On Good Friday we will join with Cornerstone Baptist Church at 805 Sherbrooke Avenue to remember the crucifixion of Christ. We ask that you join with us to solemnly remember His sacrifice for our justification. We’ll have coffee, muffins, and fruit at 9:00 AM in the foyer. Following this we will have worship with selected scripture readings to be read by members of both congregations. Joshua will deliver the message and the Elders of Bridge Church and  Cornerstone Church will jointly conclude the worship service by leading both churches in communion.

Why so early? Because 9:00 AM was the hour that they nailed Jesus to the cross. We encourage you to join with us in worship Good Friday as we solemnly remember the enormous price that God paid in order to bring us home to be with Him.

Some people are animal lovers. Animal lovers are blessed when you pay attention to their favorite pet. They feel loved when you love the thing that they love most. Actually, I think this is true of all hobbyists and aficionados. You can talk football with a football fan, and he’ll enjoy your company much more. The same is true of most sports. If you want a person to enjoy your company, if you want to express interest in a person –you naturally desire to express interest in the things that interest them. But I’m not writing about expressing interest and love for any random individual. I’m interested in what interests one particular individual, Jesus, and the thing that is of extreme interest to Him is the church. Jesus seems to say, again and again: “Love me, love my church.”

In fact, I’m so convinced of Christ’s love for His Church that I can tell when someone is passionate about Christ and when they are just faking love for Jesus: they’ll love the church or they won’t. Something is terribly wrong when professing Christians do not identify with the church and love being a part of her. Christian love is fictitious when professing Christians fail to be passionate about every aspect of the church and long to invest themselves in her, taking all that the church represents and all that the church does to heart. Grown men who cannot play football can quote you every stat and every figure and name every player, and can accurately recap the Sunday NFL highlights. Why? Because they love the game of football. But I know “Christians” who do not know the guy next to them in the pew. I think this is a sad case of faking faith. Listen, for example, to the way Paul instructs the Ephesians: “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27).

I fell in love with the church the moment I started taking a deep personal interest in Jesus Christ. I discovered a community that was, to me, like a family: caring, loving, and nourishing. I discovered communal prayer times with people who identified themselves as “brother,” or “sister” and loved me unconditionally even though I was awkward, shy, and clumsy in expressing myself. I found joyful singing, fun fellowship, and the truest family I’ve ever known. All of this has been the focus of my Christian life ever since.

True, I have had my share of spiritual wars, when Christians disagree over important things and sometimes trivial things; but for all that, I have taken delight in her song and sacrament, prayer and proclamation. I love the church. I have witnessed deeds of extraordinary kindness done to myself and to others, and I have been the beneficiary of kindnesses done to me by those who remained anonymous. I’m fully persuaded from the scriptures that no man may enter into heaven without a relationship with Jesus Christ, and the true friends of Christ will be passionate and committed church members committed to each other. Romans 12:5 still applies to us.

There is a dark side to the church as there is to all things in this fallen world. The church is not perfect. It has her share of malcontents and killjoys, her energy-sapping obnoxious attention-getters and despondent and depressing hearts. Worse, still, the church has been known to mistakenly kill some of her own beloved sons in foolish rivalries and silly disagreements. I myself  have once been the Isaac on Abraham’s alter. Despite the call of God upon the church to stay her hand, I’ve experienced the plunging of sharp cold steel into my very soul. All of this happens sometimes. And it hurts! I’m not trying to sugarcoat the tragedy and pain of spiritual betrayal and backstabbing. I could write a book on the number of times I’ve known dearest friends to walk away from the duty to which Christ had called them. Yes… it hurts. But none of this robs me of my love for the church. None of this tempts me to suggest that organized religion is wrong or bad. Why? Because none of this changes Christ’s love for His church. Even at her weirdest, most eccentric, most socially awkward and backwards, even when she makes horrible mistakes — she is still Christ’s body.  And He loves her despite her many flaws… 

So. Do. I.

If you love Jesus, you will love the church. See you Sunday, brother and sister!

In the current denominational trends there are four widely used names: Communion, the Lord’s Table, the Lord’s Supper, and the Eucharist. Each one should be examined in kind, and as much as possible, be understood in light of the Biblical teaching.

