WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.339 You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. 00:00:06.839 --> 00:00:09.359 Our passion is to experience and express grace. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:10.500 Join us. 00:00:12.140 --> 00:00:18.740 Before we come to the Lord's table together this morning, we are considering communion, 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:23.879 the Lord's Supper together from God's Word. 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:26.699 But not just in general. 00:00:26.699 --> 00:00:32.280 We could talk about a lot of things about the Lord's Supper for sure. 00:00:33.219 --> 00:00:40.619 But rather particularly today, how we meet Jesus here as we walk in relationship with 00:00:40.619 --> 00:00:41.799 Him day by day. 00:00:43.780 --> 00:00:48.679 That's what we've been talking about this summer and I've been especially struck this week considering 00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:55.280 the idea that we need God's grace in such an ongoing way. 00:00:56.700 --> 00:00:59.560 That's part of the relationship that we have with God. 00:00:59.700 --> 00:01:07.020 It's part of why the mission of our church is to experience grace and express it. 00:01:07.100 --> 00:01:14.540 The fact that God gives us means of grace like His Word and prayer and the sacraments is that 00:01:14.540 --> 00:01:15.859 we so desperately need it. 00:01:15.980 --> 00:01:20.800 We breathe in and out grace like oxygen. 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:24.140 That's the design of the relationship. 00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:26.780 We are needy, dependent people here at Southwood. 00:01:26.840 --> 00:01:27.079 Yes? 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:28.519 Yes. 00:01:30.519 --> 00:01:36.099 It's not that we once upon a time needed God's grace and now we're just fine on our own, 00:01:36.179 --> 00:01:43.879 but it's that we today need God's grace moment by moment to walk with Jesus so over and over 00:01:43.879 --> 00:01:49.500 again we come to Him and we come to the Lord's Supper for grace. 00:01:50.659 --> 00:01:57.359 Remember, both baptism and the Lord's Supper are sacraments given to the covenant community 00:01:57.359 --> 00:02:01.079 of God's people as signs to celebrate together. 00:02:01.780 --> 00:02:07.519 We talked last week about how much we need one another as we walk with Jesus together. 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:13.419 God designed His church to gather as His body, not to give up meeting together. 00:02:14.259 --> 00:02:17.000 That's how we walk with Him together. 00:02:18.500 --> 00:02:24.240 Making the gathered worship of God's people then a regular part of your life is a great 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:28.819 way to meet Jesus and to walk with Him regularly. 00:02:29.900 --> 00:02:33.180 Sometimes we lose sight of that priority, don't we? 00:02:33.180 --> 00:02:43.120 Many have missed out on that a lot since COVID disrupted regular habits and priorities, but 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:50.840 we must walk together with Jesus in worship, with your grace group, sharing all of life 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:51.500 together. 00:02:51.939 --> 00:02:59.080 You can't even obey half of God's commands in His Word on your own in private as a lone Christian. 00:02:59.080 --> 00:03:04.380 There's way too much one anothering to do in here to do that on your own. 00:03:05.260 --> 00:03:11.520 And you certainly can't celebrate the Lord's Supper and have Jesus meet you there in it like 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:16.100 we need Him to without the other members of His body. 00:03:16.880 --> 00:03:20.520 Oh, we need this grace so much and so often. 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:27.180 We're going to talk this morning about how God brings His grace to us in the Lord's Supper, 00:03:27.180 --> 00:03:32.700 looking at several passages, but let's pray together first and ask for His help. 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:39.800 Father, we come before You this morning needing grace. 00:03:41.939 --> 00:03:48.080 Knowing that You give it, asking You for it. 00:03:49.920 --> 00:03:51.740 And we do that in Jesus' name. 00:03:52.760 --> 00:03:53.060 Amen. 00:03:53.060 --> 00:03:53.200 Amen. 00:03:53.199 --> 00:04:04.000 In order to digest the grace of the Lord's Supper this morning, I want you to recall a 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:09.419 great meal that you've had sometime in your life recently, maybe many years ago. 00:04:09.639 --> 00:04:12.620 A meal where you felt filled up. 00:04:13.060 --> 00:04:16.259 Not just in your stomach, but in your heart. 00:04:16.419 --> 00:04:19.339 Too deep in your soul, you felt filled up. 00:04:19.339 --> 00:04:25.519 Maybe a Thanksgiving dinner with multiple generations gathered to feast and share together. 00:04:26.599 --> 00:04:33.859 Maybe it was an exquisite evening where someone pulled out the fine china and celebrated you 00:04:33.859 --> 00:04:35.739 with amazing food. 00:04:36.939 --> 00:04:42.759 Maybe a meal of normal food on paper plates where you reconnected with an old friend in 00:04:42.759 --> 00:04:44.899 a life-giving way and it filled your soul. 00:04:45.740 --> 00:04:47.159 I can think of a bunch of those. 