Well, welcome to Week four. We're in a series that we're just calling the Transformed Life, where we're walking through just some of the accounts in the New Testament where people come face to face with Jesus. Now, sometimes it's the first time that they have met Jesus. Sometimes they've met Jesus on a lot of occasions, and this just happens to be one that God does something big in their lives. But we've said from the beginning of all of the messages so far that we're studying these not just for knowledge's sake, but we're looking in them to them to see what it is from these specific events that God does in them and what He wants to do in us. One of the things that we do when we come to the Bible and make the mistake sometimes is that we just read for knowledge and not for wisdom. We read for knowledge and not application. So we've said in all of these encounters with Jesus that we're reading them through the lens of the original audience, but we're pulling into our minds, God, what is it that you are showing me? So far, we've walked through some incredible ones from Scripture. We started with the man that was born blind. And we watched Jesus not only heal his physical eyes, but Jesus opened the eyes of his heart and showed him that He was the Lord and that He was worthy of the call. And we say that God reaches into the desperate life and He heals us and He gives us new hearts. Week two, we looked at one of my favorite people in Scripture. We looked at John the Baptist, and we looked at this idea that this giant of the faith had this moment of doubt. But he teaches us something in a moment of doubt. He teaches us that even in our moments of doubt, there is something we can do. And that something is, is that we can call out to the one Jesus who can do something about it. We said in that message that doubt doesn't disqualify you. It should turn you. Last week we looked at the Samaritan woman at the well. We looked at this idea that Jesus chases after those that are hurting, those that are in pain, those that nobody else would chase after for the sake of his gospel. And Jesus radically transformed this broken lady into a lady that reached her community. 

Well, this week is not going to be an individual. The last three weeks have just been one person being transformed. This week, we're going to look at a group of people that Jesus transforms in this one moment that have been walking with Jesus for almost three years. But before we get to our transformation moment, I want you to do something for me. This is very important, especially in this service. I want you to think about the best meal that you have ever had. The best. You say Matt, don't do it to me. I'm doing it because I'm hungry. All right. What is the best meal? Now, I'm not talking about the McDonald's, Chevron or the minute saver. Right? That's not what I'm talking about here. All right. Although those are good, right? I'm talking about the best. I'm talking about that meal that after you sat down at it, maybe you were celebrating something. Maybe you were on your parent's dime, on the work dime. Whatever. You know what I'm talking about? I'm talking that meal, the one that you walked away from and went, Whoa, that meal. I want you to think about that meal. The best one you've ever had. Because here's the thing. Sitting down at the table is a sacred moment. Amen? It is sacred. What's the best meal? And here's why I want you to think about that. When you read scripture. And here's what I want to connect this with. In the Bible, there are so many meals. There's so many feasts, there's so many festivals. In fact, I'm not sure that you can have an accurate picture of Christianity without having a grasp or a full understanding of some of these meals. 

When you look at Jesus, let's just say just for a minute, when you look at Jesus, you see that Jesus was always around a feast, right? He was always around a meal. His first miracle was at a feast. He's always providing food for somebody, feeding somebody, telling parables about banquets and parties and feasts. He's always telling us about a feast that's down the road. He's always doing all of these things. He even served at a feast one time that nobody else was serving at. The whole Old Testament even. Look at the Old Testament. It's a system, it's a rhythm of feast and celebrations. Over and over and over in the Bible, you will see that meals and feasts were a big deal, to which there's a whole lot of us are like, Amen, pass the chicken, right? I mean, because that's where we are. But here's the thing. There are a certain couple of feasts from Scripture that have defined our relationship with who Jesus is. There are a certain number of feasts that have shown us not only who God is, but they've shown us what God has done for us and what He is doing in us. And this morning, our moment of transformation there we're going to look at this morning is a feast. It's a feast. And this moment is the feast of all feasts in the gospel. And the moment we're going to look at this morning is Jesus having his final meal before the crucifixion with his disciples. It's Jesus having communion with his disciples, the Passover, the Lord's Supper, the Lord's table, the Eucharist, whatever your background calls it, we're going to give it some clarity this morning. 

