Communion April 2022
Thank you for celebrating Easter and communion with us this morning.
Have you ever questioned your faith because you didn’t get your prayers answered? Have you ever questioned your faith because you couldn’t feel God’s presence? If so, communion is a time we celebrate faith based on something much more than answered prayers and whether we feel God’s presence.
How do you have faith when you see random bad things happening to good people or experience terrible things yourself? For many, these moments cause major “God, where are you valleys in life?” Many question their faith. I mean, on what do you base faith?
Peter was a disciple of Christ who had every right to ask the same questions. Listen to what he wrote: 1 Peter 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”
Peter wrote these words after being jailed. He watched his friends be tortured and killed for their faith in Jesus. He was martyred for his faith. His faith was not based on answered prayers or feelings. His faith was based on Christ’s resurrection. That is what drives us and millions and millions of Christians ever since.
Communion is a time to remember the foundation of our faith. The foundation of our faith is not whether our prayers are answered. That is circumstantial faith. The foundation of our faith is not based on whether we feel that Jesus is with us. That is emotional faith.
Our faith is based on evidence. Faith is the confidence that Jesus died and rose again because of evidence that exists to prove this claim. Faith is being sure God is who he says He is, and He will do what He says He will do. Hebrews 11:1 tells us faith is the confidence of what we hoped for and assurance of what we do not see.
Communion reminds us of the last supper when Jesus ate with his disciples. It is a time to reflect on the fact that Jesus is God, died on the cross, and three days later was resurrected from the dead. Doing so, he has the authority to cleanse us from our sins. Please join me in prayer as we examine our hearts and confess our sins.
Romans 8:35-39. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[a]
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Help us know your love that surpasses knowledge.
