The Lord’s Supper | September 13, 2026
Throughout the book of Joshua, we have seen how important it is to remember who God is and what He has done. Joshua was told not to let the Word of God depart from His mouth but to meditate on it and that by doing so he would have success in the Promised Land (Josh 1:8). Israel was to set up 12 memorial stones to remember the power and might God showed by drying up the Jordan River before them (Josh. 4:21-24). The nation was to circumcise the men to remember God’s covenant promise made to their forefather Abraham (Josh 5:1-7). Once in the land, Israel remembered God’s deliverance of the nation through the blood of the lamb as they celebrated the Passover (Josh 5:10). The nation heard first hand accounts of how the blood saved their lives. Remembering the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread that followed immediately after it was so important that they are to be feasts forever.
Exodus 12:12-14; 17; 24 ESV
(12) For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD.
(13) The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
(14) “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.(17) And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever.
(24) You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever.
The Passover was not a one-time celebration but was meant to be a memorial forever. God never wanted His people to forget that they were bought out of the bondage of slavery in Egypt and saved from death by the blood of the lamb. God’s people were to remember how He had fulfilled His promises and then to eagerly anticipate when He would fulfill the rest of His promises. The Passover looked back to the deliverance in Egypt but also forward. Each year as Israel celebrated, they were to remember what the blood of the lamb had accomplished as they looked forward to the real Passover lamb.
John 1:29 ESV
(29) The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
1 Corinthians 5:7 ESV
(7) Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
John the Baptist makes the amazing declaration that Jesus is the long-awaited lamb of God. He is the Passover lamb that has been sacrificed on our behalf. The blood on the doorpost represented Jesus’ blood covering believers. He is our Passover lamb that has saved our lives. This makes the Lord’s Supper so amazing. The Lamb of God sat down to celebrate the Passover meal that was always about Him.
Luke 22:14-20 ESV
(14) And when the hour came, He reclined at table, and the apostles with Him.
(15) And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
(16) For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
(17) And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.
(18) For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
(19) And He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”
(20) And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.
Jesus had a deep longing and desire to celebrate the Passover with the apostles because He knew all that was about to be accomplished. He had given His body in perfect obedience His entire life. With this perfect righteousness secured, He could give His blood and secure the New Covenant. We are called to remember Him, to remember His perfect life and His sufficient atoning offering of His blood. Yet even with the life, death, and resurrection of our Passover Lamb, the promises of the Passover are not fully complete. The payment for sin was declared finished at the cross, yet God is still unfolding all that Jesus’ offering truly accomplished. Notice that Jesus says that He will eat of the Passover again when it is fulfilled in the Kingdom. The Passover still points forward. The Passover was to remember the blood of the Lamb but was also to celebrate God dwelling with His people.
Deuteronomy 16:2; 5-7 ESV
(2) And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the LORD your God, from the flock or the herd, at the place that the LORD will choose, to make His name dwell there.
(5) You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you,
(6) but at the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make His name dwell in it, there you shall offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, at the time you came out of Egypt.
(7) And you shall cook it and eat it at the place that the LORD your God will choose. And in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents.
God is very clear that Israel is not to celebrate the Passover wherever they live in the promised land. They are to gather together at the place where God’s name dwells. Through the blood of the lamb, God had made a way to dwell with His people. It was to be a remembrance of the blood and a celebration of God now dwelling with His people. This is why Jesus looks forward to when the Passover will be fulfilled in the Kingdom. Since the fellowship that was lost in the garden, God has been working to dwell once again with His people.
Ezekiel 43:4-7 ESV
(4) As the glory of the LORD entered the temple by the gate facing east,
(5) the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple.
(6) While the man was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to me out of the temple,
(7) and He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile My holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies of their kings at their high places,
Ezekiel 45:21-22 ESV
(21) “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the Feast of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten.
(22) On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering.