So let me give you the game plan just so you Type-A people can relax just for a minute and know where we're going. Okay. This morning, we're going to look at this feast of all feasts. We're going to look at what made it so big. We're going to kind of look at the backstory of it. We're going to see where it's going. And then on the backside of the message, we're going to celebrate this together. We're going to celebrate with this. And here's my prayer. Where I pray an incredible, incredible amount of clarity and a new heart towards it. You got a copy of scriptures. I want you to turn on me this morning to Matthew, chapter 26. Matthew, chapter 26. That's what we're going to launch from this morning and spend our time in. Matthew 26, as you're finding it is late in the Ministry of Jesus. He's established at this point an incredible ministry of healing and parables and teaching and miracles and raising people. He's already claimed to be God. He has numerous times. I feel like we've said it almost every week. He has angered the Jewish religious people over and over and over. But at this moment in time they have had enough of him. The Jewish religious leaders are doing everything they can to get rid of Jesus. They want to kill Jesus. At our moment, we're about to look at, but they can't because there's too many people around. You see Jerusalem at this moment in Matthew 26 has swollen to about 2.7 million people. There are people everywhere. Everybody is there to celebrate this feast. But the religious leaders know that if they did something right now in public, it would cause an uprising. Their power would be removed from them as being kind of those Jews that we just leave alone from Rome. And now they would lose their power. So they're figuring out, how can we take care of this guy, Jesus, that's upsetting everything but still remain in power and not cause this uprising? That's the question they're asking. But then all of a sudden, this guy named Judas pops up, one of the 12, and Judas gives them a way to handle Jesus, gives them a place to do at a time that he would give them a signal to take Jesus out while there's not a crowd around. So I want you to get with me in the scene. Jesus, he knows what Judas is doing. He knows the feast. He knows where he's going. And at this very moment, Jesus knows that he is going to be arrested, but he wants to celebrate what we're about to read. Now, I want to walk through this moment of this feast. But before we get to this feast, I want to do something with this morning. 

I want to give you what I'm just going to call the four defining feasts of the Bible. The four. Now Matt, are there a bunch more? Oh, yeah, there's a whole bunch of them. But I want to give you four feast this morning that can define your relationship with God and show you who God is. But here's the thing. The first one we're going to look at, it was a little bit of a bait and switch. It is not in Matthew chapter 26. Okay. It's not there. I want you to stay there, but it's not there. The first feast we're going to look at actually is the reason that we have to have Matthew Chapter 26, It's the reason that Jesus is even on the scene. It's the reason that Jesus even came to this planet. In fact, write this down. Feast number one, we're just going to give him names today. Feast number one. We're going to call it the forbidden fruit. The forbidden fruit, which a lot of us like. Yeah, man, I don't even like fruit. Stay with the story, right? Now this feast is literally the first feast of the Bible. It's the first meal of the Bible. Right? It's in Genesis chapter three. It's right after God has created the planet. He has given it to Adam and Eve to manage the garden. He has said you can have everything in this garden except this tree. Stay away from this tree. It is the tree of good is the tree of knowledge. It is the tree you are to stay away from. At that moment Satan began to tempt Eve and we get to Genesis. Chapter three, verse six. I'll put it on the screen so you can read it. Says this, when the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and she ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then here it is. The eyes of both of them were opened and they realized that they were naked and they showed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Church at this very moment is when sin entered the world. Prior to this moment there was full fellowship. Prior to this moment it was full communication. There was perfection on this planet. But as a result of this meal, from that moment on in the garden and for us, we live in a sinful world. We're born into a sinful world. Now, this feast is the only feast of the four feasts that we're going to look at today that was actually shared without God. It was actually shared in spite of God in a way from God. It was eaten without God and it caused death. You see, God had created this personal place, this perfect place, said, eat everything you want. Think about it with me in your mind, just for a minute. It was a garden of grace. It was a garden of plenty. It was not a walled garden with one blessing. It was a garden of blessings with one wall. But they chose to walk away from it. In fact, write this principle down about this first feast. I think it'll help us get it into our mind. 

