Eat This Bread Drink This Cup
The purpose of this podcast is to help individuals, groups and churches observe the Lord's Supper. The podcast includes a relevant portion of Scripture, brief commentary, prayer, and participation in partaking of the bread and drinking from the cup.
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Eat This Bread Drink This Cup
Our God Is a Consuming Fire
The communion meditation today comes from the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 9: 1-3. All quotations are from the New Living Translation and are used with permission.
I hope you will benefit personally from this time with Jesus and may you encourage others to observe the Lord's Supper. In these trying times, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus!
Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my communion meditation today is "Our God Is a Devouring Fire." I read from Deuteronomy 9: 1-3. All quotations are from the New Living Translation and are used with permission.
1 “Listen, O Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land belonging to nations much greater and more powerful than you. They live in cities with walls that reach to the sky! 2 The people are strong and tall—descendants of the famous Anakite giants. You’ve heard the saying, ‘Who can stand up to the Anakites?’ 3 But recognize today that the LORD your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer them and drive them out, just as the LORD has promised.
The Israelites have wandered in the wilderness for forty years and now is time to enter the Promised Land. On paper, the tally does not look good for the Israelites. The nations before them are greater and more powerful. They live in fortresses with seemingly impregnable walls. Their warriors are literally giants. But, to allay their fears and strengthen their resolve, Moses reminds them that God is on their side; He will go before them like a devouring fire and destroy their enemies. If Moses was preaching in a church today, he might stop and ask the congregation, "Can I get an 'Amen?'" The trepidation the Israelites may have been facing on the eve of crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land reminds me of some of the fears we faced as we were making our decision to enter into the Kingdom of God. Remember when Jesus said the road we must walk would be difficult (Matthew 7: 14), members of our own families would become our enemies (Matthew 10: 36), the world would hate us (John 15: 19) and we must deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24)? These are among the many challenges we would face as disciples of Jesus. Just as God fought for the Israelites, He is with us and goes before us like a devouring fire; He defeats our enemies, large and small, that we may triumph. He sent His Son, Jesus, to defeat our greatest enemies, sin and death, and through His resurrection from the dead, He became our hope, the firstborn of the dead! Today we assemble to partake of the bread and drink of the cup to remember how Jesus sacrificed His life to defeat our enemies. He is our devouring fire. Let us pray.
Abba, Father. Today we bless and set aside this bread and the fruit of the vine in this cup to remember Your Son, Jesus. We know that the bread represents His body that was nailed to the cross, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood that He shed for us. As we pour out the wine from the cup, we are reminded of how Jesus poured out His own blood that our sins might be forgiven. Abba, Father, You are a devouring fire, and You defeat our enemies. Thank-you for sending Jesus to defeat our greatest enemies, sin and death, by His death on the cross. Just now we remember His sacrifice as we partake of the bread and drink from the cup. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Today, Jesus invites you to partake of His supper. I read from Matthew 26: 26-28 (NLT).
26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” Let us partake of the bread.
27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." Let us partake of the cup.
And the assembly of believers said, "Amen!"
Until next time, from Numbers 6: 24-26, "May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace."
Artist's Note: If you have questions about the Lord's Supper, I invite you to visit my website, https://eatthisbreaddrinkthiscup.com, for a brief overview. The Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast is listed in most podcast directories, and I invite you to add my podcast to your favorites and be notified of new posts. There is a written transcript that accompanies each podcast, and you are free to use the transcript in accordance with US copyright law. My prayer is that you will benefit personally from this time with Jesus and encourage others to observe the Lord's Supper. In these trying times, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus!