July 16, 2006: 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 "Unity & the Lord's Supper"

Mike Phay preaching.

In his classic work Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote "Without Christ there is discord between God and man and between man and man...Without Christ we...would not know our brother, nor could we come to him. They way is blocked by our own ego. Christ opened up the way to God and to our brother.  Now Christians can live with one another in peace; they can love and serve one another; they can become one. But they can continue to do so only by way of Jesus Christ. Only in Jesus Christ are we one, only through him are we bound together." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together [San Francisco: Harper & Rowe, 1954], 23-24)

Christ gave us this example of self-giving, sacrificial love when He died for us.  He gave us a meal with which to remember it.  And when we share this meal together, we must come in grace and with grace.  For Christ invites the church to His table -- and we get to be part of that Feast.