03/08/2026 Riverside Sunday Service | Luke 22:7-8, 13-23 CSB

Mar 08, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: The Invitation to Worship at the Table

Communion is an invitation to express awe and gratitude to the God who rescues us. It is a sacred moment where we remember that Jesus entered into our suffering and pain to bring us into freedom. This practice reorients our hearts away from our circumstances and toward the overwhelming love of our Savior. In taking the bread and the cup, we are drawn into a place of worship, where our hearts are captured by His power and beauty. [47:19]

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
Luke 22:19-20 (NIV)

Reflection: As you consider the practice of communion, what is one specific reason you feel awe or gratitude toward Jesus today?

Day 2: Embracing the Holy Disruptions of Faith

God often meets us in moments that feel strange, uncomfortable, or disruptive. These are not random occurrences but can be holy invitations to see Him in a new way. Just as Jesus disrupted the normal Passover meal with startling words, He still disrupts our lives to get our attention and draw us closer. In the midst of life’s unexpected turns, we can ask what God might be doing to reshape and rebuild us. [56:01]

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
Luke 22:14-16 (NIV)

Reflection: Where have you recently experienced a sense of disruption or discomfort, and how might God be inviting you to seek His presence within it?

Day 3: The Radical Welcome of Jesus

The table of Jesus is a declaration that everyone is welcomed as a child of God. Your background, past mistakes, or present struggles do not disqualify you from this invitation. It is based solely on what Christ has done, not on our own achievements. This welcome is extended to all, creating a new family bound together by His grace and love. [01:00:03]

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)

Reflection: Is there a part of your story or identity that you feel has kept you from fully accepting God’s welcome? How does the truth that Jesus invites you as you are change that?

Day 4: Responding to Welcome by Welcoming Others

Having been invited to God’s table, we are then called to extend that same radical hospitality to others. This means actively listening to those who are different from us and creating spaces where people can be honest about their hurt without needing to have it solved. Our welcome is a practical outworking of the grace we have received from Christ. [01:04:36]

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
Romans 15:7 (NIV)

Reflection: Who is one person in your life that God might be prompting you to welcome to your table, whether literally or through compassionate listening?

Day 5: The Future Hope of the Wedding Feast

Our communion now is a foretaste of a greater celebration to come. Scripture promises a day when all sorrow, tears, and pain will cease, and we will sit at a perfect table with Jesus Himself. This future hope anchors us in the present, reminding us that our current struggles are temporary and that a glorious eternal feast awaits. [01:07:46]

Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
Revelation 19:9 (NIV)

Reflection: How does the promise of a future with no more pain or suffering provide comfort or strength for what you are facing today?

Sermon Summary

Jesus gathers his closest companions for a Passover meal that turns into the most awkward dinner imaginable. Luke’s account places the meal in a Jewish freedom festival and shows Jesus deliberately using bread and wine to teach, to worship, and to welcome. He breaks bread as his body and offers the cup as his blood, links the meal to the coming kingdom, and names the betrayal that sits at the same table. That tension—intimacy and impending treachery—makes the scene strange, holy, and disruptive.

Communion functions as more than ritual nostalgia. The meal summons awe and gratitude: it calls attention to a powerful God who steps into human suffering and a mercy that demands a worshipful response. Communion also carries a grotesque clarity—early Christians even faced accusations of cannibalism because the image of body and blood unsettled first-century onlookers. That disorientation appears intentional; the ritual interrupts normal patterns so attention shifts from comfort to conviction. In the upper room Jesus invites those same people who will fail him to be family, signaling that table fellowship reconfigures belonging: invitation overrides performance, welcome overrides resume.

The Lord’s Supper points backward to a crucified savior, forward to a wedding feast where all nations sit around the Lamb, and inward toward transformed hearts. The meal demands a posture: quiet reflection, honest confession, and renewed hospitality. Practical practices follow: pause in silence, name what God seems to be saying, share simple sentences around the table, and then partake. The ritual calls for real actions after the meal—listening more, inviting those across differences to sit down, and using food and presence to welcome strangers.

Ultimately the table stands as theology in practice: a visible sign that God paid the cost to bring people home, that suffering met a body, and that the final celebration will gather a diverse family around the Lamb. The awkwardness of the scene reveals a gospel that embraces messy humanity and makes a habit of radical welcome.

