The Open Table: Anamnesis and the Danger of Unfenced Communion

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:08:16] Thank you so much for being here and grateful that you have come to be in this space with us to worship together, to settle our hearts, and to hear the word together. I invite you and welcome those who are online as well. We invite you into this space from wherever you are to come and settle and to be a part of this community, all of us coming together in worship.
[00:08:46] next faithful step, and we're doing this all year long, your next faithful step in generosity or in serving or in worship, as what we are talking about today. Our Lenten series is focusing us on worship, on what it might mean to step a little bit deeper into your worship life. Now, you might
[00:09:10] think, well, I come to worship, obviously. I'm sitting right here. Yeah, we come to worship, and all of us are in a different place. So some of us may be every week and we're worshiping during the
[00:09:22] week and spending time in the Word, and some of us maybe we're at the beginning of that and we're still learning. Maybe some of us are not even sure of what Jesus is about, and all of that is okay.
[00:09:34] We welcome you into this space to come together and to consider where God is calling you to take your next faithful step in worship. So we ask the question, what is worship? Last week I shared with
[00:09:50] you that the first thing is that worship celebrates Christ. It seems almost like a no-brainer, but as we think about it, if somebody asks you, what is worship? You might think, how do I describe what
[00:10:03] worship is? And you might say, well, we sing some hymns or we listen to the word proclaimed or some preaching. Those are all valid elements of worship, but at its core, worship is forming us.
[00:10:18] Worship celebrates Christ, is the first. And the second, worship tells and acts out the Christ event. So as we sing our songs, as we hear the word proclaimed, when we read the liturgy, most of the time. There is a story told in that. If you think about the beginning of the scriptural
[00:10:41] times and Old Testament even carried on through, there wasn't a book to read. There was no Bible at that time. And when there were some things written down, only some people could read it.
[00:10:53] So the way that the stories were told, they told them generation after generation, as you do. When you want your children and your grandchildren to know about their grandparents or their great-grandparents or even farther back, you tell the stories, right? You share
[00:11:12] the most memorable parts of their lives because you want your kids and your grandchildren to know that history, that part of their lives. And so here we are as the body of Christ, the children of God, we have to come. We have to keep saying the story. We have to keep telling
[00:11:30] the Christ event because we want everybody around us to know those stories of Jesus, the original people of Scripture, all the way through to what happened when Christ died, was resurrected for our sins. So as we come together in this singing the hymns,
[00:11:53] As we hear the scripture today, I invite you to see where the story is being told.
[00:12:00] Where do you see the start and the middle and the end?
[00:12:05] Where do you see forgiveness?
[00:12:07] Where do you see a call to confession because of what has happened?
[00:12:12] We will tell the Christ event in all of our activities and our elements today.
[00:12:18] So we begin by singing a hymn, which will do just that.
[00:12:22] It's the first one in the Lent section of our hymnal.
[00:12:25] On page 269, Lord, who threw out these 40 days, setting us up for the story of Lent.
[00:12:32] Will you stand and sing with me?

[00:12:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:12:34] Lord, who threw out these 40 days, who busted fast and prayed.

[00:13:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:13:07] Like me, perhaps you have been following the news and have been concerned and in prayer

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:15:42] for the situation in Iran, and for us as Christians, as the body of Christ, and situations like that when it comes to violence, war, tragedy in our world, our immediate response and then our responsibility all the way through is to be in prayer,
[00:16:06] to lift the situation in prayer.
[00:16:12] And so this morning we're going to have just a moment of prayer for that.
[00:16:17] I want to lift up our leaders and all those who serve our country and their families, but also the people of Iran and for any innocent civilians in harm's way.
[00:16:34] And the hard thing for us as Christians, As followers of Jesus, one of Jesus' hardest teachings for us is how we are to respond to those we would call our enemy.
[00:16:48] And any we would call our enemy, Jesus commands us to love our enemy and to pray for those who persecute us.
[00:16:58] And that's what we're going to do because my hope is that we are all faithful to Jesus.
