Jesus Calls and Cares for His Sheep.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Good-morning Connection Church!
It is so good to see all of you this morning! Sunday is truly my favorite day of the week. There is something so beautiful and special about gathering to worship God together. I was chatting with Thomas this week and I wish we could gather more and longer on Sundays. It is so special and beautiful to set aside time together to worship God. This is why I always say that “it is a beautiful thing to gather together on The Lord’s Day.” Because something special happens when we are together in this place singing, learning truths, fellowshipping, reading and hearing the Word preached.
Whenever we gather together I feel a great sense of joy and concern for you. God has called me to shepherd this community. He has placed me as the pastor of this church. Sometimes I wonder why, but whenever we are gathered together I feel such a clear sense of love and care for you that it is clear. I am here to be faithful to the call God has on my life. That call is to be a shepherd. To guard, govern, and guide you according to the Word of God. And I do not think this gets said often enough from pulpits, so I will say it. I love you. My greatest desire is to see all of you growing in your faith in Christ. I care that you know Jesus and that you walk in that love and in obedience to Him. This is all motivated by a love for your wellbeing.
This is why I put such an emphasis on the Word of God. I truly believe that I will fulfill this call to love and care for you by oppening the Bible and faithfully teaching you what God has said. I am a shepherd whose goal is simply to point you to the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. I aspire to be what Paul calls in 1 Tim 5:17 and “Elder who rules well… Who works hard at preaching and teaching.” This is my heart for you, beloved.
In this passage we will see the beauty of the Good Shepherd and His care for His sheep. We will see the tender yet powerful call of Christ, and we will see His love for the lost. I cannot wait to be able to open the Scriptures together and be able to worship together.
Introduction of the passage:
So let us do just that! Open with me to Matthew 9:9-17.
While you turn there; We have been going through the book of Matthew for a while now. We have been going verse by verse through Matthew. This is “expository” preaching and study. So, who can tell me some of the things we have learned so far?
(If no one answers or gives light answers) Who are some of the people that Jesus healed? What are some things that are significant in Jesus’ healing of the leper? What was so significant about Jesus forgiving the paralytic’s sins? What peace does Jesus’ calming of the storm give us?
Very good! I enjoy discussing what has happened so far. It sets the stage for what we are about to learn as well as keeping the story in context. Last week we talked about Jesus forgiving the paralytic’s sins and healing him. We saw that Jesus was clearly claiming to be God, and we saw that Jesus is God. He did what only God can do. He forgave the man’s sins. We saw the hope we have, because Jesus can forgive sins. But now we will ask the next most important question, “Whose sins did Jesus come to forgive?” Let’s read together and see what the Word of God says.
Reading of the passage:
Because we take Scripture to be the inspired Word of God and the foundation and ultimate authority for all we say and do, will you stand with me for the reading of God’s Word.
Let’s pray together.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Be with us today as we open Your Word. Open our hearts to hear from you. May we today see why you did what you did while you were here. May we have hope in the fact that You came to save sinners. We are sinners Lord. We need to be saved. If there is anyone here who is not saved, may they be like Matthew today. Lord, would you call them today, just as you called Matthew so long ago. May they see that they are sinners in need of salvation.
Lord, protect those of us who are saved to not be like the Pharisees. May we not think that we somehow are beyond the gospel. Lord, will you protect our hearts from the pride of thinking we are somehow righteous on our own and not in need of your grace. May we see the truth of you Word, and through your Spirit, will you convict us and grow us in true holiness before you.
Keep my mouth from slandering your Word, oh Lord. Let me speak nothing against you or your Word. Strike me silent if I were to do this Lord. But let your Word be declared today. Keep these people from hearing me. Let them hear you Lord.
We ask this in Jesus’ holy name. Amen.
Oppening:
As we open this passage we see two main story movement. The first we see is that Jesus Calls Matthew.
Jesus Calls Matthew.
Jesus Calls Matthew.
Matthew 9:9
Explanation:
In this we see Jesus call the author of this book. Matthew is recounting what happened when He met the Savior.
