CREC- Communion 2

Covenant Renewal

Sermon Notes

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October 22, 2017

Lynchburg, Virginia

NOTE: These written notes are woefully incomplete for a written sermon. I think the preached version of this one did not stick close to the notes at all. Thus, I recommend you listen to this one via the link above.

EXHORDIUM

         As we look at our Acronym, CREC, we are working our way through the first C, Communion. A Communion of churches who are gathered together with like-minded doctrine and practice. The CREC is somewhat unique in that we are gathered in quite a large tent.

         Our churches all partake of the Historic Reformed positions. But we are not all merely Presbyterian Churches. Nor is the CREC, itself, a Presbyterian Church. Our individual churches operate with elder boards, but our founding documents include Presbyterian, Anglican and even Baptist documents. The Presbyterian documents are of themselves of a wide scope, including the Westminster Confession of Faith but also the Three Forms of Unity, which are the Heidelberg Catechism, the Canons of Dordt and the Belgic Confession. You can form a CREC Church under the London Baptist Confession or the 39 Articles of the Anglican Church.

         So, you can see that our Communion is a particularly broad one. Within that broad Communion are some common distinctives. As we make our way through these sermons, we will look at these distinctives from a Biblical perspective.

         Among the most important distinctives are:

Always Enough Food and Drink

Always enough food and drink, always enough Jesus. What does that mean? It means that the sacrifice of Christ was sufficient for your sins. Which ones? The ones you committed yesterday. The ones you will commit tomorrow. There is no further sacrifice.

         Of course, we do not presume upon God. We shall not continue in sin that grace may abound. We labor diligently to put to death the deeds of the flesh. And yet, this meal reminds us weekly that Christ died once for all sins.

         We look back through our lives and thank Him for His abundant grace. We come to Him this morning full of gratitude for His lovingkindness and grace. And we move into the future full of hope and joy, knowing that whatever shall befall us, the Lord Jesus will be sufficient for us in all things.

         He is presented to us here each Lord’s Day. There is always bread and wine. And we should learn the lesson that there will always be enough bread and wine, that the body and blood of Jesus will cover us, that there will always be enough Jesus to satisfy our souls.

Mortification

Part of what we do here each Lord’s Day concerns the mortification of sins. This is the process by which we put to death the deeds of the flesh and live more and more unto righteousness.

         In order to do this, we must realize that we are in a mortal battle. Christ Jesus has freely given us life. He has made us alive by His Spirit. Having been made alive, we are awakened to do God’s will.

         The flesh still wars with us but will not have the mastery over us. We put to death the deeds of the flesh by confessing sins, repenting of them and living by the strength of God’s Spirit.

         Every Christian ought to have something to confess and repent of every Lord’s Day. But maybe you are diligent and did so last night, or this morning. Perhaps you have already confessed any known sins and turned away from them? Amen. Now would be a good time to thank God for convicting you of such sins. Ask Him to make you soft-hearted so that you always quickly turn from sins. This is putting to death the deeds of flesh. This is the mortification of sin. Thank God for His kindness and mercy to work this grace in us.

Praise

O Lord, our God, maker of heaven and earth, every beast of the forest is yours and the cattle on a thousand hills. You know all the birds of the mountains and all the wild beasts of the field are Yours. If you were hungry, You would not tell us, for the world is Yours and the fullness thereof. You do not eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats. You desire that we offer unto You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, thus paying our vows to You, O most High. We call upon You to hear us and to deliver us from evil, that we might glorify Your name in the Earth, through Christ, our Lord, Amen.