[00:17:07] and doing what he commands us to do and so with all that in mind i invite you to take a deep breath let us go to the lord together in prayer gracious and holy god creator of all things
[00:17:33] god of all people we come to you god worried maybe frightened about what's happening in I ran God praying that you would God make a way where we think there is no way we pray for
[00:18:05] our leaders for those making decisions that you would give them wisdom and discernment God give them the courage to do the things that make for peace we pray that you would be with all those who serve the men and women who are in the military. God, for their service, we are
[00:18:30] grateful and we pray that you would bring an end to this conflict soon so us protect life. But for those who serve God, we lift them up in prayer for them and their families, for spouses and
[00:18:43] children and parents and siblings and all their loved ones. God, pray that you would give them your peace. We pray, God, for the people of Iran, for all those who are in harm's way, God.
[00:19:00] We pray for the leaders of that country, God, that they may also do the things that make for peace.
[00:19:09] And we pray that you would, God, inspire us as disciples of Jesus, as members of the body of Christ. We pray that you would inspire us as those who follow the Prince of Peace, that we might be
[00:19:25] a witness in the world, God, a world that is all too familiar with violence and pain and death and loss, that we may live into and point others to a better way, that we might point other people to
[00:19:47] your love. And God, when we are anxious or frightened or angry or upset about what is happening in the world, God, help us to give to you our concerns, God. Help us to give that to
[00:20:01] you in prayer. And God, we pray that you would give to us that peace that passes understanding, that peace that can only come from the Holy Spirit. We pray above all things, God, that your
[00:20:17] will would be done in our world, and that we would join in with the ongoing work you are doing for the sake of reconciliation through our Lord Jesus Christ. For it's in His name that we pray. Amen.
[00:20:36] Friends, Christ our Lord invites to His table all who love Him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another. Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and one another. Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart.
[00:20:57] We have failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will. We have broken your law.
[00:21:06] We have rebelled against your love. We have not loved our neighbors, and we have not heard the cry of the need. Forgive us, we pray. Free us for joyful obedience through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
[00:21:31] Friends, hear the good news. Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. That proves God's love toward us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. Glory to God. Amen.
[00:21:50] Let us offer one another signs of reconciliation and love. I'm passing of the peace. I'm going to I ask that you stand and greet your neighbor because that's how we show signs of reconciliation and love.
[00:22:03] So extend the peace of Christ.
[00:22:23] And now, friends, as a forgiven and reconciled people who share in the peace of God, let us offer ourselves and our gifts to God.

[00:29:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:29:04] This shared meal had unfortunately become a place where inequity and divisions were highlighted and torn down.
[00:29:12] A reminder to the church told us to share and remember Him when we gather around him.
[00:29:38] He broke it and said, This is my body.
[00:29:44] Do this in repentance.
[00:29:47] In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant of my blood.
[00:29:54] Do this as often as you drink it and drink the cup.
[00:30:04] Claim the Lord's death until he comes.
[00:30:06] This is when I remember

[00:30:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:30:25] that I'm taller than Carrie, even with her heels on.
[00:30:34] Good morning, church.
[00:30:40] I'm going to invite everybody to take a deep breath in and breathe it out.
[00:30:45] Let's take another deep breath in and breathe it out.
[00:30:53] I'm Pastor Tony Ruth.
[00:30:55] For those of you who don't know me, I'm glad to be with you today as we are thinking about how worship celebrates and remembers the Christ event.
[00:31:06] In our worship, we gather together and we do that.
[00:31:09] Every time we do, we do it for the sake of remembering Jesus.
[00:31:13] I was a little kid the first time I remember seeing those words on the altar, right?
[00:31:20] They're right here.
[00:31:23] Do this in remembrance of me.
[00:31:25] They're probably on almost every altar you ever saw.
[00:31:29] Some version of those words are inscribed, do this in remembrance of me.
[00:31:35] These words that Jesus says, as Paul just read, Paul just read what Paul, the apostle, different Paul, not related, wrote to the Corinthian church.
