Called Out and Called Into

In one paragraph

This message worked through 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, Paul's sharp rebuke of the Corinthian church for the way they were treating the Lord's Supper. Pastor Mark traced Paul's argument from the rebuke itself through the simple institution of communion, and then pressed the congregation toward self-examination ahead of taking communion together in two weeks. Paul opens this section with no softening....

Read together

1. 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 the main passage preached through, covering the Lord's Supper rebuke and institution
2. 1 Corinthians 11:17 you come together not for the better but for the worse
3. 1 Corinthians 11:18 when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you
4. 1 Corinthians 11:19 there must also be factions among you that those who are approved may be recognized
5. 1 Corinthians 11:20 when you come together it is not to eat the Lord's Supper
6. 1 Corinthians 11:21 each one takes his own supper ahead of others and one is hungry and another is drunk
7. 1 Corinthians 11:22 do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing
8. 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 the institution of the Lord's Supper, received from the Lord and delivered to them
9. 1 Corinthians 11:26 as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes
10. 1 Corinthians 11:27 whoever eats this bread in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord
11. 1 Corinthians 11:28 let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup
12. 1 Corinthians 11:29 he who eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks judgment, not discerning the Lord's body
13. 1 Corinthians 11:30 for this reason many are weak and sick among you and many sleep
14. 1 Corinthians 11:31-32 if we would judge ourselves we would not be judged, but when judged we are chastened by the Lord
15. 1 Corinthians 11:33-34 when you come together to eat, wait for one another; if anyone is hungry let him eat at home
16. Jude 12-13 spots and blemishes in your love feast, clouds without water, wandering stars reserved for blackness of darkness
17. 2 Peter 2:13 they receive wages of unrighteousness, spots and blemishes carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you
18. Jude 24-25 closing benediction, to him who is able to keep you from falling and present you without fault

Talk about it

1. Pastor Mark opened by having the congregation call out blessings, and said that a mindset of thankfulness changes your outlook and attitude. What is one blessing you named today, and how does naming it actually change the way you see your circumstances?
2. Pastor Mark explained that the word 'church' comes from the Greek ekklesia, meaning people called out of the world and into God, and he pointed out people in the room from Mexico, Brazil, Vietnam, Romania, the Philippines and elsewhere. What does it mean to you personally to be called out of your birth culture and into something that puts everyone equal at the foot of the cross?
3. The word translated 'factions' in verse 18 is the Greek word heresis, meaning a self-chosen opinion, and Pastor Mark said that discord is usually the result when someone makes a minor thing major. Can you think of a time, in your own life or in a church you have known, when a self-chosen opinion caused a real schism? What happened?
4. Pastor Mark said that the Lord's Supper is the one place where everyone is absolutely equal, and that we have nothing to boast of except the blood of Christ, yet he noted that the very practice of communion has itself become one of the biggest sources of division in church history. Why do you think the things meant to unite us so often become the things that divide us?
5. Pastor Mark closed with a six-part summary: look back to Christ's death, look in through self-examination, look up to fellowship with God, look around to fellowship with others, look forward to Christ's return, and look outward in proclamation. He also asked everyone to try to make right any broken relationship before the church takes communion together in two weeks. Which of those six directions is hardest for you right now, and what would it look like to act on it this week?