Acts 2:42 tells us that the early followers of Christ, “…devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (NIV) In another of these tutorials we suggested that “the breaking of bread” refers to the symbolic meal Christ commanded His followers to eat in His memory. We call this meal “The Lord’s Supper,” “Communion” or “The Eucharist.” We also suggested that before partaking of this meal there should be a short talk about some aspect of Jesus’ life or a teaching of the New Testament. The purpose of this talk is to remind us of what Jesus has done for us and to show how the death, burial and resurrection of Christ apply to our daily lives and all that we do.
The Importance of the Communion
Partaking of the Communion meal is not merely a matter of church tradition. The Apostle Paul writes, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 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.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26 NIV)
History tells us that the first Christians celebrated the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week, that is, every Sunday.
Unfortunately, there are many churches which no longer do this. They celebrate the Lord’s Supper, perhaps one a year, once a quarter or once a month. Even among congregations which continue to keep it every week, for many it has become a ritual with little meaning. They rush through it so that they have more time for what they consider more important, that is, the sermon. This kind of thinking is not new. The prophet Malachi wrote, “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the Lord Almighty. “It is you, O priests, who despise my name. But you ask, ‘How have we despised your name?’ “You place defiled food on my altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ “By saying that the Lord’s table is contemptible.” (Malachi 1:6-7 NIV)
How much importance should we place upon the Lord’s Supper? In 1 Corinthians 15:3-5, the Apostle Paul writes that the teaching about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ is of the first importance. This is appropriate because Jesus is, Himself, the cornerstone of our faith. (See Acts 4:11, Ephesians 2:19-22, 1 Peter 2:6)
If the death, burial and resurrection of Christ is the most important teaching of Christianity, then it follows that we should put a high value on the thing which Jesus asked us to do in order to remember His death and resurrection. Partaking of the Lord’s Supper is not an empty ritual. It speaks to the very core of our faith. If we were able to do only one thing in our Sunday assemblies, it should be to partake of the Lord’s Supper.
How can we make the Lord’s Supper more meaningful? We often treat the Lord’s Supper as something isolated from everything else we do in our assemblies. However, what many have discovered is that the Lord’s Supper not only has meaning within itself, but can also illuminate every other aspect of our faith and practice.
Many churches simply read 1st Corinthians 11:23-32, pray, and then partake of the bread and juice. This is good. There is nothing wrong in this practice. But there is something else you can do which will enhance what you are already doing. It is quite easy to do, yet can have a tremendous impact on the spiritual growth of your congregation.
What is it? It is to give a small talk before you partake of the bread and juice. The purpose of these talks is to remind us of what Jesus has done for us and to show how the death, burial and resurrection of Christ apply to various aspects of our faith and life. If the talks are also connected to the theme or subject of the sermon, the entire assembly will have a greater impact. Each Sunday the talk should be given by a different man in the congregation.
There are many benefits to implementing such talks.
1) As already stated, they will make the Lord’s Supper more meaningful.
2) You will be enriched by hearing the thoughts and perspectives of the different men.
3) If you are a church leader part of your responsibility is to equip others for ministry. This is an opportunity for you to see who is talented in speaking.
4) It gives men practice in Bible study.
5) It gives men practice in telling others about what Christ has done.
6) It provides practice in speaking. No one can become good at doing anything without practice.
7) It gives others an opportunity to share in the ministry of the church.
Preparing a Message
How do we go about preparing a message which is suitable for the Lord’s Supper? Let’s take a look at the process.
There are two schools of thought regarding Communion messages. Some say that they should be independent of, that is have no relation to, the theme of the rest of the assembly. In other words, the message should be based directly on one of the accounts of the Lord’s Supper in the Gospels, or on passages which discus it, such as 1 Corinthians 10:14-22 or 1 Corinthians 11:23-34. For example, messages could be prepared from the 1st Corinthians 11 passage on the subjects of Christ’s body, remembrance, covenant, proclaiming the Lord’s death and Christ’s return. This approach is good, but it does limit what may be said.
