What is Communion?

Message begins around 30:00

What is Communion?

Dave Riddle • 07/27/2022

Key Passage: 1 Corinthians 11:24-28

Communion: A Jesus-ordained ceremony 

• Baptism is the other “ordinance” that we regularly practice

• Matthew 26:26-28

An Act of Commemoration 

• Remember

  • 1 Corinthians 11:24

    • Remember who Jesus is, and what he has done for us.

  • Exodus 12:2-3, 6-7, 12-14

    • A permanent statute

    • A lasting ordinance

    • Jesus fulfilled the old Passover and, in a sense, instituted a new Passover.

A Gospel Proclamation 

• Proclaim

  • 1 Corinthians 11:26

    • Communion preaches the Gospel.

An Opportunity for Contemplation 

• 1 Corinthians 11:28

  • dokimazō - to test, examine, prove, scrutinise (to see whether a thing is genuine or not). To recognise as genuine after examination.

• Galatians 2:20

• Romans 6:11

A Way to Celebrate Unity

• koinōnia (Greek: κοινωνία) - fellowship, association, community, intimacy, joint participation (the share which one has in anything), communion.

• 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

  • One body (the Church)

  • One loaf of bread (Christ)

• John 17:9-11

A Cause for Hopeful Anticipation

• 1 Corinthians 11:26

  • “…until He comes”

• Matthew 26:29

Be Undivided

Message starts around the 30:00 mark

Be Undivided
01/09/2021 - Dave Riddle 
Key Verse: John 17:11

Our Current Reality

• The last few years have been hard.

• Evangelicalism is fracturing.

  • “Not merely dividing but becoming increasingly incomprehensible to each other.”

• Relational dissonance.

• Galatians 5:15 - But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.

• The statistics are discouraging.

• The Reality: we all sinners

Our Calling

• The Calling: Unity

  • John 17:11 - …that they may be one.

    • This should be our starting point.

    • Not unanimity, not uniformity, maybe not even union… but absolutely Unity!

The Model

• John 17:11 - …as we are one (Jesus & the Father).

  • Not my will, but the will of the Father. Not my words, but the words of the Father.

    • As humans this level of unity is only possible through the power of the Spirit.

Our Response

• Repent and believe

• Communion: look up, look back, look forward, look around.

  • Koinōnia (Greek: κοινωνία) - fellowship, association, community, intimacy, joint participation (the share which one has in anything), communion.

• Do I have the humility to align myself with God?

Memorials

Memorials

“Therefore these stones will always be  a memorial for the Israelites.” Joshua 4:7 CSB

zakar: to pierce, to impress (on the memory), to remember or be remembered, to recollect, to commemorate.

zikrown: a memorial, reminder or remembrance. It is an object reminder or token act by which something is brought to mind. 

Why do we need them?

• We’re prone to forget

  • Deuteronomy 4:9

  • Deuteronomy 6:12

  • Joshua 4:6-7

  • Judges 2:10

What are their features?

• They’re a Statement

  • Joshua 4:24

• They’re Enduring

  • Joshua 4:7

• They’re Distinctive

  • Joshua 4:8

Communion as a memorial

The Lord’s Table

The Lord’s Table

Dave Riddle - 11/24/19

Key Passage: 1 Corinthians 11:23-30

Directive

• 1 Corinthians 11:23 - received from God, passed on to us

Reminder

• 1 Corinthians 11:24 - do this in remembrance of me

Covenant

• 1 Corinthians 11:25 - the new covenant in my blood

Declaration & Anticipation 

• 1 Corinthians 11:26 - proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

Unity

• 1 Corinthians 11:27

• koinōnia (Greek: κοινωνία) - fellowship, association or communion with something. A community. The share with which one has in anything - joint participation.

Caution

• 1 Corinthians 11:27 - whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup in an unworthy manner...

Self-Analysis

• 1 Corinthians 11:28 - let a person examine himself