Biblical Teaching & Preaching
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
Consider this Church...
The corrupt heart of the zealous devotion of the Pharisees is illustrated by a group of modern day Orthodox Jews in 1992, who let three apartments in an Orthodox neighborhood in Israel burn to the ground while they asked a rabbi whether a telephone call to the fire department on the Sabbath violated Jewish law.
Observant modern Jews are forbidden to use the phone on the Sabbath, because doing so would break an electrical current, which is considered a form of work.
In the half-hour it took the rabbi to decide “yes,” the fire spread to two neighboring apartments killing several innocent people.
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Man-made religion seeks to keep its own rules...
But not to care for the needs of others.
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Man-made religion seeks to keep its own rules...
While at the same time breaking God’s perfect law and commands laid out in Scripture.
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The Roman Catholic Church...
The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches...
Jehovah's Witness and Mormons...
All groups who claim to be Christian...
Elevate their man-made rules and regulations to the status of being infallible...
They elevate their man-made laws above the laws of God.
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They do this because they have turned their backs on Scripture...
They have bowed the knee to man...
And positioned the opinions of man over the perfect wisdom and decrees of God.
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However, as we have seen with our opening illustration...
That is a recipe for disaster.
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So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 4 and focus on verses 31 and 32.
Our message this morning is called, “Biblical Teaching & Preaching”
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As you are finding your place in God’s Word...
I would like to share that this message will focus on what authentic preaching and teaching of God’s Word should like like...
We are able to understand this truth from the Scriptures which is the only genuine and ultimate authority God gave us as a guide in our lives for His truth...
We will cover three main points:
Teaching the Saints...
Teaching with Power...
And...
Teaching with Authority.
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Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Heavenly Father...
You are the great and only true God...
The God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob...
The God of Samuel, David, and Elijah...
The God of John, Peter, and Paul.
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We thank you for your laws and commands for they are good...
Your ways are so much higher than our ways...
Your wisdom and understanding are on a whole other level of ours.
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Forgive us for our pride and ignorance...
Forgive us for acting like we know better...
Forgive us for doing things our way instead of your way.
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Help us to be more like your Son...
Help us to be more like Christ every day...
Help us to follow His perfect example.
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And it is in Jesus’s name we pray all these things...
Amen.
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
31 And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath,
32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority.
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) Teaching the Saints
1) Teaching the Saints
Verse 31: And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath,
This was Jesus’ custom...
Every Sabbath...
He would go to the Synagogue...
And He would teach...
For all faithful Jews would be found in the Synagogue on the Sabbath.
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It was not only Jesus who would be found in the Synagogues teaching every Sabbath...
But this was also the practice of the Apostles.
Look with me at Acts 17:2 as it says:
2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
As it was Jesus’ custom so was it Paul’s...
Every Sabbath at the Synagogue preaching and teaching the Gospel...
The Good News...
And the reasoning was made from Scripture...
That was the foundation of the message.
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Earlier in our study a few weeks ago we saw how Jesus made His rightful claim as the Messiah in His hometown Synagogue...
And He made this claim by reading and expounding text from Isaiah and informing the gathering that He is the fulfillment of the prophesied mentioned in Scripture.
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In Acts and in the epistles Paul write we see that he builds his arguments from the truth found in God’s Word...
In fact, the Gospel accounts, epistles, and Revelation...
All of the New Testament...
Is saturated with quotations and references to the Old Testament.
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One is able to share the whole Gospel message from the Old Testament...
For we now know the long promised Messiah is Jesus Christ...
Who voluntary sacrificed His life on the cross...
To pay the debt for wicked sinners...
To pay the debt you and could not pay.
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Beloved, our faith...
Our spiritual foundation...
Is built on the Word of God that from Genesis to Revelation is all about Jesus Christ.
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However, pride is a nasty sin...
It will rot a person to the core.
You see Church...
Many are just not satisfied with the Word of God...
They are not satisfied that Jesus did it all...
That Salvation from beginning to end is all in God’s hands.
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Humans have a tenancy to make everything about themselves...
Humans have a tendency to want to improve things...
Even if those things are the perfect command of God.
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However when we do that...
When we add or subtract from God’s law and commands...
We tend to make a mess of things.
The religious elite of Jesus’ day...
The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes wanted to protect God’s commands by making their own commands to protect what God has decreed.
It was in their eyes a fence around the law...
It was the arrogant idea that in order to protect the people from breaking God’s law...