Matthew clues us into who he is. He was a tax collector. Tax collectors were about as well thought of in the ancient world as the government tends to be for collecting taxes today. It was a very well known practice that the tax collector made their money for collecting above the amount that they should. Rome would tell them how much they were to collect for the government, then they gave the tax collector permission to collect above that amount. Whatever the tax collector collected above the set amount was theirs to keep. There really were no regulations on this. Because of this, tax collectors were seen as the worst kind of sinner. They quite literally commited government approved theft. People were forced to go to them to pay their taxes and by nature of this, were forced to pay the exorbitant fees. Tax collectors were not honest people. They were given the right under Rome to rob people, and they took the opportunity with glee.
We receive no indication that Matthew was any different than the rest of the tax collectors. In fact, based on the company that he invited to dine with Jesus in his house and the reaction of the pharisees, it is more than likely that Matthew engaged in the exact same shifty processes that the rest of those in his occupation did.
We see Matthew is a sinner like everyone else, but by his occupation apparently is much more open and willing in his sin. He is an open sinner. He is in no way indicated to have a repentant heart. He was actively practicing his sin when Jesus approaches.
Jesus approaches this man who is actively engaging in his sin and says to him, “Follow me.” Matthew did not hesitate. He rose, and followed Jesus. He gets up, leaves his tax collection booth and follows after Jesus.
Illustration:
This really is a situation that plays out in an unexpected way. It goes against what we would think would happen. I believe this story is shocking in at least two ways.
First, Jesus calls a tax collector to be one of His close disciples. Matthew was called to be one of the twelve. He had a close relationship with Jesus. He was friends with Jesus. He went on to be one of the apostles. This is not a small thing. But we do not expect Jesus to call such a clear sinner to be one of His close followers. Jesus called this man, a dishonest, hated thief to be one of His disciples.
The fact that Jesus called anyone is surprising. Not just from the fact that He is God and no one is worthy to be in relationship with God. We through our sin have destroyed our relationship with God and are only worthy of death and hell. But beyond this is the fact that it was not the practice of a Rabi to call their followers. It was a cultural practice that the student would seek out a teacher, the teacher would not seek the student. So in the rare occurrence that a teacher sought out a student, it is shocking that Jesus would seek out a tax collector.
This really is the situation that screams of “why them?” If we are being honest, we encounter those people that Jesus redeems and we are at a loss as to why they are saved. Our natural reaction is that we are in shock that they should be saved. Even though we should be asking that question about ourselves, there are times where we marvel that God would save “them.” A leader in a biker gang, a director of a local planned parenthood, a persecutor of Christians, a drug addicted musician, a tax collector is saved and we respond with a “wow!”
The second reason this interaction is strange is because Matthew instantly responds by leaving what has made him rich. It is fairly clear that Matthew was rather wealthy due to his work as a tax collector. Luke describes the meal Matthew has for Jesus and his friends as a “great feast.” It is a rare occurrence indeed for a wealthy man to leave what has made him wealthy for anything. Matthew left this life to follow Jesus who by His own admission is homeless and teaches that following Him will lead to suffering and sacrifice.
What would cause a rich man to abandon His riches? Not much. Wealth and the process of making money is addictive. There is a sense of power that comes with it. Men will not easily abandon what has given them the power of wealth. But Matthew did.
Argumentation:
Truly we see in the call of Matthew what is referred to in theology as the “effectual call of God.” This means that when God calls to the hearts of man, they respond. It is the bringing to life. Ephesians 2 describes this as we are dead in our trespasses and sins, But God in His mercy brings us to life. That bringing to life is what is meant by the effectual call of God. It is the call that brings us to life spiritually. It gives us the faith to follow Jesus.
This is what we talked about last week with the paralytic, as Christ calling and showing mercy on whomever He will. This is not of the will of man but of the will of God. Jesus approaches Matthew, who was not seeking Him. Jesus calls Matthew and the result is that Matthew immediately gets up and follows Jesus. Matthew does not hesitate, he immediately follows.
The result of Jesus’ call is obedience from Matthew. And we know from the rest of scripture and church history that Matthew maintained this faith. As Matthew Henry puts it; “His gospel is the power of God unto salvation, Rom. 1:16. The call was effectual, for he came at the call; he arose, and followed him immediately; neither denied, nor deferred his obedience... He quitted his post, and his hopes of preferment in that way; and, though we find the disciples that were fishers occasionally fishing again afterwards, we never find Matthew at the receipt of custom again.”
Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 1654). Peabody: Hendrickson.
