WEBVTT 00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:01.600 Hello, friends. 00:00:01.679 --> 00:00:02.879 This is Pastor Creighton. 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:06.080 Thank you for tuning in to Newsong Church's Sermon Podcast. 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:13.279 At Newsung Church, we want to see Jesus lifted high in Port Perry, Ontario, as we worship, grow, and serve. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:18.719 You can learn more about us and find contact info at newsongportperry.ca. 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:23.519 This is the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke. 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:26.079 Glory to you, Jesus Christ. 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:34.079 And when the hour came, Jesus reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:42.000 And he said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:48.640 For I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. 00:00:49.520 --> 00:01:03.119 And he took a cup, and when he'd given thanks, he said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves, for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:14.719 And he took bread, and when he'd given thanks, he broke it, and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you. 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:18.159 Do this in remembrance of me. 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:28.560 And likewise the cup after the had eaten, saying, This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:42.799 But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table, for the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed. 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:49.599 And they began to question one another, which of them could it could be who was going to do this? 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:56.000 A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 00:01:56.400 --> 00:02:06.719 And he said to them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:09.360 But not so with you. 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:19.360 Rather let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:22.319 For who is the greater? 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:26.479 One who reclines at table or one who serves? 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:29.919 Is it not the one who reclines at table? 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:34.319 But I am among you as one who serves. 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:56.479 You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 00:02:57.039 --> 00:02:58.960 The gospel of the Lord. 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:01.680 Praise to you, Lord Christ. 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:05.680 O Lord, let it be your pleasure to deliver me. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:09.360 Make haste, O Lord, to help me. 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:10.960 Let's pray. 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:30.560 Gracious Lord Jesus, would you meet us, your disciples, in this our upper room, in a way that you met your disciples on that very first Maudi Thursday. 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:40.319 Give us grace, give us faith to find fellowship with you at your table. 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:43.759 It's in your name, Lord Jesus, we pray. 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:44.719 Amen. 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:47.120 Please be seated. 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:59.520 So one fellow says to another, My memory's gotten so bad I've lost my job. 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:04.000 And the other fellow says to him, I'm so sorry to hear that. 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:06.960 How long have you been unemployed? 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:12.000 The fellow looks at him, puzzled, says, Oh, I'm not unemployed. 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:14.080 I just can't find where I work. 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:19.040 That really landed strong, didn't it? 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:23.839 I've lost my office building. 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:27.439 Memory matters, doesn't it? 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:34.639 Memories are more than just the sum of factoids that make up our day or make up our lives, right? 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:38.720 It's more than just remembering where I work or where I live. 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:42.720 It's more than just remembering what I had for lunch. 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:45.360 Memories are more than the sum of their parts. 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:56.639 Memories give us a sense of cohesion, a sense of orientation, a sense of where we've come from, but a sense of where we're going as well, don't they? 00:04:56.959 --> 00:05:05.600 If you've ever seen the film Momento, it's a story about a protagonist who can't make any more short-term memories or long-term memories. 00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:12.800 He can only remember about two minutes at a time, but he's determined to hunt down this criminal who's done his family wrong. 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:21.120 And you see over the course of this movie just how disorienting it is for this character to not be able to piece things together moment to moment to moment. 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:23.040 Memory matters. 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:37.439 A fellow named Mike Wiking, who writes a book called The Art of Making Memories, he writes, memories strengthen our sense of identity and purpose and bond our relationships. 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:43.040 Ever wonder why you get together with old friends and all you talk about is the trouble you got up to in years past. 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:45.360 I mean, these are the things that bonded us together. 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:47.279 We're going to rehearse those things. 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:53.040 We're going to rediscover those things together because they they bind us together. 00:05:53.759 --> 00:06:01.839 So strong memories make for a strong sense of self, a strong sense of purpose, a strong sense of where I fit into my relational networks. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:08.720 And if we want to build stronger memories, the sort that give us a stronger sense of ourself, then there's a few suggestions. 