They need to make new laws to help prevent God’s laws from being broken.
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Yet, these laws they made made God’s laws void.
For example in the opening illustration modern Jews believe that something as simple as a phone call would be considered work...
God commanded for there to be no work on the Sabbath...
That seems simple enough...
God wanted man to have a day of rest.
However, the religious elite started to think...
Well we don’t want to break God’s law...
So, let’s add laws about all things that could be work.
In Jesus’ day the rabbis considered picking up your mat as a form of work...
In the tragic tale we read about...
Using a phone was work...
Or as I personally witnessed in my days working in a hospital in Brooklyn...
The act of pushing a button on en elevator was considered work...
And for a hospital in a community were many Orthodox Jews lived...
It was necessary that they had Sabbath elevators...
Elevators that automatically went up and down every floor in the hospital so a modern Orthodox Jew would never need to push a button in fear of violating God’s commands.
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But this mentality...
These man-made rules...
Are flawed.
Several innocent people died in a fire because the religious elite though using a phone broke God’s law...
Yet in this very act they break God’s law which says to love your neighbor.
The foolishness of saying the act of picking up one’s mat violated God’s law prevented the religious elite from see Jesus as the true Messiah and Son of God who had the authority to forgive sins.
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In addition to the importance of building teachings and doctrines on God’s Word...
The need for believer to gather weekly for the study of God’s truth is apparent in our passage.
Reading the Bible and studying it is not a one time event...
It is not something one can do on their own only...
The gathering of the saints in imperative and essential to anyone who claims to follow God.
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Look with me at Acts 13:40-44 as it says:
40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:
41 “ ‘Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’ ”
42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath.
43 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.
44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.
Notice that the people who desired to learn the truth of God’s Word had a place they could go...
They knew every week God’s truth is proclaimed in His house.
That is why we are all gathered here today on this Lord’s Day.
That is why we are all gathered here today to expound and study the truth contained in the infallible and inerrant Scriptures.
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Beloved, no matter how much you study...
No matter the beautiful mind God gave you...
Not a single person in this world can ever mine all the truths found contained in the Bible.
It is our authoritative source which is filled with real power...
And this takes us to our next point.
2) Teaching with Power
2) Teaching with Power
Verse 32 (a): And they were astonished at his teaching,
When Jesus preached and taught it was powerful...
Whether people believed Him or not it was common to see the crowds astonished by Jesus’ words.
For instance...
Look with me at Mark 1:27 which says:
27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”
Along with Jesus’ preaching of the Gospel message...
The people saw real power.
Jesus performed miracles that proved He was the long-promised Messiah.
He had command over the weather...
He had command over demons...
He had command over diseases...
And He had command over death itself.
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When the Apostles and Jesus’ followers preach and teach the Gospel...
We witness some real power too.
For the Words of Scripture can transform men and women...
The Words of Scripture can contain eternal life!
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Acts 10:44–48 says:
44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.
45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.
46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared,
47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”
48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.
Do you see that Beloved?
Peter, now filled with the Holy Spirit, preached the Good News of Jesus Christ and lives where changed!
The Holy Spirit...
The Third person of the Trinity...
The one true God!
He is put into every believer when they are regenerated...
And when someone recieved the Holy Spirit they are never the same afterwards.
They become brand new creations...
They take off the old self and put on the new.
The old person they used to be dies and they are born again as truly new person!
This can only come about when one genuinely believes in the truth found in the Word of God.
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I love how the Apostle Paul puts it...
In 1 Corinthians 2:4–5 he says this:
4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
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Let me be clear...
Let me warn you...
The wisdom of men will fail in the end!
It doesn’t matter how wonderful the promises of man may appear...
It doesn’t matter how many people jump on the bandwagon...
If it is not built on the foundation of God’s Word it will fall down!
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Not only is the Word of God filled with power to transform lives...
The Word of God is our final and ultimate authority...
And this takes us to our third and final point.
3) Teaching with Authority
3) Teaching with Authority
Verse 32 (b): For his word possessed authority.
Jesus’ words possessed authority for they lined up with the Word of God...
Remember this parable by Jesus found in Matthew 7:24–29:
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
Notice what the solid foundation is that Christ talks about...
It is His Words!
It is the Word of God!
That is the only solid foundation we should build upon.
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All other foundations are just sand...
A faith built on the magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church will fail!
A faith built on the synods of the Orthodox Church will fail!
A faith built on the Book of Mormon will fail!
