Mar 29, 2007
Running time: 30:30
(30:30)
In this sermon we’ll first, examine the major views of the Lord’s Supper, second, we’ll examine the Reformed view of “real presence” or “spiritual presence,” and third, we’ll examine the effects of the Lord’s Supper on Christians.
Scripture Lesson: 1 Corinthians 11:17-34
Subscribe to this post with RSS.
Free curriculum designed for your growth in Christian thinking and living.
An introduction to the Christian worldview and the basic teachings of the Bible. Learn the basic differences among the main groups in the broad Christian tradition, and that “the Reformed faith” is just a nickname for the teachings of Jesus Christ.
An exposition of a most treasured summary of the Bible’s basic teachings. Learn how you can be clear about the glory of Christ in His triumph over our sinful misery, so that you can pass it down to the next generation.
So that everyone visiting this website and our churches knows exactly what we believe and teach, we state our faith right alongside historic and Reformed Christian churches.
Ancient summaries of basic Bible teachings written in part to defend God’s people against heresies sadly still alive today.
500-year-old summaries of basic Bible teachings written in part to defend God’s people from deep-seated theological and moral corruption in all kinds of false churches and movements.
Biblical sermons by local URC ministers
Nov 18
Rev. Movses Janbazian
Acts 9:32-43 | Unclean, Cripples, and the Dead
Nov 17
Rev. Tom Morrison
Ephesians 6:21-24 | Blessing
Nov 11
Rev. Movses Janbazian
Acts 9:19-31 | You Will Confound Your Enemies
Nov 10
Rev. Tom Morrison
Ephesians 6:10-20 | Spiritual Battle
Nov 4
Rev. Tom Morrison
Ephesians 6:5-9 | Slaves, Masters, Christ
Nov 18
Rev. Movses Janbazian
Micah 7 | My Shepherd Will Vindicate Me
Nov 17
Rev. Tom Morrison
Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 28 | The Lord’s Supper
Nov 11
Rev. Movses Janbazian
Micah 6 | Love Covenantal Fidelity
Nov 10
Rev. Tom Morrison
Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 27 | Infant Baptism
Nov 4
Rev. Tom Morrison
Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 26 | Baptism, Part 1
Topics covered in the talk show, sermons, and lessons
You can also find content...
...by book of the Bible
...by confession / creed
Pasadena, CA
Pasadena United Reformed Church
Pastor Movses Janbazian
626-437-4994
Victorville/Apple Valley, CA
High Desert United Reformed Church
Pastor Tom Morrison
760-951-0809
Choosing a Religion
Choosing a Church
Sinners & Saints |
|
Rev. Movses Janbazian |
|
Rev. Adam Kaloostian |
|
Rev. Tom Morrison |
|
All posts |
|
All comments |
Subscribe with RSS |
URC Learning is not an official URCNA web site. The views expressed are those of the posted contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of others in the URCNA.
© High Desert United Reformed Church and Pasadena United Reformed Church. We encourage you to share and copy material posted to this site under the terms of Creative Commons license Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.
2 comments so far
Jun 1, 2008Alex #
I love this website!!!!!!!!!!
but I digress…
I listened to your segment on the Lord’s Supper in your “What We Believe” series. I had a question.
One of the passages used was 1 Co. 11:29 where it says, “…anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.” (NIV) It appears that the phrase “of the Lord” is not in earlier manuscripts. This in my mind drastically changes the meaning. It would appear that it refers to discerning “the presence of Jesus in the covenant community”. I thought perhaps v.27 could refer to the presence of Jesus in the bread and wine and v.29 to the covenant community but that seems unnatural and forced.
Help!
Jun 3, 2008Rev. Tom Morrison #
Alex,
Thank you for your question.
The phrase, “of the Lord,” is not in the earliest and best manuscripts. Therefore, since these manuscripts are more accurate and the shorter reading (without “of the Lord”) in these manuscripts is more likely to be original (since copiests had a tendency to add or gloss), the verse should be read without the phrase “of the Lord.”
Nevertheless, the “body” to which Paul refers in v.29 is the body of Jesus Christ. Paul’s argument in this part of chapter 11 is that the church is in trouble exactly because they are not making a distinction (dicerning) between the bread and wine as an ordinary meal and the bread and the wine as the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. First, when Paul quotes Jesus’ words from the Gospels on the Supper, He quotes Jesus using sacramental language: “This IS my body…this cup IS the new covenant in my blood.” Jesus and Paul are using a figure of speech called “metonymy” – this is when the name of the thing (Jesus’ body)is transferred to the sign (the bread). Paul is quoting Jesus’ words here to prove that the Lord’s Supper is not an ordinary meal but a sacred meal in which the bread and the wine are instuments through which the Holy Spirit communicates the spiritual body and blood of Christ to the believer. Second, v.27 confirms this when Paul says that unworthy participants will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Eating the bread and the wine is to eat the body and blood of the Lord (spiritually speaking). Finaly, v.26 continues with this line and v.29 explains the serious nature of discering the sacred nature of – not any body – but the body of the Lord. To what other body could Paul be referring? Therefore, Paul’s consistent use of “soma” (“body”) and the context demand that “body” in v.29 refers to Christ’s body – His spiritual body received in the proper eating and drinking of the bread and the wine of the Lord’s Table.