Communion message

Communion message

 

By Odon Bulamba

 

Mathew 26: 2; 24:26,

Who should we believe?  Jesus before he left, he picked up the bread and blessed it and then broke it and said, “Remember this, this is my body.  Do this in remembrance of me.  This is my cup, do this to remember me”. 

 

Because we forget sometimes, Jesus tells us to come to communion to remember.  Because people sometimes invite us to the wrong place and say Jesus is here, we get mixed up and that is why Jesus tells us to come to communion to remember.  Sometimes we read the bible and we don’t understand it and it’s because we forget to remember the signs God gave us.  That is why Jesus tells us to come to communion to remember.

 

Luke 24: 2.  The disciples of Jesus were walking and suddenly Jesus was walking among them and they could not recognize Him because their eyes were covered. When the men with Jesus reached their home, it was time now to have dinner.  He took the bread and blessed it and after blessing it he broke it.  After breaking it, small pieces fell off from the bread and at that moment their eyes were opened.  They recognized Jesus and remembered their lord. 

 

You have to remember how Jesus blessed the bread and how he broke it.  The way Jesus broke the bread was unique and that is why those two disciples remembered Him.  They remembered the way He broke bread.  What do you remember? Do you only remember Jesus sitting at the table?  That is not enough because sitting with Jesus was not enough to recognize Him.  It wasn’t until the bread was broken.

 

1 Cor 12:27.  We are the body of Jesus.  “Lord I want to be broken, break me as you broke that bread, break my arrogance, my attitude”.  When you break the bread, you can see the inside which looks different and soft compared to the outside.  It also smells good and tastes yummy compared to outside.  Many only eat the inside and not the outside because flies can land on the outside.  When Jesus breaks you and me, this is what should be seen.  Ask your lord now to break you if you are a part of the body of Jesus.  It might hurt because some types of bread are really tough and hard to break but tell Jesus you want to be broken.

 

Then Jesus disappeared, and the bread was broken only in front of two not thousands.  Jesus may only choose to reveal the true meaning of bread to some.

 

Then the disciples said He was alive but many thought the body was stolen from the tomb.  Thomas testified the Jesus that we broke the bread with today is a different Jesus to the one we saw before the cross.  He is an “alive” Jesus and not a dead Jesus.  If I am a part of this body, I am alive with him.  Because Jesus is not a part of the dead, I should also not be a part of the dead.  I should be alive with Him. 

 

This is the body given to you in order to be broken.  The body that you have, has to be broken.  That is why Paul says in Corinthians, if you are a sinner do not eat the bread because if you do, you might become sick or die.  Let’s pray for God to make us ready first.

 

Then Jesus said the wine represents His blood, take it in order to remember.  The blood of Jesus is to remove our sins.  The blood of Jesus.  Imagine if I said brother Peter, we have to eat your flesh and drink your blood.  The police will come and call us cannibals.

Can you eat flesh of brother Peter?  No I will run away.  But for Jesus, He approaches us to say this is just a symbol and you have to understand the meaning of eating my body and drinking my blood.  The world may misunderstand/misinterpret it and think it is crazy but there is power behind it to bring healing from sin.

 

Before Jesus broke the bread, He blessed it first.  Even if you are going through hardship with problems, God has made you sick, or poor or rejected, remember He blessed you first.  Although I am going through this, I am blessed, although I am suffering I am blessed.

 

Ask God to break you.  Galations 5: tell god which fruit of the flesh you have and ask God to break those from you.

the Wine

By Odon Bulamba

People from overseas love wine from NZ – not only because NZ has the best grapes but God gave NZers the best brain for invention, for example NZers were the first to fly an aeroplane (although America believe they were). People from overseas have given respect to NZers and it’s a blessing.

“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” Mark 2:22

New wine into an old container will result in both the wine and the container being lost. When making wine it requires fermentation – the juice becomes angry and changes shape and smell. Yesterday it tasted sweet and tomorrow it tastes sour. The wine continues to change and can be kept on shelves for many years and can still be drunk if it has been kept in the bottle – but not if it is kept in a wineskin.

We NZers are like wine – God has given them an intelligence that is growing bigger. It used to be China but everyone is heading to NZ (e.g. Weta productions - the Hobbit) and there is a secret behind this: what does God want for NZ?

A new wine in an old container results in the loss of both the container and the wine. We as Christians don’t have anything to lose – we are only here to gain. God gives us the best position to be successful in everything and to enjoy whatever God has given us. If I have zero money, I’m successful. If I have more money, I’m successful. If I’m hungry, I’m successful.

We Christians think that success is when we find what satisfies our desires and this is what happens when you put the new wine in the old container: lose everything. For example, if I give you $5 million, you won’t sleep, you will lose control and be afraid of murderers and thieves. If someone gives you a Bible which is eternal life, you won’t even care if someone steals it, yet if you want to be successful for God, you need the Bible.

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ Mathew 22:37

God has given the church a mind (head) which is the most important part of life because the body follows the head. It has eyes and the body understands what it sees. You can think, smell, hear and the mind controls all of that. If your mind is the centre and that is why God wants you to love Him with all your mind. My heart brings ideas but my mind decides.

Our best weapon as Christians is our mind and it is written 92 x in the Bible. If you have intelligence, everything that surrounds you will run away. Solomon asked for intelligence and wisdom, not material things. He was the best king ever on the earth and he had everything. Your mind can make you foolish or wise.

We were given authority to cast out evil while satan doesn’t have any power to cast us out. That power comes from God and when satan tells you to steal, your mind can say no. God helps us to think before any situation. The baby comes out head first and we place crowns on a person’s head meaning the head is important and we have to know how to use it.

