Supper, Table, Breaking of Bread: What Communion Really Means
Dr RJ Sing, 28 min
Originally preached as “Communion: Unlock God's Abundance in Your Life Today”
Sermon outline
Communion is not an empty ritual: each biblical name for it reveals what Christ has made available, from intimate sharing in His life to a table of abundance where God comes to bless.
Main text
- 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Opening
He welcomes the television audience and prays that viewers will grow in their love for God. He explains that the church takes communion every first Sunday but missed the previous week, so the whole lesson is built around the communion table. His stated aim is to give sound biblical understanding of one of the main ordinances of the church, because without it people will not grasp its importance or how it helps them.
A sacred ordinance with many names
He reads Paul's account of the night Jesus was betrayed, when He took bread and the cup and told the church to do this in remembrance of Him until He comes. The ordinance has many names, some biblical, some historical and some traditional, and each carries an element of truth. His purpose is to highlight those truths so people understand what communion really is.
“Without some biblical understanding, you will not understand the importance of it, the significance of it, and how it will help you.”
- 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
The Lord's Supper
It is called the Lord's Supper because it was Christ's last supper with His disciples before the cross, and Jesus Himself established it for the whole body of Christ until He returns. When He said He would not drink the fruit of the vine again until He drinks it new in His Father's kingdom, He pointed to a future supper. Those called to the marriage supper of the Lamb are blessed.
“It points to a future supper that all believers of all ages will enjoy with the Lord.”
- 1 Corinthians 11:20
- Matthew 26:26-29
- Revelation 19:9
- Revelation 19:17
The Table of the Lord: a place of feasting
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils, so the table draws a clear line between God and the world. It is a place of intimate fellowship where believers feast. Feasting speaks of abundance, because God is a good God who wants His children blessed and empowered to prosper.
Illustration: While preparing that morning, the thought came to him that God did not prepare crumbs for His people.
“At the table there's no crumbs for you.”
- 1 Corinthians 10:21
Communion: an intimate sharing
The word communion means an intimate sharing between two people. At the table you share in everything Christ has done: your weakness becomes His strength, your lack His abundance, your sickness His healing, and broken relationships are mended. God's touch turns the desire to get even into love and prayer for those who come against you.
“Your lack becomes His abundance.”
- 1 Corinthians 10:16
The Breaking of Bread: blessed to multiply
The breaking of bread goes back to Jesus taking bread, blessing it and breaking it. What He blessed multiplied, and the disciples who ate it became blessed to be a blessing. Communion means we are one with Christ, who lives in us: you are God's walking temple.
Illustration: Jesus giving thanks over a few small fish and bread, and it multiplying.
“You are God's walking temple.”
- Acts 20:7
- Matthew 26:26
- 1 Corinthians 6:19
Eucharist and sacrament, and the foundation of the ordinance
Eucharist (giving of thanks) and sacrament (holy, set apart) are non-biblical terms, though the table should be hallowed and reverenced. The foundation is God's desire to dwell with man: Adam hid after sin, but God reconciled us to Himself, and the tabernacle of God is now with men. When the church gathers there is a corporate anointing, and wherever God records His name He comes to bless.
Illustration: Angels, as ministering spirits, easily find the heirs of salvation among millions of people, because believers shine like beams of light.
“It was God's desire from the beginning of times to dwell with man.”
- Genesis 3:8
- Revelation 21:1-3
- Deuteronomy 32:30
- Exodus 25:8
- Hebrews 1:14
- Exodus 20:24
The new covenant table and the captain of our salvation
Under the new covenant the Lord's presence is at the communion table: eating the bread and drinking the cup means sins forgiven, a body made whole and a life blessed. He takes communion daily and encourages families to do the same, declares 2014 a year of great success, and points to Jesus as the captain who never abandons ship.
Illustration: A pilot announcing 'this is your captain speaking' to passengers he has never met, set against the captain of a sinking ship who was arrested for being among the first to abandon it.
“It's not an important traditional day. It's not an important historical day. It's an important day of blessing.”
- Psalm 23:5
- Hebrews 2:10
Putting it into practice
- Learn what communion means from Scripture instead of treating it as a ritual.
- Say no to the world and the devil as you share in the Lord's table.
- Take communion regularly, even daily, with your family or in your prayer time.
- Gather with the church to share in the corporate anointing.
- Come to the table ready to let go of insecurity, pride and the lies of the devil.
Closing
As leaders begin to distribute the communion emblems, he reminds the church that Jesus is the captain of our salvation who loves them. He calls them to let go of weakness, insecurity, pride, conceit, arrogance and the things of the flesh that hinder the fullness of Christ. The edit ends there, before the partaking.
Declarations he led
- You're blessed.
- It's a place of feasting.
- I see you multiply.
- I'm blessed.
- My sins are forgiven. My body is made whole. And I'm blessed.
- It's a table of feasting.
In his words
- “God did not prepare for you crumbs.”
- “When you partake of the Lord's table, when you take communion, you are intimately sharing with Christ everything that He's done for us.”
- “Every time God shows up, his sole purpose is to bless you.”
- “As a practice, I take communion myself every day.”
- “Thank God we don't have a captain that abandoned ship.”
Every scripture in this message
- 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
- 1 Corinthians 11:20
- Matthew 26:26-29
- Revelation 19:9
- Revelation 19:17
- 1 Corinthians 10:21
- 1 Corinthians 10:16
- Acts 20:7
- 1 Corinthians 6:19
- Genesis 3:8
- Revelation 21:1-3
- Deuteronomy 32:30
- Exodus 25:8
- Hebrews 1:14
- Exodus 20:24
- Psalm 23:5
- Hebrews 2:10