Key Takeaways

1. Communion summons awe and gratitude Communion compresses cosmic power and intimate mercy into a single act of remembrance and worship. It invites a posture that sees God’s intervention in history and responds with wonder that reshapes daily living. That awe meets gratitude and seeds a practice of sustained trust rather than momentary feeling. [48:09]
2. Holy disruption sharpens spiritual attention The imagery of body and blood and the announcement of betrayal intentionally unsettle normal expectations. Those disruptions break routines and force honest confrontation with sin, suffering, and dependence on God. Disorientation becomes a vehicle for new vision instead of mere discomfort. [55:36]
3. The table declares unconditional welcome Invitation to the table functions like chosen family: it reorders barriers of merit, background, and power. The meal insists that membership flows from grace paid by the Lamb, not from personal credentials. That truth compels hospitality that hears stories rather than fixes them. [59:26]
4. Communion points to a future feast The Lord’s Supper not only remembers the cross but anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb where sorrow ends and diverse peoples gather. That eschatological hope turns present suffering into a pilgrim posture toward consummation. The image of the pierced Lamb at the center reassures and reorients longing. [66:58]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[12:45] - A Strange, Awkward Dinner
[13:39] - Preparing Hearts with Worship
[33:23] - Entering the Last Supper Story
[35:21] - Easter Context and Significance
[41:28] - Luke’s Account and Passover Setup
[45:25] - Jesus’ Desire Before Suffering
[50:28] - Bread, Body, and the Cup
[55:09] - Communion as Weird and Disruptive
[59:26] - Table as Welcome and Family
[66:58] - The Wedding Feast of the Lamb
[68:38] - Practice: Silence, Share, Communion
[78:35] - Taking the Elements Together
[83:01] - Closing Prayers and Invitations

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
Luke 22:14–20 (NIV)
When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

Observation questions

What details in Luke 22:14–20 show that Jesus intentionally shaped this meal to carry meaning beyond the traditional Passover?
How does Jesus describe his desire to share this meal with his disciples, and what does he say will happen afterward?
What two elements does Jesus use to represent his body and blood, and what does he instruct his followers to do in response?
In what ways does Jesus introduce tension or disruption into the meal, according to the passage and the sermon? [52:54]

Interpretation questions

Why do you think Jesus chose a meal—a familiar, daily practice—to institute such a profound spiritual reality?
Jesus says he “eagerly desired” to share this Passover with his disciples even though he knew one would betray him. What does this reveal about his heart toward those who fail or hurt him?
The early church was sometimes accused of cannibalism because of the language of “body and blood.” Why might Jesus have used such startling, physical imagery instead of something less offensive? [54:23]
How does Jesus’ act of welcoming Judas and the others to the table, despite their failures, redefine what it means to belong to God’s family? [59:26]

Application questions

Communion is meant to be a moment where awe and gratitude meet. What’s one specific way you can slow down and cultivate awe before God the next time you take communion? [48:09]
Holy disruptions often break our routines and make us pay attention. When has God used an uncomfortable or disorienting situation in your life to draw you closer to Himself? How did that change you? [55:36]
The table declares unconditional welcome. Who in your life feels far from God or far from you? What would it look like to intentionally extend hospitality—not to fix them, but to listen and honor their story? [01:04:36]
Jesus’ meal points toward a future feast where all nations will gather around the Lamb. How does this hope shape the way you face suffering or disappointment today? [01:06:58]
The sermon described communion as “theology in practice.” What’s one practical, tangible way you can “live out communion” this week—whether through silence, sharing a meal, or serving someone different from you?
Jesus welcomed those who would fail him. Is there someone you’ve struggled to forgive or accept because of how they’ve let you down? What would it look like to extend grace as you’ve received it?
The Lord’s Supper is both personal and communal. How can your small group better reflect the welcome of Jesus to those who feel like outsiders?

Sermon Clips

43s

#FeastWithTheLamb

“We need to remember the lamb who is the star, the host of the feast, and remember that there is a day coming where there will be no more sorrow, no more tears, and no more pain. But the lamb who gave his life for you will sit at the dinner table with you at a place of perfection. And so I invite us as we are going to prepare to take communion in just a moment. We would think about communion past with Jesus and the disciples. We would think about communion present that we're taking today, but we'll also think about communion future where we get to have a wedding feast with the lamb himself. Amen.”