1. Communion: In most modern translations this word is noticeably absent. But it is found in the 1611 Edition of the King James Bible in 1 Corinthians 10:16. Anglicans, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians among other groups widely use this word primarily because of this passage’s initial English Translation. Communion is a reference to 1 Corinthians 10:16, and as these denominations grew in their liturgy and traditions this term as a reference this practice became entrenched in Anglican nomenclature. What does this word mean? We get another word from the same root: communal. This word refers to community, and suggests that individuals within a specific community will share certain elements within that community. Communion, as defined by Webster’s, is either 1.) intimacy resulting in feelings of emotional or spiritual closeness between individuals, or 2.) a connection or relationship, especially one in which something is communicated or shared.  The Greek behind this English translation is the Greek word, “koinwnia,” [coy-know-knee-ah] which means fellowship or sharing.

“The Cup of Blessing that we bless, is it not a communion/participation/sharing/fellowshipping in the blood of Christ?” 1 Corinthians 10:16

2. The Lord’s Table:  This one is easier to grasp, and hasn’t gone through so many hoops and jumps of translation. This refers to the meal or food that is served exclusively at a table that belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. It signifies ownership. The Fellowship/Communion/Participation/Sharing is owned by the Lord.

This one is found a few verses later in 1 Corinthians 10:21, “You cannot partake of the Lord’s table and the table of demons.”

3. The Lord’s Supper: Communion refers to a sharing or fellowship of something which is exclusively owned by the Lord. This time the same item is referred to in 1 Corinthians 11:20 as “Supper.” This comes from a Greek Word meaning chief meal, or main meal of the day, or the central meal. This means that this Christian act is central to Christianity.

“When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper that you eat.”

4. Eucharist: The word Eucharist comes from the Greek verb that means, “to give thanks.” This term is most commonly used by Catholics. Its essential meaning is to be grateful, and to be thankful for what one is receiving. In context of how it is used in 1 Corinthians 11:24 it is obvious that this thanksgiving is produced through remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice.

“…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.” 1 Corinthians 11:24

All of this is significant. Here’s a definition, based on the names ascribed to the event, of what the ordinance of Communion is. Communion:  a practice of fellowship, participation, sharing, relationship, and intimacy which is owned by Christ that is central to Christianity and Christian worship intended to produce joyful thanksgiving.

Then His mother and brothers came to Him, but they could not meet with Him because of the crowd. He was told, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see You.” But He replied to them, “My mother and My brothers are those who hear and do the word of God.”

Luke 8:19-21 (HCSB)

The Following is excerpted from a recent blog post by Malcolm Yarnell III, author of The Formation of Christian Doctrine:

Yesterday, Sunday afternoon, my two oldest sons were late on their homework and were diligently seeking to finish their work before Monday. However, a kink was thrown into their plans: the evening service at our church was scheduled to celebrate communion. I explained to the oldest boy that Christ commanded us to celebrate the Lord’s Supper until He comes again and that our church practiced communion at set times but with less frequency than my own desire. There was no way any of us were going to miss out on obeying the Lord’s command when given opportunity. Without delay, the three of us packed into the car and joined my wife with the other three children for worship.

Over the last two years, during previous celebrations of communion, I was in the practice of whispering to my youngest son, who is now a 9-year-old, what the Lord’s Supper means. The Lord’s Supper is a memorial celebration performed as a communal confession of the atonement of Christ worked upon the Cross. The fundamental reality of the body broken and the blood that Jesus Christ, the sinless one, voluntarily poured out on behalf of our sins is powerfully represented in the bread and the cup. The accompaniment of the visual practice with the audible Word has a powerful effect upon the observer of this second of the great Christian ordinances.

But participation in the second of the great ordinances commanded by Christ for His church to practice in its worship is reserved for those that have been born again and witnessed to that regeneration through participation in the first of the great ordinances commanded by Christ for His church: baptism. Previously, my youngest son had requested permission to participate in the Lord’s Supper in our church. He understood the meaning of the Lord’s Supper and his Christian faith prompted him to desire to participate in this great communal confession. Unfortunately, he had not yet followed Christ in the first public act of a Christian believer: baptism by immersion. He was definitely part of my family, but not yet visibly part of the family of Christ, and Jesus Christ had set certain standards for membership in His family, standards over which we have no authority to dispense or alter.

In our age, as in previous days, there is a thoroughgoing antinomianism at work with regard to the commands of Christ. This is true with regard to personal ethics and with regard to communal ethics, ecclesiology. Indeed, whole churches have bought into ecclesiological antinomianism. They dispense with the commands of Christ in mission and in communion. Mind you, many individual members do so out of ignorance, but disobedience is still disobedience, whether performed by churches or by individuals, who have been misled by churches. The family of Christ is identified not by blood kinship, but, according to Jesus, it is composed only of those who “hear and do,” that is, “hear the Word” and “do the Word.” The antinomian confesses that he or she has heard God’s Word, but then refuses to carry out God’s Word.

