This is My Body

This is My body

For nearly 2,000 years, Christians have gathered to repeat these words and celebrate this service.  From homes in first century Judea to Buz Aldrin on the moon, this has been celebrated and Who Jesus is has been remembered.  And in the remembering we are changed.

Using the symbols familiar to the Jewish community at the time, Jesus crafted a new celebration with a richer and more complete message, and has invited us to celebrate, and remember and be changed.  Not detracting from the past, but bringing it more fully into focus, Jesus invited them to be the community that would share God's grace and forgiveness, among themselves, and with those around them.  The message was powerful, and it still is.

"There is a love stronger than death that can withstand whatever the forces of evil can throw against it."  

This is what we celebrate in communion.  Not a God who punishes, but a God whose love no amount of punishment can diminish or deter.  In the cross we see, not only the extent to which evil was willing to go to hurt and destroy, but also the extent to which God was willing to go to give us the assurance of forgiveness and new life.  This is what we celebrate when we take the cup and bread, when we remember and are changed.

If you would like to listen to the sermon again, or perhaps for the first time, you can access our sermon library here, or if you prefer, listen to the livestream version here.