WEBVTT

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Lord God, as we celebrate the meal that precedes

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your sacrifice, help us remember that celebrate

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is such a loaded term. Because in order to get

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to the true celebration, we have to go through

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the pain. We have to see what it is to shed the

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blood, to tear the skin, to know what it is that

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you had to go through to achieve for us what

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we could never achieve on our own. So Lord God,

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we thank you for this night. Even as we acknowledge

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what you've done, but also that we see that you

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are present with us, not for judgment, but for

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mercy. In Christ Jesus, amen. Howdy. I did not

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grow up Lutheran. I know, I know. Oh my wordness,

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the scandal of it all. Oh my goodness. I grew

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up in a church where we would do communion. where

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people would sit in their pews and we'd pass

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around loaves of bread and some wine in these

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cups that would go around. It was the men at

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Shevitz, so, you know, really, really sweet.

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So as you're a kid, you're like, ooh, this is

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really good because you think it's like Walsh's.

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But then the whole time is at different stages

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as you're growing up, you're trying to figure

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out what in the world this communion thing is.

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Whenever I was a child and I saw my parents as

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they were eating it and I thought well, this

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is fun snack time Hey, you get a little juice

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to get a little bread. That's okay I wonder why

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do we don't have other snacks during this time.

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It would be much more satisfying I'm sure now

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granted right afterwards was our Donuts and cake

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time. So I've probably Associated the two together

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but as I got older and I realized that it was

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time for me to be receiving it and I knew that

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it was something that was special and I kept

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thinking what is it about it that's so special

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that I need to make sure everybody's focused

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they're praying they're they're doing something

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and I'm like what exactly is it that they are

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doing we didn't have catechism confirmation the

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same way that others might so it was still this

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mystery to me But then later, as I end up coming

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to know the fact that communion is a sacrament,

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and it began to ask this question of what does

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that truly mean? What does it mean for something

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to be a sacrament? You see, while we know in

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the strict sense that there is a means of grace

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there, is that God's grace is reaching us, what

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does that even mean? Is it the moment where we

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accept and believe Jesus is Savior? Well, no.

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We've already done that before we come to the

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altar. Is it something where we are initially

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being visited with God in a sense of some sort

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of opening of the clouds and the dove descending?

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No. We saw that in the baptism of Christ in the

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Jordan. So what exactly does it mean for there

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to be this sacrament of communion? And in my

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mind, There are different things that come to

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mind when I think of what it is to do something

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the same way someone had done it previously,

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and one of them is an enactment. Where oftentimes,

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like for myself, is that I would go to Comic

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Palooza and dress up as my favorite comic book

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character, but in reality, the best cosplays

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are oftentimes the people going to reenact the

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Battle of the Alamo. Because in reality, isn't

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that truly a cosplay? Is that you're deciding

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which character to dress up as and reenact what

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happened? And why? Why is it that we reenact

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things like the LMO or the fight for the revolution

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or various other things that have come up over

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time in history and how many ways in which there

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might be battles that would be revisited from

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different world wars is to remember and to see

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what that sacrifice truly was. That's the thing

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about the enactments, is that whatever the sacrifice

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is, it happened and its effects are still lived

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out today. If Texas or the U .S. were not in

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existence, would we still have those enactments?

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Absolutely not. Because there would be no point.

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But the reason why those types of reenactments

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are so special is because the sacrifices made

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then are remembered because they still work today.

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Their effects are still felt. But then there's

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also a second thing beyond just remembering what

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has happened. And this is also what we end up

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seeing when we are visiting what has happened.

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Every time that there is some dramatized crime

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scene on a tv show and what do they do is that

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they have some sort of visiting of the crime

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itself the scene the place and even trying to

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visualize how everything was placed and why because

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they want to understand because with this is

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that in revisiting what happened is that it's

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also understanding why it happened the way it

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did Why did Jesus have to celebrate this meal

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when He did? Because He knew what was about to

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happen. There was no more time remaining. It

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had to happen now. And it had to happen with

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bread and wine. Because this meal was meant to

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be more than just the usual Passover. It was

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meant to be the Passover that brought about the

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true sacrifice of the Messiah. But then even

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looking at that and realizing that as the disciples

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were celebrating, it would end up be the beginning

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of mourning. Because even as the celebration

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happens with the bread and the wine, is that

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the wine would also be the beginning of mourning,

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the blood that would be shed. But that also brings

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us to the third. of being gathered together in

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that place with His disciples, even as tonight

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we are gathered together as His disciples. My

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grandmother never let me call her grandmother

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or grandma. It was always Memaw. Because grandma

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made her sound old. So Memaw would have us over

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for typically Thanksgiving and Christmas and...

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There were all these foods that we would have

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there. And I remember one time coming in every

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day having cookies and cheeseburgers with my

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memaw and realizing I had gained 20 pounds in

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one week. And then the times when Thanksgiving

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would have stuffing that always had raisins.