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:11.199 How do I make a memory stick? 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:19.120 First, a conscious decision at that moment to take it all in through your senses as much as possible. 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:25.519 So this I remember doing this, at least trying to do this on our wedding day, because I was only ever told how quick it goes by. 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:27.519 So take in as much as you can. 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:32.560 And I probably have a solid three, four, or five memories of the wedding day, because it goes by like that. 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:35.279 But I remember that I'm married, and that's the important part. 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:40.079 Make a conscious decision to take it all in through your senses. 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:42.079 Sense memory matters. 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:47.519 When we study for a test or an exam, we do more, generally speaking, than reading the text. 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:51.439 We we write it out, we try and engage our other senses in that. 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:55.199 We try and make this as sensory as possible if we're going to remember something. 00:06:55.279 --> 00:07:03.120 And the second piece of advice is this how do I make my memory stick by revisiting that memory to mark it as important in your brain. 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:08.639 If I only ever thought about my wedding one time after I got married, then there might be a problem there. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:12.639 The important things are the things we keep going back to in our minds. 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:16.079 We revisit them over and over and over again. 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:18.879 Memory matters. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:24.079 And that matters not just for individuals, but it matters for communities as well. 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:27.279 Communities, nations have memories, don't they? 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:31.519 Our town, Port Perry, has memories, doesn't it? 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:33.519 I mean, think about it this way. 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:42.959 Let's say you and I were to go and visit a war memorial, what three words would we likely, would we expect to see somewhere emblazoned on this war memorial? 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:46.240 Lest we forget. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:55.360 Now, let's say I'm a little slow on the uptake, because I'm a little slow some days, and I turn to you and I say, lest we forget, I wasn't around during the war. 00:07:56.399 --> 00:07:59.759 How could I forget something that I don't remember in the first place? 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:02.319 We'd say, well, Creighton, you've missed the point. 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:21.839 The point is that you belong to this nation of Canada, and this nation has been through something so profound, it's had to reckon with the precious value of peace and life, and the horror and cost of war and the loss of life. 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:28.560 We ought not to forget these things because if we forget these things, well, we're bound to repeat this sort of history, aren't we? 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:34.720 And we, each of us, as citizens of this nation, have a responsibility to carry these memories forward. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:39.919 Nations and communities have memories, don't they? 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:41.440 Lest we forget. 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:44.080 Memory matters. 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:45.919 It matters in Scripture. 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:55.360 Over 250 times in the Old Testament and the New Testament are God's people in one way or another commanded to remember. 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:00.159 Remember your creator in the days of your youth. 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:03.279 I will remember the deeds of the Lord, says the psalmist. 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:06.159 Yes, I will remember your wonders of old. 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:11.279 And bless the Lord, O my soul, forget not all of his benefits. 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:19.600 Chiefly God's people are called to remember those saving acts that God has done on their behalf in history. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:28.960 Take care, the Lord says, lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of slavery. 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:34.720 I know the Bible has this reputation of being this book that's really difficult to approach. 00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:36.960 It's challenging in many ways, that's true. 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:41.679 But the Bible has this remarkably realistic view of being human. 00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:45.279 It knows that we are prone to forget. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:50.320 And not just forget what we had for lunch, but forget the important things. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:54.879 We know that we're inclined to forget things as a nation like war. 00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:58.320 What can we be inclined to forget before God? 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:06.720 Remember, remember, remember, is what God says to his people. 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:12.720 Remember that I am your deliverer, your savior. 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:18.799 To forget this is to forget the faith. 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:30.720 And because this command to remember is so crucial, the Lord joins it together with our senses. 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:37.120 He gives his people a meal, a feast of deliverance. 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:43.759 And he mandates that it's a meal that's revisited over and over and over again. 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:50.159 It's meant to engage our memory as individuals, as God's people, together. 