Luke 24:30-32 Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”

Luke 24:33-35 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

The breaking of bread involves special communion with the Lord and we have diminished it by ignoring it. Guess what the early church did?

Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Now, to Corinth…

1 Corinthians 11:17-19 Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.

1 Corinthians 11:20-22 Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.

1 Corinthians 11:17-34 You can’t understand the death of Christ and not care about those for whom He died!

1 Corinthians 11:17-22 The problem in the Corinth? A disregard for the special nature of the church!

This is a discussion of believers coming together for church. “you come together” “when you come together as a church”

Problems are a great opportunity to see who is genuinely spiritual.

“Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.” And, it should be! …but that’s not the way you’re doing it!

Bottom-line: Church is supposed to be for the Lord’s Supper!

By not honoring other members of the Body of Christ they were not honoring Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:23-24 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

1 Corinthians 11:25-26 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 The meaning of church comes from the Last Supper and is tied to the Lord’s death for us.

Jesus took the Passover and made it the Last Supper, which became the Lord’s Supper.

Remembering important events and eating together are important themes in both the Old and New Testament.

The idea of the local church began with remembering the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ!

Church is supposed to involve remembering and proclaiming His death as well as looking forward to His return!

But, it is not possible to care about the giving of the body of Christ and not care about His Body, the church. 1 John 4:20

1 Corinthians 11:27-29 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

1 Corinthians 11:27-34 The seriousness of the Assembly demands both sobriety and joy

The examination is not whether we are believers or whether we have sinned in general.

The concern: Am I prepared for church by realizing the seriousness of what Christ has done and what that means in regard to His body?

1 Corinthians 11:30-32 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

1 Corinthians 11:33-34 Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come.

There are consequences for not preparing ourselves.

1 Corinthians Not surprisingly, the concern for the edification of the Body continues in Paul’s discussion of the use spiritual gifts.

1 Corinthians Any use of spiritual gifts that disregards the edification of others in the body is a flawed view.

1 Corinthians 12:7, But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:

Three facts emerge from this verse: A spiritual gift is a manifestation of the Spirit All believers have a spiritual gift Spiritual gifts are given “for the common good”

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

This famous section is often read without context.

The point here is that without love even the greatest of gifts is meaningless.

Once again, concern for others in the Body dominates Paul’s thinking.

1 Corinthians 14:4-5, 12 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.

1 Corinthians 14:12, Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel… I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

The clear concern is that the use of all of the gifts have as their ultimate goal the edification of the Body.

Ephesians 4:11-13 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

Ephesians 4:14-15 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—

Ephesians 4:16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Ephesians 4:11-16 Equipping gifts were given to the Body are given to edify the Body with the goal of maturity.

Colossians 3:16-17 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Colossians 3:16-17 Even the singing of music had as one of its primary goals encouragement to spiritual growth!

Hebrews 10:23-25 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hebrews 10:23-25 As we seek to hold stay faithful, it is critical to help other believers by gathering to encourage one another, increasingly as times worsen.

Bottom-line The local church is based on remembering the death of Christ and used to regularly proclaim that until His return.

Bottom-line The church gathers to remember, instruct, equip, serve, and encourage one another as we prepare for the Kingdom together.

Bottom-line The local churches in the early church did not share some of the concerns we do.

Bottom-line How strange that something began with such a selfless act is now simply a place to go to “get something out of it”.

Bottom-line Church was for believers. It’s design was to make disciples, to build one another up in the faith.

Bottom-line The Body of Christ was large, but the local churches were many.

Bottom-line Church involves remembering that our Savior gave His life for us.

Bottom-line Now, He expects us to do the same for those who are members of His Body today.

You can’t understand the death of Christ and not care about those for whom He died!