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Why were there raisins in the stuffing memaw?

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Or the time when she made a peppermint pie that

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had giant chunks of peppermint sticks in it where

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you were trying to chew your way through and

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wonder, Memaw, did you make this by scratch?

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But when Memaw passed, we no longer gathered

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together with all the family in the same way

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or in the same place. Why? Did we no longer eat

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Thanksgiving? Did we no longer have a relationship

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with one another? What we finally realized is

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that it was too hard. Because we knew that if

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we went back to that house and ate that meal,

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my memaw's presence would be there the whole

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time, and her loss would be too hard to bear.

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That's the thing about the meal, is it's the

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place where love is embodied. We ate those raisins

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in that stuffing and loved it Because those raisins

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were the wrinkly form of my memo's love We spent

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the time laughing But also reveling in who she

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was But also knowing who she is with us And that's

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the thing about the meal is that the meal is

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more than food more than drink, it's embodiment.

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Because even as we know that where two or three

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are gathered, Christ Jesus is in our midst where

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more clearly than the very place where he has

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said, this is my body, this cup is my blood of

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the new covenant. As we see this meal, where

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we are gathered today to celebrate with his presence,

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he is proclaimed as we are proclaiming. That

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as we eat it and we drink it, we are proclaiming

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and showing the need to be fed by Jesus. We cannot

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be fed by anything else in this world. There

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is nothing else that can possibly feed our souls

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the way that Jesus feeds us. And that Jesus only

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feeds us by going to a cross and shedding Himself.

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You see, what's strange is that this This place

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of sacrifice is both celebration and mourning.

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But it is one that draws us together and creates

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a bond. Because communion is for community. Because

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when we gathered together, it didn't matter if

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my mom and my aunt had had a fight. They were

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going to stand there and discuss who was getting

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the ham and who was getting the turkey. It didn't

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matter if my mother was upset that my papa had

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been smoking. We were still gonna sit around

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that giant fire where the turkey was being fried

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and still let her complain at him. Because still

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in the midst of that was love and grace. And

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that's the thing about what we see is that this

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is meant to be a meal of grace. This is a place

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where wherever we've been is that we are brought

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together as people who love one another, whether

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we like it or not. But Paul points out the idea

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of what it is to be unworthy. And that's the

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thing about this. If this were just bread and

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wine, would it matter if you were worthy? I am

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not worried about whether I am worthy or not

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whenever I go to Subway. I don't worry about

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whether I'm worthy or not when I stop by Specs.

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I am not worried about whether I am worthy or

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not whenever I sit around with a bunch of people

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eating queso and watching a game. But I am worried

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about whether I'm worthy when I'm here. Because

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it's more than bread and wine. And when we lose

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the sense that Jesus Christ is present with us

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doing what He's doing, and we come to this not

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realizing that what we are doing is a combination

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of knowing He's here, but also knowing why we

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needed Him here in the first place, then we,

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being unworthy, end up destroying our very souls.

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Because then, when we come together, we dismiss

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why this was so important. We dismiss why it's

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important that we gather together. We dismiss

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why it was important that as we do so, we examine

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ourselves and remember that we are the ones who

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need that forgiveness. Because if it's just bread

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and wine, then you could just eat it and drink

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it and not even care. Or even as the people did

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back then, to wonder, could I get a little more?

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But when we realize not just that we are here

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in the presence of Christ, and that Jesus giving

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His life for us is saying you are forgiven, then

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we also affirm that as we eat and drink it, that

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it is ours. And no one can take it away. You

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cannot rip the bread out of my stomach. You cannot

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scoop out the wine from my body. It is in me

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now. and it is now a part of me. You cannot take

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it away once I have consumed it. It is mine.

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And nothing can take away the blood and the body

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of Christ from me. And they cannot take it from

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you either. They cannot come up to you and say

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you don't deserve Jesus enough to receive Him.

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And you say, I never deserved Him in the first

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place. They cannot say Jesus couldn't possibly

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want his forgiveness for you and you say he wanted

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it for everyone They cannot possibly say you

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did not remember him enough because you could

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say it doesn't matter because he remembered me

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on that cross and that when we come here we are

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being fed by and in the body of Christ That is

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why we gather here tonight. And that is why it

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is that we eat this and we drink this. And why

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it matters. Because it's not the carbon and hydrogen

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and oxygen that combines into these breads that

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are all of these lovely sugars that somehow stick

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around the midriff in the thighs. And it is not

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the juices that somehow come forth. and make

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this end up tasting so sweet or so dry depending

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on whatever Lynn ordered that week. But rather,

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is that Christ Jesus has promised each and every

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one of us that His body and blood is ours for

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salvation. So today, as the body of Christ Let

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us consume the body of Christ. Because that is

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the only thing that brings us forgiveness and

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lets us know with all confidence that nothing

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can take it from our cold dead fears. Thanks

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be to God. Amen. Please rise.