00:04:47.219 --> 00:04:48.240 I think a lot about food. 00:04:48.860 --> 00:04:56.839 But many recently, I was in Richmond for General Assembly and I ran into Mike and Judy Honeycutt 00:04:56.839 --> 00:04:59.079 in a room of over 2,000 people. 00:05:00.039 --> 00:05:04.980 Mike was the senior pastor of Southwood when I came here about 16 years ago. 00:05:04.980 --> 00:05:11.780 And we chatted together for a couple of minutes and then Mike said, hey Will, Judy has plans 00:05:11.780 --> 00:05:13.200 with some women tomorrow. 00:05:14.379 --> 00:05:16.180 Would you like to go to lunch together? 00:05:17.640 --> 00:05:21.780 Now listen, Mike is a role model for me, okay? 00:05:22.100 --> 00:05:23.000 He's a hero. 00:05:23.840 --> 00:05:26.879 He is much more connected in the PCA. 00:05:26.980 --> 00:05:30.259 He's a generation ahead of me in life and ministry. 00:05:30.860 --> 00:05:34.379 He has taught as a professor at our denominational seminary. 00:05:34.379 --> 00:05:39.040 So there were a lot of people in that room that Mike could have had lunch with the next 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:39.500 day. 00:05:41.259 --> 00:05:49.519 But the next day, we enjoyed really good tacos, encouraging conversation that ranged from 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:59.579 preaching to pastoring to parenting and sharing together a special love for the people of this 00:05:59.579 --> 00:06:02.079 church and this city. 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:07.599 That's a unique way that Mike and I are connected. 00:06:08.359 --> 00:06:12.359 And we so love you and this place. 00:06:13.479 --> 00:06:15.539 Seeing Mike put a smile on my face. 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:20.219 But sharing a meal together filled my heart, right? 00:06:21.419 --> 00:06:25.579 Isn't there something about a meal together that deepens relationship? 00:06:25.579 --> 00:06:32.639 Especially when someone invites you into their home, into their life, you have a more intimate 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:33.979 connection, don't you? 00:06:34.479 --> 00:06:40.000 That dynamic that most of us have felt and experienced sometime, I hope you've got a moment 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:40.759 in your mind. 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:45.259 That was especially true in the ancient Near East in the time of the Bible. 00:06:45.259 --> 00:06:52.279 And I think one of the most remarkable things about the whole story of Scripture is the way that eating, 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:59.319 particularly meals shared with God, is woven throughout God's story. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:06.180 It is a way that he reiterates to us the importance of intimacy with him. 00:07:06.180 --> 00:07:14.780 The fulfillment that we have in relationship with him, the closeness of that relationship that he wants to have with us. 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:17.680 Think with me just a couple minutes. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:30.720 In God's first recorded conversation with the man and the woman made in his image, he tells them of his provision for them to eat wide varieties of food. 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:40.939 In his patterns of life for his people, there are feasts like the annual Passover feast that involves unleavened bread and a slain lamb. 00:07:40.939 --> 00:07:43.660 And God says, keep this feast forever. 00:07:43.660 --> 00:07:49.600 Never forget what I did to bring you into relationship with me. 00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:53.840 That special relationship with God we call a covenant. 00:07:54.660 --> 00:07:59.500 And covenants were often sealed, ratified with a meal. 00:08:00.700 --> 00:08:07.300 So when God tells his newly delivered people how to live in relationship with him, that's the Ten Commandments, okay? 00:08:07.300 --> 00:08:23.420 They listened to this book of the covenant, read to them, and then Moses and some priests and 70 elders go up the mountain, see Yahweh, and share a meal in his presence. 00:08:25.180 --> 00:08:27.680 In the new covenant, this pattern continues. 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:32.659 As Jesus comes, God in the flesh, and he's known for eating with whom? 00:08:33.779 --> 00:08:35.980 Tax collectors and sinners. 00:08:35.980 --> 00:08:39.360 And why is it that people are so upset about that? 00:08:39.700 --> 00:08:46.200 Why do the religious leaders get so worked up about Jesus being one who's eating with tax collectors and sinners? 00:08:46.460 --> 00:08:50.060 It's because that sharing of a meal communicates value, doesn't it? 00:08:50.639 --> 00:09:01.480 And welcome and friendship that they thought was so beneath a teacher like Jesus to be eating with sinners such as these. 00:09:01.480 --> 00:09:05.100 But Jesus enjoys many famous meals like that. 00:09:05.159 --> 00:09:08.840 Like one at tax collector Zacchaeus' house. 00:09:10.039 --> 00:09:15.659 Some meals where he miraculously provides food for thousands of people at the same time. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:20.720 Another where Mary and Martha and Lazarus are key guests. 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:35.320 In fact, as he teaches, Jesus depicts the kingdom of heaven, Matthew 22, as a banquet where the king invites both good and bad guests to come celebrate his son with him. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:39.860 Religious, irreligious, celebrate my son with me. 00:09:39.860 --> 00:09:46.259 And then, of course, there's the meal that we will celebrate and focus on today. