Good morning, everyone. My name is James. It's nice to be with you this morning.
Have you ever been deceived by something? Something that seemed authentic, but it turned
out to be fake? It may have seemed flashy and exciting, but it wasn't the real deal.
I remember when Alyssa and I first visited China. We went to Beijing about 10 years ago,
and we were struck by the food. It was so different to what we had grown up eating.
What we thought authentic Chinese food was, was wonderful dishes like Mongolian lamb,
satay chicken, beef and black bean. These are kind of classic Chinese dishes, authentic Chinese
dishes, or so I thought. These meals usually had four parts, a meat, sauce, rice, and onion.
That was the important fourth part. That's what I thought authentic Chinese food was for years.
And then, we visited Beijing, and it was totally different. We saw what authentic
Chinese food was. First of all, the meat was often on the bone, and you would eat the meat off the bone
and spit the bone out. And that was totally new to me at the time. And at the time, I remember
thinking, I know I'm in China, but this somehow doesn't seem authentic. I'm spitting bones out,
you know. It's not like what I've had at home. And where's the onion? I couldn't find it anywhere.
But then I realized, this was the real stuff. That's where the authentic, awesome flavors come
from. And now, Alyssa and myself and our kids, we love trying all kinds of different foods. I'm not
just restricted to that, you know, very Western, satay chicken style dish, even though I still do
love it. If you think also that you've got the most authentic dish, I'm happy to try it. You can
bring that in for me next week. No, no hands going out? No, fine. I was deceived into thinking that I
knew what real food was. We can be deceived into thinking we know what authenticity looks like.
It is often far more humble than we imagine. This is the same following Jesus. There is the real and
authentic good news about Jesus, that He died for us, that our sins are forgiven, that we are brought
into God into God's family. And this has nothing to do with us. It is all a gift of God's grace.
But we can also be deceived. We can be distracted by flashier versions. A gospel that might seem more
exciting, but is actually just fake. We've been going through the book of 2 Corinthians over the last
10 weeks or so. As we're coming to the end, Paul, he is really worried about this new little church in
Corinth. We could summarize this whole letter of 2 Corinthians as, don't be deceived. This church
has been deceived by preachers who have come in, people that Paul calls super-apostles. And the church
in Corinth was in danger of following a different fake version of Jesus, one that was not authentic.
And Paul calls them back, and he's going to show that he was not a fake apostle, but he's the real deal.
He's the real apostle to the real Jesus. And he'll show that the real deal often doesn't look flashy.
It doesn't look powerful. Paul is humble because it is God that has the power. And so today for us,
we're going to consider whether we've been deceived and whether we're following the real Jesus.
And we're going to make sure that we're following the real Jesus and make sure that we're not deceived
by other things going on around us in our culture. So please have your Bibles open to 2 Corinthians
chapter 10. It'll also be on the screen, but it's always good to have your Bible open in front of you.
Paul is going to hold up his ministry, and he's going to compare it with the super-apostles.
And he's not just defending himself, but he's also teaching this little church
to be able to discern what an authentic teacher looks like. I've got the button somewhere. Here we go.
So first of all, we're going to see what the authentic teacher looks like. From chapter 10,
verse 1,
Paul doesn't come out fighting against the super-apostles as they would. He doesn't wage a war
of words. He comes as the clay jar, weak and breakable. He comes like Jesus. He comes with
the humility and gentleness of Christ. That's how he will rebuke and restore. He speaks with
gentleness, giving this church an opportunity to repent. He's not bringing condemnation.
He comes with humility, not weakness, but patience, because he knows that God has had
patience with him. And this is a bit strange, but Paul also comes begging. This is the leader,
the apostle who planted this church, and he comes begging, because there are more important things
than his own feelings. There are more important things than his own shame and the desire to save face.
