SPEAKER_01: Praise Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Please look at your neighbor.
SPEAKER_01: If he or she is not smiling, just give him or her one of your smiles, one of your many smiles.
SPEAKER_01: Aita is a smile.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: So today will be our last Wednesday service for this year, but we'll continue with early bird service from five.
SPEAKER_01: So just top kuomba toomba.
SPEAKER_01: So early bird service will continue.
SPEAKER_01: We're also continuing the Sunday intercessory prayers.
SPEAKER_01: So we are still connected.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Now I wish to okay.
SPEAKER_01: I wish to share briefly on this topic: impartation of the uncommon praises, the call to fellowship with God through the Holy Communion.
SPEAKER_01: Impartation of the uncommon praises, the call to fellowship with God through the Holy Communion.
SPEAKER_01: It is funny that all the four Gospels speak about the Holy Communion, yeah?
SPEAKER_01: All the four Gospels.
SPEAKER_01: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: That tells you the importance of the Holy Communion.
SPEAKER_01: Look at Matthew 26, 26 to 28.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says, are you able to give me that?
SPEAKER_01: Matthew 26, 26 to 28.
SPEAKER_01: 26 says, While they were eating, Jesus took bread.
SPEAKER_01: And when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take and eat.
SPEAKER_01: This is my body.
SPEAKER_01: Then he took a cup.
SPEAKER_01: When he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you.
SPEAKER_01: This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: A similar verse will get it in Mark 14, 22, and then in Luke 22, 19.
SPEAKER_01: But I like you to mark this word while they were eating.
SPEAKER_01: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: We are moving towards Christmas, and Christmas cannot be Christmas if there is nothing to eat.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: While they were eating, communion or fellowship is about sharing something.
SPEAKER_01: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: It's about sharing something.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Corinthians 10 16 says, the cup of blessings which we bless.
SPEAKER_01: Is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?
SPEAKER_01: The bread which we break.
SPEAKER_01: Is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: So the two aspects that I collect us to note there: the aspect of as they were eating and the aspect of communion.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Colleagues, friends, brothers and sisters, the Holy Communion is about fellowship.
SPEAKER_01: It is in the heart of God to fellowship.
SPEAKER_01: Before God called us to serve Him, before He called us to build, to lead, or to labor, God has called us to fellowship with Him.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, the Bible says that Jesus called the disciples that they be with him and that he may send them.
SPEAKER_01: So the most important part is that they may be with him.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we lose the aspect of fellowship when we are so much concerned about going out to serve.
SPEAKER_01: God is first calling us to a life of communion with him.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: So Christianity is not primarily about activities or rituals, it's about relationship, a restored fellowship between God and humanity through Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: So Holy Communion stands at the heart of this invitation.
SPEAKER_01: It's a daily reminder that God in Christ instituted this to remind us that He's calling us into a fellowship with Him.
SPEAKER_01: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: So 1 Corinthians 10 16, it says, are you about to put it there?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks, a participation in the blood of Christ, and is and is not the bread that we break, a participation in the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: So communion from the word koinonia speaks about fellowship, sharing, participation.
SPEAKER_01: The second point I could like to draw our attention is about that this holy communion was not an initiative of man.
SPEAKER_01: It's actually Jesus who initiated it.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, in Revelation 3.20, it says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
SPEAKER_01: Today and this evening, I'd like us to know that it is God who is inviting us to this communion, to this fellowship.
SPEAKER_01: The table that we share, the elements that we have received, they are supposed to remind us that we are invited, that we are wanted, that we belong.
SPEAKER_01: I believe during this Christmas we're going to have family reunion and all that.
SPEAKER_01: The most important things, thing about that reunion is that we are invited, that we are wanted, and that we belong.
SPEAKER_01: If you have a family reunion and those things are not there, you'll feel like it was all empty, right?
SPEAKER_01: That's the same thing that God is inviting us this evening.
SPEAKER_01: Even as we celebrate the Holy Communion, let us know that God loves us.
SPEAKER_01: That He has, it is Him who has extended this invitation to us.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, the Bible says that it's not like we loved Him first, but God loved us first and is the one who chose us.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Communion is also about the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: We don't celebrate the Holy Communion so that Christ can go and die for us on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: We celebrate the Holy Communion to remind us that victory is already done, that God has already given us the victory through his son Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Also, the Holy Communion is about discernment.
SPEAKER_01: In 1 Corinthians 11 29, we read that for he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
SPEAKER_01: And many times when you read this verse, we we uh we are tempted to condemn ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: I'm not holy enough to partake.
SPEAKER_01: But that was not the intention of that verse.
SPEAKER_01: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: The intention of that verse is that we do self-recognition.
SPEAKER_01: Recognize or we discern that we are talking about Christ, we are talking about what Christ did for us, and we are enjoying in this great invitation.
SPEAKER_01: This discernment helps us to keep the fellowship from becoming a casual affair.
SPEAKER_01: It makes us to know that it's all by the grace of God, so we don't take it lightly.
SPEAKER_01: And it also is not about being sinless, but it's about being orienting or aligning ourselves with the grace of God.
SPEAKER_01: So today, as you touched, as you I believe you picked the elements with you, did you?
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: As you look at those elements, see in them that God loves you.
SPEAKER_01: See in them that somebody actually died for you.
SPEAKER_01: See in them that you are accepted in the beloved.
SPEAKER_01: See it in them that you have been forgiven, that the grace of God has been extended to us.
SPEAKER_01: So this Holy Communion, it reminds us to remain in Christ, to walk in him, and to live aware of his presence.