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:57.840 Where Jesus takes that Passover meal with his disciples and he fills it with new covenant significance at the last supper. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:03.899 Only the last supper is not actually the last supper in the Bible. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:04.399 It doesn't. 00:10:04.500 --> 00:10:13.460 And there we learned earlier this summer that Jesus continues to knock at the door of his people's hearts and offer to linger over a meal with us. 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:17.840 If we'll just repent and welcome him in, he says in Revelation 3. 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:28.019 And the Bible tells us that we're moving forward to an eternal meal at the wedding supper of the Lamb that goes beyond anything we've experienced or could possibly imagine. 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:38.580 Part of that picture of our eternal, perfectly restored relationship with God is the meal foretold in Isaiah 25 that we read together earlier. 00:10:38.700 --> 00:10:39.879 Let me just remind us. 00:10:39.879 --> 00:10:56.019 And what's going to happen? 00:10:56.100 --> 00:10:57.299 What are we feasting about? 00:10:57.740 --> 00:11:03.960 He will swallow up on this mountain the covering cast over all peoples, the veil spread over all nations. 00:11:04.100 --> 00:11:07.100 He will swallow up death forever. 00:11:07.100 --> 00:11:11.180 And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. 00:11:11.480 --> 00:11:13.920 The reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth. 00:11:14.180 --> 00:11:15.200 For the Lord has spoken. 00:11:15.540 --> 00:11:18.540 It will be said on that day when we're gathered with him at that meal. 00:11:18.860 --> 00:11:20.399 Behold, this is our God. 00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:21.540 We're eating with him. 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:24.500 We have waited for him that he might save us. 00:11:24.800 --> 00:11:25.759 This is the Lord. 00:11:25.879 --> 00:11:26.899 We have waited for him. 00:11:27.180 --> 00:11:30.080 Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. 00:11:30.259 --> 00:11:31.500 Don't you want to be at that meal? 00:11:32.420 --> 00:11:33.700 That will be good. 00:11:33.820 --> 00:11:36.160 Can you believe that meal? 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:41.059 If you are a foodie, this is the God you want to know, isn't it? 00:11:41.939 --> 00:11:56.079 But I mean, can you believe even more importantly that this incredible God wants to have that kind of close personal relationship with you? 00:11:56.080 --> 00:12:00.920 He comes for that purpose. 00:12:02.860 --> 00:12:05.180 He wants to sit down with you over lunch. 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:12.220 He wants to pick you out of a large room full of people and listen to your heart. 00:12:12.280 --> 00:12:15.940 He wants to be known by you in such a personal way. 00:12:15.940 --> 00:12:25.300 Listen, when God gave us something to picture his personal relationship with us, it wasn't a picture, was it? 00:12:26.380 --> 00:12:28.540 It wasn't merely words. 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:30.660 It was a meal. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:35.780 And a meal not merely of, hey, y'all, look up and look at bread and look at wine. 00:12:35.779 --> 00:12:40.199 No, taste and see, touch and feel. 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:41.720 God is good. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:47.339 That's the regular communal meal provided by him. 00:12:48.139 --> 00:12:56.620 The extraordinary God and king over all for very ordinary people like you and me. 00:12:56.620 --> 00:12:58.779 What grace that is. 00:12:59.340 --> 00:13:03.679 You thought it was grace for Mike Honeycutt to eat lunch with me. 00:13:05.419 --> 00:13:11.279 Yahweh eats with you all the time. 00:13:12.019 --> 00:13:13.200 That's grace. 00:13:14.039 --> 00:13:14.259 Amen. 00:13:16.060 --> 00:13:20.779 Now, I know moving back up here is stressing some of you out because I walked down there and you thought the sermon was over. 00:13:22.539 --> 00:13:24.560 And you thought, man, that was short. 00:13:24.559 --> 00:13:26.939 You hold on to that feeling, okay? 00:13:26.979 --> 00:13:28.279 You're going to need it in a few minutes. 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:37.559 That's really what we're talking about this morning. 00:13:37.639 --> 00:13:41.000 But I want to help us see just a little further as we eat with God. 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:43.599 As we marvel at the reality that we do. 00:13:44.219 --> 00:13:45.699 How do we taste his grace? 00:13:46.359 --> 00:13:47.719 How does that actually happen? 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:52.879 What I want to do is encourage you, give you some tools as you think about coming to this table. 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:58.820 And as you think about the Lord's Supper, even if you're observing or watching this morning. 00:14:00.419 --> 00:14:02.159 How do you prepare to come? 00:14:03.559 --> 00:14:05.639 What do you think about as you eat? 00:14:06.059 --> 00:14:08.580 What are the things you contemplate after you leave? 