He comes begging. Chapter 10, verse 1 again,
I appeal to you, I, Paul, who am timid when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I'm away,
I beg that when I come, I may not have to be as bold. Paul wants them to repent. Repent,
come back to the authentic Jesus, so I don't have to be bold with you. I beg you, come back to Jesus,
because if they don't, Paul will come with all of God's power. Not just in the flashiness and a powerful
speech of the super-apostles, but he'll come with God's divine power, which, verse 4 says,
can demolish strongholds. These super-apostles had come in, and they'd looked powerful and flashy,
and so the church in Corinth had judged by appearances. They saw that on the outside,
these super-apostles had flashy speech. They were really persuasive, and the church judged them
like judging a book by its cover. They don't see them for who they are, and so Paul, instead of just
judging the book by its cover, he's going to open this book. Okay, well, let's consider who these super-apostles
are, and let's compare them with a real, authentic, humble apostle. Verse 12,
we do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure
themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. These super-apostles
have come in, and they're comparing themselves with each other. Hey, you look great. Hey, you look great,
too. Oh, you know, look, do you know what? Let's pat each other on the back. Do you know what? How about
I write you a letter of recommendation, and I'll write you a letter of recommendation, and then we
can give them to each other, and we will look great ourselves. Aren't we great here? They're boasting
in themselves. This is not wisdom. This is just foolishness. Instead, what does an authentic
apostle do? Verse 13, we, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting
to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us. Paul boasts in what God has given him.
This is the church of Corinth. It's these people themselves, but these super-apostles are just
boasting beyond limits. Boasting of what God has done through Paul and through others. But Paul's boast
isn't about what he has done. It's about what God has done in them. And Paul closes this off. If you want
to know who an authentic teacher is, an authentic teacher and apostle of God is, you should ask God
himself. Verse 18, it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord
commends. Who is God commending? The church might not think it was Paul because they've been judging by
appearances. Paul has suffered and he has looked weak. As we've seen, as we've gone through this book of
2 Corinthians, Paul looks weak to the eyes of the world. But that's just outward appearance.
And Paul here is identifying closely with Jesus. Christ, Jesus, is the one who was commended by God
even though he died. God raised him from the dead. And Paul, his work in ministry is very much like what
Jesus did. In chapter 10, verse 1, he appealed with humility like Christ. And in the second half of
chapter 11, which we didn't read, Paul leans into how foolish people think he looks. And I can't help
but when I read this, it just reminds me of Christ's sufferings. Paul is saying, if you think I'm a fool
compared to these super apostles, guys, let me be up front. I am a much bigger fool than you realize.
You guys have got no idea how ridiculous I look. Let me be completely humble. Let me be completely
up front. I will tell you how I look. Because Paul says, I know my worth because Jesus himself loves me
and has given me a message to preach. And it's not because of how the world views me. And so Paul
makes this big list of how foolish he is in the eyes of the world. It's not going to be on the
screen. I'm going to go through it fairly quickly, but it's from the second half of chapter 11,
from verse 21. Have a look in your Bibles or on your phone.
Whatever anyone else dares to boast about, I'm speaking as a fool, I also dare to boast about.
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I.
Are they servants of Christ? I'm out of my mind to talk like this. I am more. I have worked harder.
I've been in prison more frequently. I have been flogged more severely. I've been exposed to death.
Five times I received 40 lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was pelted with
stones. Three times I've been shipwrecked. I spent a day and a night in the open sea. I've been
constantly on the move. Danger in rivers. Danger from bandits. Danger from fellow Jews. Danger from
Gentiles. Danger at sea. Danger on the land. Danger from false believers. I've labored and toiled and
gone without sleep. I've known hunger and thirst and have gone without food. I've been cold and naked.
Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
Who is weak and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin and I do not burn inwardly?
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
This is radical, authentic humility here from Paul. These are things that you would hide away.
But Paul has endured much so he could spread the gospel. And he was able to do this because his
identity is fully in God. He is not worried about how the world is perceiving him.
He knew he was commended by God. And he's gone to great lengths to give this church a framework,
how to judge who an authentic teacher is. What is a teacher boasting about? Are they boasting about
themselves? Or the power of God to use even a weak clay jar? Are these teachers more concerned with
style over substance? Are these teachers more worried about outward appearance compared to how they
appear to God? Are they more worried about looking weak because they're trusting in themselves instead of
trusting God? I think this is a helpful framework for us as well. Who are the people that we are following?
And what is driving us to be like them? Do you know the people that you are following?
Is there someone in your life that you are seeking to follow in your Christian walk?
And who are we becoming ourselves? Are we ourselves becoming authentic followers of Jesus with humility?
Or are we becoming people who are just a bit fake and flashy? If we've got kids, our kids copy the way
we behave. They copy the bits that we want them to copy. And they also have this wonderful knack of
picking up all our bad habits too. You can tell me about all those stories later. If you have younger
siblings, they often look up to older siblings and they want to emulate older siblings.