[00:31:50] And when Paul wrote it, he is just quoting Jesus, what Jesus actually said.
[00:31:54] We find that text in every gospel, the story of the Last Supper and Jesus breaking bread and saying, do this in remembrance of me.
[00:32:03] And for a long time when I saw that, I thought I was just supposed to remember Jesus.
[00:32:07] You know, like you remember your keys.
[00:32:09] Like, you know, more in the sense of like, don't forget.
[00:32:14] You know, don't forget Jesus.
[00:32:16] Don't forget.
[00:32:17] Remember this meal.
[00:32:19] And that's not wrong, but it's not really the fullest picture of this word that Jesus uses, remembrance.
[00:32:28] The word that Jesus actually uses is called anamnesis.
[00:32:33] Anamnesis.
[00:32:33] And if you think in your head that sounds like amnesia, they're related to each other, okay?
[00:32:39] Anamnesis is like forgetting.
[00:32:41] Anamnesis is the opposite of that.
[00:32:43] It's the drawing near or bringing close of memory.
[00:32:49] It's less like, hey, don't forget your keys, Wes.
[00:32:55] Or I need to not forget to sign up for that Bible study.
[00:32:58] Or remember to bring your tithes to church.
[00:33:01] and more like a bringing memory into the present moment.
[00:33:10] How can I help you understand that?
[00:33:12] Here's an example.
[00:33:14] Anybody can tell me where you were when any of these things that you're getting ready to see on the screen actually happened.
[00:33:24] How many of you remember exactly not just where you were but what it felt like in those moments?
[00:33:33] I was in the fourth grade in 1986, and it was a snow day.
[00:33:36] and we had been so excited because Krista McAuliffe was going into space y'all and I don't remember ever seeing watching a shuttle go off but we were all going to watch it because Krista McAuliffe was a teacher just like our teachers and she was going to go into space but it was a snow
[00:33:56] day and so I was at home and I can feel the carpet underneath the back of my legs where I was sitting on the steps when I watched the Challenger explode. And the stillness, because my mama
[00:34:12] wasn't home, she was at work, the stillness and the quiet that I felt as a fourth grader trying to wrap my mind around what was happening. I was on an elliptical machine at the YMCA in
[00:34:26] High Point, North Carolina watching the Today Show when they cut to a live feed because something was going on at the World Trade Center and I remember how I just remember that I remember so clearly
[00:34:38] and I kind of look back and go why did I kept I stayed on the elliptical because I didn't I didn't know what I didn't know what to do and I remember that I remember thinking I've got to go find my
[00:34:49] cell phone the first cell phone I ever owned y'all y'all remember back in the day and I needed to because I needed to call my sister because my nephew was just two weeks old that day and I knew
[00:35:00] she wouldn't have her TV on. Those of you who were alive when JFK died, I bet you could tell me exactly where you were and what it felt like. That, friends, is anamnesis. If, and this is hard
[00:35:16] because it's more recent, but every time I put on a mask, I can remember what it felt like to be at the beginning of COVID. That's anamnesis. Yesterday, my nephew asked his girlfriend to marry him. And all this week long, I've been listening to him talk about asking her. And I
[00:35:40] found myself looking at my own wedding ring and my engagement ring. And I, all week long, I could just step right back into the memory of a rainy day when Wes asked me to marry him in April in
[00:35:55] front of a trophy shop, because I am a trophy wife, in front of a trophy shop in Mount Airy.
[00:36:07] Why Mount Airy, you might ask? Because I don't, nothing special. We were just in Mount Airy.
[00:36:12] If y'all think Wes made an elaborate plan, that's really sweet. Anyway, but I can step right back into that. It did work. I can step right back into that moment and feel what that felt like. How
[00:36:25] about y'all. Those moments for you too. I can remember when Wes slipped my wedding band on my finger right at the altar. I can feel what it felt like to stand in front of the altar at First
[00:36:35] Methodist High Point as Wes put that ring on my finger. And I remember him making his vows. And I remember how I thought, remember this, remember this, remember this, remember this, remember this.