00:14:09.059 --> 00:14:12.500 Consider three parts of this meal. 00:14:12.659 --> 00:14:16.659 The host, the guests, and the food. 00:14:16.659 --> 00:14:19.639 First, the host. 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:25.379 God invites us to supper with him. 00:14:25.860 --> 00:14:29.439 You'll notice that in all the gospel accounts of the Last Supper. 00:14:30.019 --> 00:14:35.779 And the same in 1 Corinthians 11 where Paul passes along what Jesus has told him. 00:14:36.219 --> 00:14:39.459 Verse 23, I received this from the Lord. 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:40.779 What is it? 00:14:40.779 --> 00:14:45.779 The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, he's the one who took bread. 00:14:46.539 --> 00:14:48.079 And he gave thanks. 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:51.500 And he broke it and starts to share the food. 00:14:51.659 --> 00:14:55.919 See, Jesus plays the role of host in this supper. 00:14:56.439 --> 00:14:57.159 It's important. 00:14:57.379 --> 00:14:58.559 He tells us why. 00:14:58.779 --> 00:15:01.679 It's because the entire supper is at his initiative. 00:15:01.839 --> 00:15:05.159 Luke 22, at that last supper, he says to his apostles, 00:15:05.159 --> 00:15:11.919 I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you. 00:15:12.299 --> 00:15:14.559 What an encouraging reminder, isn't that? 00:15:14.939 --> 00:15:18.059 Of the kind of relationship Jesus longs for with us. 00:15:18.079 --> 00:15:20.059 And if you say, oh, well, it's not encouraging to me. 00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:21.899 Jesus just wanted to eat it with the apostles. 00:15:22.120 --> 00:15:24.659 No, you remember Revelation 3. 00:15:25.059 --> 00:15:29.019 Jesus knocking and longing to linger with you. 00:15:29.159 --> 00:15:31.120 It's that same longing. 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:35.000 Can you imagine going out to a meal? 00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:39.860 And eating the whole meal completely ignoring the person across the table from you? 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:46.259 Or sitting down for a meal that someone prepared for you in their home 00:15:46.259 --> 00:15:48.519 and never speaking to them all night? 00:15:49.879 --> 00:15:51.159 You'd never do that. 00:15:52.740 --> 00:15:58.419 May we never come to this table without being mindful of our dinner companion. 00:15:58.899 --> 00:16:04.079 The one who longs to know us, to hear our hearts, to forgive our sins, 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:06.280 to strengthen our faith. 00:16:08.280 --> 00:16:15.620 C.S. Lewis emphasizes the importance of including God in our conversation here and throughout our lives. 00:16:16.180 --> 00:16:20.060 The lives that we share together in Christian community. 00:16:20.280 --> 00:16:21.560 He writes of that and said, 00:16:21.780 --> 00:16:25.520 God includes each of you personally in this community. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:32.939 And so at this feast, it is he, God, who has spread the board. 00:16:33.139 --> 00:16:35.600 And it is he who has chosen the guests. 00:16:35.879 --> 00:16:41.639 It is he we may dare to hope who sometimes does and always should preside. 00:16:42.220 --> 00:16:46.819 Let us not reckon without our host. 00:16:46.820 --> 00:16:48.520 Don't ignore him. 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:50.340 Don't miss him. 00:16:50.620 --> 00:16:55.379 Don't eat with brothers and sisters in any context without talking about him. 00:16:55.800 --> 00:16:59.040 He is here with us, especially in the supper, 00:16:59.400 --> 00:17:03.580 so that we taste and see that he is good. 00:17:03.980 --> 00:17:04.740 He's the focus. 00:17:05.100 --> 00:17:10.880 And we receive grace as we depend on and look to his provision. 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:17.540 And then as we focus on communing with him around this table, 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:24.460 we look up and find he has invited many others into the same space with us. 00:17:24.700 --> 00:17:30.900 Those friends that he chose to put around us are an important part of the meal, aren't they? 00:17:31.740 --> 00:17:35.720 Is that true in the memorable meal that you have in your mind this morning? 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:38.180 The people who are there, a big part of that? 00:17:38.180 --> 00:17:43.299 Have you ever been to a good meal with awkward guests? 00:17:45.380 --> 00:17:46.620 Jesus has. 00:17:48.519 --> 00:17:56.820 At the last supper, Jesus pours out his heart to guys who are getting ready to deny him, 00:17:58.519 --> 00:18:02.279 betray him, or abandon him. 00:18:03.840 --> 00:18:05.980 But he has washed their feet. 00:18:05.980 --> 00:18:09.539 He has told them of his love. 00:18:09.900 --> 00:18:14.440 And he is now explaining the Passover feast that they've celebrated before, 00:18:14.620 --> 00:18:15.660 but never like this. 00:18:15.700 --> 00:18:21.200 He's explaining that it is his blood that he will give to pay for their sins. 00:18:21.400 --> 00:18:24.440 The ones that are in the middle of committing, the ones that are about to go commit. 00:18:24.579 --> 00:18:28.599 What grace that Jesus sits and shares that meal with them. 00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:35.000 God says this is an aspect of his grace that we can't overlook as we come to commune with him. 00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:39.099 As we eat with our host, it is not just about the two of us. 00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:44.119 That's the context of Paul's admonition to the Corinthians. 