Ezekiel is shown the future temple that will be used during the Millennial Kingdom. It is where Jesus will reign over the entire earth and dwell in the midst of His people. Notice what is celebrated during the kingdom in the temple, the Passover. This is the moment Jesus was looking forward to during the last supper with His apostles. He would not eat of the Passover again until He celebrated it with Israel and us, in the temple in Jerusalem, during His kingdom. The Passover is fulfilled in the kingdom as He dwells with His people, and we all celebrate what His blood has accomplished. At the Passover in the kingdom a lamb is not offered but a young bull because Jesus is the Lamb who was slain for us. The Lord’s supper that that we are celebrating today is temporary. It has an expiration date put on it by Jesus. Before the Lord’s Supper the Passover was celebrated, and in the Kingdom we will go back to celebrating the Passover. This should not shock us, as we will spend eternity praising the lamb for what He has accomplished.
Revelation 5:9-10 ESV
(9) And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,
(10) and You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
We will worship Jesus because He is the lamb who was slain. He bought us through His blood and then made us into a kingdom so we could reign and dwell with Him. As we take the Lord’s Supper today, we are to remember what the body and blood of Jesus accomplished. We are also to look forward and long for the day when we will dwell again with Him. The cross accomplished so much more than we can fathom.
Ephesians 1:7-10 ESV
(7) In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace,
(8) which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
(9) making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ
(10) as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.
We have redemption through the blood of Jesus and have been forgiven for all our sins. All of this is in accordance with or in proportion to His abundant grace. This was God’s plan that He has worked throughout the generations to unite and sum up all things in Jesus. The cross is so much larger than our salvation. Today we remember what the body and blood of Jesus have done for us, but we should look forward and long to see all that Jesus has truly accomplished. Every nation, every ruler, and everything will be brought to subjection to Jesus and His reign. This amazing truth of what Jesus accomplished is so much larger than us, and it is truly amazing that we have been brought in to be a small part of it.
Ephesians 2:12-22 ESV
(12) remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
(13) But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
(14) For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility
(18) For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
(19) So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
(20) built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone,
(21) in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
(22) In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
We were strangers to these promises. The Passover was Israel’s history, not our own as gentiles. We were far off from having anything to do with these promises and yet have been brought near by the blood of Jesus. His flesh has broken down the dividing wall and united us into these amazing promises. We are not strangers to these promises but have been made fellow citizens. We have an amazing future in His kingdom, celebrating the Passover with our King. Right now Jesus has been growing us into a dwelling place for God as we have the Holy Spirit in us. Through the Spirit we get a glimpse of what it will be like to dwell in God’s presence and see the Passover fulfilled in the Kingdom. Today we are proclaiming His death as we look forward to all that it accomplished!
We believe in Open communion- If you are a believer here today, you are welcome to take communion with us. All believers are a part of the body of Christ. Jesus had one body that He was willing to break so that we could all partake. We should not limit the fellowship that He secured.
If you are not a believer, meaning you have never trusted in Jesus for your salvation, this is not for you. Jesus paid with His blood so you could have life. Please believe in Him. You can do that right where you are by trusting who He is and what He has done for you on the cross.
We are going to have a time of reflection
Take this time to confess any sins God convicts you of. We have been given Jesus' perfect righteousness and His new life. We are covered by His blood. As we sin, we are not walking in our new life. Yet even as we sin, we are still alive in Him through the blood. This is why we need to confess our sins and walk fresh with Him. We also need to be careful to not let Godly conviction lead to self-condemnation.
No one is worthy of Him; we are accepted because of the body and the blood of Jesus. Take time to remember that our judgment has been passed over because we are covered by His blood and look forward to our amazing future as we will see all that Jesus accomplished through the cross.
After the time of reflection, I will lead us as we all partake of the elements together.
(The crackers are gluten free)
1 Corinthians 11:23-24 ESV
(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.”
The bread represents the Body- It speaks of who Jesus Is-
Fully God, Fully man
Perfectly obedient to the Father
Broken for us
Pray-
Eat the Bread
1 Corinthians 11:25 ESV
(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.”
The cup represents the Blood- The blood of the Passover was always pointing
to the blood of the Lamb of God. We have redemption and are brought near by His blood.
Pray-
Drink the Cup
1 Corinthians 11:26 ESV
(26) For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
Revelation 5:11-13 ESV
(11) Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,
(12) saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
(13) And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”