[00:36:43] That is anamnesis. Jesus told his disciples, do this in anamnesis of me. Do this in anamnesis of me, in remembrance. And he didn't just mean remember that I died for you. He meant draw close to this moment of relationship and sacrifice that I am making for you. Remember around this
[00:37:16] table, pull close this Passover night when I became the Passover lamb and laid down my life for the world. Jesus doesn't just want us to remember that he gave his life for us, but how personal that is, how relational it was, and how it shapes who we are. So every time we
[00:37:42] gather in this place, we do so not so much like they will at the Oscars in a couple of weeks, in memoriam but in anamnesis. Think of it like living memory. Now this meal that we
[00:37:58] gather and share together has lots of different names. Sometimes we call it the Lord's Supper and when we call it that what we mean is that this meal reminds us how Jesus invites us to this table
[00:38:09] just like he invited his disciples to sit down around that table in the upper room and we remember how he promised a new covenant and a new way of salvation and how they all sat around that table
[00:38:22] even Judas who would betray him and Paul and Peter who would deny him. We call it sometimes holy communion and in that we remember that at this table God meets us and he communes with us
[00:38:41] meaning he shares with us he dines with us he is in relationship with us he's looking to draw near to us in a holy connection and not just with you and me but with everybody and we are all around
[00:38:56] this table together communing with God another name for it is the Eucharist that's just a big Greek word that means Thanksgiving Thanksgiving and it reminds us this that this meal is a meal where we thank God for giving us Jesus.
[00:39:14] We thank God that Jesus was willing to go to the cross for our sake and for our salvation.
[00:39:19] We remember the price that he was willing to pay for us.
[00:39:25] Whatever we call it, this meal is a powerful reminder, a means by which we experience God's grace.
[00:39:35] And we bring the power of God's grace and redemption back into our life and into the present moment.
[00:39:44] Now, historically, this has been the centerpiece of Christian worship.
[00:39:49] It is a very recent phenomenon that you would walk into a church, a place where people gather for worship, and you would not see the biggest, most prominent thing in the space as the altar table.
[00:40:02] That's a new phenomenon.
[00:40:05] But this altar table is the centerpiece of what we do.
[00:40:08] and gathering to share and break bread that has been for generations the centerpiece of what Christians do when we gather for worship what's the point of gathering if we're not going to break bread together if we're not going to eat a meal together and remember who we are this moment that
[00:40:28] tells and acts out what Christ has done and brings Jesus in his sacrifice his blood shed on the cross close to us. So why do we need to do that? Why is this the center point of our worship? Why is this
[00:40:42] the thing? Because friends, this is the thing that shapes us. This is the place that we are transformed. This is the place where we remember who we are and we remember what Jesus has done
[00:41:00] for all of us. Paul wrote to the Philippians and he included what is widely understood to be the oldest recorded Christian hymn. When the body first started gathering, mostly in house churches, they, even from the beginning, were singing about what Jesus did and about what it meant.
[00:41:22] And those hymns get handed down to us. So there is this thing, we call it the Christ hymn in Philippians chapter 2. And you need to understand that the Philippians would have remembered this and been able to quote it as much as you can remember Amazing Grace.
[00:41:38] Think of it like they're Amazing Grace.
[00:41:41] And this is what Paul said.
[00:41:43] Paul said, That ought to be written on our hearts, friends.
[00:42:24] You ought to be able to quote that like you can quote, like Wes can quote Love Divine, All Love's Excelling.
[00:42:31] When we worship, part of what we're doing, When the early Christians worshipped, part of what they were doing was telling the story of Jesus and how he came in the flesh and how he taught and healed in ways that revealed the truth of God.
[00:42:51] About his journey to the cross where he took on the sin of all humanity and died.
[00:42:58] And how three days later he rose again.
[00:43:01] And we tell it over and over and over again.
