(# 339) Romans 9 - THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION The Cross is a Reminder that Love is a Show Me Experience

Class Outline:

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Welcome To

BARAH MINISTRIES

a Christian Church

Rory Clark

Pastor-Teacher

 

Good Morning!

 

Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.  Welcome to… 

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION

The Cross is a Reminder that Love is a Show Me Experience

 

Love is something you can see!

 

The Lord’s work on the Cross is the greatest demonstration of LOVE ever.  That’s the great and transparent thing about love.  Love isn’t a feeling, even though you can feel it.  Love is a value…love is a thought…and that value… that thought…is demonstrated in every action.  Love is something you can see when it exists.  The Lord loves us.  In John, Chapter 15, Verse 12, Jesus Christ says…

 

JOHN 15:12

“This is My mandate, that you love one another unconditionally, just as I (the Lord Jesus Christ) have loved you unconditionally.”

 

How do we know the Lord loves us?  He shows us.  John, Chapter 15, Verse 13…

 

JOHN 15:13

“Greater unconditional love has no one than this love, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

 

And when love is mutual, there’s nothing more powerful on this earth.

 

Today, just as we do every month, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper…a meal  of remembrance…to demonstrate our love for the Lord.  We eat, by breaking bread…we drink, by tasting the fruit of the vine…and we look back to the Cross…one of the most significant occurrences of LOVE in divine history.  First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verse 26 says…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:26

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

 

At the Lord’s Supper Celebration, as a gathering of His believers, we remember the Lord’s death on the Cross which paid the price for Adam’s sin…the sin that is credited to the account of all mankind at physical birth…the sin resulting in spiritual death for all.  At the Lord’s Supper Celebration, we remember the shedding of the Lord’s blood to cleanse us from this unrighteousness… an unrighteousness caused by a sin of independence… and we remember, with gladness, that the Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead three days after His crucifixion, both to prove that He is Deity, and to give us hope.  And now we believers in Christ KNOW, through His infallible Word, that the Lord Jesus Christ is seated victorious at the right hand of His Father’s throne, waiting for the moment when God the Father will make the Lord’s enemies a footstool for His feet.

 

Welcome to a place where you can be reminded constantly that you are  LOVED by God with REAL LOVE that requires nothing from you.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

CHANGE MY HEART OH GOD

Maranatha Praise Band 

 

If you are holding on to anything in your heart today that is keeping you from loving…this would be a great time to place your concerns into the hands of the Lord as we listen to the opening song…CHANGE MY HEART OH GOD sung by The Maranatha Praise Band.

 

OPENING PRAYER

 

Let us pray...

 

We’re grateful Heavenly Father for the privilege of studying the absolute truth...the Word of God…

 

Father, we thank you for loving us…when we come into Your presence in prayer, we come with an awareness that Your love completely overwhelms our concerns about our own imperfection…You see our flaws and You love us anyway…that’s true love…

 

Teach us, today, to love You in return by demonstrating our love…we show you our love by obeying You and by obeying Your Word.  Help us to rest in the warmth of Your unconditional love that asks nothing more from us than a trusting heart of faith…

 

We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit...in Christ’s name... Amen.

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION

The Cross is a Reminder that Love is a Show Me Experience

 

Let’s being the lesson by taking the offering.  God loves generosity.  One of the surest ways to demonstrate your unconditional love for others is through giving from a graceful heart.  Second Corinthians, Chapter 9, Verses 6 to 8 say this…

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 9:6

Now this I (Paul) say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 9:7

Each one must give just as he has purposed in his heart, and not give grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful (willing) giver.

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 9:8

And God the Father is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed…

 

God rewards giving with abundance…the farmer who sows only a few seeds reaps only a few crops.  The farmer who sows many seeds reaps an abundance of crops.  If you are listening to lesson at Barah Ministries, and you them, show us by means of your generosity…encourage us with your giving.  By the way, thank you for the generosity you demonstrated at the end of the year.  It was very encouraging.  Let’s welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall to take the offering.

 

THE OFFERING

Deacon Denny Goodall

 

OFFERING VERSE

 

EPHESIANS 6:13

Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

 

OFFERING

FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE

Dave McClure, Instrumental

 

Thank you for giving. 

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION

The Cross is a Reminder that Love is a Show Me Experience

 

The Lord shows us how much He loves us.  Everything our Lord does is completely different from the approach of the world…especially His love.  The world loves those who love them.  The Lord loves differently.  In Matthew Chapter 5, Verses 43 to 48, the Lord Jesus Christ illuminates for us what real love looks like…

 

MATTHEW 5:43

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’”

 

MATTHEW 5:44

“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…”

 

MATTHEW 5:45

“…so that through this unconditional love you may demonstrate that you are sons of your God, the Father who is in heaven…for God the Father causes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

 

MATTHEW 5:46

“For if you love those who love you, and of course you do, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”

 

MATTHEW 5:47

“If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?”

 

MATTHEW 5:48

“Therefore you are to be perfect (in your loving), as your heavenly Father is perfect (in His loving).”

 

We are perfect when we love as the Lord loves.  The Lord showed us His love by dying FOR EVERYONE…and the Lord asks us to demonstrate the same loving attitude He has toward others…the same willingness to lay down our lives for each other.  That’s REAL love.  Are you living up to this standard of love in your relationships?  First Peter, Chapter 1, Verses 18 and 19…

 

FIRST PETER 1:18

…you believers in Christ were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life which you inherited from your forefathers…

 

FIRST PETER 1:19

…but you were redeemed with precious blood, as of the blood of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Your salvation was purchased at quite a cost…with the blood of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  And when you think of all the pretender gods…the icons of the religions…you have to ask yourself if you saw them lay down their lives both for believers and unbelievers alike.  They didn’t.  They formed an exclusive club, thus exposing themselves as not from God.