The first feast was not just about eating a meal, it was about picking a team. The first feast wasn't about eating the meal. It's not about what fruit and how fruit and what fruit that makes no, it doesn't even matter. What matters in this moment is Adam and Eve chose a team. You see, the eating was a sign of who and what they worshiped. And this meal that was eaten without God, showed that they were now in fellowship with sin and fellowship with the world. And now they chose sin. And from that time on through the line of man, sin has reigned. This feast changed the world. It defined us as sinners in need of a savior. Now we get to Matthew, Chapter 26 and Jesus in Matthew 26. Fast forward thousands of years, Jesus in Matthew, Chapter 26. He is on his way to the cross. Why? A direct result of this meal. A direct result of this moment we chose sin. So when you think about it, one feast got us into this problem, one feast did it. So let's go in history a little bit more. So Adam and Eve choose sin. They walk away from God. What happened to humanity? Humanity began to grow. They began to flourish. They began to fall even deeper into sin. God chose to take care of the world, gave us a little flood on the planet, right? Chose to knock out all mankind. One family existed. Noah's family. They began to grow again. They grew into a larger group of people. Then God calls Abraham. I'm going really quick through Genesis and Exodus he calls Abraham. Abraham is now a representative in his family of the people of God of Israel. Right? Israel flourishes for a while, then a famine hits the land. Egypt takes Israel over. Now there's your history right there in one minute. Right. Takes them over. Israel, God's people, are in slavery for 400 plus years. And then all of a sudden, as a result of feast one, God says, okay, we've got to do something about this. I want you to write this feast down and we're going to talk about it. 

Fest number two, we're going to call the Passover meal. The Passover meal. Now, what is the Passover meal? We get the Passover meal all over the Old Testament. Right. But I want you to see it in our event for today. All right, Matthew, chapter 26 verse 17. Let me read it to you. It says this. On the first day of the Festival of the Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover? Now pause there, because we need to talk about the Passover that Jesus and his crew is about to celebrate. Because if you don't understand this meal, the whole story gets weird, right? It really does. Like I said earlier, God has responded. Let's go back in time again. All right. We're going to flip flop. This is like a movie. We're going to be like future, past, present. We're all over the place. God responds to his people. Right? We said that the cries of his people in Egypt a thousand years before this one that we're looking at Jesus at. And God's children, Israel were in slavery at a desperate point. And they call out to God and God does what he does best. He hears the cries of His people and God sends them a deliverer named Moses. Exodus Chapter five. If you want to look it up later, he sends Moses to Pharaoh and Moses looks at Pharaoh and says, Hey, I've met with God, I've heard from God. And God says that you need to let His people go. Pharaoh looks at him and says I'm not going to let your people go. They're my slaves. They're the people that are getting everything I need done. And Moses says, Okay, if you don't, here's what God says. These plagues are going to begin to come. And He's going to begin to send plagues to enforce or to inform or to persuade you to let the people go. Pharaoh was like, No, I'm not going to let him go. Moses says, okay. And so the plagues start coming. They go through the first plague, the second plague, all the way down until Pharaoh's heart is so hard, God says, Hey, listen, Moses, there's one more plague. Here's what I'm going to do. So Moses steps in front of Pharaoh and says, Listen, since you have not let the people go, God is going to send death to all firstborn males of the whole land. And God sends death to the whole land. 