You might love the way, you know, our dear brother Nick Freestone plays the guitar. And so,
you know, you see him on stage and you go, I want to play guitar like Nick. And so you start dressing
like him. You know, you wear a lot of scarves like Nick does. Notice he's not wearing a scarf today. It's
getting warmer. And so we emulate those that we want to be like. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11,
to follow me as I follow Christ. And so this is a good thing that God has given us older brothers
and sisters in the faith to follow as they are following Christ. And it's good for us to be aware
of who we are as people are following us too. I'm the next gen pastor here at St. Paul's,
and that means I'm the leader of our kids in our youth ministries. They follow me even if they
don't realize it. The things that I talk about and value, they start to talk about and value.
One of my favorite things to do, and one of my favorite parts of ministry, is working with our
young preachers. Those at our Friday afternoon Kids Club Boom, those at Kids Church on a Sunday
morning and Fridays. I love working with our young preachers. But it's always daunting when I give
advice. You know, I'll say something like, you know, when you're preaching, you could say something
like this. Let me just spitball, here's some ideas of what you could say. And then when I'm listening to
them, I hear my words come out of their mouth. And it's always scary for me. Because I have this area
of influence in my ministry. And so, for me, it's important that with this influence, that I have
humility like Paul, and don't become overconfident like the super apostles. Imagine if I started to
think like them, that it was all about me, and boasting the influence I would have in a damaging way.
I know that people are following me. I've got three kids, and they're following me, and I've got
this area of influence in ministry. And so, I need to make sure that I'm walking following Jesus,
so that I am commended by God. And for me, I also need to be walking following someone else.
And so, one of the things I've been doing recently is, I'm seeking a new mentor,
so that they can keep me accountable. Someone that is following Christ.
So, two questions for us here at this point. Who are you following? And who is following you?
Who is making an appeal to you to follow Jesus, just like Paul does to this church?
Who have you given permission to, to speak words into your life that says, actually,
you've been deceived here, you need to come back to Jesus?
To call us out when we're running away, when we've been deceived.
And are you becoming someone like Paul,
who is humble, and who is aware of how God has gifted him,
and someone that is worth following?
Wouldn't it be terrible if we
became fake, or found out that
that we love those who are preaching and presenting a fake gospel,
and we'd gone off
treasuring the wrong type of Jesus,
and people had followed us?
The church in Corinth had been
deceived,
and they'd begun to follow the wrong people.
Paul says, judge what God commends,
not the world.
Look at the ministry I've been involved in.
It's about you,
not about me.
And the church needed to step back and reassess
who they were following,
just like we need to.
Now,
this is also really helpful,
I think, for all of us,
to see how Paul reacts to these super apostles.
He could have defended his position
out of fear.
You know,
he is the apostle,
and all of a sudden,
his apostleship is being brought into question.
He could have gotten really aggressive.
He could have used his power
to reinforce that he was the apostle,
and these guys were just fake.
But he's not worried about himself,
because authentic humility
focuses on the gospel.
Authentic humility focuses
on the good news of the gospel.
From chapter 11, verse 2,
Paul is so concerned for this church
and where they're heading,
that he doesn't want them to be deceived
from what they had believed.
They had this pure devotion to Christ,
but it's all changed
because of these false teachers
that have come in.
And they've been so deceived
that in verse 4,
Paul can say
that the Jesus they're following,
well, it's a totally different Jesus.
It's not the real Jesus.
They are following a different version of Jesus.
Paul says,
you've been promised to God,
and Paul describes it like a marriage,
and he's the maid of honor.
You think about the maid of honor,
you know, maybe a girlfriend,
and she's got this friend,
and she's introduced it to this guy,
and she's so excited to see them get married.
Paul is saying,
he's that friend,
he's the maid of honor.
He has introduced this church in Corinth
to God,
and he really wants them
to get to the end,
to see the marriage of the church to Jesus.
He doesn't want them to be deceived
and to run away.
And what Paul is saying is,
he wants them to be ready
and to wait for Jesus,
but instead,
they've run off
with a poor,
rip-off version of Jesus.
It's like every kind of romantic comedy
where somebody gets left at the altar.
Paul is so worried
that the church of Corinth
is going to leave Jesus at the altar
and run off with the bad guy.
A poor, rip-off version of Jesus.
