Household Communion and Agape Feast 2 of 3

Household Communion and Agape Feast 2 of 3 Parts The Lord’s Vineyard Covenant Community _____________________________ The Lord’s Vineyard Covenant Community Quezon City, Philippines 1102

Part 2 Early Christians’ Holy Communion _____________________________ The Lord’s Vineyard Covenant Community Quezon City, Philippines 1102

What was it like to take communion among Christians in the 1 st century? _____________________________ Household Communion 2/24/2021 3 The Lord’s Vineyard Covenant Community Quezon City, Philippines 1102

The Circumstances During Those Time • Early Christians were a small minority, composed of Israelite Christians and Gentile Christians. • They are neither respected nor appreciated by majority of Jews (Converts to Judaism) who rejected Jesus as the Messiah or the Christ. • To some they are a threat to the Roman government who despised new cults that drew people from the traditional Roman gods. _____________________________ Household Communion 2/24/2021 4 The Lord’s Vineyard Covenant Community Quezon City, Philippines 1102

According to the accounts in the Book of Acts: • They met in homes in small group of believers. • They shared a meal together to affirm their bonds of togetherness because all of them put their faith in the resurrected Jesus Christ. • The meal preceded communion that came towards the end of the meal when they remembered Jesus’ body and blood. _____________________________ Household Communion 2/24/2021 5 The Lord’s Vineyard Covenant Community Quezon City, Philippines 1102

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF EATING TOGETHER? _____________________________ Household Communion 2/24/2021 6 The Lord’s Vineyard Covenant Community Quezon City, Philippines 1102

Jesus everyday meals with people in His public ministry • The Bible tells how Jesus spent a great deal of time eating with the people. • Jesus wanted his meal-companions to understand peace with God (shalom) • During those times, to eat with someone is a public declaration of amnesty (you harbored no enmity toward that person; no malicious plot; you only want the person’s well-being and blessings) and sincere fellowship. _____________________________ Household Communion 2/24/2021 7 The Lord’s Vineyard Covenant Community Quezon City, Philippines 1102

The Expression of Amnesty in our Culture It is the handshake. When we shake with our right hand, it shows that we don’t hold any weapon and therefore we are not going to attack. • Boy Scouts and Girls Scout shake hands using their left hands. • In the pre-firearm days of spears and shields, the left hand held one’s shield. • To shake with our left hand means we have discarded our shield; we have renounced selfprotection. _____________________________ Household Communion 2/24/2021 8 The Lord’s Vineyard Covenant Community Quezon City, Philippines 1102

The Expression of Amnesty in our Culture… • By shaking hands with both hands, we mean that we had foresworn both attacking someone and defending ourselves (giving ourselves totally to that person without condition or hesitation) • That’s what we do when we embrace or hug another human being – just like shaking hands with both hands. • When Jesus ate with people in 1 st century Palestine, he embraced them…both hands. He cherished those people and gave them the amnesty of God (salvation) _____________________________ Household Communion 2/24/2021 9 The Lord’s Vineyard Covenant Community Quezon City, Philippines 1102

Jude 12 (KJV) These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth , without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots. _____________________________ Household Communion 2/24/2021 10 The Lord’s Vineyard Covenant Community Quezon City, Philippines 1102

Jude 12 (NIV) These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm – shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted – twice dead. _____________________________ Household Communion 2/24/2021 11 The Lord’s Vineyard Covenant Community Quezon City, Philippines 1102

What are the types of sins that we are to repent of, lest we become “hidden reefs” in the love feast? _____________________________ Household Communion 2/24/2021 12 The Lord’s Vineyard Covenant Community Quezon City, Philippines 1102

1) The sin of IRREVERENCE • “they feast with you without fear” • One of the characteristics of a lost is “There is no fear of God in their eyes. ” (Romans 3: 18) • A professing believer who lacks a healthy fear of God = “fruitless autumn tree, doubly dead, uprooted”. • Paul made a stern warning on the irreverence at the Lord’s table (I Cor. 11: 26, 30) _____________________________ Household Communion 2/24/2021 13 The Lord’s Vineyard Covenant Community Quezon City, Philippines 1102

2) The sin of SELFISHNESS • “caring for themselves” • A selfish spirit results to DISUNITY (I Cor. 11: 18) • Union is essential for communion; there is no communion without unity. • Taking part in the communion with enmity against a brother or a sister makes a mockery of it • A selfish spirit also results to NEGLECT OF OTHERS (I Cor. 11: 21) • “caring for themselves” = “shepherding themselves” _____________________________ Household Communion 2/24/2021 14 The Lord’s Vineyard Covenant Community Quezon City, Philippines 1102

3) The sin of FAITHLESSNESS • “clouds without water” • Like a professor without practice • Have you been “carried along by winds” without spiritual core anchored in faith in Jesus Christ? If so, repent from your unbelief. • Without faith it is impossible to please God… and bear fruit _____________________________ Household Communion 2/24/2021 15 The Lord’s Vineyard Covenant Community Quezon City, Philippines 1102

4) The sin of FRUITLESSNESS • “autumn trees without fruit” • Is there any fruit in your life? • Is there the fruit of the Spirit? • The reason for unfruitfulness is not abiding in Christ (John 15: 5) _____________________________ Household Communion 2/24/2021 16 The Lord’s Vineyard Covenant Community Quezon City, Philippines 1102