But there's one thing that God does that is absolutely amazing. That ties the first piece and the second piece together. God says, I'm going to send death to all the firstborn males. Now, I'm not talking about just babies. I'm talking about grown men. But here's what you can do if you so choose. If you will take a lamb and you will sacrifice that lamb, and you will paint the door frame on the top and on the sides of your door. Catch this. When the Death Angel approaches your home, he will pass over. That's where we get the name. He will pass over your home. He will pass over your house. So there comes the final plague. Right? But here's the problem. Why would God do this? This seems so mean. But you have to remember, the wages of sin is death. It's death. Matt, that's so evil that's so odd. A Holy God cannot be in the presence of sin. He proclaims the wages of sin is death. But here's what he said on the backside of that, the gift of God is eternal life through Christ, Jesus, our Lord. So God says, if you will take this lamb and you will spread it over your doorframe, this lamb will be a substitute for your sins. The death angel comes and then we see it passes over. But for those people who put it on their door by faith and grace, there is a blood substitute for their sins. Write this principle down. It will help you understand it. God provides a way for life, but it requires a sacrifice and an active faith. That's what salvation requires. So that night it happened. It happened. Death came that night. And in the homes that, the homes that put blood of a lamb on their doors. Guess what happened? They didn't die. The homes that did not do out of faith what God called them to do. Guess what? Their children, their child died, including the pharaohs. This was such an amazing devastation that the pharaoh called Moses back and he said, Get him out of here. Get him out of here. And church listen, God delivered his people. God sent his people from Egypt out of Egypt, across the Jordan. Across the Red Sea. Into the wilderness. And what God says is, hey, now, every single year at this moment, I want you to have this celebration. I want you to have this party that celebrates the shedding of blood and grace and forgiveness and deliverance and the symbol of God's love. 

Church,that's the Passover. The Passover is that a thousand years from that point to where we see Jesus sitting in Matthew Chapter 26 Jews had come together to celebrate the deliverance of their people from Egypt by taking a lamb and sacrificing it. So Jesus, in our account, He comes to the time of the yearly Passover. Think about the irony of this just for a minute. The Lamb of God is attending the party with the lamb. Jesus comes on to the scene. Why? Because he's a good Jew. It's what his family did every year. And the disciples look at him and go, Jesus, where are we going to celebrate this meal together? Where? And watch what Jesus says in verse 18 of Matthew 26. He replied, Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, The teacher says, My appointed time is near. I'm going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house. So the disciples did, as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. Now there's a whole lot in this, but what does Jesus do here? It seems a little bit weird when you read it, because Jesus is being a little bit cloak and dagger here. It's like, Hey, I want you to go into the town and I want you to find a man. What's his name Jesus? You don't need to know his name, all right? Don't. You don't even know his name. How do you know? Well, in the Greek if you look at Luke's account and John's account of this, Jesus says, hey, go and find the guy So and so that's literally the Greek translation for this. Jesus sends Peter and John only into town to find a guy that if you read the other accounts, that is carrying a water jar. And you go they're supposed to just follow this guy and go into his upper room and to make preparations. But why would Jesus be so weird about it? Why would Jesus be so clandestine and cloak and dagger about this event? It hit me this week why he did this. He did it because Judas was there. And he didn't want, he didn't, he didn't want Judas to know where they were going. He didn't want Judas to know how this was going to go down. I'm sure Judas was in the background going Jesus, what's his name? He's like shush Judas. You don't need to know, right? Where are we going? You don't need to know that either Judas. What time are we going to do this? You don't need to know that, Judas. Just go away, Judas. I'm sending Peter and John. Literally, Peter and John go into town to find a random man carrying a water jug, go to his house and start making preparations for the Passover while the rest of the disciples hold back. Why? Because Jesus so much wanted to celebrate this Passover moment with them before he became the Passover lamb for them. So Jesus sends Peter and John into town. You can read this in all four accounts. You should read them all. It's an incredible study and they begin to make preparations for this feast. You say Matt, why is this so hard? You give him a cup and you give him a wafer and you send him home. Right? Well, that's not that's not the Passover. The Passover had an incredible line of things, according to Deuteronomy Chapter 16, that made this an incredible feast. In fact, let me just talk about it for just a minute. 