Just as the serpent deceived Eve
away from following God,
these teachers are inciting the church away.
Paul calls them Satan's servants
in verse 14 and 15.
That is incredibly strong language.
In Genesis 3,
the serpent deceived Eve
with cunning and deceptive speech.
And these false teachers
are doing the same thing.
They're deceiving this church
with cunning, deceptive,
but very attractive preaching.
But it's a fake gospel.
Now, it's not exactly clear
what their different version of Jesus was,
but it's likely that they have added
to the requirement of faith in Jesus.
Faith in Jesus is a really wonderful thing.
I think we can make the word faith
a little bit too mystical sometimes.
Faith is trusting in someone's promises.
So, for Alyssa and I,
when we got married 12 years ago,
whatever it was,
we made promises to each other.
And so, I am faithful
when I keep those promises.
And Alyssa can have faith
that I will trust in those promises.
That's what faith is.
God has made promises to us
that Jesus has died for us
and that our sins are cleansed.
And so, we trust in God's promise.
So, we can have faith.
Jesus has promised
that our faith will lead
to being in heaven with Him.
And so, faith looks like trusting
in God's promise.
But here, it seems like
these super apostles have come in
and added to trusting in God's promises.
Whether it was circumcision,
whether it was following the law
or something else.
In one sense,
it seems to make Christianity
seem easier.
Do these things,
follow these laws,
cut off this skin,
and it's all taken care of.
But Paul is so angry
because it destroys
what is good about the gospel.
That God's love for us
is a gift.
One that cannot be earned.
Knowing Jesus Himself
is so important to Paul
for this church,
he doesn't even want to be
a financial burden on them.
From verse 12,
I will keep on doing
what I am doing
in order to cut the ground out
from under those
who want an opportunity
to be considered equal with us.
Paul's saying,
these super apostles
are going to come in,
they're going to take your money,
and they're going to give you
a rip-off,
poor man's version of Jesus.
But I'm going to come in,
I'm not going to,
I don't want to take your money.
I've got a church in Macedonia
that's supporting me.
All because he wants
to give them Jesus.
There were false teachers then
that this church
needed to be aware of,
but the reality is,
even for us today,
there are
different versions of Jesus
out there.
You'll encounter people
knocking on your door,
wanting to tell you
about a different version
of Jesus.
Jesus.
You'll hear other versions
of the Son of God.
And so,
I've got four questions
for us
to help us
identify whether
someone is presenting
an authentic Jesus,
or whether
they've got a totally
different view of Jesus.
So,
four quick questions
for us.
The first question
to help us identify
whether someone is
presenting a fake Jesus,
is,
what is their source?
is,
anything other
than the Bible
is not reliable.
2 Peter 1 says
that we don't follow
cleverly invented
stories about Jesus,
but we follow
eyewitness truth.
Someone might come
and say,
I've had a dream
about Jesus,
and so you need
to follow this
instead.
But if it's not
consistent with
the Bible,
the Jesus who is
presented to us
in the Bible,
we don't follow
that Jesus.
The second question,
what is the message?
For the authentic
teacher,
Jesus is at the
very centre
of the good news,
of the whole Bible.
For the fake
teacher,
Jesus will be there,
but He'll often
be over to one
side.
The message
will be about
something else,
and they'll just
plug Jesus in.
The message
might be about
making you really
great.
Do you know what?
If you follow
Jesus,
you can be the
best version of
you,
and it's all
about you,
and let's make
you great,
and let's get
you as much
money as you
can,
and let's make
you successful.
And we hear
that,
we can think,
yes,
I want to,
do you know
what?
I would like
money,
and I would
like to be
successful,
and Jesus is
going to help
me do that.
But the problem
with that gospel
is,
that is not good
news about Jesus,
that is good
news about
to make us
great,
but Jesus
himself is
great,
and we get
to follow
him.
The third
question to
help us to
understand whether
it's a real
Jesus or a
fake Jesus,
is what is the
character that
is produced?
True humility
will,
true teachers
will seek
humility,
holiness,
and gentleness,
whereas these
super apostles have
been boasting
outside,
themselves.
And so,
what is the
character that
is produced
for us?
Lastly,
what is the
reason for
the message?
The authentic
teacher asks,
what does God
have to say in
his word to
me today?
The fake
teacher asks,
well,
what do people
want to hear?
What is flashy?