[00:43:04] we gather around this table over and over and over again so that we will be shaped and changed by it not just for one hour on Sunday mornings but that we would remember this meal and this sacrifice
[00:43:20] and the God who gives himself for us when we are living all the other moments of our weeks and our days and our years and our lives, friends.
[00:43:29] It's not memory, it's anamnesis.
[00:43:32] it's remembrance memory living memory brought near now the the choir's already got their hymnals but I want you to actually get your hymnal out I know y'all are like so I told them it at early worship
[00:43:48] this morning I'm gonna tell y'all so I got some good news and some bad news for you the good news for y'all that you all sometimes want to say to those contemporary folks is hey guys guess what
[00:44:00] Good songwriting did not begin in 1980 with the contemporary Christian movement.
[00:44:10] There is a treasure trove of good theology in your hymnal.
[00:44:15] But here's the bad news, y'all.
[00:44:17] Sorry to step on your toes.
[00:44:19] Good songwriting didn't stop in 1980 either.
[00:44:24] And some of that contemporary stuff has got some words there that we might need to hear that help us draw that memory close.
[00:44:32] I want you to turn to page 9 in your hymnal.
[00:44:34] and there you're going to find what's known as the prayer of great thanksgiving we pray it every time we have communion but i want to say we're actually going to talk through it today so page nine in your hymnal the great thanksgiving now uh we get this a lot wes and i when people
[00:44:50] join the church we get a lot of this so i was raised a baptist and my husband was raised either catholic or lutheran and we feel like methodism is sort of a good middle ground and that might be
[00:45:01] you. But what, the reason that's a good middle ground is because the Methodist church, this liturgy, when you hear it, it is very similar to what you would hear in the Catholic church. It's very similar to what you would hear in other traditions. This prayer, this great thanksgiving
[00:45:18] is one of the things that we share sort of across denomination, not in all the specifics of the language, but you need to know that this is the prayer that's being prayed versions of it for over
[00:45:28] 2,000 years. And this prayer, the Great Thanksgiving, the United Methodist Church commissioned a study. It was called This Holy Mystery. And it was a United Methodist understanding of communion. In the beginning of it, this is what they say. They say, the Great Thanksgiving
[00:45:45] is a comprehensive narrative of the Christian understanding of God's work of salvation.
[00:45:49] Did you know it or did you just sort of tune out when I prayed it every time?
[00:45:54] The Great Thanksgiving is a comprehensive narrative of the Christian understanding of God's work in salvation which in other words every time we pray this prayer we're remembering the Christ event. The entire prayer is addressed to the first person of the Trinity and each section
[00:46:10] describes the saving work of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And together they help us to draw near the memory of Jesus's life and death and resurrection and they help
[00:46:21] shape us by that living memory. It begins with a call to worship and this is a back and forth where we invite each other and we pray for each other.
[00:46:32] So it begins like this.
[00:46:33] The Lord be with you.
[00:46:36] Lift up your hearts.
[00:46:39] That's an act of worship.
[00:46:41] You're lifting up your heart to God.
[00:46:44] Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
[00:46:47] It is right to give our thanks and praise.
[00:46:50] So regardless of how you're feeling today and whether or not you're feeling worship, it is always right to give your thanks and praise.
[00:47:01] Why?
