Romans 106: The Lord's Supper Celebration: Who Can Truly Comprehend the Grace of God?Welcome To BARAH MINISTRIES a Christian Church Rory Clark Pastor-Teacher
Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church…my name is Pastor Rory Clark. What are the deaths you are experiencing in your life right now? What are the things that are causing you to grieve? Our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, was a man deeply familiar with the pain of these deaths that we all experience in this life…Isaiah, Chapter 53, Verses 2 and 3 say…
ISA 53:2 For the Lord Jesus Christ grew up before God the Father like a tender shoot, and like a root springing up out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him (with esteem), nor (does the Lord Jesus Christ have an) appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
ISA 53:3 The Lord Jesus Christ was despised and forsaken of men, (He was) a man of sorrows and (He was) acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face the Lord Jesus Christ was despised, and we (the nation of Israel, and all the rest of us as well) did not esteem Him.
What are the deaths you are experiencing in your life right now? What are the things that are causing you to grieve? Our Lord was acquainted with grief, the grief that comes from similar not so little deaths we experience at the hand of those around us. Yet there is hope. In the plan of God, a death is always followed by life. We don’t have to look too long when searching the Word of God to find examples of how our God moves us through death to life. Today, as we celebrate our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, during the Lord’s Supper, we see a ready example of the death to life idea. The Lord Jesus Christ was crucified on our behalf…He suffered physical death in His humanity on the Cross…and He rose again in resurrection, from death to life, as Peter, the apostle attests…in Acts, Chapter 2, Verses 22 to 24…
ACT 2:22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God (the Father) with miracles and wonders and signs which God (the Father) performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know —”
ACT 2:23 …this Man (Jesus), delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God (the Father), you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
ACT 2:24 “But God (the Father) raised Jesus Christ up again (in resurrection from the dead), putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for the Lord to be held in death’s power.”
What are the deaths you are experiencing in your life right now? What are the things that are causing you to grieve? As believers in Christ we are in union with Christ. For us, too, it is impossible for death to hold us in its power. We believers in Christ are to be encouraged in the face of trials and tribulation, because we know that in God’s plan, death is always followed by life. Philippians, Chapter 2, Verses 1 to 12…
PHI 2:1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in (union with) Christ (and there is), if there is any consolation of (unconditional) love (and there is), if there is any fellowship of the Spirit (and there is), if (there is) any affection and compassion (and there is)…
PHI 2:2 …make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same (unconditional) love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
PHI 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves…
PHI 2:4 …do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
PHI 2:5 Have this (same) attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus…
PHI 2:6 …who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God (the Father) a thing to be grasped (and held)…
PHI 2:7 …but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
PHI 2:8 Being found in appearance as a man, the Lord Jesus Christ humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a Cross.
PHI 2:9 For this reason also, God (the Father) highly exalted the Lord Jesus Christ, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name…
PHI 2:10 …so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth…
PHI 2:11 …and so that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
God the Holy Spirit is producing in us believers an unconditional love…and unconditional love enables unity…and when unconditional love and unity do not show up as realities in our lives, perhaps we are listening to a different spirit than God the Holy Spirit. For the Christian Way of Living is to be lived in harmony with the life that is in the messages of the Word of God…in harmony with the attitude of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why we come together at this time.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
When You Suffer
As God prepares your soul for RENEWING through the study of His Word, let’s hear June Murphy worship our Lord in song. As we reflect on God’s work within us through deaths and griefs, we listen to the opening song… WHEN YOU SUFFER.
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray...
We’re grateful Heavenly Father for the privilege of studying the absolute truth...the Word of God…
As we look back at the Cross during this Lord’s Supper celebration…let us celebrate the deaths and the griefs in our lives just as Your Son celebrated the joy set before Him at the Cross…
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit...in Christ’s name... Amen.
THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION Who Can Truly Comprehend the Grace of God?
Every day, as I reflect on the Word of God, the Lord makes the simplest ideas, ones that we have been exposed to for years, pop from its pages and come to life…He illuminates them through experiences and brings them into focus…and this week I came to the realization, through this illumination, that I understand unconditional love, and I can do it…I understand forgiveness, and I can do it…but I do not understand grace, except when it is extended to me. This is the subject of our Lord’s Supper celebration today.
First, a few announcements…
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mark Your Calendars! The next Lord’s Supper Celebration is July 13, 2014
Happy Birthday! John Miller April 14
Happy Birthday! Norbert Baird June 5
Octo-Man!