The second approach is to base the message on the same general theme or subject of the rest of the assembly. The idea is not to compete with the sermon. The idea is not to present an alternative sermon. Instead, the intent is to compliment the sermon with the message or, even better, have the sermon compliment what is said in the Communion message. The goal is to bring the Lord’s Supper into the center of the assembly by showing how Christ’s death, burial and resurrection relates to the subject of the assembly.
In this lesson we are going to look at how to prepare a message according to this second approach.
1) Dividing the text
For the purposes of this lesson we will assume that the sermon is based directly on a portion of scripture rather than on a subject.
The first step in this type of speaking, and therefore in preparing a Communion message which fits this type of sermon, is selecting the text which you will explain. If you are not the one giving both the sermon and the message (and in most cases you probably won’t give both) then you need to coordinate with the other person so you know upon which passage he is basing the sermon.
There are no fixed rules to select the text you will use. However, there are two general guidelines. a) The text should be small enough that you can explain it in one message. b) The text should be large enough so that it contains a complete thought.
For the purposes of this tutorial, we will prepare a Communion message which would be appropriate for a sermon based on 1st Thessalonians chapter 4, verses1 through 8.
2) Determining the theme of the text
Once we know the passage which will be considered during the assembly, the next step is to determine what the message or theme of that passage is.
There are several possible themes in this passage: a) Living to please God (4:1) b) Holiness (4:3, 7-8) c) Avoiding sexual impurity (4:3-6) d) Not wronging a brother (4:6) e) Punishment for sin (4:6) f) Rejecting God (4:8)
A message could be prepared on any of these themes. However, the over-all theme of the passage seems to be holiness. Therefore, for the purposes of this illustration, we will plan to write our message on holiness.
3) Relating the theme to the sacrifice of Christ – the core idea of the message
We now know the theme of our Communion message. But we must still ask a very important question. What is the connection between our theme and the Lord’s Supper? In other words, what does the instruction to live a holy life have to do with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ?
There may be several answers to this question. One answer certainly is that Christ died in order to make us holy. He took the penalty of our sin upon Himself when He died on the cross.
We will make this idea, that Jesus died to make us holy, the central idea or thought of our message.
4) Supporting the core idea with other Scripture
We have now determined, not only the theme, but the central or core idea of our message. We have stated it as a proposition or declaration. In this case, that Christ died in order to make us holy. But it is not enough to merely make a statement. The next step is to demonstrate that this statement is true from the Scriptures.
When preparing a message, always keep in mind that you are not in competition with the person who is going to bring the sermon. It is not your intent to deliver his message for him. On the contrary, the sermon and the message you prepare should compliment and enhance the over-all theme of the worship assembly. In view of this, it is best not to mention the passage which will be used in the sermon, at all. Always try to find other Scriptures to establish the point you are trying to make.
What Scriptures might we use to establish that Jesus died in order to make us holy? There are several passages which tie Christ’s sacrifice to holiness. You might want to consider the following:
Romans 12:1 – “…in view of God’s mercy… offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy…”
1 Corinthians 6:18-20 – “…you were bought with a price. Therefore…” (Note that this passage also talks about sexual immorality as does the passage in 1st Thessalonians. Depending on the thrust of your message, this passage might be a good fit.)
Ephesians 5:25-27 – “…gave himself up for her to make her holy…”
Colossians 1:19-23 – “…he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy…”
2 Timothy 1:6-10 – “…who has saved us and called us to a holy life…”
1 Peter 1:14-21 – “…be holy… you were redeemed…”
No doubt there are other passages as well which express the connection between Christ’s death and our holiness.
Keep in mind that you do not need to use every passage that you find which is related to the theme of your message. It is best to use only one or two. If you try to use too many, it is likely that people will become confused.