First, they would have gotten rid of all of the leaven and the whole house because it represented the old way. It represents the sin that creeps into us in small fashion and grows in our life. They would have had to sacrifice the lamb that afternoon. They would have had a spotless lamb that they would have had with them for a couple of days to have it live with them and build a relationship with them so that they would have with them. They had to go to the temple that afternoon to sacrifice this lamb between the hours of 3:00 and 5:00. That is exactly when Jesus died. They would have slayed the lamb according to Josephus, about 250,000 of them every single year died. So much blood would run out of the backside of the temple. It would run down the Kidron Valley into the Kidron River and would reach Bethlehem at times. How about that for an incredible picture in your mind? From the place of death to the place of birth, we are seeing the sacrifice of Christ. They would have not only had the lamb, but they would have got the saltwater bowl on the table that represented the tears of Israel as they cried over the shame and the pain that was put upon them. It represented the crossing of the Red Sea. They would have had the Charoset paste That looked like a mortar that was made out of dates and all kinds of apples and all kinds of nuts that looked like brick clay. They would have had the bitter herbs that represented what the bitterness they lived in. They would have had a bowl that had cinnamon sticks in it looked like straw to represent the bricks that their forefathers had made. And then they would have had these four cups of wine that would have been sitting on the table, that represented the four promises that God made them while they were in bondage, that he would bring them out, that he would redeem them with outstretched arms, that he would make them whole, and that he would be their God forever. 

Church, this meal was a special meal. It was a time of remembrance, a time of celebration, a preparedness around this table. And they get it all done. These two guys get it all done. The rest are back hanging with Jesus. And then we get the verse 20 in Matthew 26, it says this When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. Now think of it in your mind just for a minute. Picture it in your mind. Not like The Da Vinci photo, but like a real table with people all the way around it. Right? Everything is going according to plan, just like it had for a thousand years. And just like these guys had done it for a thousand years. And somewhere between the third and the fourth cup. Right? Right after Jesus sends Judas away, according to John 13:27. Right? Why? Because Jesus sent him away before he transformed this meal into a feast for believers in him. Right before that, right there eating away. Jesus comes in and I can almost hear him in my sanctified imagination. I know it's there. Yours might not be, but mine is. I can hear Jesus just kind of clear his throat a little bit. And I can almost see him getting the attention of the guys and him speaking up and him coming to this moment right before maybe they're singing the Hallel right before the singing of the Psalms, I can just hear him say, Now, wait a minute. Write this down. At this moment, the Passover feast becomes feast number three, and we're just going to call it the Lord's Supper. It's the Lord's Supper. It's at this moment, the Lamb of God. Jesus, John 1:29, that takes away the sins of the world. At this moment Jesus speaks up and He begins to tell us, watch this, in verse 26. Read it with me. While they were eating Jesus took the bread and when He had given thanks, he broke it and he gave it to his disciples saying, Take and eat. This is my body. Now look for some of us. We have been reading those words our whole life, but please this morning, just see this through the lens of a thousand years of Jewish history. These guys had done this feast every single year, exactly the same way. Exactly the same words, exactly the same songs that were sung. Exactly the same responses were responded to. Exactly the same table was made. They have done it. And then Jesus, all of a sudden he steps up and he breaks the mold. And you know that somebody I don't know if it was Peter, but in my mind is probably Peter. Somebody probably said, Jesus, that's not how we do it. That's not what we say. And then I can just hear Jesus with that little smirk that you see and that the story right. Him going, Hey, you want me to say what I'm about to say because I'm the savior of the world. Jesus looks at him and he says, I am God. 

He looks at him and says, the whole Old Testament is about me. The Passover meal that you've been celebrating, it's about me in every house across Jerusalem today that it's doing this, whether they know it or not. That is, celebrating this little four legged lamb is really celebrating me because I am the lamb of God. It takes away the sins of the world. Jesus takes the bread in this large disk that's brittle with no leaven, and he breaks the bread as a symbol of what is about to in hours, happen to him. And he spins it around the table and hands it to all of the people. Church listen, every time we come to the Lord's table today, what we are doing is we are coming in a moment in a feast that is celebrating what God has done for us. Remember that Jesus's body has been given to us and our lives to put that in a prominent place that makes every decision for us. Jesus, in this transforming moment, is saying that I am the great liberator and I am the Savior and I am the New Covenant. Whether people know it or not, for years they've been looking towards this moment. Jesus fulfills the Passover for the last time, and He sets up the Lord's Supper for us to remember him by. Keep reading. There's more in the story. Verse 27 it says. Then he took the cup and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying Drink from it all of you, this is my blood of the covenant. You can write the word new beside that if you want, which is poured out for many and for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus looks at them and he's like, Yeah, I know you're sinners. I know that sin is in mankind, but my body and my blood has made a way for you. Let me help you understand the Lord's Supper. 