[00:47:01] because God's always worthy of it. And the prayer goes on. It is a right and good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
[00:47:13] You formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life. When we turned away and our love failed, your love remained steadfast. You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God and spoke to us through your prophets. In these words, we remember how God
[00:47:32] created us in love and relationship. We remember that our lives as messy as they are are gifts that are given by God who made every single human being you've ever laid eyes on in his own image
[00:47:48] and that this God that even as recently as right this second breathe in y'all put the breath of life in your lungs and we remember that while God's love for us is endless we have rejected it. In a million different ways that you and I call sin we have stopped
[00:48:15] we have chosen things that we imagined that would be better than God's love and yet through it oh God has not stopped trying to draw us close to him. In the Methodist tradition we call that
[00:48:29] provenient grace. Provenient grace just means God's unmerited favor that walks in front of us in all of our moments, making promises, you know, in rainbows in the sky. God's love that goes before us in the blood of lambs painted on the doorposts of the Israelites' houses so that death would pass
[00:48:50] them by in Egypt. In the parting of the Red Sea and the commandments given on Mount Sinai and the voices of prophets who shouted not just the consequences of human sin but also cried out
[00:49:05] about the never stopping, never giving up, always and forever love of a God who promises in Jeremiah 31 to write his name on our heart with a new covenant. This God that we remember comes to us
[00:49:24] in all those stories that we've always heard. Do you remember? Do you remember how when you were at your very worst and wondered how anybody, let alone God, could ever fix you, forgive you, love you, make a way for you, and God met you with love? Do you remember a scripture or a song
[00:49:54] or a sunset or a friend or an answered prayer that made God's promise, God's covenant, not just something that happened back then, but something that was happening for you right now?
[00:50:09] Can you stop and breathe in for just a second?
[00:50:21] The beautiful story laid out in all of Scripture of God's relentless love for broken humanity.
[00:50:33] His relentless love for you.
[00:50:39] In light of God's covenant and faithfulness, we pray Hosanna.
[00:50:44] And Hosanna just means save us.
[00:50:47] That's what the word means.
[00:50:48] Hosanna, save us.
[00:50:49] And just like the crowd did as Jesus entered into Jerusalem, Before his death, we cry out that same cry, Hosanna, save us.
[00:50:57] And so with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and we join their unending hymn.
[00:51:04] Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.
[00:51:12] Hosanna in the highest.
[00:51:14] Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
[00:51:18] Hosanna in the highest.
[00:51:20] Holy are you and blessed is your son, Jesus Christ.
[00:51:24] Your spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed and to announce that the time had come
[00:51:34] when you would save your people.
[00:51:37] He healed the sick, fed the hungry and ate with sinners.
[00:51:40] By the baptism of his suffering, death and resurrection, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death and made with us a new covenant by water and the spirit when the Lord Jesus ascended he promised
[00:51:53] to be with us always in the power of the word and holy spirit in these words we remember we anamnesis the life and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ we remember that God's purpose in this
[00:52:07] world is good news God's purpose in this world is good news and I don't mean just announcement like good news, you're forgiven. I'm talking about real, actual, tangible good news to people who are poor and captive and blind and depressed. What good does it do if someone says to you,
[00:52:33] you know, I have believed this. Here's my example. It's a really frivolous one. There was this girl one time in a Bible study. And she said to me, we're talking about prayer. And she told me that
[00:52:46] her grandmother had told her that if she did not end every prayer she ever prayed with in Jesus name amen that God would not hear her prayer and this person was in her late 20s and her whole life
[00:53:04] she had belabored under this lie that if she happened to forget to say the full phrase in the name of Jesus Christ amen that God would be like you know I don't care that you want to be healed
[00:53:13] you didn't say it right would good news to her have been if I just went wow that's bad news that's terrible? Or was it actually good news to say, hey, listen, that's not true. God hears you all the time.
[00:53:36] God is always listening and God longs, the scripture says, to heal us. God longs to give us the desires of our heart and nowhere does he say, but only if you say it in the right way. It's not just enough
[00:53:50] to say God breaks down prisons. You have to actually help somebody be free of the prison they're living in. Because you know, not all prisons are iron bars that you get into because you did something criminal. You know that, right? Y'all are living in prisons all the time. So am I.
[00:54:07] Prisons of false belief. Prisons of ideas that we had about what, who God loved and what God wanted to do in the world that limited and diminished and put God and us in these little boxes.