Antinomians, whether individuals or organized into communities, have the fundamental problem that they say they know Christ but then dispense with His commands entirely or alter His commands to their own liking. This hypocrisy is usually excused through some type of man-made theological innovation: for instance, in the doctrines of baptismal regeneration, covenantal infant baptism, sprinkling or pouring rather than immersion, etc. More closely to home, this hypocrisy is often propagated by those who hold (correctly) to the Reformation doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone. The problem these sincere Christians have is that they seem to forget that true discipleship is not just properly confessed in word, it is also properly confessed in deed, both personally and communally.

The Great Commission of Jesus Christ explicitly includes the practice of baptism, and the ordering given by our Lord and subsequently practiced by the apostles was that baptism succeeds faith but precedes further instruction in our Lord’s commands (Matt. 28:18-20: 1-going, 2-making disciples, 3-baptizing, 4-teaching all things commanded by Christ). “Baptism,” of course, means “immersion” in the original Greek, so proper Christian baptism occurs after conversion and is by immersion. As with the Lord’s Supper, the visual act of Christian baptism accompanied by the confession, “Jesus is Lord,” is a powerful memorial to one’s personal faith in the God who is Jesus, who died and rose again. This is the way Jesus intended it to be and those who dispense with His commands by attenuating the Great Commission or by altering its order will stand before God to give an account of their disobedience.

Baptism is the first act of the public Christian life and thus should be obeyed before one is able to participate in the other commands of Jesus Christ for His churches, including the Lord’s Supper. Again, note the order laid down by Jesus: 1-going, 2-making disciples, 3-baptizing, 4-teaching all things (inclusive of the Lord’s Supper) that Christ has commanded. When I explained this to my son, he accepted the biblical order of close communion, a logic confessed in my own denomination’s Baptist Faith & Message. However, it took some time before he was able to overcome his fear of standing before the church to request entrance into the church covenant and the right of participation in the Lord’s Supper.

I praise God that my son overcame human frailty by the power of the Holy Spirit and obeyed Christ by requesting public baptism in the name of his Triune Lord. I praise God that I was prompted last evening to remember His command that we participate in the Lord’s Supper until He comes again (Matt. 26:26-29 and par.; 1 Cor. 11:23-26). After the service, I asked my oldest son, “Aren’t you glad we obeyed Christ and came to see your brother profess Him as Savior?” His reply, of course, was in the affirmative, though the homework still remained to be done.

I praise God that my family of blood kin includes members of the family of Christ, too. I praise God that He has given us the grace of salvation, a grace confessed visibly and necessarily in the grace of obedience. I praise God that He has led our church to recognize that baptism is to precede communion and that it is a confession and not a magical rite that is disconnected from the individual human will. (I also praise God that He has led our church not to affirm those improperly baptized, for to affirm an error is to participate in that error.)

Oh, Lord, help us to hear your Word clearly, and do your Word diligently! And where we have erred, please illumine the Bible so that we may understand correctly and empower us by your Spirit so that we may live correctly! I thank you that You have led my son into Your family, whose Father is so much superior to his earthly father. Your ways truly are effective. Your truth truly is invincible.

As I sit down to seriously begin considering the theological concepts of Communion, I thought it would be wise to consider what I’ve already written on the topic. After all, I worried that I may have to revise my comments from previous posts. I’ve discussed communion in my blog post here:

http://thebridgekamloops.com/http:/thebridgekamloops.com/how-do-we-%e2%80%9cdo%e2%80%9d-church-a-proper-ecclesiology

And here’s what I said about it:

(6) The Lord’s Supper is to be regularly observed by the church membership and understood as a time of introspection and recommitment to progressive sanctification and as a remembrance of the atoning death of Jesus Christ. Progressive Sanctification involves the Christian’s continuous progression in the Christian life advancing towards Spiritual maturity through the assistance of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The Christian who participates in the Lord’s Supper signifies their commitment to a walk which will result in progressive and continuous sanctification. The Lord’s Supper, also known as communion, is the church’s opportunity to come together for the purposes of “discerning the body,” to evaluate the growth and maturity of the body into the likeness of Christ’s image. The Lord’s Supper is a public visual portrayal of the church’s union with Christ. It is to be denied to anyone who is not thus united with Christ, and in this way it serves as the Church’s public declarative function of “loosing that which has already been lost in heaven.” (Matthew 18:19)