00:18:44.659 --> 00:18:47.159 He's writing to them about the Lord's Supper. 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:50.939 He goes so far as to say that because they don't eat together, 00:18:50.940 --> 00:18:54.039 they're not eating the Lord's Supper at all. 00:18:54.320 --> 00:18:58.320 Verse 21, one goes hungry, another gets drunk. 00:18:59.380 --> 00:19:06.380 See, the upper class Corinthians would often arrive early for the shared meal. 00:19:06.740 --> 00:19:12.980 They'd be escorted into the fancy dining room where they would enjoy the best food and the best wine. 00:19:12.980 --> 00:19:20.700 But many of the working class Corinthians would come from the fields arriving much later. 00:19:21.700 --> 00:19:27.759 They'd go to an outer room where they were being seated for this and being served leftovers. 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:32.900 Sometimes not enough at all and going home hungry. 00:19:34.660 --> 00:19:35.880 So what's Paul's solution? 00:19:36.059 --> 00:19:39.819 How can you eat and drink of this supper in a worthy manner? 00:19:39.819 --> 00:19:46.059 There, verse 33 says, wait for one another. 00:19:47.919 --> 00:19:50.819 You have to discern the body. 00:19:52.059 --> 00:19:56.019 Yes, Jesus' body given for you, we're going to get to that. 00:19:56.859 --> 00:20:00.200 But here, primarily the body around you. 00:20:00.779 --> 00:20:06.179 It is a grace to be told to consider our relationships with our brothers and sisters, 00:20:06.180 --> 00:20:12.680 to be pushed towards sharing more together of the most important thing that we all share despite our differences. 00:20:13.740 --> 00:20:21.519 To be reminded of the priority of those relationships such that a broken relationship in the body should be reconciled first. 00:20:21.900 --> 00:20:28.900 Leave your gift and go to your brother or sister before coming back to eat with Jesus. 00:20:28.900 --> 00:20:39.340 Jesus, his grace calls us to repentance and reconciliation so that we come together as sinners to the throne of grace. 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:46.100 See, the guests at this table, they didn't earn their way on to the guest list. 00:20:46.320 --> 00:20:47.300 None of them did. 00:20:47.299 --> 00:20:57.539 Just like those failing disciples, we are invited here because of our completely undeserved relationship with the host. 00:20:59.159 --> 00:21:03.480 I know some of you have never partaken of the Lord's Supper before. 00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:09.319 And you may have thought before as you've sat in a room like this one, 00:21:09.559 --> 00:21:11.120 I'm not holy enough. 00:21:11.819 --> 00:21:15.140 I'm not religious enough like y'all. 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:17.599 I'm not good enough. 00:21:19.460 --> 00:21:26.240 Let me suggest to you a different understanding of this meal than perhaps the way you've thought about it. 00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:35.960 The people who come to eat this bread and drink this wine are those who need grace. 00:21:36.299 --> 00:21:42.660 They are weak and wounded, sick and sore, not strong and successful. 00:21:43.240 --> 00:21:49.339 They're people who need grace and find it in Jesus. 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:51.920 That's why they come here to this table. 00:21:52.039 --> 00:21:53.480 There's no other reason to come. 00:21:53.480 --> 00:21:55.180 No other good one, at least. 00:21:55.180 --> 00:21:59.320 Seeing this table then is an invitation to you. 00:21:59.539 --> 00:22:01.500 Not a barrier, please know that. 00:22:01.779 --> 00:22:07.460 But it's an invitation to you to come and find rest and joy and goodness. 00:22:07.799 --> 00:22:14.000 Not in yourself, but in the good Savior who offers His body to be broken in your place. 00:22:14.220 --> 00:22:17.080 And His blood to be shed in your place. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:21.160 See, at the king's banquet Jesus talks about in Matthew 22, 00:22:21.160 --> 00:22:29.320 Jesus says the king sends his servant to the highways and the byways to find the good and the bad. 00:22:29.720 --> 00:22:34.800 Anyone who's willing to come be part of celebrating his son. 00:22:34.860 --> 00:22:35.620 And you know what happens? 00:22:36.019 --> 00:22:41.040 By that invitation, the wedding hall was filled with guests. 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:43.420 That's how He brings us in. 00:22:43.420 --> 00:22:47.759 He goes searching for us and inviting us in. 00:22:48.019 --> 00:22:54.940 Won't you come to be a part of this celebration with a God like that who will run out after you 00:22:54.940 --> 00:22:57.680 and welcome you in because of His Son? 00:22:58.579 --> 00:23:04.659 Maybe you'd prefer today to talk with someone than coming now to partake of a sacrament. 00:23:04.660 --> 00:23:07.740 Maybe you're not really sure what it all means yet. 00:23:08.100 --> 00:23:08.640 That's great. 00:23:08.700 --> 00:23:10.519 There's no pressure or rush. 00:23:10.620 --> 00:23:12.279 We would love to talk with you. 00:23:13.220 --> 00:23:18.740 Perhaps just come and observe this morning and then tell the elders serving at your table 00:23:18.740 --> 00:23:21.160 that you'd like to talk with him after the service. 00:23:21.620 --> 00:23:23.640 Or come up here and find me. 00:23:23.820 --> 00:23:27.160 I'd love to talk with you following the service. 