A faith built on the ruling council of Jehovah's Witnesses will fail!
And as it was in Jesus’ time...
A faith built on the Sanhedrin and governing councils of the Jews will fail!
All man-made traditions will will come crashing down!
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And the people marveled at Jesus’ teaching because they could see the words He said carried authority.
Yet they were perplexed as to how He knew and could speak of such things.
John 7:15–18 says:
15 The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?”
16 So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.
17 If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.
18 The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.
God’s Word is the truth and carries with it authority.
That was so different from the religious elite of the day...
For they based their teachings on men.
Mark 7:1-13 is a passage I recommend you take time to really dive deep and study...
But let’s look at it together real quick as it shows how Jesus responded to these man-made traditions that people elevated above the Word of God:
1 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem,
2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed.
3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders,
4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.)
5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”
6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!
10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’
11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban” ’ (that is, given to God)—
12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother,
13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
New Testament Scholar Darrell L. Bock says:
“What probably caused the reaction is that the scribes would teach from tradition, while Jesus would handle the text directly and independently.
His word alone was sufficient.”
So see Church, the majority of rabbis...
Both in Jesus day and today...
Would base their teaching on the chain of tradition by citing the opinions of their predecessors.
The scribes quoted others to establish the authority of their teachings...
But, Jesus was His own authority.
So, in contrast to the Pharisees and teachers of the law, who appealed to tradition and previous teachers...
Jesus astonished people because He did not cite authorities.
The Catholic and Orthodox Churches...
Along with Jehovah's Witness and Mormons...
All in our day follow this foolish pattern and cite what previous teachers have said within their traditions...
They make their authority the tradition over God’s Word...
Yet as we see Jesus teaches directly from Scripture with His own authority, confidently correcting what previous generations have said.
In other words...
In contrast to those who claim to have authority due to the passing down of oral traditions and writings of men they elevate to a higher status...
Jesus’ teachings had inherent authority, the authority of God himself.
Jesus Himself did not refer to the rabbis when He taught...
He did not need any authority beyond His own.
He expounded on the words and ideals of the Hebrew Scriptures without consulting others.
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We, as His followers, should base all our teachings on the words of Christ and the truth found in the Holy Bible!
We need to realize that the Word of God is enough!
We don’t need to be swayed by the doctrine of men...
We don’t need to be enamored by the wisdom of mere mortals...
The Bible has been written by the Holy Spirit and is the very words of God.
May all our doctrines be built on the powerful and authoritative Word of God.
For as Jesus says in Mark 13:31:
31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
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When conflict arises and debates about doctrine are arise...
We should not shy away...
We must share the hope that is found within us with the world...
We must share God’s truth...
So, don’t depend on feelings, emotions, logic, or personal opinions to make a case fro the truth...
Use the Word of God as your weapon...
Use the Word of God like Christ did when He was challenged as seen in Matthew 22:23–33:
23 The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question,
24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’
25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother.
26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh.
27 After them all, the woman died.
28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”
29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.
30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:
32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”
33 And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
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I won’t sugar coat it for you, Beloved...
Speaking the Word of Scripture is not for the double minded!
Speaking the Word of Scripture is not for the coward!
The truth in the Word of God is an offense to world!
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In fact, contained in the Bible often leads to people wanting to kill the message bearers.
Mark 11:18 says:
18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.
The religious elite wanted Jesus dead due to the Good News He shared...
And just like they hated Jesus...
They will hate you too.
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For example, in early in the sixteenth century...
Due to the doctrines and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church...
Legislative decree in England controlled people's access to Scripture and prohibited an English Bible.
However, theologian and linguist, William Tyndale, was determined to provide his fellow countrymen with a copy of Scripture they could read.
Based on this urgent conviction, Tyndale began immediately translating the Holy Scriptures from their original Greek language into the language of the common man, which was English.
He was mightily persecuted for that work.
He was threatened on a daily basis by the Catholic Church.
After finishing the New Testament in 1525, Tyndale worked tirelessly to smuggle those same New Testaments back into England, where owning a Bible was not only illegal, but could get you killed.
In fact, this is exactly how William Tyndale died.
No more than a few years later, while working on translating his Old Testament edition from Hebrew, Tyndale was found near Brussels, arrested, and charged with the crime of heresy by the Catholic Church.
For his punishment, he was executed on October 6, 1536.
He was strangled, burned, and his body blown apart by gunpowder, but at some point before his death, he cried his famous last words:
“Lord, open the king of England’s eyes.”