In terms of practicality, Communion is a time of self-reflection and introspection. Believers who participate are compelled through the ceremony to evaluate their life to see if they are truly growing in their spirituality, i.e. their lives are marked by increasing holiness and the decreasing frequency of sin. It is a time for the church to, “discern” the body. (1 Corinthians 11:29). In this passage Paul’s comments refer to believers examining their lives to see if their “works” (Galatians 6:4), and their beliefs (2 Corinthians 13:5) line up with the truth of God. It seems that the introspection is most concerned with unity being attained through the indivdual efforts of the individuals who comprise the oneness of the church examining their beliefs and their works to insure that they coincide with others who comprise the church.

I think Gordon Fee makes some astute comments as he examines 1 Corinthians 11:29:

“The Lord’s Supper is not just any meal; it is the meal, in which at a common table with one loaf and a common cup they proclaimed that through the death of Christ they were one body, the body of Christ, of which they were all parts and in which they are all gifts to one another. To fail to discern the body in this way, by abusing certain members of the church of lesser sociological status, is to incur God’s judgment.”[1]

I’ve carefully considered Fee’s remarks during my study time this morning, and I agree with his remarks. I completely agree. I find his interpretation to line up with the plane and simple meaning of 1 Corinthians 11:29 when that verse is read in the context of the entire passage of chapter 11 and the following chapters of 12-14. Communion is a time of recognizing each other as belonging to each other as gifts from God, and this belonging to each other for all eternity is made possible only through what Christ accomplished on the cross.

Some of you may say, “That sounds great, Joshua. So what?”

Let me spell out some of the possible implications which will have to be examined in the weeks ahead:

1. Baptists generally practice a form of Open Communion in which anyone who is a Christian can celebrate communion with them regardless of their church membership, so long as they are genuinely born again believers. If we read 1 Corinthians 11 carefully, one begins to suspect that Paul was urging the Corinthian Christians to a form of closed communion in which only the committed members of the church should be celebrating communion as a time of introspection over their “works” and “faith,” and their participation with others in the body of Christ. This makes sense also when one reads the following chapter 12 which speaks of Christian service and devotion to each other and leads into a discussion of Spiritual Gifts. The flow of thought of from chapter 11 to chapter 12 strongly favors the argument that only individuals who were committed to loving each other, serving each other, and belonging to each other should participate in Communion. In short, Paul may be indicating that Communion may be a celebration of regenerate official church membership in his letter to the Corinthians, and not an open meal to anyone who may consider themselves a ‘Christian.’
2. This business of one loaf and one cup keeps rearing its head in our faces. It’s getting painfully hard to ignore at this point. (1 Corinthians 10:17) Lots of Baptist scholars are using this language, yet Baptists never drink from one cup. And Baptists usually pass a plate of crackers rather than tear a piece off of a loaf of bread. Imagery may be important to communicating the unity that is intended to be had in Communion. Paul makes veiled references to this in 1 Corinthians 10:17.

It’s gross to drink from one cup. The germ factor must shoot through the roof at this point. I’m okay with passing one loaf of bread. That concept doesn’t offend my sensibilities that much. But it might offend others. The real issue, however, is what does God want us to do. This, my first initial inquiry, indicates that perhaps current practices of communion need to be changed in advance of our next communion date which is tentatively scheduled for December 20. Two issues which need to quickly be determined prior to our next communion celebration is Open vs. Closed Communion, and do we really need to pass one cup in obedience to Christ? Perhaps there might be some other way to retain the Biblical imagery indicated in 1 Corinthians yet embrace a more precautionary (read ‘anti-swine-flu’) technique.

[1] Fee, Gordon. The First Epistle to the Corinthians, New International Commentary on the New Testament. (Eerdmans Publishing, Grand Rapids, MI: 1987), pg. 564.