In other words, Matthew left his tax booth to follow Jesus and did not look back.
Transition:
But Matthew did not stop there. And we see here the second movement in this story. Jesus calls Matthew, then Jesus is Questioned.
Jesus is Questioned
Jesus is Questioned
Matthew 9:10-17
There are two sections of questioning. First Jesus is questioned about Eating with sinners.
Jesus is Questioned About Eating with Sinners.
Jesus is Questioned About Eating with Sinners.
Matthew 9:10-13
Explanation:
Matthew is called by Christ and immediately follows. But as I said, Matthew does not stop there. He apparently invited Jesus and the other disciples to a great feast. He invited other tax collectors and sinners. Obviously he wants them to be with Jesus as well. Matthew encounters Christ and his first concern is two fold; first to serve His master (He serves Jesus through feeding Him) Second; he wants others to encounter Christ too.
But the pharisees are not happy about this. They question the disciples asking why Jesus would eat and drink with tax collectors. The pharisees asked the disciples, likely to distance them from their master, but Jesus answers. It is unknown weather this is another instance of Christ’s supernatural knowledge or if the disciples approached Jesus with the question, but Jesus does not leave them to handle these vipers on their own. He responds to the Pharisees.
Jesus responds by quoting from Hosea 6:6 and explaining why He came. In Hosea 6, God is speaking through the prophet Hosea addressing Israel and Judah’s unrepentance. They were living in open sin and yet still performing sacrifices and religious acts. God is telling them that their acts are pointless because of their unrepentant hearts. Jesus is comparing the pharisees with the unrepentant Jews of Hosea’s time. This is a clear comparison because the pharisees were filled with sin. They had twisted the scriptures and had manipulated people to their own gain. They were unrepentant and wretched on the inside while maintaining the appearance of righteousness.
God had rejected this fake self righteousness because it was false and idolatrous. They were prideful and worshipped the opinions of others and their own self image. In this exchange Jesus makes it very clear who He came to save. Remember from last week we saw clearly that Jesus came to forgive sins. This week we see that Jesus came for sinners.
Jesus Came for Sinners.
Jesus Came for Sinners.
Explanation:
This is the greatest news we can hear! Jesus came to forgive sins, but He did not just come to forgive those who were considered to be holy or almost holy. He came to save sinners. People who are lost in their sins and completely fallen. Jesus did not come to simply aid those who were “almost righteous” even though no one can be described as that. The pharisees clearly thought they were righteous by their descent from Abraham, and their adherence to the law. They honestly believed that they had kept the law perfectly. They were mistaken in thinking that they had achieved perfection and therefore were saved by their own works. They had even gone so far as to add their own laws into the law.
Because of this, they assumed when the messiah came, He would find these faithful purely holy pharisees waiting for Him. He would come in to conquer Rome and they would be just like Him and aid Him in His holy battle. But Jesus did not do this. Jesus came and healed the sick, forgave sins, and redeemed the “unrighteous.” He openly called the Pharisees out for their sins. You can almost hear the confusion from these people.
“He can’t be the messiah. It is obvious the Messiah will come and tell us how amazing we are for being so perfect.”
These fools were wrong. They thought they had earned salvation by keeping the law, but they had not kept the law. They were law breakers. They were unrighteous. The law was to be the mirror in which they were to see their inability to measure up to God’s perfect standard. That mirror is to make us fall flat before a holy God and beg for mercy. Instead these people had looked into the mirror and fallen in love with themselves.
So when Jesus came and was eating with tax collectors, they could not handle it. “What is He doing?! He is surrounded by sinners!” Yes, Jesus was surrounded by sinners. Every person Jesus encountered was a sinner. From the moment of His conception, Jesus was constantly surrounded by sinners. He was always with the unholy. This is why He said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” There was no one else to call! Everyone was sick. The fundamental difference between these publicans and the pharisees was that the tax collectors saw their sinfulness. They were not deceived as the pharisees were. They knew that they were sinners. The pharisees were deceived, they thought that they were righteous.
Argumentation:
This goes to illustrate so clearly the need for the understanding that all are sinners. We are all so easily deceived into thinking we have made it. We are so easily ensnared by the temptation to think that somehow we have achieved righteousness. We look at the “sinners” around us and think ourselves better than them. At least we are not like them. We think we have somehow aided in our own salvation, and it makes us arrogant and prideful. We think that we have a leg up on those who are unsaved. But this is folly. The gospel is truly anti-pride. If you are here and you think that somehow you have done something better than any lost person, you have a fundamental misunderstanding of the gospel.
