RESTORATION CHURCH
Pre-Encounter Worksheet
Session Eight
COMMUNION
The Lord’s Supper
If you have ever been around a church service or Catholic Mass you have probably seen a communion service performed in a church or even in a movie.
The bread or wafer and the cup of wine or grape juice being passed out or the priest serving the people in the front of the sanctuary.
What does this detail ritual mean anyway?
Jesus never asked His disciples to remember His_________, but he did instruct them to remember His _________ and ________________. He gave the church two visible symbols (called ‘ordinances’) as reminders of His death. These ordinances are: Baptism and The Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is an object lesson that represents a great spiritual truth for believers.
The Prophecy of the Cross – The object of Communion
Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. 3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. 7 He 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. 8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? 9 His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. 10 But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. 11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53
700 years before Jesus went to the Cross, Isaiah the Prophet, prophesied of Jesus horrible Death that would purchase for God a people unto himself.
He points you to The Cross; Everything in History either looked forward to the Cross or now looks back to the Cross.
I will meet with you there, above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the Testimony, I will speak intimately with you of all which I will give you in commandment to the Israelites.
Exodus 25:22 AMP.
God always Talks to you above the Mercy Seat, this is the place of fellowship.
The cross always points you to the Mercy Seat where Christ has laid his blood and now rules from.
The Place of Fellowship & Covenant Relationship.―
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Hebrews 10:19-22
Hebrews 9:12-14, and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Ephesians 2:5-7
Where is Christ Jesus seated? On the Mercy Seat where He said he would talk with us face to face.
Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Colossians 3:2-4
Where is your life Hidden? And Where are you seated if your life is in Christ?
In the Blood that Jesus placed upon the Mercy Seat
Communion is _______________ and ___________________ in the reality that Jesus purchased us with His own blood, and made away for us to stand before the Father clean. now we are seated in Christ at the Mercy seat through his blood, where Jesus said he would speak intimately with us. When I keep communion I recommit to fellowship with Him, and I recommit to His Lordship in my life.
The Lord’s Supper
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. 27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. 1 Corinthians 11:23-32 NASU
The Lord’s Supper is not a ritual or a tradition, it is the place where we who are hidden in Hs blood are declared―Forgiven―and are seated with him at the Mercy seat (the seat that demansds Mercy) to have raw face to face communion with God.
A.) What is the Lord’s Supper?
It is a _______Simple Act_____________________________________________.
The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread… I Corinthians 11:23
It is a _______ Reminder___________________________________________.
…and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ’This is my body, which is for you; eat it in remembrance of me. I Corinthians 11:24
It is a _______Backwards look at the cross__________________________.
In the same way, He took the cup, saying, ’This cup is the new covenant in my blood; drink it to remember me. I Corinthians 11:25
It is a _______ Forward look at His Return___________________________.
For whenever you eat the bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes back. I Corinthians 11:26
B.) WHO SHOULD TAKE THE LORD’S SUPPER?
Only those who are already Christians. Mark 14:22-26
For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment upon himself. II Corinthians 11:29
I. Why do I need to keep the Act of The Lord’s Supper?
Communion was a commandment revealed to the Apostle Paul, and was instituted by the Lord Jesus Himself at Passover (Last Supper)
Always points you to the Cross, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Christ (Due in remembrance)
The place of fresh evaluation of the Cross and commitment in your personal life with God. (Don’t take the Lords Cup unworthily)
The place of fellowship and cleansing- (Hebrews 10:19-22)
C.) How do I keep the Lord’s Supper?
You can keep the Lord’s Supper with the Local body (Church) as they take it.
A.) 2-ways to keep the Lord’s Supper with the Local body of believers
Take the communion elements between you and the _________ as an individual
Take the elements between you and your _____________ or members of the body among you. This is away of keeping testifying of the Lords Death and Resurrection among one another, but more importantly it tells of the covenant of the people of God amongst themselves. We are the body!
You can take the Lord’s Supper when you are alone with the Lord in your personal worship time.
You can use Wonder Bread, a Cracker, really anything that you could use as the bread of the Lord and any kind of liquid to represent the Blood of the Lord.
You can take it while you are alone in Prayer or worship with the Lord. (the location does not matter because it is totally an issue of the Heart.)
HOW DO I PREPARE MYSELF FOR THE LORD’S SUPPER?
Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A person ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
I Corinthians 27 & 28
1.) Self-examination: Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 11:2
2.) Confessing my sins: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
3.) Recommitment: Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
Romans 12:1
4.) Restoring Relationships: “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
Matthew 5:23-24
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