00:23:27.160 --> 00:23:34.480 We want you to know the comfort and the grace, the freedom and hope of coming empty-handed 00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:38.259 to be filled by the God of all grace. 00:23:38.360 --> 00:23:43.720 He has everything you need and He welcomes you because of Jesus. 00:23:44.200 --> 00:23:45.440 Nothing else you have to do. 00:23:45.740 --> 00:23:51.060 He welcomes you to this table, not because of who you are, but because of Jesus. 00:23:52.540 --> 00:23:53.440 That's the host. 00:23:54.240 --> 00:23:55.000 The guests. 00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:58.079 Finally, the food. 00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:07.539 I think the most common topic of conversation around a table at mealtime is what we're eating, right? 00:24:08.880 --> 00:24:13.819 Can you still almost taste the memorable meal that you're thinking of? 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:16.500 That's God's intent. 00:24:17.319 --> 00:24:23.119 The intent in the Passover meal that God gave His people was for the food they ate to remind 00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:24.839 those eating it of an event. 00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:28.160 Of a person so important. 00:24:29.160 --> 00:24:30.480 Exodus chapter 12. 00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:34.980 You're going to be there celebrating this and your children are going to say to you, 00:24:35.240 --> 00:24:36.779 what do you mean by this service? 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:40.220 This might happen to you this morning during the Lord's Supper, okay? 00:24:40.259 --> 00:24:43.859 Your children may say, what in the world are we doing, Mom and Dad? 00:24:43.859 --> 00:24:49.519 And you'll say, it is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover. 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:54.799 For He passed over the houses of the people of Israel and Egypt when He struck the Egyptians 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:57.240 but spared our houses. 00:24:57.399 --> 00:24:59.740 It's about Him and something He's done. 00:25:00.019 --> 00:25:04.079 The signs of God's deliverance from slavery into relationship with Him. 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:07.240 The blood of the Lamb protecting us from death. 00:25:07.240 --> 00:25:10.839 The bread we ate so that we would be ready to leave. 00:25:12.419 --> 00:25:22.439 Similarly, Jesus in the Last Supper says, now the bread is my body given for you. 00:25:22.440 --> 00:25:25.759 See, Jesus is the bread of life, right? 00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:33.680 When you eat this bread that we will eat this morning, you're telling the world how desperate you are 00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:38.259 for Jesus' sustaining grace to make it through the day. 00:25:38.259 --> 00:25:42.680 He alone fulfills you, right? 00:25:43.500 --> 00:25:44.539 And then there's wine. 00:25:45.299 --> 00:25:49.940 Pointing to a new covenant, a new way of relationship with God, 00:25:50.180 --> 00:25:53.740 being protected and delivered by the blood of Jesus, 00:25:53.940 --> 00:25:56.879 the once and for all perfect Lamb of God, 00:25:57.099 --> 00:26:00.319 whose blood, Jesus tells us in Matthew 26, 00:26:00.460 --> 00:26:04.500 is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins. 00:26:04.500 --> 00:26:09.859 When you drink the cup here, you're telling the world how desperate you are 00:26:09.859 --> 00:26:13.079 for forgiving grace from Jesus. 00:26:13.380 --> 00:26:15.940 That He alone forgives you. 00:26:16.140 --> 00:26:18.660 That He alone fulfills you. 00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:25.680 Come to this table repenting and receiving the grace that you desperately need. 00:26:25.799 --> 00:26:29.480 That you need not only to hear about and be told is true, 00:26:29.480 --> 00:26:33.299 but also to taste and bring in to your heart. 00:26:34.500 --> 00:26:37.299 What's that going to look like for you this morning? 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:41.359 Maybe you find yourself doubting or lonely, 00:26:41.660 --> 00:26:47.759 and you come and you taste grace to trust one who suffered like you. 00:26:49.259 --> 00:26:51.299 Maybe become fearful. 00:26:52.339 --> 00:26:59.319 You taste grace to share hope with your neighbors out of gratitude for the hope Jesus gives you. 00:27:00.539 --> 00:27:01.960 Perhaps selfish. 00:27:01.960 --> 00:27:07.900 Maybe you taste the grace to love sacrificially because He first loved you. 00:27:08.519 --> 00:27:10.860 Maybe this morning you've even wrestled as we've confessed. 00:27:11.019 --> 00:27:13.420 You're in denial of your sin. 00:27:14.100 --> 00:27:19.059 And you taste here grace to repent deeply to God and to others 00:27:19.059 --> 00:27:22.220 because forgiveness and freedom are so clear here. 00:27:22.539 --> 00:27:24.180 Now I can be honest, finally. 00:27:24.180 --> 00:27:27.860 Maybe you're despairing in this world. 00:27:28.660 --> 00:27:34.460 And you taste grace here to hope in the home that Jesus has prepared for you. 00:27:35.019 --> 00:27:38.180 Perhaps you've confessed already this morning that you're just self-focused 00:27:38.180 --> 00:27:40.620 and you can't get anything else on your mind. 00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:45.920 And you taste grace to give generously because Jesus gave generously to you. 