Those of you who know me know I am very much reformed. I hold to what is known as the doctrines of grace. This is not because I believe somehow I have my theology all figured out and am somehow more holy than anyone else. In fact it is completely the opposite. I believe fully that there is nothing good inside of me that is not from God. If He had not called me, I would still be as lost as the most lost person on the planet. I have not done anything better than anyone else. I am saved purely by the work of God.
A Christian who believes that they have somehow aided in or added to their salvation by their own merit or work will be arrogant. They will be like the pharisee. They will look down on those who are not following Jesus and say, “Look at those sinners. They are wretched.”
A Christian who understands the gospel and knows that they did not aid or add to their salvation will be humble. Pride does not fit in the doctrines of grace. You cannot be prideful and grasp that salvation is purely the work of God. You cannot be arrogant and truly believe that without Christ’s call, you never would have responded. A Christian who grasps the doctrines of grace will look at sinners and say “I was and would still be just like them, had God not called me.”
The pharisee is not someone who cares about sound teaching. The pharisee is the one who manipulates teaching to elevate and worship themselves. The true Christian is the one who understands the sound teaching of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. They are the ones who sees that they are sinners in need of God’s grace, and without God’s effectual call, they would be just as lost as the most lost sinner on earth.
Application:
This is why our response should be that of Matthew, not that of the pharisees. The Pharisees, because of their rejection of Jesus and love for themselves, grumbled about Jesus witnessing to the sinners. Matthew was the one who knew he was a sinner, but for some reason Jesus called him. He then gathered other sinners to hear from Jesus.
Matthew’s response to Jesus’ work of grace in his heart was to engage with others in hope that they may experience the same grace. As Matthew Henry puts it “ They who are effectually brought to Christ themselves, cannot but be desirous that others also may be brought to him, and ambitious of contributing something towards it.”
What is our response to Jesus’ work of grace in our hearts? Are we like the pharisees, thinking ourselves on our own to be better than the sinners? Or are we like Matthew, aware of our sin and the grace that has been given to us resulting in our desire to see others saved.
It is like the great preacher Charles Spurgeon said, “Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you're not saved yourself, be sure of that!” Or the teacher Ray Comfort says, “If you are not concerned about your neighbors salvation, then I am concerned about yours.”
If you are here and do not marvel at your salvation and long to see others saved. I challenge you to examine yourself. Ask the question, am I really saved? If you are not, repent and trust in Christ today! If you are saved, but are guilty of pride and idolatry in thinking that you have aided in your own salvation, repent of that horrifying sin and share the gospel with those around you.
Transition:
We have seen Jesus call Matthew and we have seen Him questioned about eating with the sinners. While being questioned about eating with sinners, we saw Jesus’ care in not abandoning the disciples, but in answering the pharisees for them. We will see more of Jesus’ pastoral care for His disciples in the second round of questioning. Jesus is now questioned about fasting.
Jesus is Questioned About Fasting.
Jesus is Questioned About Fasting.
Let’s read Matthew 9:14-17 again.
14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”
Explanation:
Apparently some disciples of John the baptist had come. Looking at the other gospel acounts of this incident we see that it was the pharisees and John’s disciples who questioned Jesus.
Fasting is refraining from a physical need, most times food, as way to bring your body into submission to a specific purpose. It is a time of reminder and plea for a cause. We fast to remind ourselves that we need God more than the food we eat. When our body rumbles and craves what it is lacking, we are reminded that we should be in prayer and should be craving God. It is a pious act to bring our bodies and our lives into line with the gospel. The Pharisees and John’s disciples wanted to know why Jesus’ disciples did not fast.
The Disciples Have no Reason for Fasting Right Now.
The Disciples Have no Reason for Fasting Right Now.
Jesus compares this to a wedding feast where He is the bridegroom. He asks why they would fast while the bridegroom is there? That is a time of celebration. However, Jesus warns that a time would come when He would no longer be with them, and then they would fast. Jesus is talking about the time when He would leave. His ascension back into heaven. But this was not yet. He was with them, teaching them and growing them. Why would they fast now?