 

The Lord invites you to live a lifestyle of LOVE that shows how much it values values ALL. 

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION:

Enjoying the Elements

 

Following God’s request, we keep on celebrating CHRIST and His Cross on a regular basis…we eat to remember who He is as a PERSON…we drink to remember His WORK, the voluntary sacrifice He made at the Cross on our behalf as our sin substitute…and we are grateful for what God has done for us.  First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 23 and 24 say…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:23

For I, Paul received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus Christ on the night in which He was betrayed took bread…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:24

…and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is, and keeps

 on being My body, which is broken for you…keep on doing this celebration

 for the purpose of remembering Me.”

 

When we eat the bread during the Lord’s Supper Celebration, we remember the Lord Jesus Christ AS A PERSON. 

 

When we drink the cup, we remember THE WORK of the Lord Jesus Christ.  First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 25 and 26 say…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:25

In the same way the Lord Jesus Christ took the cup after supper, representing His death on the Cross, saying, “This cup is a new testament forged with My blood; keep on doing this celebration…and as often as you drink it…do so for the purpose of remembering Me.”

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:26

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup (as part of the Lord’s Supper Celebration), you proclaim (as a reality and you announce the significance of) the Lord Jesus Christ’s death (on the Cross and His resurrection from the dead) until He comes (again in the second coming).

 

As you enjoy the bread and the cup, enjoy the memory of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as well. Now and always, let us keep on giving thanks that we are loved unconditionally and accepted fully by THE LORD WHO IS ALWAYS THERE…the One we can depend on…and let’s enjoy His unconditional love Day by Day…and that’s the name of our Lord’s Supper song.

 

LORD’S SUPPER SONG

DAY BY DAY

Godspell

 

Let’s take a music break.  God’s love is full of forgiveness.  Let’s listen to Matthew West sing about it.

 

MUSIC BREAK

FORGIVENESS

Matthew West

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION

The Cross is a Reminder that Love is a Show Me Experience

 

How does God love thee?  Let me count the ONE way He shows His love…unconditionally!  Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 8…

 

ROMANS 5:8

But God the Father demonstrates His own unconditional love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners (as unrighteous, ungodly unbelievers), Christ died instead of us.

 

John, Chapter 3, Verses 16…

 

JOHN 3:16

“For God the Father loved the world unconditionally and He loved us so much, that He gave His uniquely born Son (the Lord Jesus Christ), that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but instead shall have eternal life (the resurrection life).”

 

God placed us believers into union with Himself at the moment of our salvation so that we can never be separated from God’s unconditional love…Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 35 to 39…

 

ROMANS 8:35

Who (or what) will separate us from the unconditional love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword separate us?

 

ROMANS 8:36

Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long…

we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

 

ROMANS 8:37

But in all these tribulations we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us unconditionally.

 

ROMANS 8:38

For I (Paul) am convinced that neither physical death, nor anything in life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers…

 

ROMANS 8:39

…nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the unconditional love of God the Father, which comes from being in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

First John, Chapter 4, Verses 7 and 8…

 

FIRST JOHN 4:7

Beloved (divinely loved ones), let us love one another unconditionally, for unconditional love is from God the Father…and everyone who loves unconditionally is a born again one of God the Father…and everyone who loves unconditionally knows God the Father.

 

FIRST JOHN 4:8

The one who does not love unconditionally does not know God the Father, for God the Father is unconditional love.

 

What does unconditional love look like?  First Corinthians, Chapter 13, Verses 1 to 8 describes it…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 13:1

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have unconditional love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 13:2

If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries…and if I have all

knowledge…and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, but do not have unconditional love, I am nothing.

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 13:3

And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have unconditional love, it profits me nothing.

 

In other words, unconditional love is not superficial…it’s deep, intimate and personal.

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 13:4

Unconditional love is patient…unconditional love is kind…and unconditional love is not jealous…unconditional love does not brag…and unconditional love is not arrogant…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 13:5

… unconditional love does not act unbecomingly…unconditional love does not seek its own…unconditional love is not provoked…unconditional love does not take into account a wrong suffered…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 13:6

… unconditional love does not rejoice in unrighteousness…but unconditional love rejoices with the truth…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 13:7

… unconditional love bears all things…unconditional love believes all things…unconditional love hopes all things…unconditional love endures all things…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 13:8

… unconditional love never fails…

 

First Corinthians, Chapter 13, Verse 13…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 13:13

But now faith, hope, and unconditional love…abide in the sphere of these three…but the greatest of these three is unconditional love.

 

Know this…God loves you unconditionally…today and every day.  Look around you.  You’ll see that He has surrounded you with evidence of His love.  Your challenge as a Christian is to reflect His unconditional love for you to the others around you. 

 

And every time you look at the Cross…remember that you are loved.

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

 

ROMANS 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God the Father…divine omnipotence…to provide salvation to everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ…to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Gentiles).

 

MATTHEW 7:13

“Enter salvation through the narrow gate (the Lord Jesus Christ)…for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction…and there are many who enter through it.”

 

MATTHEW 7:14

“For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to the resurrection life, and there are few who find it.”

 

JOHN 10:9

“I (the Lord Jesus Christ) am the door to salvation…if anyone enters through believing in Me…he will be saved…and then he will go in and out and find pasture.”

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:22

For all in union with Adam are set to die the second death in the Lake of Fire…but all those in union with Christ will live the resurrection life.

 

CLOSING SONG

THE WORD IS ALIVE

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

          THANKS - INTERCESSION - PETITION

 

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Thanks for listening!

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