Well, we celebrated Communion this past Sunday. I felt that the service was good, but it could be improved in some areas. God was speaking to me the whole time about it. I walked away Sunday confessing to God that I really need to sit down and spend time with Him regarding our communion services. I apologized and asked for His forgiveness. I’d been ignoring the Spirit’s nudging for way too long in this area. Monday rolled around, and I immediately began preparing my sermon for Sunday, making phone calls, and getting swamped with the hustle and bustle of my week. It began happening all over again, despite my confession and repentance promises the day before. God slowly got pushed off to the side… again. The good news is that my Father loves me way too much to allow me to ignore Him forever. So He nudged me again this morning. He nudged me HARD! A friend forwarded me this link to a blog post written by a man I’ve never met, and asked for a response from me. So, I read this blog post (and silently began asking God’s forgiveness and confessing my sin again), and decided to repost Mr. Spencer’s comments here:

Michael Spencer has written the following at his blog post: http://www.internetmonk.com

The current reign of church growth pragmatism has virtually killed the Lord’s Supper among many evangelicals. It’s a high crime, as bad as any liberal betrayal of the Gospel. If it were an innocent omission, I could understand. But it’s not. It’s been radical surgery, and if you said that our church is only going to do this once a year, you’d hear very little opposition.

Talk about your “Jesus disconnect.’ “Yeah, Jesus inaugurated it and commanded we continue to do it, but I think we need to be careful not to emphasize it too much or else it will mean nothing.” Follow that path for a couple of generations, and it will mean nothing. It gives me a headache.

So here are the weaknesses enumerated. Enjoy.

1. The Historical Problem. How do Baptists relate their view of the Lord’s Supper to the ancient church’s far more Eucharistic, real presence language? Do we believe the ancient church was wrong until the Baptist reformation? Yes? No? What?
2. Articulation. Despite having helpful confessional resources that articulate the Supper beautifully, all Baptists can do is denigrate the supper as “not this” and “not that.” We need an entire revolution of the language- liturgical and confessional- we use with the Lord’s Supper.
3. Frequency. Four times a year or less. Insane.
4. Teaching. No one teaches on this subject in any depth or seriousness.
5. The Theology of the supper itself. Our view should be far more open to the Lutheran and Reformed approach, but we’ve simply gone over the edge in refusing to come out of our bubble, so we have a lobotomized practice of the Lord’s Supper and we are the only ones who can’t admit it.
6. The Elements themselves: Baptist Chiclets and shot glasses are not Biblical. One loaf. One cup. And lose the grape juice. Good grief. Can’t we do the simple things right?

Mr. Spencer’s comments are just a tad bit cynical. This bitterness must be the result of years of frank questions that have gone unanswered for far too long, and that’s not fair. Good questions deserve good answers. I know I need to respond to Mr. Spencer. Not necessarily for Mr. Spencer’s sake. It really matters for my own sake. It really matters for Bridge Church. It really matters to God that I’ve taken the time to clearly hear Him, understand Him, and make certain beyond doubt that we’ve nailed the Communion issue for His sake.

Mr. Spencer has provided an invaluable list for me to interact with. All of his criticisms merit careful thought and scrutiny and provide a framework for things to look for as I begin searching the scriptures. So I thank Mr. Spencer for his assistance in this area.

You’re going to laugh when you read what I’m about to say: I just don’t have the time to begin critically thinking through these issues today. But wait!! Before you start mocking me and ridiculing my insistence on shoving God in the corner, hear me out. The primary reason I wrote this blog post is because I’m committed to actually listening to God on this issue, and I need you to hold me accountable to it. I began writing this knowing that it would be an issue with my schedule this week, but I’m going to scribble a few comments every day, and I want all of you who subscribe to this blog to hold me accountable to continuing with my efforts until I finish my study. Obedience comes in the form of one step at a time, step after step, until repentance is accomplished. Today is one baby step. Tomorrow is another one. I want you, my friends and brothers at Bridge Church, to keep me to it until I’ve made a full go of the task.

The two issues which concern me most are items 5 & 6 of the list above. So I’ll begin addressing those in the days ahead. I plan on addressing all of them, but frankly item 1 is a daunting task. It would require lots of historical research, and I know that it’s not really essential to establishing a purely Biblical view of Communion. I think Mr. Spencer would agree that item 1, while important, is not essential to the modern church practice. If the early church could get infant Baptism wrong, which they historically did, then it is likely that they got Communion wrong as well. Frankly, Communion and Baptism are two sides of the same coin. Besides, the early church (whether the historical documents concerning their practice of communion reflect a biblical approach or not) now in heaven with the Father would not want us to consult with them regarding the Biblical approach to Communion. They would be the first, since they are in the presence of the Father, to insist that we consult with Him in His Word. So stay tuned for some scribbling on items 5 & 6.