The Power of Remembering

My favorite part about communion is the fact that we get to remember. I love how remembering is a theme in scripture as it relates to communion, because what we get to do is remember who Jesus is and remember what Jesus has done.

Is there anybody who can testify to the goodness of Jesus in your life? He is good. He's amazing.

What I love about communion is that it's an opportunity for our hearts to be brought back to him. And it reminds us of a couple of things: it reminds us that we belong to him, and we belong to each other. There's power in the body of Christ.

Here's one thing that I know, and this happens quicker the older I get — life happens fast. If we're not careful, we'll just check another First Wednesday off our list, another Sunday off our list, another brand-new series off our list.

But if we can just take a deep breath and relax and remember for a minute — because isn't it true that it's so easy for one disappointment, one mistake, one difficult season to derail us? Throughout scripture, God is very clear. He tells his people:

I want you to remember who I am. I want you to remember what I've done.

He's never left us. He is faithful. He is present. My prayer is that as we remember tonight, God will restore our gratitude, our faith in him, our hope in him, and our confidence in him.

Here are three things I think we need to remember.

1. Remember What He Has Done

We have to remember what he has done. Look at Deuteronomy 8:2:

Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years.

You know the story in the Old Testament. I don't know if you've ever felt like your life was in a wilderness, but let me be a reminder to you tonight: if you are in a wilderness season of your life right now, God is right there with you in it. He is leading you and caring about you.

Psalm 77 says:

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

There's a reason God said this over and over again. If we ever forget what God has done in our life, eventually we might forget who he is in our life. So we've got to remember.

Take a moment. Will you remember an answered prayer? Will you remember an open door? Will you remember a moment of provision, or a moment where God carried you?

God Is On the Move

God has moved powerfully this year. We've seen people saved. We've celebrated water baptism. People are in small groups and serving on the dream team. We're seeing families restored. We're seeing students and children growing in their faith. God has been moving.

It makes me think of a guy from here at Grants Mill named Mike. Mike spent years battling addiction, depression, and what he thought was bipolar disorder. Not long ago, God called him and his wife to start fresh in Alabama. They were from Florida, and God said, "I need you to go to Alabama and just start over."

Not long after they arrived, they found Highlands and began to look into treatment for what he was going through. They found a place called the Christ Health Center — they decided to go because "Christ" was in the name. There, they realized he had been misdiagnosed. They took him off some unnecessary medication. His words were, "I feel like in that moment, God reversed the curse in my life."

He began to have gratitude. He said, "Now I've got clarity and freedom and hope." He went through the Growth Track and a Freedom small group, and now he's leading small groups. His life has been transformed, and he's now doing the same for other people.

God is on the move. So we have to remember what God has done.

2. Remember What He Is Doing

Not just what he's done — God is on the move right now. Matthew 28:19 says:

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.

And I love what he says in Acts 1:

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses.

You don't have to do this by yourself. God didn't just save us from something — he saved us for something. God's goal for us is that we would carry the hope of Jesus into our homes, our schools, our workplaces, and our communities.

As your campus pastor, I want to remind you tonight that God has set us here on this hill to be a light that the cities around us can see. I believe God wants us to win Irondale, Trussville, Leeds, Moody, Springville, Pell City, Hoover, Vestavia, Mountain Brook, Birmingham, Roebuck, and Pinson — in Jesus' name.

There is so much opportunity before us, because people need hope and healing and community. They need the love of Jesus.

The Mission Is a Privilege, Not a Burden

I want to remind this leader crowd that the mission of God is not a burden on our life — the mission of God is a privilege on our life.

Before God sends us out, he draws us back to himself. So why do we come to church? Not just to get God-goosebumps and have a great time for ourselves. We'll enjoy it while we're here, but before we go, we gather.

• Before we serve, we receive.
• Before we pour out, we return to the one who fills us.

Every time we come to church, it is for the purpose of God filling us up so that he can spill us out into the lives of those outside these four walls. We don't serve our way toward Jesus — we serve from our relationship with Jesus.

3. Remember What He Has Given

The fuel for it all is what he has given. First Corinthians 11 says:

The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper, he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."

That's the theme. Jesus gave us the bread and the cup to remember his body, his blood, the cross, and the grace that we could not earn.

At the table, Jesus is not asking anyone to prove themselves. At the table there is no striving, no positioning. He simply invites us to remember what he has given us.

Personal and Corporate

Here's the thought that unlocks something in my heart: communion is personal. We receive this as individuals, and it reminds us that we belong to Jesus. But this is also a corporate expression — we're reminded that not only do we belong to Jesus, but we belong to each other.

We are one church. We are one body. We are one family because of Jesus Christ. That's why 1 Corinthians 10:17 says:

Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, for we all share in that one loaf.

Every time we take this meal together, we remember — but we also re-member the body of Christ. Jesus brings scattered people back to one table and says, "This is a moment where we receive together."

Come to the Table

Maybe for some of you, this is a moment to recover gratitude in your life. Maybe it's an opportunity to confess sin. Maybe it's an opportunity to forgive someone who's been weighing on your heart. Maybe it's a chance to release anxiety. For some of you, maybe you just need to come back to closeness with Jesus.

You don't have to fix yourself before you come to Jesus. You're at the table, and he wants to do a great work in your life.

Jesus, right now, we remember you. We remember your faithfulness, your mercy, your broken body and your poured-out blood. Forgive us for becoming distracted, distant, and reliant on ourselves. Search our hearts, restore our joy, and bring us back to you. Thank you that your grace is enough and that the cross has the final word over our sin, our shame, and our past. In Jesus' name we pray.

His body was broken so that we could be made whole. His blood was poured out so that our sins could be forgiven and we could be brought near to God.

Christ died, but Christ is risen, and Christ is going to come again. Our sin is forgiven. Our shame is covered. Our hope is alive. And we belong to Jesus.

The Jesus we have remembered tonight is here. The presence of God is here. And he's still saving. He's still healing. He's still restoring. He's still putting broken lives back together.