Welcome to today's session.
I'm so delighted that you've joined me for this guided communion practice.
The body of Christ has had the privilege of having communion for the last 2,
000 years.
Our view of what that means or should look like has taken various forms.
In some ways,
It has become so familiar,
A mere ritual.
Some see it as a means to an end,
Taking communion to gain something from God.
I believe communion is an open invitation from the Father to us,
The Bride of Christ,
To draw near to him with a true heart.
Firstly,
What does it mean to draw near?
It is a picture of intimacy.
It is a leap of faith,
Taking the first step to accept the Father's invitation to come close and to get to know him personally.
When you draw near to someone,
You close the gap between you and that person.
So for you to get closer,
You need to remove all the obstacles in the way,
And that is what the cross of Jesus Christ accomplished.
Before the cross,
No one could come close to God because of our sins that stood between him and us.
But what does it mean to draw near in truth?
Anyone who is married can tell you that things don't work out so well if a couple keeps secrets from one another.
This is where I think the deeper meaning of communion lies.
God is raising up his bride in this age,
A bride that is without blemish.
In certain cultures in South Africa,
When a man wants to marry a woman,
He has to pay a bride price,
Or leborla.
The bride's father determines what this price is.
There are a lot of negotiations where the family really tests the groom.
For us,
The sins of the world has determined how high the price would be for us to be redeemed.
There were no shortcuts.
Christ paid in full.
He didn't pay half the price.
So each day,
The Lord is calling us to come close with an honest heart,
Bringing all of our heartache,
Every illness,
Every blemish,
Every hidden secret we are nurturing,
But also all of the good things we don't think of sharing with him,
Like all our joy.
He wants all of us.
The bridegroom wants to have an intimate relationship with the bride.
James 4 verse 8 urges us to draw near to God,
And he will draw near to you.
Cleanse your hands and purify your hearts.
I encourage you now to come to the communion table,
To lay aside everything that stands between you and him,
To ask for forgiveness and mercy,
And to take up your place as the bride of Christ.
You may take the bread.
Lord Jesus,
We thank you that you have called us as your bride.
We thank you for paying the full bride price.
We thank you for inviting us to come close and bring you our entire heart.
We are grateful to partake of this bread,
The symbol of our redemption.
Thank you that you have paid for our sins in full.
Thank you that through the breaking of your body,
You have provided a new and a living way for us.
Thank you that we can draw near to you with unrestricted access and have a love relationship with you.
Amen.
You can now take the wine.
Lord,
Please search our hearts and reveal to us anything that stands between you and us.
Holy Spirit,
We ask you to create in us a truthful heart so that we can bring all of our iniquities to you to be washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ.
On this day,
We choose to take up our role as your bride,
And we declare that we don't want anything to stand in the way of you,
And we don't want anything to stand between you and us.
Amen.
