mayor joy

The Lord's Supper defined the ultimate purpose of God in sending His son Jesus as a man. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that who so ever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life." Veering away from this core message, I will not be a person of God but rather a person of the world! My philosophy will be : eat, drink, dance and be merry for tomorrow you will die". It will be a life of hopelessness rather than a life of hope for a better place. By following God's teachings and obeying His tenets, I enjoy life immensely, I get surprising windfalls and get unbelivable results after a dark cloud. One finds strength in God's promises thats why it is important that Pastors of congregations should be grounded on God's words to inspire their communities and their members not dismiss the Lord's Supper " as one of those things".

Jesus is smart. He knows ordinary things are easily forgotten. So, he commanded His disciples to keep repeating the Lord's Supper to remember what He did to cleanse us from our sin. Repeating an action becomes a habit. A habit becomes a part of a person's life. So that, when we miss or skip doing this "habit" , we look for it or hunger for it. Our life becomes incomplete. In short, a "felt need" is created in our Christian life.

The prospect of dying becomes acceptable. If we know, understand and remember the sacrificial death of Jesus and the events that follow - the RESURRECTION and the ASCEND OF JESUS TO HEAVEN - the, we cling to the promise of eternal life after death. Death is not the end but part of a "time line "continuum" of life's journey" - life on earth - death (separation of physical body from the spirit) - heaven or hades (the intermediate state) - then, on to eternal life or etenal damnation ( the New Heaven/Earth or Eternal Place of Punishment). Because of our strong faith, we believe that dying is necessary for us to go to the end phase of our life. Jesus made this covenant with us in His last meal with His disciples.

The Passover is part of the history of Israel. It's just like the history of a nation. We savor more our freedom and independence if we know, our children know and their children's children know the story behind "why they have such a kind of life today". To appreciate the present, we need to look back to the past (just like Israel looking back at the events of their great deliverance from Egypt) and preserve, protect, strengthen the present for the future generation. And this can only be done by sustained commemoration and remembrance eventhough an event in history took place 3000years ago or 200 years ago or 100 years 300 years ago.

Jesus is smart. He knows ordinary and /or mundane things or acts are easily forgotten. So, he commanded His disciples to keep repeating the Lord's Supper to remember what He did to cleanse us from our sins. Repeating an action becomes a habit. A habit becomes a part of our life. So that, when we miss or skip a particular habit, we look for it or hunger for it. An emptiness or a lack is created in us. In short, a "felt need" is created in our christian life. The more you grow in faith, the more you appreciate the meaning of Jesus ' last meal with His disciples. Thus, the practice of partaking of the bread and wine becomes "one of those habits" to "a good habit" to "a vital habit" to "a habit you cannot let go" in your walk with God.

The Lord's Supper allows me not to fear the temporal nature of my life and to be gone from this exciting, enjoyable, adventurous world. I fully accept the world is my temporary abode but there is a better place for me to go in the future. My faith allows me to commit to this tenet and be passionate about it. The Christian Fellowship with my cell group, my own Bible study group, the congregation of my Church, make me grow as a better human being.

Matthew 26:28 "... which is POURED out for many for the forgiveness of sin...". I am so moved by these words. He did His part unconditionally, I have to do mine without regret that I will not enjoy all the world's offerings; without fear of death specially if death comes at the least you expect it; and, grateful that I have experienced and still experiencing so many life's blessings in an unexpected way. There were in the past so many things I did not asked for and voila!! they just came my way. Three things that direct my life: God is good! In His own time. God loves.

If these are purely symbols, one can easily dismiss the Lord's Supper and will not have any impact in ones growth as a faithful christian. The balance is found in the operative words " REMEMBRANCE" and "COVENANT". By remembering His shedding of the blood for me, I have a covenant with Him. By accepting His gift of salvation through His amazing grace , it is my responsibility to prepare myself to that eternal place. Commitment is important because in ones everyday journey, there are many pitfalls. As long as one does not lose track of this, and I believe the Lord's Supper brings one on track, you achieve your purpose.

[/size] The Lord's Supper is an essential aspect of my faith as a Christian. If I donot take or miss the Lord's Supper , which is held every first Sunday of the month in my Chuirch, I strongly feel for the rest of the month a certain "lack" or "deficiency" . But I guess, my problem is more personal in nature. My main problem today is my lack of motivation to go to Church specially the first Sunday, wherein the Senior Pastor is the speaker, because of the uninspiring message. The message and the ritual of remembrance of the Lord's Supper go hand in hand.