The Lord’s Supper

It has been asked by those who are not familiar with our order of worship, “Why do you take the Lord’s Supper every week.”

Most churches take Communion every once in a while. Some very rarely.

Christ instituted two ordinances for His church, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Most churches are quite particular about making sure that their converts are baptized, as they should be, but for some reason neglect the Lord’s Supper as not being important.

During the last Passover meal Jesus instituted this most holy ordinance. We read in the three gospels, “Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”Matt 26:26; and in Mark 14:22-24, 22 And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. And again in Luke 22:19-20, 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

We see in the early church, Acts 2 , that this church was a church that feared the Lord. It was a church that had one mind and one purpose, and that was to honor and exalt their risen King. We read, in vss 42-47, ⁴² And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
⁴³ And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
⁴⁴ And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
⁴⁵ And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
⁴⁶ And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
⁴⁷ Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Notice that in verse 42 they “continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers”

What could that mean other than Christ centered preaching (as opposed to man centered ideas) and in the sharing of material goods (v. 44), and the breaking of bread, (vv. 42), (The Syriac renders this "the Eucharist," or the Lord's Supper. It cannot, however, be determined whether this refers to their partaking of their ordinary food together, or to feasts of charity, or to the Lord's Supper.)

But it likely covers both the Lord's Supper in addition to a larger fellowship meals, and prayers in house meetings since at that time there were no local churches as we know them today.(vv. 42). In Vs 46 we see that “day by day,( they were) attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,

They did this on a regular basis. In fact according to the scripture on a daily basis. We take that as meaning that they church spent time together focusing on the things of God in Christ including the partaking of the Lord’s Supper. It was a church that was truly experiencing Christ.

We concern ourselves with the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper every Lord’s Day because during the Supper we commune with Christ. It is a picture of the gospel of Christ.

In the words of Our Lord, in 1 Cor 11:24-26, we read, “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. In the same manner also he took the cup, and after supper He said, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes..”

These words strongly indicated that this Holy Ordinance is not intended to be treated as a religious ritual that is pulled out of the closet every three or four months. It is an Ordinance that is to be observed on a regular basis.

In our worship service the Lord’s Supper is the dessert following the main meal, the sermon.

Jesus served the last Passover only to His disciples therefore, we strongly admonish those who are not in Christ to NOT partake of this ordinance because it is only for those who are followers of Christ.

It serves also for a time of weekly self evaluation for the believer as he comes face to face (spiritually) with the elements representing the body and the blood of our Lord.

1 Cor 11:26-30 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

This time of self judgment is a very healthy spiritual exercise for the disciple of Christ. This weekly time of self judgment as we partake of the “body and blood” of Christ often times is a time of repentance and renewal.

In 1 Cor 11:20 Paul urges us to eat the Lord’s Supper. The word rendered supper is the same word that is rendered dine in Rev 3:20 where Jesus says, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me.

The word dine is the same word rendered supper.

This is a time in our service when spiritually we come face to face with the body and the blood of our living Christ.

We remember His past work as our Passover Lamb.

We remember that He was resurrected from the grave on the first day of the week and that in Him we too have resurrected life.

We remember Him as our living exalted Savior.

In the Lord’s Supper we have a picture of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. What a feast that will be. The word Supper in (Rev 19:9) “Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb”- same term) "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." —Matthew 28:20

In our sojourn through this life on our way to our Promised Rest, we desire to be a people who worship our God in spirit and truth. That is why our corporate worship is in an orderly and reverent spirit. We desperately need God to dwell among us in His power, not in the power of man centered teachings and church traditions or emotionally driven music or frenzied speeches. We need to experience His presence which will delight our souls and transform us into Christlikeness.

Our goal is to experience Him dwelling among us in spirit and truth.

Our true witness of Him corporately, is determined by our worship. Jesus said, “I will come and dine with you.”

We have found that the weekly observance of the LLOrd’s Supper has often been a spiritual high poin in our service therefore we treat the Lord’s Supper as a time of time of self evaluation and repentance and cleansing of spritual pride. But in addition to that it is a joy knowing that we, through faith in the perfect sacrifice of Christ, we are partakers of the body and blood of Christ and are counted among the “peculiar people of God.”

Humbly submitted,

Dale Sterzer

Elders proposing name change

Dear Brethren,

Four years ago, when this church was started, we chose to be called a non-denominational “reformed” church.

There is a long explanation as to how we arrived at the name Grace Community Bible Church that is not necessary to explain here, but it really does not fit who we are today.

The entire order of worship and the doctrinal position of “bible churches” are considerably different than ours.

