Communion: Part 2 – Blood and Wine

This Sunday, Rob Lea brings us the talk in the latest of our EBC services. We encourage you to reflect on the bible text and join us in the prayer that follows below.
 
The talk will be available clicking here from 10am on Sunday 20^th February.
 
Once you have listened, here are some questions to consider:
 
Readings:

John chapter 2 verses 1 to 11
The Wedding at Cana

2 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. 9 When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Jeremiah chapter 31 verses 31 to 34
A New Covenant

31 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.




Prayer & Reflection
 
Most gracious God

We praise you for what you given and for what you have promised us at the communion table. You have made one with all your people in heaven and on earth. You have fed us with the bread of life and renewed us for your service through the blood of Jesus.

Father God, now we give ourselves to you and we ask that our daily living may be part of the life of your kingdom, and that our love may reflect your love reaching out into the life of the community in the power of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN


 
Questions to Consider
1) The wine (grape juice) represents Jesus’ blood which was shed on the cross at Calvary. Jesus said, ‘This cup [of wine] is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ What did he mean by that – exactly?
2) Have you ever found yourself at an event where you not properly prepared? What were the circumstances?
3) How do you prepare yourself for communion? Is it still a special event for you, or has it become somewhat ‘routine’?
4) Jesus chose bread and wine to be the symbols at communion. Do you think that was because they just happened to be on the table, or was there some other reason?
5) Jesus’ mother told the servants, ‘Do whatever he says’. That was for a specific purpose, but does this command have a wider application? If so, what is it?
6) Is it your experience that when people authentically meet Jesus and do what he says, they are transformed? If yes, can you give an example? If no, can you say why?