SPEAKER_01: To live aware of his presence.
SPEAKER_01: Allow me to give you a minute to just reflect on that before we take the Holy Communion together.
SPEAKER_01: Let us all just close our eyes for a minute.
SPEAKER_01: Just close our eyes.
SPEAKER_01: Just close our eyes and bow our heads.
SPEAKER_00: In the cross, you have been accepted in the beloved.
SPEAKER_01: In the cross, in the Holy Communion that we are commemorating today, God is telling you that I love you.
SPEAKER_01: I know your imperfection, I know your weakness, but I love you.
SPEAKER_01: And I've already paid the price for you.
SPEAKER_01: I have redeemed you by my very precious blood.
SPEAKER_01: You are precious before me.
SPEAKER_01: Just reflect upon those words.
SPEAKER_01: If there is anything that you feel to tell God, God, forgive me for this, you can talk to God for a minute.
SPEAKER_01: Talk to God.
SPEAKER_01: See how much God has loved you.
SPEAKER_01: See how much He has He's extending Himself to you.
SPEAKER_01: Reflect on these words, even with your eye closed.
SPEAKER_01: Today, as you come to the Lord's table, we're not trusting in bread or the cup.
SPEAKER_01: We are simply responding to God's call to fellowship.
SPEAKER_01: A fellowship made possible through Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: As we partake, let our hearts remember, our faith proclaim, and our lives realign with Him.
SPEAKER_01: And our lives realign with Him.
SPEAKER_01: Tell God something.
SPEAKER_01: Don't allow the Holy Communion to be a ritual.
SPEAKER_01: Let me a connection with the goodness of God, with the mercies of God, with the grace of God.
SPEAKER_01: Tell God something.
SPEAKER_00: For one minute, tell God something.
SPEAKER_00: Tell God something.
SPEAKER_01: Father, we thank you for calling us into fellowship through your Son, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: We thank you that his body was given once and for all, that his blood shed for the forgiveness of sins.
SPEAKER_01: As we partake of this bread and this cup, we do so in obedience, gratitude, and faith.
SPEAKER_01: We respond to your invitation, not trusting in the elements, but trusting fully in Christ in his finished work.
SPEAKER_01: Draw our hearts closer to you.
SPEAKER_01: Teach us to abide in you daily.
SPEAKER_01: Restore our joy in fellowship with you.
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: While we're in this mood, I'd like you to access the bread.
SPEAKER_01: Can you access the cup?
SPEAKER_00: Let us take the cup together in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: With every air, with every head bowed, with every eye closed.
SPEAKER_01: Reflect a bit.
SPEAKER_00: Reflect a bit.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we thank you.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for his death on the cross for us.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, God, for loving us this much.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for accepting us in the beloved.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we worship you.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you, oh God, for Christ, for what you did for us, Jesus Christ on the cross.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for this fellowship.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for this relationship which rests on grace and not by not on performance.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you that our life, our lives are anchored in the finished work of the cross.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Jehovah.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Well, when this mood of prayer you have a need, talk to God about it.
SPEAKER_01: There's something you've been trusting God for.
SPEAKER_01: This is a good time to tell God about it.
SPEAKER_01: It's a good time.
SPEAKER_01: You have a relative who's not feeling well, who's not born again.
SPEAKER_01: This is a good time to talk to God.
SPEAKER_01: Talk to God.
SPEAKER_01: The presence of God is here.
SPEAKER_01: The anointing of God is here.
SPEAKER_01: The grace of God is here.
SPEAKER_01: Talk to God.
SPEAKER_01: Make it count.
SPEAKER_01: Make this holy communion service count.
SPEAKER_01: Make it count.
SPEAKER_01: Mombi born a jumbo.
SPEAKER_01: What is this that you're trusting God for?
SPEAKER_01: This is a good time to talk to God about it.
SPEAKER_00: It's a good time.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: We thank you for inviting us into fellowship with you.
SPEAKER_01: As we leave this table, help us to walk daily in awareness of your presence, to abide in Christ, and to live life shaped by relationship and not rituals.
SPEAKER_02: We give you all the glory, oh God.
SPEAKER_02: We give you all the honor.
SPEAKER_02: This is our prayer.
SPEAKER_02: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Let's just appreciate the Lord with a clap.
SPEAKER_01: Just say thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Sante San.
SPEAKER_01: Now, uh look at your neighbor and tell him thank you for coming.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for coming.
SPEAKER_01: You made a difference by coming.
SPEAKER_01: And the next, and I'm the next service.
SPEAKER_01: The next Wednesday service shall be on the 2nd of January 2026.
SPEAKER_01: To Kutani.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: I want to invite those dear ones who are celebrating their birthday to just come down here.
SPEAKER_01: We could like to sing them a happy birthday song and celebrate them big.
SPEAKER_01: Just come.
SPEAKER_01: There was it seven, number five.
SPEAKER_01: I counted what seven out five?
SPEAKER_01: Please, please come, come, come, come.
SPEAKER_01: Number more, number number tattoo.
SPEAKER_01: So we'll do this.
SPEAKER_01: We will share the words of grace together, and then we'll sing them happy birthday.
SPEAKER_01: Then we will continue with the cake and the and the tea, right?
SPEAKER_01: Karibuni, kariboni, kariboni.
SPEAKER_01: Hey cake in a casmot.
SPEAKER_01: This is nice, beautiful.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_01: Um may we share the words of grace and then we sing the happy birthday song.
SPEAKER_01: And then to kull keki kamakunyu uh chai.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, may we share the words of grace and now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forever.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.