Brother Jeff and I have met and discussed this matter and agree that although we like the name GCBC it could easily be misleading to those who are seeking a true bible church and for those seeking a church in the reformed Baptist family. Therefore we are submitting this matter to the congregation for consideration and agreement.

Even with a “bible church” name, today we call ourselves a Reformed Baptist Church. Our Confession Faith (The 1689 London Confession of Faith) is the same confession used by just about all of the Baptist Churches that call themselves reformed. We have “reformed” printed on our worship Bulletin and we are charter members, along with 6 other churches in the forming of the “Texas Area Reformed Baptist Association.” Our teaching is “reformed” and our order of worship is “reformed.”

The only thing about GCBC that is not “reformed” is our name. Our name, unfortunately gives the impression that we are something that we are not.

In the light of this we are proposing that we consider an amendment to our by-laws and change the name of our church to a name that is more suitable to whom we are.

Humbly submitted,

Brother Dale Sterzer

Dear Inquiring Reader,

Now that the year 2008 has passed, I thought I might write a short overview of the past year at GCBC.

The church is made up of a cross section of blue-collar workers, fathers, mothers, teenagers, and white-collar professionals. The church has a cross section of ages from 4 months to the elderly. Everyone at GCBC is admittedly experiencing the trials of life and grateful for the grace of God. We happily look forward to meeting together each week for corporate worship on the Lord’s Day.

The preaching from the pulpit and the teaching at Sunday School each week remains Christ centered for the purpose of glorifying God and increasing the church in the knowledge and the grace of God. Pastor Young has spent a good number of months challenging the church through the preaching about the life and teachings of Jesus. It has been good (not for the flesh but for the soul)

By His grace there were two baptisms this past year. A mother and her teenage son acknowledged faith in the sacrifice of Christ for the forgiveness of sins and were baptized in the baptismal inside the fellowship building

Every Lord’s day, after our worship service, we have a fellowship potluck luncheon usually starting about 12:30-1:00. This has been a wonderful time of fellowship wherein the church has opportunity to spend time together. Often times over lunch, there will be matters of doctrine discussed and/or questions regarding the sermon that we all just heard. It has been a time of growing in the knowledge and grace of God and a wonderful time of getting to know and love one another. The adults have time for meaningful conversations and the children have opportunity to play in the churchyard..

We conduct our Sunday school in the afternoon following lunch. We all, including our children, sit around the tables with bibles open and take turns reading the text we are about to study.

This past year, after working through a several week study of the Baptist Catechism. I taught and led discussions on a verse-by-verse study of the book of Joshua. It was very good for all of us to see Joshua close up. In Joshua we saw a man of faith who was obedient to his call who led a very dedicated life according to the will of God, but was not immune from making mistakes and errors in judgment. That is the encouragement for me, that even Godly men as recorded in Holy Scripture have made big mistakes in judgment. See Righteous Noah getting drunk and laying naked in his tent (Gen 9:20ff), Abraham wandering down to Egypt and lying to Abimilech about his wife Sarah, (Gen 20) The deceiving Jacob Genesis chapters 27-31 Moses getting angry and twice striking the rock in disobedience to God’s command, King David, the man who had a heart after God committing adultery and murder. How about zealous Apostle Peter denying the Lord Jesus three times and Apostle Paul who was a persecutor of the church?

As we study the lives of these ordinary men that God raised up to advance His Kingdom and bring glory to His Name we are encouraged in the fact that they were merely men like us, sinful and fallible. Joshua was one of these men who were great examples for us and yet not perfect.

We, as God’s people are exhorted by the word of God to walk in a manner worthy of our calling pleasing the Lord in all that we do and to be strong and courageous in the challenges of living a Godly life in this crooked world. The encouragement is that there are times that, even in our best attempts, we will fail in our zeal to follow after the commands of our Sovereign Master but during those times of our blunders, He will not fail us. In His faithfulness He will teach us in our trials and strengthen us to persevere. In His matchless grace He is faithful to preserve and be with his chosen people through all of their vexing earthly difficulties to the end. Our duty is to trust Him. This life of faith and obedience is exemplified in the life of Joshua. He endured faithfully to the end. Even at the end of his life he was exhorting his fellow men and leaders of his nation to remain faithful in honoring God in their lives. Joshua was a spiritual man who believed the promises of God and lived by them. Oh for the grace to be as faithful as Joshua.

Joshua 1:5-11 ESV
God said, “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

It has been a blessing to see the church growing in the grace of God, but even more impressive to me is that she is growing in the love of Christ and love toward each other. There is a genuine sense of love and “caring for each other” in the body.