There is a season to make wine where you work hard taking care of what you have planted. Even after harvest, the workers continue to work hard to produce wine. On the wine bottle, the workers don’t write their own name but they write, “made in NZ”. But for us Christians, whenever God blesses us with something small we have to take the glory. For example, if I pray for healing for someone and they are healed, I will testify how I prayed and forget to mention Jesus.

The first commandment in the Bible is to glorify God only. If you leave your Bible behind, your mind will tell you. God has given you enough intelligence for every situation. Israel was given enough manna for each day and the Israelites didn’t have to store any. We are very intelligent in material things but not in spiritual things.

Our life is short. The farmer knows the harvest season will end soon and he works hard so he doesn’t lose the grapes. NZers have a natural ability to work for a short amount of time and produce something great in that time.

Mathew 16:23, “Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

We should have the things of God in mind. We have to ask ourselves if our decision is a good one or a bad one. Some people are pioneers of satan and they push people to sin or push people to lose their joy. Christians are children of God, new creatures and if we sit somewhere without moving we will ferment like old wine and whoever tastes us will find us bitter. This is when people can’t even tell you are a Christian.

The manna means that God’s grace is enough. We don’t have to say we are hungry spiritually because God has given us His manna and we don’t have to tell people we forgot to read the Bible or to pray or tell God we are weak because His grace is enough. Be careful not seek your own glory. Act as a Christian, love God and yourself and share what you have with others. Before to pray for yourself, pray for others.

My mind is a weapon...do I know how to use it? Have I trained my mind to be ready for attack? When satan comes do I surrender or do I fight?

“So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.” Ecclesiastes 7:25

If you want to use your mind as a Christian, you have to seek knowledge and know what is good and what is bad, who is God and what you should or shouldn’t do and ask questions like, ‘what will I gain if I do this? What is God’s glory in this?’ We have to remember we are here today but tomorrow we will stand in front of God. We have to use our mind properly to feed others and to pray for others and to lead our actions correctly.

NZ is blessed because NZers have a big heart and they give and God gives back. NZers are completely humble and everybody lives a simple life. They respect authority and God but NZ need spiritual light. How do we Christians help NZers spiritually? What do we do with our minds to help NZ? God fulfils dreams so tell God what your dreams are for yourself and the nation of NZ and your dreams to help others and to glorify God.

Communion

By Hayley Boud

Mathew 26:26-28

If we look at the physical attributes of bread and wine, we are able to find something spiritual for our lives.

Bread is tasty to eat but it's only tasty when it's fresh. Bread represents the Word of God which is always fresh, it never gets old - it is relevant for us today. But we need to eat it while it is still fresh for our lives. We shouldn't wait until tomorrow thinking it will be a better time to leat it. We have to accept the Word that God gives to us today. We can't decide to listen to that Word another day because it might be too late. Sometimes God speaks through my conscience and I try to ignore it and if I ignore it for too long, I'll miss the opportunity for God to help me. The bread will become hard and so will my heart. Communion is also relevant for today and very important for our lives.

In the old testament, the bread had to be unleaven, meaning it had no yeast in it. The yeast represents the impurities and therefore it is very important before to take the bread of communion and before to read the Word of God, to be sure that we are pure. It only takes a few seconds to analyze ourselves. And when our conscience speaks; listen, repent. Remember God wants us to say sorry to the person we have offended before we say sorry to Him.

Bread is a staple food. Many people eat it as a meal, especially at lunch time because it is filling. The Word of God should also be a staple part of our spiritual diet. Communion should be too. When I'm hungry, I eat breat and feel satisfied and so does our soul when we eat the Word of God and take communion.

Bread also smells good, especially when we are hungry. As soon as I smell it, I feel the need to eat it. My mouth starts to water and my tummy starts to rumble. Do I also have that same feeling with the Word of God? Do I hunger for it? Do I feel that desire to take communion?

When I eat bread too quickly, it gets stuck in my throat and it actually hurts quite a bit. Sometimes we need to slow down when reading the Word of God, and meditate on it and we should also slow down when taking communion and think about the importance of what we are doing. The Word of God should stick in us, and it should sometimes hurt a little. The Word of God is a double edged sword so it must cut us.

Wine represents the blood of Jesus and we all know that life is in the blood. If I cut myself and bleed until there is no more blood, I will die which means blood contains life. Without Jesus Christ, we die spiritually and without communion we die in a way also because communion helps us to stop and examine ourselves which helps us to stay alive in faith and remain close to God.

In order to examine ourselves we need the Word of God which is a double-edged sword that cuts us. It must produce blood because life is in the blood. If the Word of God doesn't cut us and if it doesn't produce blood, then we won't have life.

Jesus said whenever we are gathered together we must share His bread and remember Him. Whenever we meet with others, we need to share the Word the Word of God, even in our daily conversation and use the Word to encourage each other to produce life in us (blood = wine).

I remember one time I was extremely upset about something and I started to tell a friend but before I finished, that friend told me a verse in the Bible that didn't even relate to the problem I was facing. I was annoyed and said, "Why did you tell me a verse? Why can't you just sympathise with me?" . He answered, "Because I don't want you to sin so I'm distracting you with the Word of God so you can focus on something that will help you but if I talk more about your situation or ask you more questions, you will feel worse and complain and your complaints will be sin." I understood but I didn't like it. The Word of God isn't always want we want but it is always what we need so whenever we are together we must read the Word and speak the Word and remember Jesus and get life from it.

This is the same with communion - it's not always what we feel like but it is always what we need.

So before to take the bread and wine of communion, take some time to think about it's significance and make sure to be ready through repentance.