But not only did the disciples have no reason to fast, the disciples were not ready to fast yet.
The Disciples Were not Ready to Fast Yet.
The Disciples Were not Ready to Fast Yet.
Follow with me now because this one can get rather confusing. Jesus gives two parables after the example of the wedding feast. He gives the example of patching a garment and of wine in wineskins. This passage has been explained in many contradicting ways. But we are going to look very close at the parables given. Keep in mind that Jesus is using these parables to explain why His disciples are not fasting.
Patching a Garment.
First let us look at the example of patching a garment. Jesus says;
16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.
This makes sense if you have ever patched jeans. Why do you not take new denim that has never been washed or exposed to the elements and put it on an old pair of work pants? Because the stress or that cloth shrinking will rip the patch off and end up tearing the garment even worse.
This is why my mom would keep the old jeans my dad, brother, and I had worn out. They got cut into patches to be able to fix jeans when we would rip or wear through the knees. She would take that old cloth and mend them. Both the patch and the jeans were exposed to being washed and worn. Both fabrics had been shrunk and worn. The patch was tough and would not shrink away from the jeans.
Argumentation:
But what does this have to do with the disciples fasting? The disciples were not ready. Just like great damage would have been done to the garment by placing unshrunk cloth on it as a patch, Jesus is saying that His disciples would have been damaged by the difficult task of fasting.
Wineskins:
But let us take a look at the parable of the wineskins. Perhaps that will shed more light on this comparison.
Next Jesus says;
17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”
This parable is much less familiar to us today. We do not use wineskins today. Today, wine comes in glass bottles. So what does this parable even mean? Well, Jesus is referring to the well known practice of fermenting wine. There is a difference between grape juice and wine, and that is the fermentation process. The crushed grapes and juice are aged and ferment and become alcoholic. In Jesus’ day this was done in wineskins. They would skin a goat, tan the hide into leather, cut off the legs and head, turn it inside out, line it with spiced pitch, and sow it together. The juice would be put in this skin and aged. Nowadays this process is most often done in vats, but the idea is the same. The wine while it ages expands from becoming alcoholic. If you used an old skin, the expansion would cause the skin to burst from the pressure. This is why you must use a fresh skin to age the wine. The skin will stretch with the pressure of the wine expanding in it.
Argumentation:
This again is why I believe that Jesus is communicating that His disciples are not ready to fast. They will, like the wineskins, burst under the pressure. He says that when He leaves, they will fast, but for now, they are not ready to. In this we see something truly beautiful.
We see that Jesus Cares for His Sheep.
Jesus Cares for His Sheep.
Jesus Cares for His Sheep.
Explanation:
Jesus knows His sheep. Jesus knew His disciples well. He knew that they were not ready to fast yet. He knew that the days of struggle were coming, and they would fast and week. But that day was not yet. He is The Good Shepherd who cares for His sheep. He shepherded the disciples to be ready for the days of fasting and trials. He was leading them there. Or as the masterful theologian John Calvin put it, “when Christ compares his disciples to old bottles and torn garments, he does not mean that they were wasted by long use, but that they were weak and wanted strength. The amount of the statement is, that all must not be compelled indiscriminately to live in the same manner, for there is a diversity of natural character, and all things are not suitable to all; and particularly, we ought to spare the weak, that they may not be broken by violence, or crushed by the weight of the burden.”
Illustration:
Jesus as the master seamster knew His cloth. He knew which peaces would shrink and tear. He knew how to age and expose the cloth so as not to destroy the garment or the patch. In His masterful hands the stretching and shrinking of the patch is handled. The fabric is worked and worked. For the fabric, this process is likely uncomfortable and painful. But in the hands of the Master it will never be destroyed. It will serve the purpose of the Master.
Jesus as the Master wine maker knew his wine and skins. He knew which wine to put in which skin. He would not ferment wine in an old skin, and destroy it. He would masterfully age the wine in skins that could take the pressure. He knew how to work the leather and the grapes to make the best wine.
Argumentation:
Jesus as our master knows what His sheep are able to do. He knows what they are ready for and what they are capable of. And though He has promised that the Christian walk will be filled with trials and struggles beyond what we can bear, He will not destroy us. Our shepherd will put in situations where we will be beyond our capabilities. He does this to cause us to run back to Him. But He will not destroy us. We will be stretched, but will not burst. We will shrink but will not be destroyed. Our Master knows us. He is working us for His own purpose.
