search  by: Topic | Bible Reference | Word or Phrase | Speaker by: Topic | Bible Reference | Word or Phrase | Speaker by: Topic | Bible Reference | Word or Phrase | Speaker by: Topic | Bible Reference | Word or Phrase | Speaker  Searching... • Browse Sermon Builders  • Lectionary   Limit my search in Sermon Builders to:  Check any boxes to limit your search. Or, for the maximum possible results, check none.  Purpose Discipleship Ministry Evangelism Worship Fellowship  Audience Seekers Youth & Children  Source SermonNotes.com  Preacher Men Women Ethnic Groups  Tone Any   Commend   Warn   Neutral/Mixed

 1 of 8

SERIES BUILDER
Dining with the Lord
Recapturing the power and purpose of Communion
Lee Eclov

Printer view

for non-members Word file (full transcript) $4.95 If you are a member, login below. Download Now from FaithVisuals.com Topics:  Christian life; Christian practices; Church; Church life; Communion; Eucharist; Lord's Supper; Ordinances; Sacraments Filters:  References:  Various Tone:  Neutral/Mixed

Series Texts: Assorted texts

Series Subject: How Communion is one of the most meaningful moments in the life of the church

Series Purpose: To recapture the power and purpose of Communion in the life of the church

Series Relevance: Communion can quickly become "just another thing we do" when we gather for worship. But isn't it more than simply passing the trays? Isn't more than a quick closing of the eyes and bowing of the head? The bread and the wine—what do they really say to us as believers? Communion is one of the most meaningful moments in the life of the church because it speaks of the Bread of Life and a covenant cup, represents a sinner's feast, allows for deep fellowship, stirs remembrance of Christ's great salvific work, and pushes us to think about our glorious future.

Series Big Idea: Communion speaks of the Bread of Life and a covenant cup, represents a sinner's feast, allows for deep fellowship, stirs remembrance of Christ's great work, and pushes us to think about our glorious future.

Title: Bread of Life

Subtitle: Discovering the nourishment of Christ

Text: John 6:25–59

Subject: How Christ is the Bread of Life, far greater than any earthly bread

Purpose: To show how Communion reminds us that true hunger is met in Christ alone

Relevance: Many today will chase after the "bread" of this world. But there is greater bread offered from heaven—the Bread of Life. Christ allows everyone the opportunity to gain life by way of his flesh and blood. Each week, the Communion celebration remembers the nourishment for life that is found in Christ alone, the Bread of Life.

Big Idea: Jesus is the complete meal for the heart, and Communion presents us with the opportunity to dine and believe again in Jesus—not for salvation, but for our spiritual daily bread.

Introduction
• Illustration: Communion Bread Isn't What It Seems [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• When we come to the Lord's Table, is this bread what it seems?
• The Gospel of John doesn't say much about the Last Supper, but does say a lot about bread.
• The context of John 6:25–59 is the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000.
• The text begins with the people in a feeding frenzy over a teacher who can produce bread out of thin air.

"Make our lives easier!"
• John 6:25–35
• Illustration: Dostoevsky on the Temptation of Christ [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• The temptation to offer earthly bread lurks in this story, but Jesus did not give in to it.
• Christ told the people to work for bread that would feed them forever.
• It was a type of bread they could not work for—available from Christ alone and given in grace.
• The people were confused and demanded a miraculous sign—a Moses-sized miracle.
• Jesus refused, saying, "I AM the Bread of Life."
• As both food and drink, Jesus is the complete meal for the heart—come and believe, and you'll never be hungry or thirsty of heart again.

"We'll think about it and get back to you!"
• John 6:36–51a
• Jesus sensed the crowd's hesitation, and threw them yet another curveball, saying it was up to God, not them.
• Whomever God chooses receives life through Jesus.
• The message was (and still is) this: no one is safe without Jesus, but with Jesus you cannot be lost!
• Before anyone comes to Christ, God starts talking to them in his quiet and mysterious way.
• However God speaks to them, this one thing is sure: God will point them to Christ, because only Jesus is the Bread of Life.
     -Illustration: Girl Follows Mysterious Path to God [see Illustrations and Quotations below]

"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
• John 5:51b–58
• We eat Jesus' flesh and drink his blood by believing in him and coming to him.
• We think Jesus is speaking metaphorically here, but he's not; his real death on the cross—in a real body—is how we live.
• The flesh and blood of Jesus show his humanity; we needed him to stand in our place for our sin (since our own flesh and blood was shot through with sin and death).
• Notice the effects of ingesting Jesus' body and blood by faith—life and resurrection.
• The God-life within us simply cannot die; it is eternal, indestructible, joyful, and abundant.

Conclusion
• Colin Brown: "John 6 is not about the Lord's Supper; rather, the Lord's Supper is about what is described in John 6."
• Communion takes us back to the truths about the Bread of Life; taking the bread and cup reminds us of our source of life.
• Communion presents us with the opportunity to dine again—to believe again in Jesus, not for salvation, but for our spiritual daily bread.
• Jesus is present in this meal by his Spirit—he is at this table as the Bread of Life, our host!

Communion Bread Isn't What It Seems
Some days test our sense of humor. A loaf of bread … used to stand on the Communion table. It had been kneaded from real flour and baked in a red-hot oven with a mom's loving touch, only to be lacquered into permanent staleness to preside … over many a celebration of the Eucharist.

One day, without warning, it vanished, to be replaced by wheat spikes in a vase—hardly what we usually think of as the Bread of Life. The bread loaf, it seems, was a casualty of an over-conscientious visiting preacher. In the middle of a Communion service, according to reliable sources, the preacher mistakenly took the mummified bread with both hands, blessed it in the ancient tradition … Yielding to 200 pounds of preacher, the crisp shell vaporized with a thunderous explosion before the startled solemn assembly.

Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, I think of God's words to Ezekiel: "Son of man, you are to tremble as you eat your bread."

Dostoevsky on the Temptation of Christ
In Dostoevsky's tale of the Grand Inquisitor—a story embedded in his great novel, The Brothers Karamazov—the Devil/Inquisitor comes to Jesus a second time, just as he did in the wilderness, tempting him to turn stones to bread.

"Turn them into bread, and mankind will run after You like a flock of sheep, grateful and obedient, though forever trembling, lest You withdraw Your hand and deny them Your bread … You promised them the bread of Heaven, but … can it compare with earthly bread in the eyes of the weak, ever sinful and ignoble race of man? … You rejected the one infallible banner which was offered You to make all men bow down to You alone—the banner of earthly bread; and You have rejected it for the sake of freedom and the Bread of Heaven."

Girl Follows Mysterious Path to God
A woman named Tricia once wrote her personal story. Let me read some excerpts:

"Time went by and my unfulfilled longings continued to ache within me. I prayed to God, 'God, you know I am seeking you with all I've currently got—my mind, my heart, my soul, my strength. I need more. Could Christ be the only way—the right way? I hate to ask, but I need a sign or something to help me get unstuck. I need new information that I haven't considered.'

next page … |  1 of 8

	user ratings

	Average Rating:  by 1 member. (Members, please login to rate this item.)