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:52.320 This is our feast of deliverance. 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:56.080 We first see it in Exodus chapter 12. 00:10:57.120 --> 00:10:59.840 Here, God's people are enslaved in Egypt. 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:09.600 They've enjoyed many centuries of peace and prosperity, but along comes a Pharaoh that doesn't remember the good that Israel has done Egypt in the past. 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:13.679 This Pharaoh sees Israel as a people to be oppressed. 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:17.200 In fact, he sees them as a threat to his throne. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:25.759 And so he takes the initiative to slaughter a generation of their firstborn sons just to make sure that Israel knows their place. 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:35.120 So Israel is enslaved and they cry out to God, who's promised to deliver them to a promised land. 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:38.080 They cry out to him for help. 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:53.600 And God hears their cry, and he raises up his servant Moses to go to Pharaoh and to command Pharaoh to let his people go, and yet through pride and through hardness of heart, Pharaoh refuses to listen to the command of the Lord. 00:11:54.559 --> 00:12:05.360 And so to demonstrate his sovereignty over all things, God sends nine plagues on Egypt that Pharaoh might repent. 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:08.480 He might let his people go. 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:11.600 But it's not so. 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:17.919 So here we're on the eve of the tenth and last plague, the most terrible plague to come. 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:27.919 In a way that Pharaoh has slaughtered a firstborn, a generation of firstborn sons of Israel, God will visit this judgment on the whole land. 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:36.799 But God has provided a means of rescue to his people. 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:43.360 This day, the Lord says, shall be for you a memorial day. 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:48.320 You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations, as a statute forever. 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:50.799 You shall keep it as a feast. 00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:53.360 This is something that's meant to be carried forward. 00:12:53.600 --> 00:13:00.159 In fact, later on, after our Exodus reading, it says, When your children say to you, What do you mean by all of this? 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:04.080 You shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover. 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:09.039 The people of Israel meant to revisit this over and over and over again. 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:15.519 It's meant to be a sign for each generation that the Lord has acted for their deliverance. 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:17.679 He's acted to be their Savior. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:22.480 And he wants to engage their sense memory as he does it. 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:24.639 He gives them a meal. 00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:27.840 Verse 3, God says, Take a lamb. 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:42.799 In verse 5, he goes on to say, Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, when that when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:49.440 Then they shall take some of the blood, and they will put it on two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat. 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:57.759 They shall eat the flesh that night roasted on the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, they shall eat it. 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:03.519 The Lord is about to act to rescue his people from slavery in Egypt. 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:06.799 And he gives them a meal. 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:09.759 He gives them a meal with three important elements. 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:12.080 First, we see the lamb, don't we? 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:15.679 A lamb that's meant to be roasted without blemish. 00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:19.440 It's meant to be a perfect sacrifice without fault. 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:25.840 It's meant to signify something of God's purity and wholeness and holiness. 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:30.320 This lamb is going to be a substitute for God's people. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:31.679 It's meant to be eaten. 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:36.320 It's meant to be appropriated by God's people, joined together. 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:40.000 Yeah what you eat, is what we say, and that's true in this as well. 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:41.679 Here's God's substitute. 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:42.960 You're going to eat that. 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:45.120 It's going to become part of you. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:51.840 You're going to appropriate it to yourself, and you're going to find fellowship with your fellow Israelites as you do that. 00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:53.360 Take a lamb. 00:14:53.519 --> 00:14:56.799 And then take some of the blood and put it on your doorposts. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:02.240 On the crossbeam of the house, blood would be spilled and painted. 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:11.200 It would be a sign to the Lord that this is a house that has followed the Lord's commands, that puts their trust in his saving action. 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:20.000 This blood in the doorpost will signify to the Lord when he visits this land that this is a house that has put their trust in him. 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:27.120 A life has been given for a life, and God's people trust the Lord. 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:29.679 And finally, we see bread in verse 8. 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:36.799 Bread with bitter herbs, meant to remind God's people the bitterness of slavery. 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:44.639 This feast tells God's people from one generation to the next that he is their deliverer. 