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Dec
5
Roger Severino

Five Reasons We Observe the Lord's Supper

by Roger Severino    
Communion7
  1. We remember Christ and what He has done for us. Jesus instructed His disciples: “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19 and 1 Corinthians 11:24). The bread, Jesus tells us, represents His body. The fruit of the vine represents His blood. When we take the elements of communion we remember and thoughtfully reflect on Christ’s great sacrifice on our behalf. “But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!”[1]
  2. We celebrate the New Covenant that Christ came to initiate. Both Luke 22:20 and 1 Corinthians 11:25 refer to the cup as the “new covenant in my blood.” Jesus was celebrating the Passover meal with His disciples. That feast commemorated God’s deliverance of His people from Egyptian slavery by the exodus event. The blood on their doorposts was a means of protecting the Hebrew’s firstborn. The exodus was the key deliverance (salvation) event in the Old Testament. Jesus takes this important tradition and inaugurates a new covenant, established not by the blood of a Passover lamb, but through His own blood, shed on the cross for our salvation and deliverance from the slavery of sin. This is the foundation of the new covenant.
  3. We receive spiritual nourishment. I have sometimes wondered why God cares about rituals and why Jesus commanded us to observe the Lord’s Supper. I have come to realize that it is not really for God’s benefit, but for ours. We need tangible expressions of our faith. When I take in the nutrients and nourishment of the bread and cup (however meager), this becomes a means of taking into my person the benefits of Christ’s death applied to me. Jesus didn’t simply die for an abstract ideal. He died for me. When the bread and drink enter into my body, I remember that He died on my behalf, and this provides me spiritual nourishment. I am taking the benefits of Christ’s death to myself.
  4. We affirm our faith in Christ. As we take the bread and the cup, we are affirming that we need Jesus and all that His death secures for us. We need His forgiveness, His love, His salvation, His indwelling Spirit, etc. We pledge ourselves to Christ. It is a time of covenant renewal. We commit once again to trust Jesus and pledge our lives to Him. We declare that we wish to honor and obey Him.
  5. We proclaim His death until He comes and await the final supper. The community of faith observes the Lord’s Supper, proclaiming Jesus’ death, until He returns (1 Corinthians 11:26). When Jesus finished with the bread and cup, He told His disciples: “But I tell you, from this moment I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it in a new way in My Father’s kingdom with you.”[2] Revelation tells us of a day when heaven proclaims that the marriage supper of the Lamb has come and His Bride has made herself ready (Revelation 19:7). We live between the cups, the first cup representing the death of Christ on our behalf, and the second cup of the gathered saints who will celebrate with Christ and His final victory at the marriage supper of the Lamb. When we observe the Lord’s Supper, we anticipate that final Day by faith.

[1] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), Ro 5:8.
[2] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), Mt 26:29.

Nov
28
Roger Severino

Practicing the Discipline of Service in Four Arenas

by Roger Severino    

[vimeo 110796210 w=640 h=360] 
Jesus tells his disciples that leadership in His Kingdom is different than leadership in the world. He teaches us that the greatest among you will be the servant of all. Even as Jesus tells us that He did not come to be served but to serve, so we are called to serve those around us (see Mark 10:35-45)

  1. Service at Home. Our true nature and posture is typically revealed at home where we let our guard down. Do we seek to serve those under our roof or have them serve us? Through the years, I have noticed that my wife has become even more of a servant to those of us in the home, including me. As she has become more selfless, I have to be careful not to become more selfish and allow her to constantly out-serve me. Whether it is cooking, washing dishes, walking the dog, grocery shopping, yard work, driving the car pool, taking out the trash, paying bills, etc., I need to make sure that I am being a good contributor to our household. If I am to provide spiritual leadership at home, this includes serving my family in various ways.
  2. Service at Work. For many of us, work is a competitive environment. Not only may we be competing for customers and clients with those in our industry, but there is often a desire to outperform our fellow workers for advancement and recognition. Do Jesus’ teachings have any application in this venue of life? Jim Collins’ research in his book, Good To Great, identified certain characteristics of leaders of elite companies who were able to sustain positive results over those in the industry. The Level 5 Leader, as he calls it, demonstrated servant leadership that resembles similar attributes Jesus identifies in Mark 10:35-45 and that He also exhibited among His disciples when He washed their feet (see John 13). Yes, Jesus’ teachings are very counter-cultural to the work place, but they still have relevance. How do you serve those around you at work, including those under your supervision? Do you practice the discipline of service with those in a different department?
  3. Service at Church. God equips us with various spiritual gifts and calls us to exercise these in the context of a local church (see 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, 1 Peter 4:10-11). Sometimes God calls us to an area of passion, and sometimes He calls us to an area of need, for which He gives us the desire to help out and assist. The goal is that the body of Christ, the church, is built up and encouraged. If you are a follower of Jesus, then you are a member in the body of Christ. In what ways are you building up that body?
  4. Service in our Neighborhood and Community. For many of us, our opportunities of service are consumed by our home, work, and church. We must realize, however, that we are called to serve in whatever place God has us. Do our neighbors believe that we are ready to serve them? Is our community a better place because believers in Christ are working to make it a better place? Does the world view Christians as those ready to judge and condemn, or those who are ready to love and serve?

Evaluate your current level of service in these four arenas. Are there any areas where you believe God may have you practice the discipline of service in a better way?