Good morning! I pray all is going well with you. I pray that the Lord will fill you with His presence and lead you this day. Join me today as we continue to read through 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 17-22. In those verses and additional verses that we will cover this week, Paul explains the significance of order at the Lord’s supper to the Corinthian church.

Bible Verse – 1 Corinthians 11:17-22 NLT

“¹⁷ But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together. ¹⁸ First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it. ¹⁹ But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized!

²⁰ When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper.  ²¹ For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk.  ²² What? Don’t you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this!”

Reflection

Paul’s writing to the church was harsh, but he had to address things that perpetuated division within the church. Paul wasn’t as concerned with order as he was the behavior of some of the members in the church. It was the way the church was treating the Lord’s supper. Generally, the Lord’s supper was in two parts – the worship with bread and the cup (Eucharist) at a communal meal (Agape – for love).

The problem with the Agape meal was that members of the church were looking out for themselves and not the wellbeing of the others, nor acting in love. Many of the members were over indulging on food and wine during the Lord’s Supper, while the poor went hungry in the church. They missed the important significance of unity through Christ Jesus – the remembrance of a selfless act, Christ’s death on behalf of others. There actions were creating disunity.

Sisters and brothers, maybe you attended church on Sunday and maybe you sat next to someone you knew or you sat next to someone different. While you were there did you notice anything/someone new or did you go through the routine (get in and get out)? _______

I’m not here to judge you, your church or maybe even your lack of attendance, however I want to challenge you to grow beyond where you are. The church is made up of a body of believers who profess to believe and follow Jesus. Sometimes, the body can get so wrapped up in the details or into our own comfortable seats or ways that we overlook the poor in spirit, the outcast, and the least in the church.

My challenge to you this week is for you to pray about your church situation, circumstances and your role as a believer in the church body. First, if you do not have a church home pray for God to lead you to a church where he can use you, grow you, and equip you to go out into the world. For those of you who regularly attend church, pray for the Lord to meet you at church every Sunday. In spite of the weight you may be caring, ask the Lord to lift the weight(s) so that you can be effective in the body of the church. It doesn’t mean you aren’t going through your own thing, but it means you are not allowing your own thing to rob you of being about God’s thing and His people. Sisters and brothers, we are one in Christ Jesus. If one member hurts then our behavior and desire to imitate Christ should prompt us to reach out, step across the room and love on the poor in spirit, the outcast, the least in the church, the struggling family, the widow, the orphan, the single person without or a way from family.

Will you accept the challenge? _________

The second challenge is to engage in the Lord’s supper in a new way, in the way it is meant to be honored and remembered.

Prayer

Father God, thank you for today. Lord, thank you for another opportunity to serve you. Lord, thank you for your son Jesus who came and died for our sins, so that we can be reconciled to you. Lord God, thank you for loving us. Lord, forgive us for the times when we were so focused on ourselves that we forgot about the people you love. Lord, continue to break our hearts for what breaks yours. Lord, show us ways to be effective members of the church body. Lord, help us to serve as you call us to serve. Help us in the mist of our own mess to rise above it, help us to surrender and allow you to work in our situation while we seek to love on the broken hearted, lost and lonely in the church. Lord, help us to be the church/church body that you created us to be. In Jesus name, amen.

Keep praying! Keep Trusting! Keep believing!

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Bible Study

Each Thursday for the next 6 weeks we will meet via Zoom from 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. PST. We are studying One in a Million written by Priscilla Shirer. This study is in-depth and filled with insightful Biblical context. Come join us. For more information or for the Zoom link send an email to:contactus@maryewhiteministries.com

Board and Volunteer Meetings:

Here’s the schedule for our bi-monthly meetings, on the second Saturday of the month at 9:00 a.m.:

• March 14
• May 9
• July 11
• August 8
• October 10
• December 12

Do you have a prayer request? We would love to pray for you. 

Send your prayer request to: contactus@maryewhiteministries.com

Bible Reference: http://www.biblegateway.com

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