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:52.240 This moment in Exodus becomes for God's people the, it's like the bullseye of God's saving work. 00:15:52.480 --> 00:16:00.240 It radiates outwards, reminding all of God's people from one generation to the next that God is surely for us. 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:03.120 And he will surely save us. 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:13.919 And each and every time this meal gets revisited, and the smells are taken in and the tastes are tasted, it reminds them that the Lord is good. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:18.559 And it's carried forward. 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:25.840 It's carried forward to an upper room in Jerusalem, where Jesus gathers with his disciples. 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:28.399 We read about it in Luke chapter 22. 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:32.240 Jesus is not just getting together for any old meal with his disciples, is he? 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:35.600 He's not having fish tacos and talking about the good times. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:38.000 What's he celebrating here? 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:40.559 It's the Passover meal. 00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:43.759 This is a Passover that he's looked forward to. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:57.360 And so as they eat the lamb and they share the bread and they share the cup, Jesus and his disciples share in this memory of God's people that he has acted decisively for their deliverance. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:01.600 But Jesus does more than just celebrate the Passover with his disciples. 00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:07.359 He renews it, he reconstitutes it, he puts himself at the very center of it. 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:10.319 And we got to see just how wild this is. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:16.480 Surely no Jewish rabbi would think to do that, put themselves in the middle of God's saving activity. 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:19.920 Only God can do that for himself. 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:25.039 So here's Jesus putting himself at the very center of this meal. 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:33.279 It's a feast of deliverance, but not deliverance from slavery in Egypt, not even from oppression, Roman oppression. 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:47.920 In Luke chapter 4, Jesus introduces his ministry by saying that the Spirit of the Lord is upon me to proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to set at liberty those who are oppressed. 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:50.240 Jesus is a deliverer. 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:51.519 That's his mission. 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:54.000 And what's he meant to deliver us from? 00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:56.400 Well, John gives us an answer in his gospel. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:02.000 Jesus says, Truly I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:09.359 All have sin and fallen short of the glory of God, is what the Apostle Paul writes, and the wages of sinners is death. 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:18.720 So here we are in this condition of deterioration and alienation from the God we were always meant to be in fellowship with. 00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:23.039 We are enslaved to sin. 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:26.799 I don't think I have to make a case for that. 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:31.440 It's like you watch the news and you can't help but see something is wrong. 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:39.920 And the number of conversations I've had, even the last week, where something is wrong with the world and we just don't know why or what. 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:45.359 We just know something is not the way it's supposed to be. 00:18:46.799 --> 00:19:01.200 Here we live on this side of eternity, enslaved as it were, powerless to help ourselves out of this predicament that we find ourselves in from one generation to the next. 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:09.359 Here we are, as the Bible would say, sin slaves to sin and death. 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:12.319 But Jesus has a meal for us. 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:18.000 It's the same sensory meal as the Passover, but it's on the eve of the cross. 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:24.160 So he takes bread and he says, This is my body given for you. 00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:28.240 Do this in remembrance of me. 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:31.519 This would be the bread with the bitter herbs. 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:35.119 Maybe there's more bitterness going on than just slavery in Egypt. 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:39.440 This is the bitterness of sin and death, the condition we live in. 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:42.960 And he's identified it as his body. 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:44.799 This is what you're going to consume. 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:47.039 This is what you're going to appropriate to yourself. 00:19:47.200 --> 00:19:53.680 You're going to find fellowship with one another and with me as you take this and consume it. 00:19:54.319 --> 00:20:05.839 The perfect, spotless Lamb of God, who is Jesus, is giving himself, his very righteousness, over to his disciples, that it would be theirs. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:12.799 And so too, Jesus takes the cup and says, This is my blood. 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:18.880 This cup is poured out for you, is the canoe covenant in my blood. 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:21.839 It's shed for the forgiveness of sins. 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:25.519 A substitution has been made. 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:27.440 It's about to be made. 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:31.759 That judgment would pass over God's people. 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:34.559 That there would be deliverance. 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:39.119 Take it and eat it. 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:42.960 This is the feast of the Lord's Supper. 