47s

#WelcomeToTheTable

“All the accolades, all the sins are not gonna keep you from God because it's not about what you have achieved or what you have messed up that keeps you from God. It is what he has done that brings you close to God. And communion is the place whenever we partake of it, where we declare to ourselves, to you, even the principalities and the spirits in the spiritual realm that we cannot even see that because of Jesus Christ and his life and his death and his resurrection, you are invited to the table as you are as a child of God. Communion is about worship. It's about weird. And most importantly, it's about welcome.”

43s

#RescuedAndRedeemed

“Communion is this place where we see the God of the universe, how he didn't just come through all those years ago to the people that he rescued from Egypt, but he intervened in our lives two thousand years ago when Jesus came and died for us. He's intervening in your life now where there is shame, and where there is pain, and where there is brokenness, and where there is sin. He is reaching in and saying, it can be different. And if there is a savior who loves me enough to live for me, die for me, rise again, and invite me into the family of God, How could I not respond with anything but worship?”

40s

#PaidInFull

“And so as we take this today, we remember that Jesus was willing to pay a high cost to bring you to the table. It's almost like, you know, you say, Jesus, I can't quite come to the table. I don't have the right attire to wear. I don't have enough money to pay for the meal. I I don't think I can I don't think I can make the meal? And Jesus says, I'll pay your way. How about I clothe you in my righteousness? How about I pay your entry with my very blood spilled on that tree? So as we take the cup, we remember and we recognize and with a heart of worship, remember that Jesus paid great cost because of his love for us.”

44s

#EveryoneAtTheTable

“That communion is the place where everyone is welcomed to the table as children of God. That that is the point of this story. Communion is the place where everyone is welcomed to the table as children of God. It doesn't matter how far away you think you are from God. It doesn't matter what silly thing you did yesterday, last week, last month, last year, last lifetime. It doesn't matter how you vote. It doesn't matter the color of your skin. It doesn't matter what your background is. It doesn't matter what family you came from. Whatever things you think give you assets or liabilities that get you closer or further from God don't mean squat.”

44s

#HolyDisruption

“I think the other invitation of this story is to embrace the weird. As you follow Jesus, it's gonna get weird. You're gonna enter conversations that are awkward. You're gonna enter parts of your heart and your story that are awkward. You're gonna engage truths of scripture that are awkward. But God doesn't do weird just for weird sake. God provides holy disruptions that he can build us back up together again in the way we need to be built up. He provides holy disruptions that he can get our attention. He provides holy disruptions that we could see him. So as we find ourselves in places of disorientation, maybe we could ask the question, God, what are you trying to do here?”

28s

#AweAndGratitude

“And worship is this word that can kinda be this amorphous blob. Right? We're gonna go worship. What does that mean? You tell someone who's not a Christian, you're just gonna go worship. They don't know what that means. Well, one of the best definitions of worship that I love is from a guy named Dan Allender who I learned a lot from, and it's that worship is this place where awe and gratitude meet. I love that definition of it. Worship is the place where awe and gratitude meet.”

38s

#StrangeAndSacred

“In the first couple hundred years after Jesus rose from the dead, the fathers of the church, the mothers of the church, the people who were kind of governing and trying to add some leadership to the church at that time had to make documents about what communion was because people would see the Christians having communion feasts and communion meals together, and they talk about the body of blood and Jesus, and people thought the Christians were cannibals. This is this is history. This is the history of the first couple hundred years of the church. There is something inherent to communion that is strange and weird and disruptive.”

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03/08/2026 Riverside Sunday Service | Luke 22:7-8, 13-23 CSB

Devotional

Day 1: The Invitation to Worship at the Table

Day 2: Embracing the Holy Disruptions of Faith

Day 3: The Radical Welcome of Jesus

Day 4: Responding to Welcome by Welcoming Others

Day 5: The Future Hope of the Wedding Feast

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

03/08/2026 Riverside Sunday Service | Luke 22:7-8, 13-23 CSB

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