Happy Birthday! Monica Miller June 7
Congratulations Joel and Deanna Perkosky The Newlyweds! Married May 31
Tracy Bixby Visit June 22
Visit the Vets June 22 1:45PM See Susan Embree for details
Prayer Meeting Immediately Following Today’s Service
Let’s take the offering. Welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall.
Let’s remember to give with the motivation suggested in Scripture
2CO 9:7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful (grace oriented) giver.
TODAY’S OFFERING Deacon Denny Goodall
Barah Ministries Financial Policy
Even though we are sanctioned by God to charge for the many things we provide so you can worship God, we choose not to exercise our right. Therefore no price appears on any material from Barah Ministries so that anyone who desires biblical teaching may have it free of charge.
Barah Ministries Financial Policy
Even though the materials we provide are free of charge, they are not free of cost. We appreciate it when the Word of God motivates you to give financial support so as to provide biblical teaching, both for yourself and for others.
OFFERING VERSE
HEB 12:2 …fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
OFFERING Unfailing Love
THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION Who Can Truly Comprehend the Grace of God?
What are the deaths you are experiencing in your life right now? What are the things that are causing you to grieve? The Lord Jesus Christ comforts us during those times with words from John, Chapter 15, Verse 20…
JOH 15:20 “Remember the word that I (the Lord Jesus Christ) said to you (apostles), ‘A slave (a doulos) is (absolutely) not (never) greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me (and they did), they will also persecute you; if they kept My word (and some do), they will keep yours also.”
Last weekend I presided over the wedding of Joel and Deanna Perkosky, and it is interesting to me how events like weddings, that are thought of as festive and happy, always seem to bring a mirror to the true condition of our lives. When witnessing a marriage, it gives us a chance, I guess, to reflect on our own lives, on our own relationships, on our own past, on our own failings, on our own families, and not so oddly enough, such reflection brings more sadness than joy. As a Pastor, I always seem to end up at the other end of these wedding reflections when I preside over a wedding ceremony, as people come to a place of perceived safety in me, and vent their frustrations about their lives. One such story was the story of a betrayal, and a request for advice about what the person should do…how the person should process the feelings of being betrayed.
I didn’t have an answer.
Relationships are easy when they go well. But the true test of the character of a relationship is how they are when they “go south.” It is perhaps the best way to see what you had all along. From listening to this person’s story, I gained a new understanding on something that had perplexed me for a while about relationships.
I couldn’t really understand why the automatic response to infidelity in a marriage relationship is divorce. I couldn’t understand why THAT sin is so electrically charged. After all, it’s just sex with another person. Why would that lead to a divorce? Why would a person become so inflamed about this wrong, when the person they are in a relationship with has wronged them so many other ways in the course of relationship…with lies, with judging, with maligning, with gossip, with strife…you know what I mean…in relationships there are any number of things that we can be upset about with another person…even for physical abuse…but none of them ever seems to inflame the passionate hatred inside the one who has been wronged like infidelity.
Well in listening to this story, this time, for some reason…God knows why, I don't know why…the real issue hit me…and my conclusion is that I understand the need for unconditional love in relationships, and I have even learned to do it. I can understand the need for forgiveness in relationships, and I have even learned to do it. I thought infidelity required only these two cures. Through this conversation, I learned that there is a more important cure for these ills…I learned that unconditional love and forgiveness is not enough in the matter of infidelity. And after we partake of the elements, I’d like to tell you what the Lord revealed to me through this interaction.
THE LORD’S SUPPER 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…His PERSON…we drink to remember His WORK, the voluntary sacrifice He made at the Cross on our behalf…and we are grateful. First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 23 and 24 say…
1CO 11:23-24 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; 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 PERSON of the Lord Jesus Christ.
First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 25 and 26 say…
1CO 11:25-26 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, as often as you drink it, for the purpose of remembering Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
When we drink the cup, we remember THE WORK of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As you remember the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, please enjoy the bread and enjoy the cup. And come on up! As you enjoy the elements, and as you give thanks to the Lord, let’s listen to the Lord’s Supper song...Give Thanks.
LORD’S SUPPER SONG Give Thanks
Take a five-minute break.
BREAK When I Think About Home
THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION Who Can Truly Comprehend the Grace of God?
Most of us are intolerant of betrayal. Yet if we understand how our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, shapes our character, we know that we will experience many betrayals in this lifetime. He did…turn in your bible to John, Chapter 18, Verse 1…this is Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of the Lord…
JOH 18:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden (Gethsemane), in which He entered with His disciples.