There is nothing fancy or overly impressive in the church group or about the 108-year-old building in which we meet, but for me that is the beauty of it. From the physical perspective there was nothing much impressive about Jesus and His small band of followers either. As imperfect as we are, our worship service is formatted to be a straight forward worship of our Almighty God uninterrupted by man centered hand shakings and man glorifying accolades. Our prayers are that in all that we do we bring glory to our Savior and that we are more and more conformed to the image of Christ. Being impressive in the physical sense is not a part of service or our prayers.

The number of the people attending on a regular basis has slowly increased to around 40 and sometimes close to fifty. Therefore parking in this old residential neighborhood around the church building has become a concern over the past year. By the grace of God we finally were able to raze the old house across Gates Street with the view of making a parking lot for off-street parking. We (a few men and a bunch of children, you should have seen it, it was great watching those kids hauling and laying bricks) installed a brick walkway (with used bricks that were a gift form God) to make an entrance from the Gates St side so that when the rain covers up the front sidewalk, people can get in without walking through the muddy puddles that accumulate on the front sidewalk.

In the front of the building we need to install a new sidewalk and a curb. That is a costly project that will have to be attended to in the future when the Lord gives opportunity and grace . The rainwater and the dirt that accompanies it settle in a low spot right along the front of the building. The city of Bonham has suggested that if we install the curb and gutter they will correct the drainage problem if it continues. We are keeping that in prayer.

We have continued to support three outreach-sending ministries throughout the year of 2008---Heart Cry Missionary Society, and ARBCA, (Reformed Baptist Churches of America) and Chapel Library (Mt. Zion Bible Church).

We also have had the privilege of helping organize the new “Texas Area Association of Reformed Baptist Churches.” The organization meetings took place over the past two years where the group of churches met to discuss doctrinal issues and the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. After approximately eighteen months of meetings, the group of seven Churches agreed to form an association. The bylaws were drawn up and agreed upon in the fall of 2008. The purpose of this alliance of Churches is cooperation in matters concerning the teaching of doctrine, the planting of additional Christ centered churches, the sending out of missionaries, and the potential financial support of one another. We are having our first joint worship service later this month at Heritage Baptist Church in Mansfield TX.

It is sheer joy in knowing that God did not send a possible Savior Who is unable to save men from their sins. It is also very humbling to be so undeserving and yet be one that has received His grace and mercy.

In closing I would like to direct your attention to a quote by Dr. James White an elder at the Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church.

Dr. White is the director of Alpha and Omega Ministries, a Christian apologetics organization, an author of more than twenty books, a professor, and accomplished debater. He wrote, “One of the glorious truths of Scripture is that Jesus is not a hypothetical Savior, a mere wanna-be who fails with regularity. No, we proclaim a powerful Savior who perfectly does the will of the Father. His death did not make the purchase of men from every tribe, tongue, people and nation possible, it actually accomplished that which the Triune Majesty intended.” End of quote.

This is the description of the Savior that we at GCBC believe in and teach about.

We serve an Omnipotent Sovereign God Who is mighty to save.

In the year ahead of us, our desire is that the Lord would give us grace to continue to grow in the love of Christ, faithfully preach/teach correct biblical doctrine and that the church would continue to grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus and by His grace be more equipped to glorify Him in our lives, our culture, and do our part in making Him known through out the nations.

Humbly submitted,
Dale P. Sterzer
GCBC elder/pastor

New Members!

We are delighted to welcome our newest members to the GCBC family. We know it is through the Lord's blessing that He has brought these 5 families to join with us in His ministry. Our prayer is that God would continue to build His church and allow us all to be part of His great and mighty work.

New Member Update

Join with us in celebrating the great grace of God found in the redemption of His own through faith in Christ. We are offering praises to Jesus for the salvation and adoption of one of His sheep into His family here at GCBC. Sunday we received Chris Adkinson to our church family. See the pastor's blogs for his conversion story.

Amazing Sermon on God's Holiness

Dear Courteous Reader,

God spoke powerfully through Brother Dale yesterday as he preached of God's holiness, separateness, transcendence. Wow! Hopefully we will be able to make this one available on CD and as a pamphlet.

Please pray for me as I prepare to resume preaching on the life and sayings of Jesus Christ.

Love in Christ,

Jeff

New Member Class Starts Aug 5

The first New Member's class will be held during the Sunday School Session (after lunch) on Aug 5. The classes will run for 4 sessions and will cover basic subjects related to the Christian faith and the doctrinal distinctives of Grace Community Bible Church. Whether you just want to learn more about us or are looking to join the church, you are invited to join with us for these classes. For more information contact us via e-mail.

Sunday School begins July 1

Friends,
Beginning Sunday, July 1, we will begin our worship service at 10:30 am. A potluck fellowship meal will follow. Then we will begin our Sunday School time after the meal together. As always visitors are welcome.