Tuesday 11 September, 2012

Pray today that God would help you to be united with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

 

Read: 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 - Sacraments

 

There are few things that have caused such division in the church as the proper administration of Communion and Baptism. Christian’s have argued for centuries about grape juice or wine, how communion actually works and whether we should baptise adults or children. Why is this so important? Are we just nit-picking or is there something important to be understood here.

 

The administration of the sacraments is a vital role of the church and one that should be fulfilled properly and with appropriate unity and respect. The Corinthians that Paul is writing to in today’s passage  are using their gatherings for communion as a status symbol and to bolster the attitude of class division between the rich and the poor in the church. Paul  makes it clear that by sharing in communion when there are divisions in the body does more harm than good.

 

We see here from Paul that the main idea behind sharing communion together is not about ritual, but about remembering Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf together in unity. The sacraments should not divide the body of Christ, rather they should be about unity in the body and the edification of the church.

 

 

This doesn’t mean the details of communion and baptism aren’t important. We must however remember that, first and foremost, these sacraments are meant to unite us together as a church rather than divide us.

 

What are you allowing to separate and divide you from other believers in the church? Pray today that God would help you to resolve any issues you may have and be united with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

 

Prayer:

Spend a few moments in adoration, Confession and Thanksgiving before praying these and other prayer points. Write down what you pray.

 

Adoration:

 

Confession:

 

Thanks:

 

Supplication:

¨ Pray for a sense of unity and singular purpose within the church. Pray that those in the church who have disputes with other church members would resolve them for the sake of the Gospel.

¨ Pray for the various cell groups which are meeting together during the week. Pray that members of the cells would be united together with the common purpose of sharing the Gospel and encouraging and building each other up.