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:45.759 Or we might call it the Eucharist or Holy Communion. 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:54.240 It reminds us, who are God's new covenant people, that He has delivered us from sin and from death. 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:57.440 He has accomplished our deliverance. 00:20:58.480 --> 00:21:01.759 As surely as he has taken the cross onto himself. 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:09.839 So the Apostle Paul can say, as often as you eat, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:13.599 As often as you eat. 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:18.480 I wonder if we asked Paul how often that is, he'd go, well, it's often. 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:24.720 It is good to have the Lord's Supper often because we proclaim the Lord's death as he comes. 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:29.519 Not that Jesus died as a historical fact, but the significance of his death. 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:32.880 He has taken the condition of sin and death onto himself. 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:36.480 He has become the Passover Lamb for our sake. 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:43.359 He is life given for our life so that we can be restored to God. 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:49.440 As often as we eat this, we proclaim his death until he comes. 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:52.799 And we ought to remember that this table points us forward. 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:55.839 He will come again to feast with us in his kingdom. 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:57.599 That's his promise. 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:08.720 This feast reminds us, his people, that God is our deliverer and memory matters. 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:13.759 But the Apostle Paul gives us a warning, doesn't he? 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:16.000 Freaks me out when I read it. 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:20.799 As often as you eat this bread, drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:30.640 Whoever therefore eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:40.000 Let a person examine himself then and eat the bread, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:42.720 Boy, what are we supposed to do with that, eh? 00:22:45.039 --> 00:23:06.960 I wonder if on that very first Passover evening there were Israelites huddled together in little shacks that are put together by slaves, eating a lamb, painting the doorposts with blood, thinking, am I really worthy of this? 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:12.960 Do I really expect God Almighty to show up at my door and give me a pass? 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:16.319 I might not be as bad as Egypt. 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:23.519 But sometimes if we're honest with ourselves, we'd be pretty nervous for God to show up at our door, wouldn't we? 00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:26.400 What's God inviting them to? 00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:29.759 He's not inviting them to do a good work that earns it before them. 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:33.279 He's saying, put your faith in my saving action. 00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:37.680 I am going to do for you what you can't do for yourself. 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:48.480 So when you paint that blood on your doorposts, you are making an act of faith, saying, I trust in the Lord's deliverance and not my own. 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:59.759 So, friends, when we come to the Lord's Supper to receive his body and his blood, we come as we come as an act of faith. 00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:05.599 Lord Jesus, you have accomplished for me what I can't accomplish for myself. 00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:18.640 We eat of the cup and we eat the bread and drink the cup unworthily, when we come trusting in our own righteousness, like we've earned it, like I nailed it as a Christian this week. 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:30.799 When we come to the table as those ready to receive his righteousness, his goodness, given for us on the cross, then we come by faith. 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:35.359 I read a great Lutheran blog this morning. 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:37.279 There are some great Lutheran blogs. 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:38.720 This is a great one. 00:24:41.359 --> 00:24:52.079 Here the writer says, if you believe these words, given and shed for you, then you are worthy and well prepared for the Lord's Supper. 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:55.839 Only sinners are worthy of the Lord's Supper. 00:24:56.720 --> 00:25:02.960 And if it's the forgiveness of sins that you seek from Christ, then you qualify. 00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:07.440 Eat and drink your salvation. 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:11.599 Memory matters. 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:20.559 And this table, each and every time we gather at it, tells us that God is our deliverer. 00:25:21.119 --> 00:25:24.160 He has delivered us through the cross of Christ. 00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:26.880 And we are saved. 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:32.880 The psalmist praise, O Lord, let it be your pleasure to deliver me. 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:38.000 This table says to us, you are delivered. 00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:48.559 So remember, friends, our Lord Jesus gives himself for you and for me and invites us to come by faith. 00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:49.519 Amen. 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:54.880 Thank you for listening today. 00:25:55.119 --> 00:26:00.559 We worship a generous God who calls us to follow him in giving willfully, cheerfully, and sacrificially. 00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:07.200 Newsong Church's mission and ministry is 100% funded by the generous gifts of those worshiping and journeying with us. 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:14.960 If you'd like to offer a gift towards Newsong's ministry, please visit NewsongportPary.ca Giving for more information on how to do that. 00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:18.079 May God bless you and keep you today and every day.