Message Notes for July 28, 2024

Series: Gains and Losses

Title: Come to the Table

Bottom Line: The Lord’s Supper is a connection, unity and sacred gift from God, our character and our preparation for this time with Jesus matters.

1 Corinthians 11:17-26, 28 (ESV) But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, 19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. 20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. 23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 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.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes… 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

Jesus’ Pattern of “Come to the Table”

The Corinthian Church – Celebration of Losses

1. The Corinthians did not live in U________, as the Body of Christ

2. The Corinthians did not love their ________________ in the Body of Christ

3. The Corinthians did not discern the P_______________ of Jesus Christ

Our Gains in Coming to the Table

– Receive the Invitation to Come to the Table

– Take time for Introspection, then Come to eat at the Table

– You can come to receive, for full Involvement in the working of Jesus Christ

Family/Group Study Notes for the week of July 28, 2024

Series: Gains and Losses

Title: Come to the table

Opening: What was it like in your family, growing up – around meal times? Did you all gather and eat together? What were the happenings at the table? If your family did not eat together, did you experience that at the homes of friends? What did you feel inside, when you gathered to eat together?

Jesus and His Table Manners

Read Luke 14:1-6; Luke 19:1-10. How was hospitality expressed? What is the result of hospitality for the participants? What was the problem with the way some people expressed hospitality? How do we practice hospitality today? What can we do to improve our practice of hospitality?

The Corinthians and Their Table Manners

Read 1 Corinthians 11:17-22. How did the Corinthians follow (or not follow) Jesus’ pattern of gathering at the table? What was the great loss they suffered in their way of eating together?

Read 1 Corinthians 11:27-32. What were the table manners of the Corinthian Christians? How did their practice of table manners tear down the fellowship of the church? How would Paul’s instructions in vv 33-34 help them to change their practice?

What are ways that we get caught up in our culture so we practice similar table manners as the Corinthians, in our fellowship with other Christians, or with unbelieving neighbors?

Our Coming to the Table of the Lord – Communion

The heart of this passage is speaking about the Lord’s Supper. As you read 1 Corinthians 11:23-28, what stands out to you about the celebration of the Lord’s Supper? Considering our conversation about hospitality and eating together, what lesson(s) do you take from this passage in 1 Cor 11?

Putting this into practice…

How can you make your hospitality more like Jesus’ practice of hospitality?

What might change about how you celebrate the Lord’s Supper in the future?