What's going to
get in a big
crowd today?
What's going to
make this church
in Corinth grow?
And then I'll
add a Bible
verse onto that
or I'll stick
Jesus in there
somewhere.
No,
no,
what does
God have to
say to us
today?
We should not
be naive to
think that
everyone who
says that they
follow Jesus
is following
the same
Jesus.
But we can be
prepared to
understand who
Jesus is from
the Bible and
to question other
people's view of
Jesus.
It's not just
teachers that can
deceive us away
from following
Jesus.
This church in
Corinth had
confused outward
appearance with
God's blessing.
Paul has
corrected their
view and shown
what a humble
and authentic
apostle looks
like.
But we can be
deceived too from
our culture around
us.
We can think a
certain picture of
success is God's
blessing.
So, you know,
this is what it
looks like to be a
Christian.
Or this is what
it looks like to
be a successful
church based on
how our culture
defines success.
We can think,
you know, I
should be this
good by now.
If I'm a
Christian, well, I
shouldn't really
sin in all of
these ways.
I should be this
mature.
I've been a
Christian for 15
years, so I
should look like
this.
And, you know,
when I share my
feelings and my
problems and my
issues with my
non-Christians,
they're always
like, why aren't
you a Christian?
Shouldn't you be
better than this?
I shouldn't have
to deal with this
sin.
And the church,
well, our
society and our
culture defines
success by size
and numbers.
And so, shouldn't
my ministry that
I'm involved in be
bigger?
Shouldn't my
church be bigger?
Shouldn't my
ministry be the
best?
Because that's
what success looks
like in our
culture.
But we can
judge by
appearances and
not how God
judges.
We need to be
aware of how
our culture defines
success and make
sure that we don't
bring that into the
church.
Remember, this
church had
super apostles that
wanted to look
powerful, but Paul
looked weak.
I think a common
way we can be
deceived is thinking
that success looks
like a size of
a church.
We judge so
often based on
size and
turnover in
companies and
in business that
we can judge by
outward appearance
as if this was
the best way to
test whether
something was a
faithful, authentic
church that's
faithful to God's
call to make
disciples.
We have this
temptation to jump
on a treadmill of
competition and
comparison over the
size of a ministry or
over the size of a
church, thinking that
bigger must always
equal better, or
that a church of this
size, maybe a
smaller church is
better, and so we
shouldn't change.
But a small church
can be healthy
following an
authentic Jesus, but
a small church can
also be deceived.
A big church can
be healthy following
God, but a big
church can be
deceived too.
I've loved seeing
some of the markers
of a healthy church
here recently.
Seeing all the
stories of people's
lives, how they've
been changed by
Jesus.
In our social
media, on
Facebook, and in
the weekly
communication.
I've loved seeing
what God has been
doing.
I've loved seeing
that here, we are
not pursuing a
Jesus to make
ourselves look
great, but because
Jesus is wonderful.
He is truly great
and generous.
And there is
truly nothing better
to do than to
treasure Him.
And that is what
success looks like as
a church.
When we joyfully get
to treasure God
together.
What we have been
doing this morning,
that is what a
successful church
looks like.
When we are doing
that more and more
each week, instead
of treasuring
ourselves more.
I've been reading
about the history of
the church in China
recently.
And I've been reading
about the Taiping
Rebellion in the
1850s.
Has anybody heard of
the Taiping Rebellion
that happened in
China in the 1850s?
There's one hand up
in the corner.
Thank you.
Oh, there's a couple.
Wonderful.
Thank you.
It was led by a man
named Hong
Xiuquan.
And he received
a pamphlet with
information about
Christianity from
the Bible that had
been spread around
by Christian
missionaries in
China.
And while it
seemed like he
became a Christian
and wanted to see
China become a
Christian country,
he was following
a different version
of Jesus and a
different version of
the gospel.
He believed that
God wanted him to
found a heavenly
kingdom on earth.
He argued that
Jesus wasn't equal
with God.
You had God and
then you had Jesus
and then he was
next.
This man,
Hong Xiuquan.
And he had dreams
and visions that he
was to slay demons
and lead God's
kingdom.
He had been
deceived and had a
twisted version of
the good news of
the gospel.
And he'd made it
all about himself.
He believed dreams
which contradicted
the Bible, which
set himself at the
top.
Now, we might not
think that we will
be deceived into
thinking that we
need to lead a
rebellion here in
Chatswood.