[00:54:19] God is a liberator God we remember every time we pray this prayer that Jesus longs to break free the bonds that we live in by addiction and lies that about our value that we've too long believed
[00:54:35] in voices that tell us we can never be forgiven or that God doesn't hear us unless we get the formula right Jesus came with real tangible good news to the sick and the hungry friends if somebody
[00:54:48] is hungry and you look at them and go huh sorry you're hungry that's not actually good news good news is here's bread would you like to share with me Jesus comes with power and love that heals
[00:55:10] and satisfies he comes to heal all the sorrow and the broken places that make us feel like we're walking around with open gaping wounds that we have to hide from a cruel world that's going to
[00:55:22] find some way to exploit our vulnerabilities for its own gain. We will remember every time we gather that Jesus is the healing balm of hope in a broken world. We remember every time we pray this prayer
[00:55:39] of great thanksgiving, we anamnesis that Jesus came to make a new covenant with us right now.
[00:55:46] What we could not do ourselves, what we cannot do by ourselves by being good enough or working hard enough or following enough of the rules jesus did for us we are saved by jesus's faithful obedience
[00:55:58] to god even to death death on a cross and we remember that on the night before he went and gave himself up for us he said this he took bread he gave thanks to you he broke it he gave it to
[00:56:14] the disciples and he said that he said take eat this is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me and we remember that when the supper was over he took the cup
[00:56:31] and he gave thanks to you and he gave it to his disciples and he said drink from this all of you this is my blood of the new covenant poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins
[00:56:42] do this as often as you drink it in anamnesis of me in remembrance of me do you remember do you remember the moments in your life when the truth of your sins cost and your inability to make
[00:57:01] it right on your own made you fall on your knees and say please God help me I cannot do it alone I am not enough I am so tired I am so sad I am so lost can you find and forgive even me
[00:57:19] Do you remember how you came and God's love met you at a table not unlike this one?
[00:57:30] In a pew not unlike that one?
[00:57:34] Do you remember when you held out your hands and you were so aware that you are a beggar?
[00:57:41] You are a beggar at the table.
[00:57:44] Not here because of anything good you ever did, but gratefully receiving the gift of God's own self for you.
[00:57:57] Can you taste the sweetness of the bread and the wine and remember the sweetness of God's forgiveness that breaks all your chains, gives you second chances?
[00:58:12] Can you feel the pressure of your knees at the altar, bent in gratitude that God made a place for you?
[00:58:23] Can you lift up your eyes and see the cross and imagine Jesus there with his arms wide open for you?
[00:58:31] can you stop and breathe in Jesus's sacrifice for you and for your salvation can you remember sitting around a table with people that you loved and breaking bread together in light of Jesus's life given for us we remember the truth that grounds our whole life together in a very simple
[00:59:06] confession of our faith and so in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ we offer ourselves and praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice in union with Christ's offering for us as we proclaim the mystery of our faith. Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come
[00:59:28] again. Do you believe it? In the final piece of the prayer, we remember that Jesus promised us the Holy Spirit to be with us, to empower us, to transform us, to remind us of everything that
[00:59:42] he taught us, to raise us from the dead with Jesus. And we remember that Jesus didn't just give himself to us, not just for our sake, but for the sake of the whole world. We remember that
[00:59:57] God's banquet table is not this big or this big. It is as big as the whole world. And there is a seat for everybody by the power of the Holy Spirit. And every time we gather, we bring into
[01:00:13] living memory the power of Jesus Christ to tear down the dividing walls between us and God and between us and one another. And we imagine what it might be like for us to turn to the person beside
[01:00:28] us, maybe somebody that hurt us, and to say this is the body of Christ for you too. Or to turn to the side to a stranger who looks different from us and might not even speak the same language of
[01:00:43] us and say, this is the body of Christ for you too. Because that's who Jesus invites to his table.
[01:00:52] We remember God's capacity to take ordinary things like King's Hawaiian bread and Welch's grape juice and ordinary people like you and me and create something that is extraordinarily transformed for the sake of the whole world and so we pray pour out your holy spirit on us gathered here
[01:01:16] on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine make them be for us the body and the blood of christ that we may be for the world the body of christ redeemed by his blood by your
[01:01:36] spirit make us one with each other one with christ and one in ministry to all the world until christ comes in final victory and we all feast at his heavenly banquet. Do you remember? Do you and
[01:01:52] Amnesius who you were before Jesus? Can you step back into those shoes and remember that feeling before you knew him? And can you step back into the shoes of the moment that he set you free?