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:48.960 Maybe you come weak in your struggle against sin. 00:27:49.039 --> 00:27:50.600 You feel like you're losing. 00:27:51.019 --> 00:27:55.200 And you come here and you taste grace to finally turn from the sin 00:27:55.200 --> 00:27:57.900 because Jesus hung on the cross for it. 00:27:57.940 --> 00:28:01.340 And in light of what it cost Him, you're going to turn away from that evil. 00:28:03.400 --> 00:28:05.920 Maybe you're exhausted from performing. 00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:08.880 You've been trying so hard to be good. 00:28:09.200 --> 00:28:12.200 And you're going to taste here grace to rest 00:28:12.200 --> 00:28:15.100 and finally get your value and significance 00:28:15.100 --> 00:28:17.779 from the fact that Jesus treasured you enough 00:28:17.779 --> 00:28:20.940 to give His life for you before you performed for Him at all. 00:28:23.840 --> 00:28:26.560 Perhaps you'll come feeling distant and discouraged 00:28:26.560 --> 00:28:28.779 in your relationship with Jesus. 00:28:29.620 --> 00:28:34.060 And you'll taste grace to spend time with Jesus afresh 00:28:34.059 --> 00:28:36.960 as you remember the lengths that He went to 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:39.799 in order to be in relationship with you. 00:28:41.179 --> 00:28:43.519 I don't know exactly where you are, 00:28:43.619 --> 00:28:45.519 exactly what grace you need, 00:28:45.700 --> 00:28:49.179 but there is grace here for you 00:28:49.179 --> 00:28:53.779 wherever you are in the body and blood of Jesus. 00:28:54.079 --> 00:28:54.879 Come to Him. 00:28:56.460 --> 00:28:58.460 See, as we discussed last week with baptism, 00:28:58.639 --> 00:29:00.579 these are more than mere signs. 00:29:00.579 --> 00:29:05.019 They're not magical, but they're not meaningless either. 00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:09.179 The sacrament is a means of God's grace. 00:29:09.699 --> 00:29:12.480 It's a pathway where you meet Jesus 00:29:12.480 --> 00:29:14.679 and His grace comes to you. 00:29:14.939 --> 00:29:18.199 1 Corinthians 10, the cup of blessing that we bless, 00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:22.139 is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? 00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:23.779 The bread that we break, 00:29:24.019 --> 00:29:28.019 is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 00:29:28.019 --> 00:29:31.539 A participation, it means true fellowship, 00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:33.660 that you're actually united to Jesus, 00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:36.740 really feeding on Him by faith. 00:29:37.019 --> 00:29:38.559 It is so vital. 00:29:39.319 --> 00:29:41.480 You can't miss this supper, friends, 00:29:41.980 --> 00:29:46.500 because you are unwelcome before God apart from Jesus. 00:29:47.379 --> 00:29:51.460 You are weak against Satan apart from Jesus. 00:29:52.019 --> 00:29:56.259 You are hopeless in this world apart from Jesus. 00:29:56.259 --> 00:29:59.140 But the grace of the Lord's Supper 00:29:59.140 --> 00:30:03.500 is that you come and you eat with Him 00:30:03.500 --> 00:30:09.559 and you take into your body and soul His body and blood 00:30:09.559 --> 00:30:12.660 and you have Jesus, don't you? 00:30:13.000 --> 00:30:15.099 You know it and you feel it, 00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:17.019 that He is yours. 00:30:17.599 --> 00:30:19.539 And the one you need to stand today 00:30:19.539 --> 00:30:22.700 is in you and with you and for you. 00:30:22.740 --> 00:30:22.920 Amen. 00:30:22.920 --> 00:30:23.039 Amen. 00:30:24.680 --> 00:30:27.800 So our larger catechism tells us as we partake, 00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:30.779 we should earnestly hunger and thirst after Christ. 00:30:32.080 --> 00:30:33.820 Feed on Him by faith. 00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:36.160 Draw from His fullness. 00:30:36.759 --> 00:30:38.380 Trust in His merit. 00:30:38.800 --> 00:30:40.759 Rejoice in His love. 00:30:41.060 --> 00:30:43.800 Give thanks for His grace. 00:30:44.720 --> 00:30:46.460 Now, that's a beautiful list. 00:30:46.560 --> 00:30:48.259 That's a long list to do in a few minutes. 00:30:48.259 --> 00:30:52.900 Let me encourage you to do this. 00:30:53.779 --> 00:30:56.599 As we celebrate, close your eyes 00:30:56.599 --> 00:31:00.879 and remember the host and talk to Him. 00:31:02.680 --> 00:31:04.240 Open your eyes. 00:31:06.019 --> 00:31:07.440 See the guests around you. 00:31:07.819 --> 00:31:10.599 Marvel His grace in bringing you all together 00:31:10.599 --> 00:31:11.759 with these crazy people. 00:31:12.440 --> 00:31:14.500 Celebrate reconciled relationships. 00:31:14.500 --> 00:31:18.799 And fix your eyes on Jesus 00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:22.519 in the bread and wine, the food. 00:31:23.019 --> 00:31:24.380 As He forgives your sins. 00:31:24.660 --> 00:31:27.660 As He fills your soul with joy. 00:31:28.519 --> 00:31:30.960 There are many, many more questions 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:32.339 that you could consider 00:31:32.339 --> 00:31:35.420 as you prepare to come to the Lord's Supper. 00:31:36.220 --> 00:31:39.559 As you contemplate this during the Lord's Supper. 00:31:40.420 --> 00:31:43.039 That you could meditate on afterwards. 00:31:43.039 --> 00:31:45.879 If you scan this QR code, 00:31:47.019 --> 00:31:48.019 it's up there. 