Is anybody wanting
to lead a rebellion
in Chatswood?
Maybe not.
But we can
be deceived into
thinking that
Christianity is all
about me.
Maybe we won't
make ourselves
just a rung
lower than Jesus,
but we will make
ourselves think that
God's purpose is
for me to look
good.
We place ourselves
over God's word
and we ignore the
parts that we don't
like.
Instead of humility
and accountability,
we'll fool
ourselves into
thinking that we
are okay on our
own.
We focus on our
own little kingdom
in Sydney instead
of on God's
kingdom.
Let's be a church
that is humble,
knowing that God
has chosen to love
us, not because we
are attractive, but
because He is
wonderfully generous.
Let's be people who
are willing to
encourage and
correct others and
be people who are
corrected ourselves.
Let's be people who
long to follow Jesus
and not be deceived
into following a
fake Jesus that
makes it all about
us, but the very
Son of God who
reveals His Father
to us.
Let me pray.
Dear Heavenly
Father, Lord, I
thank You that You
are indeed a good
and generous God,
that You sent Your
Son who lived
with utmost
humility, who went
to the cross with
humility, who
suffered even
though He is
God, who is
immensely powerful.
God, we thank You
that Your Son
suffered for us
and that You have
raised Him from the
dead so that we
can be brought into
Your family.
Heavenly Father, we
ask that You would
help us to be
people who are
not deceived into
following a
different version
of Jesus.
Give us people
who are speaking
to our lives
to keep us
accountable and
Father, help us
be aware that we
are all,
regardless of age,
people who have
others following
us.
Help us to be
like Paul, to
follow You as
other people follow
us, so that You
would have all of
the glory.
God, we pray
this in Your
Son's name.
Amen.
One way that we
show our need
and our humility
for Jesus,
towards Jesus,
is with the
physical sign of
the Lord's Supper
or Communion.
This is a regular
time in church
where we eat
bread and drink
juice to remember
that Jesus'
body and blood
has been given
and poured out
for us.
And so we're
going to celebrate
communion today.
If you've got
children with
you, please,
this is our
family meal
together.
If you would
like them to
partake in the
wafer and the
juice, please
do that.
And please,
children, I
want to encourage
you to reflect
on your hearts,
kids.
The gospel isn't
just for adults,
it is for all
of us.
And we all need
to come before
God in humility,
dependent on God.
So we're going
to say the
words of a
confession on
the screen
together.
Kids, you can
say this too.
Let's say this
loudly, knowing
that we need
God's help.
Let's pray.
Our Father in
heaven, you
have loved us
with a love
that lasts
forever.
But we have
often gone our
own way and
rejected your
will for our
lives.
We are sorry
for our sins,
and turn
away from
them.
For the
sake of
your Son
who died
for us,
forgive us,
cleanse us,
and change
us.
By your
Holy Spirit,
enable us
to live for
you and to
please you
in every
way.
For the
glory of
our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Amen.
In
1 John,
it says that
if we claim
to be without
sin, we
deceive
ourselves,
but that
if we
confess our
sins, he
is faithful
and just
and will
forgive us
our sins
and purify
us from
all unrighteousness.
As a way
of showing
our allegiance
to Jesus
and our
dependence on
him, we
come to
the Lord's
Supper,
where we
will eat
and drink
bread and
juice together,
remembering
his life,
death,
and resurrection.
Jesus, who
on the night
he was
betrayed, he
took bread,
and when
he had
given thanks,
he broke
it, and
he gave
it to his
disciples,
saying,
take and
eat.
This is
my body
which is
given for
you.
Do this
in remembrance
of me.
After
supper, he
took the
cup, and
again giving
thanks, he
gave it to
his disciples,
saying,
drink this,
all of
you.
This is
the blood
of the
new covenant,
which is
shed for
you and
for many
for the
forgiveness
of sins.
do this
as often
as you
drink it
in remembrance
of me.
And so
we're going
to celebrate
this now.
I'd like
to invite
our helpers
to come
and hand
out the
juice and
the bread.
Take this
and hold
on to
this.
We're going
to all
eat and
drink together.
Kids,
don't eat
it just
yet.
Hold
on to
it.
Don't
crack
the cups.
They're
fragile.
And as
you take
this moment,
just spend
a moment
meditating on
how God
has been
good to
you.
Amen.