JOH 18:2 Now Judas (Iscariot) also, who was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with His disciples.
JOH 18:3 Judas then, having received the Roman cohort (600 men) and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
JOH 18:4 So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”
The Lord voluntarily gave Himself up.
JOH 18:5 They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He said to them, “I am He.” And Judas (Iscariot) also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them.
JOH 18:6 So when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
JOH 18:7 Therefore He again asked them, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.”
JOH 18:8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am He; so if you seek Me, let these go their way…”
JOH 18:9 “…to fulfill the word which He spoke, “Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one.”
JOH 18:10 Simon Peter then, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave’s name was Malchus.
JOH 18:11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?”
Turn in your bibles to Matthew, Chapter 26, Verse 69…this is Peter’s betrayal of the Lord…like it says in the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, the end is just a little harder when it’s brought about by friends.
MAT 26:69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.”
MAT 26:70 But Peter denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about. (Denial 1)”
MAT 26:71 When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
MAT 26:72 And again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man. (Denial 2)”
MAT 26:73 A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away.”
MAT 26:74 Then Peter began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” (Denial 3) And immediately a rooster crowed.
MAT 26:75 And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
Look at Matthew, Chapter 26, Verse 57…here is betrayal in the form of harsh treatment that the Lord Jesus Christ received.
MAT 26:57 Those who had seized Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together.
MAT 26:58 But Peter was following Him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and entered in, and sat down with the officers to see the outcome.
MAT 26:59 Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death.
MAT 26:60 They did not find any(thing worthy of putting Him to death), even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on two came forward…
MAT 26:61 …and said, “This man stated, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.’”
MAT 26:62 The high priest stood up and said to Him, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?”
MAT 26:63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ (the Messiah), the Son of God.”
MAT 26:64 Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”
MAT 26:65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy…”
MAT 26:66 “…what do you think?” They answered, “He deserves death!”
MAT 26:67 Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him…
MAT 26:68 …and said, “Prophesy to us, You Christ; who is the one who hit You?”
The Lord’s response concerning all of them as He hung from the Cross? Luke, Chapter 23, Verse 34…
LUK 23:34 But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
I don’t understand grace. I understand unconditional love. I understand forgiveness. I don’t understand how you extend grace when you’ve been betrayed. How did the Lord decide that it was okay to die for the friends who were betraying Him, for the people who were spitting in His face and for the people who were slapping Him? He didn’t just die for us…He died instead of us.
When you think about it, that is why infidelity is so electrically charged. Not only is there an infidelity but also there is a betrayal. And the betrayal drains all the trust out of the relationship that has been built over time…perhaps a long time. When there is no trust, how do you extend grace?
As we celebrate this Lord’s Supper….as we look back at the Cross…
THE LORD HANGING FROM THE CROSS
…we can only marvel at our role model. He is the definition of grace. Turn to Hebrews, Chapter 12, Verses 1…
HEB 12:1 Therefore, since we (believers in Christ) have so great a cloud of (Old Testament) witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us (boxing us in on every side), and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…
HEB 12:2 …fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
HEB 12:3 For consider the Lord Jesus Christ who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
How did the Lord extend grace? The Lord took His medicine. Isaiah, Chapter 53, Verse 7…
ISA 53:7 The Lord Jesus Christ was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.
So it is with a betrayal…you can’t muster the words to fight it. But you can be grateful for the Lord’s gifts. What are the deaths you are experiencing in your life right now? What are the things that are causing you to grieve? They are gifts from God. For as sure as resurrection from the dead followed the Cross, so will life follow the deaths and griefs we experience on a moment to moment basis.
I didn’t have an answer for the person who was at the wrong end of infidelity and betrayal. But the Lord Jesus Christ has an answer. He is the answer, no matter what the question. We do well to learn from the Master and to follow His example.
The Promises of the Lord Jesus Christ
1TH 5:16-18 Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you (who are) in (union with) Christ Jesus.
1PE 5:6-7 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
EXO 14:13 “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today…”
ISA 40:29 He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power.
CLOSING SONG I Stand Amazed At Grace
CLOSING PRAYER Let us pray...
THANKS INTERCESSION PETITION
And we pray that You continue to shape the messages from this pulpit that are an accurate reflection of Your unconditional love, Your person, Your thinking, Your work, and Your essence...we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit, in Christ’s name, Amen.
Thanks for coming! Thanks for watching! Thanks for listening!
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