00:31:48.119 --> 00:31:49.139 It's also in your bulletin 00:31:49.139 --> 00:31:50.220 if you need it later. 00:31:50.539 --> 00:31:51.879 Maybe just pick one or two. 00:31:51.960 --> 00:31:53.659 There's a lot of questions, I admit. 00:31:53.740 --> 00:31:54.839 I write lots of questions. 00:31:55.960 --> 00:31:57.759 Maybe just pick one or two for today. 00:31:59.399 --> 00:32:00.579 Consider another one later. 00:32:03.579 --> 00:32:05.240 There is so much grace 00:32:05.240 --> 00:32:08.139 available to us at this table, isn't there? 00:32:08.140 --> 00:32:12.340 So much that it may still make some of us wonder, 00:32:13.340 --> 00:32:16.900 how do I get an invite to such a meal? 00:32:18.120 --> 00:32:19.740 Or I know you're inviting me, 00:32:19.860 --> 00:32:22.860 but what's really required to eat always? 00:32:23.160 --> 00:32:24.540 To know that not just today, 00:32:24.680 --> 00:32:26.259 but when I go and blow it tomorrow, 00:32:26.340 --> 00:32:28.520 that I could actually come back again 00:32:28.520 --> 00:32:30.100 and know that I'm invited back 00:32:30.100 --> 00:32:32.200 to the King's table. 00:32:32.200 --> 00:32:33.759 Will, that's a lot. 00:32:37.039 --> 00:32:39.900 We don't know a lot about Mephibosheth. 00:32:42.259 --> 00:32:43.840 He's an Old Testament character. 00:32:44.039 --> 00:32:46.319 We know he was the son of Jonathan, 00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:49.000 King David's best friend. 00:32:49.000 --> 00:32:52.839 But that actually made Mephibosheth 00:32:52.839 --> 00:32:54.420 one of the few living members 00:32:54.420 --> 00:32:55.700 of the rival family 00:32:55.700 --> 00:32:57.640 that David had just displaced 00:32:57.640 --> 00:32:59.200 on the throne of Israel. 00:32:59.920 --> 00:33:00.460 He's in trouble. 00:33:02.380 --> 00:33:03.559 Samuel tells us 00:33:03.559 --> 00:33:06.819 he was lame in both feet. 00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:07.839 He was unclean. 00:33:08.079 --> 00:33:09.819 Not the kind of guy qualified 00:33:09.819 --> 00:33:11.819 to be eating with the king. 00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:17.180 Yet we know one more thing about him. 00:33:17.180 --> 00:33:20.519 That he ate always 00:33:20.519 --> 00:33:23.120 at the king's table. 00:33:23.759 --> 00:33:25.720 Even though he was lame 00:33:25.720 --> 00:33:27.660 in both feet. 00:33:28.779 --> 00:33:29.200 Why? 00:33:30.019 --> 00:33:33.299 What qualified a self-described 00:33:33.299 --> 00:33:36.480 dead dog like Mephibosheth? 00:33:37.560 --> 00:33:38.660 One thing. 00:33:39.560 --> 00:33:42.799 He was connected to Jonathan. 00:33:44.620 --> 00:33:45.440 That's it. 00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:49.720 Friends, we are less 00:33:49.720 --> 00:33:52.420 than unqualified on our own, 00:33:52.600 --> 00:33:53.019 aren't we? 00:33:54.420 --> 00:33:56.500 Lame in both feet, 00:33:56.700 --> 00:33:57.299 if you will. 00:33:58.240 --> 00:33:59.740 Deserving to be cast 00:33:59.740 --> 00:34:02.720 far away from the king of glory 00:34:02.720 --> 00:34:04.700 except for one thing. 00:34:05.519 --> 00:34:06.779 That by grace, 00:34:07.259 --> 00:34:07.880 through faith, 00:34:08.059 --> 00:34:09.059 we are connected 00:34:09.059 --> 00:34:10.860 to Jesus. 00:34:11.760 --> 00:34:13.039 It's the only way we come. 00:34:13.039 --> 00:34:15.480 It's the only way we come 00:34:15.480 --> 00:34:18.019 and we eat always 00:34:18.019 --> 00:34:19.599 at the king's table. 00:34:19.960 --> 00:34:20.300 Today, 00:34:21.340 --> 00:34:24.380 sometime again in the future 00:34:24.380 --> 00:34:25.460 when you're dragged 00:34:25.460 --> 00:34:27.300 stinking of sin 00:34:27.300 --> 00:34:29.039 back to the foot of the cross 00:34:29.579 --> 00:34:31.279 to eat with the king 00:34:31.279 --> 00:34:32.259 who forgives you 00:34:32.259 --> 00:34:34.440 and gloriously 00:34:34.440 --> 00:34:36.940 to eat at the king's table 00:34:36.940 --> 00:34:38.239 forever 00:34:38.239 --> 00:34:40.759 connected to Jesus. 00:34:40.760 --> 00:34:42.220 I want us to take a few moments 00:34:42.220 --> 00:34:43.180 as we prepare 00:34:43.180 --> 00:34:43.960 to come and eat 00:34:43.960 --> 00:34:45.600 to tell Jesus 00:34:45.600 --> 00:34:47.040 how undeserving we are. 00:34:48.420 --> 00:34:49.460 Tell him how you're lame 00:34:49.460 --> 00:34:50.080 in both feet 00:34:50.080 --> 00:34:53.340 and then thank him 00:34:53.340 --> 00:34:54.380 for seating you here 00:34:54.380 --> 00:34:55.280 at this table 00:34:55.280 --> 00:34:56.920 and eating with you 00:34:56.920 --> 00:34:57.620 again today. 00:34:58.100 --> 00:34:58.980 Take a few moments 00:34:58.980 --> 00:34:59.880 and pray silently. 00:34:59.880 --> 00:35:00.000 come on. 00:35:00.380 --> 00:35:00.640 Okay? 00:35:00.700 --> 00:35:05.099 Anybody見て 00:35:23.820 --> 00:35:29.000 the inside A 00:35:29.000 --> 00:35:35.960 Jesus we're talking about our brokenness and sin again because there's a lot of it 00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:43.599 and we're remembering your grace again because it abounds to us so much more 00:35:43.599 --> 00:35:52.820 and where sin increases grace super increases so that we can be washed and made clean and sit at 00:35:52.820 --> 00:35:58.300 this table and we thank you and we ask that you'd set aside these very common elements 00:35:58.300 --> 00:36:08.500 for a sacred purpose in our hearts that we would taste and see that you are good and you're good to us 00:36:08.500 --> 00:36:15.720 amen for more information visit us online at southwood.org