Application:
I love how J.C. Ryle puts the application of this passage.
“There were some who found fault with our Lord’s followers, because they did not fast as John the Baptist’s disciples did. Our Lord defends His disciples with an argument full of deep wisdom. He shows that there would be a want of fitness in their fasting, so long as He, their Bridegroom, was with them. But He does not stop there. He goes on to show, by two parables, that young beginners in the school of Christianity must be dealt with gently. They must be taught as they are able to bear. They must not be expected to receive everything at once. To neglect this rule would be as unwise as to “put new wine into old bottles,” or to put “a piece of new cloth to an old garment.””
Application:
Application:
But where do we go from here? What can we take from here into our lives?
Is Jesus Calling You?
Is Jesus Calling You?
Are you here and you feel the Lord calling you? Respond to that! Do not buy into the lie that God could not call you. He called the tax collector, He can save you. If you are here and you are not saved, do not delay, today is the day. Be saved! Repent, leave your tax booth and follow Christ. Follow Him. Turn away from your sins and follow the Lord. Be like Matthew. Get up from your old life and follow Christ. Do not hesitate. Trust in Christ. Faith In Him means that you acknowledge you are a sinner, place the weight of your life and eternity into His hands, and trust in His death for your sins on your behalf. The Bible makes it clear in Romans 10:9-10
“if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
If you do not know how to do that, I beg you, please come and speak to me. I would love to tell you how to trust in the Lord.
Are You like the Pharisees?
Are You like the Pharisees?
Are you here and filled with pride? When you turn on the news and see the sinful deeds of those lost in their sin, do you swell with pride and think; “I’m better than those people.” Do you twist the truths of scripture to make yourself look and feel better? Then you are like the pharisees. You must repent.
The gospel is not a self help plan to make bad people better. The gospel is the only way to make dead men alive. You did not contribute to your salvation. Were it not for the effectual call of God to your heart, you would be no different than those lost people you look down on. The lost need to hear that they are sinners in need of salvation, and that salvation is through the vicarious death of Jesus Christ on the cross for their sins if they will trust and believe in Him. The lost do not need to hear arrogant people who are claiming to be better than them because of works they have done.
If you are here and you are prideful, I call you to repent. Beg God for forgiveness and come to understand the truth of the gospel.
If You are Strong, Join me in Fasting.
If You are Strong, Join me in Fasting.
This week we are approaching Christmas. On Christmas Eve we are having our free community meal. We are attempting to reach this community with the gospel and meet a need. We want to provide for those who may not have a Christmas meal this year. But this is a large undertaking.
I do not expect you all are at a place where you can fast. But we know that we are in the time where we need to fast. The Bridegroom is not with us. He is preparing our home and will soon come again to consummate His Kingdom here on earth. But this is the time Jesus told of where His disciples would fast. I do not wish to place a burden upon you that is not one that Christ placed upon us, but I do call you to fast. If you are here and you are of a strong faith and have physical strength to fast, I ask you to fast this week. Refrain from food, wether one meal or one day, in order to pray and beg God to bring people to this community meal. Commend the people to God for their salvation. Ask God to even now be working in the hearts of those who will come and hear the gospel. Ask Him to call to their hearts, that they may turn to Him for the forgiveness of their sins.
Please join me in this if you are able to.
Communion:
As we go to close, and as we move into the time where we celebrate the coming of Christ, let us as a church celebrate through taking communion together. If you are here and you are a follower of Jesus, even if you have decided to follow Christ today, we invite you to come and take communion with us. If you are not a follower of Jesus or are unrepentant in sin, please do not come and take communion with us, for your own safety. I invite you now to come and grab the communion elements and then we will take time to examine our hearts and repent and ask for forgiveness from God. If you would like to confess and pray together, I invite you during this time to come forward. Let us pray together.
So come now and receive the elements.
Let us now take time and pray, examining our hearts. If you need prayer or would like to even now accept the gift of salvation, come forward. We will pray and then take communion together.
Give time for prayer and for people to come:
1 Corinthians 11:23-24 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when 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.”
Let’s take the bread.
25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Let’s take the cup.
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Close in Prayer:
Closing Hymn
Closing Benediction:
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.