Let me give you a principle. Here it is. Jesus has made an eternal provision for redemption. You can write the word forgiveness if you want to there, of your sins. He's made an eternal provision. That's what the Lord's Supper celebrates. Jesus says, I have made it possible. So why should we take the cup? Why should we take the bread? Why should we take the juice? We take it because we are all have been sinners in need of a savior. We take it because Christ and Christ alone has the power to forgive that sin. We take it because Christ has given us life. Now I get it. There are some hard things in this conversation where Jesus starts talking about eating my body and drinking my blood. Matt Does that mean that I'm literally eating the body of Jesus? I'm literally drinking the blood of Jesus? No, that's not what it means. Transubstantiation is not in Scripture. All right, consubstantiation is not in Scripture. It is not even an under the elements thing. It's more than a memorial feast. What it is, is a symbolic moment, a metaphorical speech that I, through the Holy Spirit, are meeting who Jesus is and what Jesus has done in me. Remember, when you come to this, what you are doing is you are coming to a moment that you are saying, thank you, Jesus, thank you for what you have done for me. So when you take the body and you take the blood and you have this moment, what you are saying to Jesus is Thank you for what you've done in history. Thank you for what you've done in my life. And you offered me forgiveness. But here's the question this morning. Have you taken advantage of the gift? Have you trusted Christ to come and be yours? Have you given your heart and life to Jesus? Because those are the people according to Jesus, to get to celebrate this feast. Feast number one is the forbidden fruit. Feast number two is the Passover feast. Number three is the Lord's Supper. But here's the thing: Church, there's a fourth feast. There's a fourth feast that's coming. And it's only the believers in Jesus that get to go to this feast. 

Write this one down. And we're just going to call it the wedding supper of the Lamb. The wedding supper of the Lamb. You can call it the messianic banquet. We can debate that one over coffee later. But here's the deal. One feast got us into this problem. The second feast put a temporary solution to the problem. The third feast has given us a way to remembrance and memorialize what Christ has done for us. But here's the thing. Church, this feast that we're looking at right here, there is one feast that will take place as a celebration feast. Look at it in verse 26. Jesus talks about it. I mean, verse 29, it says, I tell you, I will not drink of the fruit of this vine from now on until the day when I drink it new with you in my father's kingdom. We might get excited about this one. Listen church, it's at this feast that Jesus promises, Hey, this thing is so special that we're doing together here, I'm going to abstain from it until one day, catch this church when, I come back, when I redeem my church, when I set up the new heavens and the new earth, we are going to have a party and we are going to experience this meal together at the uniting of the church to Jesus experiencing his full reign. Now we are eternally united with Jesus and we will have this feast together. Church listen, every other feast that we see is in the midst of sin. But this feast, it's only believers. It is only followers. There is no more pain and no more shame and no more sin and no more death and no more cancer No more lost job, no more hard kids, no more taking care of rough situations. We are with Jesus eternally, forever and ever and ever. And that's what we're doing this morning, is looking towards that moment. Until we say, yes Jesus, yes Jesus, yes Jesus. Write this principle down, all of the struggles in this world are temporary because we will be hopefully, joyfully, and eternally united with King Jesus. Man, in the new heavens in the new earth, do you realize this meal is one that Jesus has already made for us? There is a perfect place and there's perfect company. It's perfect timing. There's a perfect atmosphere. And all believers from all nations and all times will be at this feast. And I can just see it in my life. Here comes King, Jesus, here comes Jesus. Here comes the bridegroom, Jesus. It's all been set up. It's all been planned, and God's people will be there. Listen to this. Revelation 19:6. It says, Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roaring of the rushing waters, like the loud pearls, thundering shouting Hallelujah for our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and let us give Him glory. Watch this. For the wedding of the lamb has come. And his bride, that's us. That's the church, that's his people. Has made herself ready for him. Fine linen. You get that right? We're gonna be in fine linen at this party. Bright and clean was given for her to wear. Then the angel said to me, Write this down. Blessed are those who were invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb. 