[01:02:09] Do you remember who you were and who you are? Do you remember how with every study and every song In every encounter with God, you have been made new.
[01:02:18] Do you see how Jesus has met you?
[01:02:21] Not in the past, just in the past.
[01:02:24] Not in your grandmother's story, in your story.
[01:02:27] Not just one time, but again and again and again.
[01:02:31] And how through remembering him, you've been changed.
[01:02:35] Do you remember how the Spirit nudged you to say yes, to extend forgiving grace that was given to you to another person?
[01:02:42] to believe that what has been does not always have to be.
[01:02:49] That redemption can be made real in your life right this minute.
[01:02:56] Friends, stop and breathe in the power of the Holy Spirit that's present at this table.
[01:03:06] In light of the life-changing power of knowing Jesus as our Savior, we remember and we bow down at the throne of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and we echo the so be it of generations,
[01:03:18] the amen of the communion of the saints gathered around the table for all eternity and friends if you have never known it if you've never known it maybe this be the day that memory draws near for
[01:03:38] you and you find yourself at the table of God and you hear Jesus say put a piece of bread in your hand and say, this is for you. Remember me. Don't forget. Draw near. And you taste the wine. You see
[01:04:03] him holding the cup in front of you. And you hear him say, I'm making you a new promise. Remember, God's love, the sacrifice of Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit is not just something that
[01:04:20] happened to them. It's not just something that happened back then. It is right here. It is right now, every single time we break bread together. Christ is here for the sake of us and our
[01:04:35] salvation. Here there is a place for you. Here we come and we worship. Through your Son Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit in your holy church, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now
[01:04:55] and forever. And all God's people said, Amen. Now with the confidence of the children of God, let us pray as the Lord has taught us. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom
[01:05:10] come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation,
[01:05:26] but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
[01:05:33] friends this is the bread of heaven given for you for the forgiveness of your sins and this is the cup of salvation poured out for you and for all the world for the salvation of the world it is our tradition in the united methodist church to receive by way of intinction
[01:06:01] that means you'll receive a bit of bread in your hand and you then dip it into the juice I not just invite you I encourage you to pray at the altar to bring your worship and your presence
[01:06:13] right into the presence of God and to allow him to speak his words of life over you again as we worship him if you need to receive your elements gluten-free we have that available to you just
[01:06:25] make sure you come down to the center to receive gluten-free elements and if you need for any reason to receive individually packaged communion we have that available for you as well just let your server know. Friends, this is the table of the Lord that is open to all people, a place where
[01:06:41] you can come and an amnesis and the truth and the love and the life of Jesus Christ. May it be near

[01:06:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:06:49] to you today. If the servers would come forward, remember that God gives himself to you. Eternal

[01:12:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:12:20] God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your spirit to give ourselves for others. In the name
[01:12:32] of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Our closing hymn is on page 179. It says, Oh, sing a song of Bethlehem. And you're going to think, why are we singing a Christmas song right now? But I promise

[01:12:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[01:12:45] you, it's going to tell the story. Will you stand please and join with me? 179. A quick reminder

[01:16:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:16:13] that if you are looking for a place to take your next step in worship, we are always welcoming you to participate. It says 9-15, but we'll take ushers in this service. Ushers or tech folks,
[01:16:28] people to serve communion, scripture readers, all these are such very important parts of the body coming together. So if you are interested in any of those, you can scan those QR codes, go on the
[01:16:39] church app and if you two weeks ago if you told me you could read scripture and then you said tony ruth knows my name i completely forgot who you are so please come see me after church today

[01:16:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:16:51] i'll write it down this time i promise 11 that knows your name i think their name starts with an s and i was like carrie like what so don't be offended uh all us clergy would just love to say
[01:17:12] that in the 15 minutes before and after worship, we should not, unless we're writing it down,