Not long after William Tyndale’s death more editions of the Bible were printed, including the King James Version of 1611, which became the most published book in all of human history.
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The Bibles in your home...
The Bibles in the pews...
The Bibles in your hands...
Faithful men of God spilled their blood so you could have a version of the Bible you could read.
For God’s truth is found in His Word for those with a ear to listen...
As Hebrews 4:2 says:
2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.
And 1 Thessalonians 2:13 says:
13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
So, Beloved, if you share the Gospel and are rejected...
Know that it is because they reject Him...
They reject our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ...
And for those who reject Christ there is no other hope...
For Jesus is the only way.
As John 12:48–50 says:
48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.
50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
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Some people just want to see signs and wonders...
Others are preoccupied by philosophy and logic...
However, let our message about the hope within us be built on the foundation of Christ and Him crucifed.
The Apostle Paul said it this was in 1 Corinthians 1:22–23:
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
So, as this message comes to a close...
I would like to share this that I came across in my study this week:
Pastor John MacArthur once said this regarding Luke 10:25-37 about the lawyer asking Jesus how to inherit eternal life:
“Recall that the Jewish lawyer asked Jesus, ‘What shall I DO?’
So, here Jesus tosses the ‘DO’ back to him!
Don't misunderstand -- Jesus is not teaching a works based way to inherit eternal life, but He is saying in essence if you do this perfectly, without one sin, then you will attain eternal life.
Of course, what Jesus was commanding the lawyer to do was literally impossible and should have served to make him drop to his knees and beg for mercy.
Instead, the stubborn, prideful lawyer sought vainly to justify himself or show himself to be righteous, which is exactly what every religion other than Christianity futilely tries to accomplish.
They are all unwilling to believe the only work that the Father accepts is the finished work of His Son on the Cross, where He paid the price in full for men's sins...
‘It is finished.’”
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Modern day Judaism...
Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Jehovah's Witness, and Mormonism all have this in common...
One must work or merit their salvation...
The work of Christ on the cross was not enough for these groups...
Yet the Word of God makes it clear.
The only work that saves us is the perfect and complete work of Christ on the cross.
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And it is now about Christ’s sacrifice that we bring our attention to.
Communion
Communion
As we begin our communion service, I want to invite every genuinely born-again believer in the room to partake in this act together.
If you do not yet know the Lord and do not have a relationship with Him...
Or if you are under church discipline from this church or another church...
Then I will ask that you wait until you have resolved your issue before participating.
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As you came in you should have picked up a communion packet if you are joining us.
This has both the bread and juice in a convenient package.
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If you have not received one of these please raise your hand and someone will get you one.
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Before we join in communion together, I would like us to consider one of the last words uttered by Jesus as He lay dying on the cross...
John 19:30 says:
30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
The MacArthur New Testament Commentary of John has this to say about this verse:
“Having received the sour wine, Jesus said, “It is finished!”
Actually, the Lord shouted those words with a loud cry.
It was a shout of triumph; the proclamation of a victor.
The work of redemption that the Father had given Him was accomplished: sin was atoned for, and Satan was defeated and rendered powerless.
Every requirement of God’s righteous law had been satisfied; God’s holy wrath against sin had been appeased; every prophecy had been fulfilled. Christ’s completion of the work of redemption means that nothing needs to be nor can be added to it.
Salvation is not a joint effort of God and man, but is entirely a work of God’s grace, appropriated solely by faith.
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His mission accomplished, the time had come for Christ to surrender His life.
Therefore, after“ crying out with a loud voice ...‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit”, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
Jesus voluntarily chose to surrender His life by a conscious act of His own sovereign will.
“No one has taken it away from Me,” He declared,“ but I lay it down on My own initiative.
I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.
This commandment I received from My Father.”
That He still had the strength to shout loudly shows that He was not physically at the point of death.
That He died sooner than was normal for someone who had been crucified also shows that He gave up His life of His own will.”
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So, Beloved...
Let’s all take a moment right now in silent prayer to thank the Lord for all He did for us...
(MOMENT OF SILENCE)
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Tom will you pray before we partake in the bread:
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The Word of God says in Luke 22:19:
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
(TAKE THE BREAD)
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Adrian will you pray before we partake in the cup:
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The Word of God says in Luke 22:20:
20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
(TAKE THE CUP)
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With that we conclude the communion portion of our service.
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To God be all the glory.
Amen.
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Please join us for one more song from the Praise Band.