Listen, Church, there isn't a kiddy table at this meal. This is for people who know Jesus, who love Jesus, who Jesus has transformed their life. Catch this. This is going to replace any feast you had in your mind at the beginning of this message. I promise you, you won't even remember it. But here's the thing about this feast. You don't just slip into this feast. You don't buy your way into this feast. You don't work your way into this feast. The only way to be at this feast is to allow Christ to reign in your life, Christ to be king of your life. The only way this feast happens is that you surrender your heart to Jesus. Let me ask you something today. You know Jesus? You know what we've done for the last 32 minutes, we have walked through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That we're fallen and broken people, but God through the Old Testament gave us away. But in the New Testament, Jesus came and gave us the real way. It's Him! We've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, that the wages of that sin His death. But the gift of God is eternal life, through Christ Jesus, our Lord, that if you will confess, Romans ten with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart, that God raised Him from the dead, that you can be saved. Listen church. Here's the good news. If you're hearing this, there's still time. There's still time. Your past doesn't disqualify you from this. In fact, he gives you a new start. Do you need Jesus today? Do you need to surrender your heart to Jesus today? In fact, do you just need to say something like this in your heart of hearts. Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner. I know that you died for me. Come into my heart, be my savior. Be my Lord. Be mine. If that's you today, 

If that's your heart today, if you in your mind just said that prayer or a semblance of it to Christ, welcome to the family. Because He has set you free. He's given you life. He's given you hope. I want you to do something for me. Just a minute. As a semblance of what has happened in your life, I'm going to go stand right over here in this corner. I just want you to stand up from where you are. I want you just to walk over here to me and just say, Hey, Matt, I met Jesus today. He changed my heart. I just want to pray with you for a couple of minutes, encourage you for a couple of minutes. I also want to tell you this. Before you do that, I want you to take of this. For all of us that are believers, in just a second, as we worship, we're going to have a time of communion. We're going to celebrate this sacred moment that for 2000 years we have been doing this together. As I said earlier, though, I want to remind you of this. This meal is for believers. It's for people who've given their life to Jesus. I don't mean to be brash, but I'm going to say this. If you have not surrendered your heart to Jesus, even if you're a kid, this is not for you. This is for the family of God. If your heart's not in a spot today where you can confess your sins before the Lord and you can ask Him to move in your heart, Paul would say to probably abstain from this until you can get to that, you can take it home with you today. That's okay. And do it when your heart is there. But for those of you that are believers today in your own time, you can take this and you can tear the bottom off and take the bread. And then after that, you can tear the top off and take the juice. We're going to let you do it on your own time this morning. 

And I want to challenge you this morning to spend some time looking back at the gospel of Jesus from the forbidden feasts to the Passover meal to the Lord's Supper. Moving on to the Lamb's marriage feast. God has redeemed us. He's redeemed us. Maybe today you want to celebrate this as you sit in your seat. Maybe today after you celebrate this, you want to stand and worship the king. Maybe you want to use this altar as a moment of prayer or some prayer people are on this side. Be free in these next couple of minutes. If you didn't receive an element, we have deacons around the room. They can give it to you this morning. Lord Jesus, move in these next couple of minutes and God show us that we're looking back at what you have done. We're looking now at what you are doing, and we're looking forward, Jesus, to the day we celebrate this with you in eternity. Thank you, Lord Jesus. It's in your name.