceit.

And so we have to be engaging with this in terms of truth.

Now, look at the uh uh so what does the binding of Satan then mean?

Well, scripture tells us how Jesus came to bind Satan.

Revelation 20, verses 2 through 3, this is the description, a pretty epic description of uh Satan's binding.

Revelation 20:2–3

It says, and he seized the dragon, that's Jesus, the dragon is Satan, that ancient serpent, you know the one from the garden, we were just talking about him.

He sees the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, threw him into the pit, shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer.

What does Satan's binding by Jesus mean?

It means he can no longer deceive the nations.

That means that when the gospel goes forward and is proclaimed in the world, it will be effective now.

Look at the way that that shape connects perfectly together with the Great Commission, where Jesus says, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.

Why are we able to do that?

Because Satan has been bound.

So when we go out, we proclaim, here's the good news.

At Jesus' death and resurrection, Satan was bound.

And so when we proclaim the gospel, your hearts can hear it and no longer be deceived.

And you can look and see, look at the goodness that Christ accomplished.

Our sins are atoned for.

There is peace between God and humanity now.

We are brought together in this incredible union.

And that message can now go forward into our hearts and into the nations.

Jesus is the strong man who bound Satan, and now he's plundering his house.

And how does Jesus plunder Satan's house?

He brings the truth.

He proclaims the news of what he has accomplished.

He says there's a new kingdom here.

It's the kingdom of God, and it's taking new ground by enlightening souls with the truth.

That's the shape of the battle that we're in.

So, how are we reconciled to Christ?

We believe his gospel.

We believe the good news that he has accomplished our salvation for us.

He has bound the strong man.

And he counts that belief, that faith in his action as righteousness to us.

And so we're united to him.

Now, that leaves us with one thing to say.

And this brings us to that unforgivable sin, which Jesus describes as like a dividing line.

Mark 3, 28 through 30.

Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven, the children of man, in whatever blasphemies they utter.

I want to just pause there.

All sins will be forgiven the children of man in whatever blasphemies they utter.

Do you hear the heart of Christ?

Do you hear how eager he is to forgive sins?

Think of what a blasphemy is.

It's speaking directly against God.

It's speaking directly against Christ.

And he's saying, look, whatever you say about me, I'll forgive it.

I'm eager to forgive.

The heart of Christ rushes in.

So desirous and compelled by love to forgive us.

This is the truth of God's heart towards you.

He's eager to forgive all sins.

He's eager to if you come to Him.

But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.

For they were saying, He has an unclean spirit.

Now Mark is more generous than the other synoptic gospel writers who would count this story because he gives us that little interpretation right there at the bottom.

For they were saying he has an unclean spirit.

That allows us to know what is this eternal sin, this blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

It's looking at the goodness that Jesus does in saying that it's bad.

It's looking at the freedom that Jesus offers in calling it oppression.

It's willfully see the gospel that Jesus offers and the light that it brings to our hearts in saying, I choose to remain in the lie.

That is the unforgivable sin.

Jesus speaks the same way elsewhere, where he says, I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

It's the same dynamic that Jesus is describing there.

There's only one strong man who comes and binds Satan so that we can truly be set free.

It's Jesus.

There's only one who has the capacity and the power to forgive all sins, even the ones that we've personally committed to against him, to spite him.

And it's Jesus.

And when we deny that, when we come up with theories as to why the goodness that Jesus is doing is actually bad.

It's actually just the domain of Satan.

Then we've closed the door to our only hope of rescue.

Look at the openness of his arms.

That's what Christmas is about.

We see Jesus came as a baby and whined like my daughter right now.

God did that.

So that he might forgive all sins.

Don't harden your heart.

All right.

Do we have any questions today?

Why did Mark not include Jesus' statement that if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, why did Mark not include Jesus' statement that if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you in his account of this exchange?

Well, likely, so that that account uh is described in the other synoptic gospels.

And so the question is, why in Mark's description of this same event did he leave out that particular sentence regarding the coming of the kingdom of God?

And the answer is I don't know.

But uh a couple of things.

Mark isn't as kingdom-oriented.

Mark is much more service-oriented, servant-oriented in his take on Jesus.

And also, uh, Mark was likely written before those other gospels.

And so the other gospels tend to uh carry additional information that Mark doesn't have as they're building on what Mark has already laid down in his take on the Gospels.

Um, so one is just sort of uh a Markin idiosyncrasy of he's not as kingdom-oriented as uh Matthew or Luke.

And also um uh more like an accident of history.

He is first, and so others had more to say because they saw what Mark already had to say.

Does that make sense?

Cool.

Here's a question I would have asked.

How do I know if I've committed this unforgivable sin?

And here's what I'd say.

It doesn't matter.

Come to Jesus.

Come to Jesus.

That's what it means to avoid the unforgivable sin.

He's eager to forgive you, to draw you in, to embrace you, to set you free from the one who has held you captive.

Look, you're responsible for your sins.

But don't you sometimes feel like you've just been held captive?

You know what?

It's a little bit of both.

You can't fight this off.

You need a stronger one to come.

He has.

He's eager to forgive.

Come to your champion.

Let's take communion as we remember that.

1 Corinthians 11, 23 through 26 says, For 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.

Do this in remembrance of me.

In the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

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

Father, I pray that you would bless this time of communion.

Lord, that we would remember that your uh the proclamation of your death is effective, that this is the good news that goes out into the world and even changes our hearts.

Lord, I pray that for those of us in this room, for those sitting in their cars outside, for those listening later online, God, that you would make this word effective in our hearts so that we might see we've been rescued.

Peace has been made between us.

We've been brought into your kingdom because you were stronger.

Praise you for that, Jesus.