For the purposes of this lesson, we will use Colossians 1:19-23.
5) Packaging – delivering the idea
At this point you know what the theme of your message is. You know the central thought that you want to present. You have selected the Scriptures you will use to make your point. But there is still something you need to do before you can write out your message. You have to decide how you are going to present it.
How can you take the thought which you wish to present and make it interesting? How can you make people want to listen to what you have to say? When you go to the store, if there are two identical items, one in a plain box and one in a pretty, box you will probably buy the one which comes in the pretty package. While the package should never detract from the content, we should make it as easy as possible for people to hear the message. The key is to touch on something which affects people in their every-day lives. People will listen to you if you talk about something about which they are concerned.
With this in mind, what can we say about holiness which will make people want to listen?
For example, one way to create interest would be to ask the question, “What do people do in the attempt to become holy?” Then, you can list several things and contrast them to what Christ has done for us on the cross.
6) Other details
Once you have decided how you are going to present your thought, you are ready to put everything together. As you write out your message, there are a few more things to keep in mind.
a) Always keep the theme and the main thought of your message firmly in mind. You will find that it is very easy to let one thought lead to another. If you allow it, you will soon be off topic, and your audience will become confused. Always remember what you want to talk about. You are trying to convey just one thing, not a whole library of ideas.
b) As you write out your message, you may find that you need another Scripture or two in order to develop or flesh out a particular point. Don’t hesitate to add additional Scriptures if you need them. However, do not use more than you need in order to make your point. You are trying to convey a thought, not demonstrate your knowledge of Scripture.
c) Remember the purpose for giving this talk. It is to draw the attention of the congregation to the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It is to prepare the people to remember Jesus by partaking of the bread and the juice.
You should make it a practice to always specifically mention the bread and juice. Many people present messages in which there does not seem to be any connection between the talk and the elements of the Lord’s Table. Unless you make the connection clear people, particularly those who are new to the faith, might not understand what you are doing.
d) The Lord’s Supper is only for those who are in the Lord. Those outside of Christ have no right to eat at His table (See Hebrews 13:10). Depending on the circumstances, you may include a statement in your message which points this out. Let people decide for themselves whether they wish to partake, but do let them know what partaking means.
e) This lesson has presented the method of preparing a message as a linear process. In reality, you may have to go through the steps several times in order to refine and develop what you are trying to say.
7) Putting it all together
Now that we have all of the pieces, it is time to put them together. What follows is an example of how this can be done.
Holiness
God is holy and in order to be pleasing to Him, we must be holy also. But how can we sinners become holy?
People do many things in the attempt to become holy. Some go on pilgrimages. Others perform what they believe are works of merit. Still others abuse their bodies, or fast or vow to do something. But all of our attempts to become holy through our own efforts are doomed to failure. Scripture says, “…There is no one righteous, not even one;” (Romans 3:10)
If our own efforts are insufficient to make us holy, then how can we attain to holiness? In speaking of Christ, the Apostle Paul writes, “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation – if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel…” (Colossians 1:19-23)
In this passage we see that God, Himself, made a way for us to become holy. What we were unable to do for ourselves, God did through Jesus Christ. This holiness was not without cost. The price of being reconciled to God is the cross of Christ. Without His blood we cannot be holy and we cannot be at peace with God.
Each week we gather to eat a piece of bread which reminds us of Christ’s body which was hung on the cross and through which we are reconciled to God. We drink some juice which reminds us of Christ’s blood through which we are made holy.
But there is another condition as well. Not only does our holiness depend upon Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf, Paul writes that it depends upon us continuing in our faith. If you are not in the faith, or if you have turned away from Christ, then you are not holy and you cannot have peace with God. These reminders of what God has done for us through Christ are not for you.
Today as we partake of the bread and juice, let us remember that it is only through the blood of Christ, and not our own efforts, that we are made holy. As we partake let us renew our commitment to remain firm in our faith.