Do I Really Have To Take Communion

Apr 26, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Tables Divided, Hearts Exposed

The Corinthian believers jostled for position at the Lord’s table. Early arrivals devoured their own meals while latecomers went hungry. Wine flowed freely for some; others left humiliated. Paul rebuked their selfishness: “Do you despise the church of God by shaming those who have nothing?” Their communion had become a mirror reflecting fractured relationships and unchecked pride. [32:55]

Jesus designed the table to unite, not divide. When believers prioritize personal comfort over communal care, they mock the cross that reconciled them. The bread and cup lose meaning when hands clutching them refuse to serve others.

How often do you approach God’s gifts while ignoring His people? Identify one relationship where resentment has built walls. Will you let communion’s call to unity soften your heart today?

“When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private meals. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing?”
(1 Corinthians 11:20-22, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God to reveal any relational division poisoning your worship.
Challenge: Write the name of someone you’ve wronged or who’s wronged you. Text them to schedule a conversation.

Day 2: Unworthy Hands, Merciful Judge

Paul’s warning shocks modern ears: “Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup unworthily eats judgment on themselves.” The Corinthians saw communion as routine, not reckoning. Their unexamined hearts turned grace into guilt. Weakness, illness, even death followed their irreverence. Yet Paul clarifies: God’s discipline aims to rescue, not condemn. [35:21]

Jesus holds the table sacred because it represents His broken body. To partake casually while clinging to sin mocks His sacrifice. Self-examination isn’t optional—it’s how we honor the Lamb’s worth.

What secret sin have you dismissed as “harmless”? Confess it aloud now, even in a whisper. How might withholding communion today lead to deeper freedom tomorrow?

“Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.”
(1 Corinthians 11:28-29, ESV)

Prayer: Confess one specific sin you’ve rationalized. Ask for courage to repent fully.
Challenge: Set a phone timer for 5 minutes. Sit in silence, asking God to search your heart.

Day 3: Night of Betrayal, Dawn of Covenant

Jesus lifted bread hours before Roman nails would lift Him. “This is My body,” He told traitors and deserters. The cup He offered would soon spill from His veins. In that upper room, Passover’s lamb became the Lamb of God. The old covenant of animal blood yielded to grace’s final sacrifice. [47:13]

Every communion restages this moment. The bread declares Christ’s enduring presence; the cup seals His promise. We remember not a dead hero but a living Savior who transforms ritual into relationship.

What shame makes you hesitate to approach Christ’s table? Write it below this sentence, then cross it out. Will you let His “for you” drown your doubts?

“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.’”
(1 Corinthians 11:23-24, ESV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for choosing the cross even as Judas left to betray Him.
Challenge: Write “For you” on your palm. Glance at it three times today as a grace reminder.

Day 4: Altar Call Before the Table

Jesus’ command stings: “Leave your gift at the altar. First go reconcile.” Worship means nothing if we refuse forgiveness. The Corinthian feuds proved they’d forgotten—the same hands holding the cup had shoved others aside. Communion demands we release grudges before grasping grace. [49:07]

You cannot clutch both the bread of life and bitterness. Christ’s body heals divisions when we choose mercy over being right. Reconciliation isn’t a feeling—it’s feet walking toward a brother.

Who waits for your apology? What relationship needs your initiative, even if you’re “less wrong”?

“If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”
(Matthew 5:23-24, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God to soften both your heart and the heart of someone you’ve hurt.
Challenge: Call or message one person today: “I value our relationship more than being right.”

Day 5: One Bread, One Body, One Table

Grandma’s table had name cards ensuring no one felt excluded. Christ’s table bears your name in His blood. The Corinthians forgot communion connects every believer—slave and free, Jew and Greek. Today, when you take the elements, you join persecuted saints in China, orphans in Kenya, and generations past. [50:08]

Communion’s power lies in its sharedness. Just as many grains form one loaf, Christ unites His global body through this meal. Your participation declares: “I belong to them, and they to me.”

When have you reduced “church” to only your local congregation? How might praying for believers worldwide deepen your next communion?

“Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.”
(1 Corinthians 10:17, ESV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for three specific believers unlike you who share His table.
Challenge: During meals today, pause once to pray for persecuted Christians taking communion in secret.

Sermon Summary

The passage from First Corinthians 11 confronts a fractured congregation that has turned the Lord's Supper into a spectacle. Paul rebukes the community for divisions, factionalism, and worship that descends into a self-indulgent meal where some go hungry and others get drunk. That misuse becomes more than bad manners; it dishonors Christ and harms the vulnerable among them. Paul issues a stark warning: partaking in an unworthy manner brings judgment, weakness, illness, and even death, and so each person must examine the heart before receiving the bread and cup.

The text sets out clear limits for participation. Three situations justify abstaining: ongoing conflict with a fellow believer that hardens the heart, unrepentant sin that refuses correction and grace, and lack of faith that makes the cup meaningless. In those cases abstention functions as a spiritual safeguard and a call to repair relationships, repent genuinely, or enter faith before joining the table. Conversely, the eucharistic meal remains a gracious gift meant to draw people back to Jesus. It summons remembrance of the cross, the new covenant sealed in Christ’s blood, and the invitation to receive undeserved forgiveness.

Communion also serves as a practical instrument for unity. The rite gathers disparate people around one table, reorienting fractured relationships toward reconciliation and mutual care. The Passover roots of the meal underline how the old sacrificial system gives way to a single, sufficient sacrifice; the table invites those who are weak to come as they are and to receive what cannot be earned. The act of breaking bread proclaims Christ’s death until his return while connecting local worshipers to the global, historic body of believers.

Pastoral application centers on honest self-examination, courageous reconciliation, and humble reception. Those who carry grudges or persist in self-justifying sin should pause, reconcile, and repent before receiving. For the penitent and believing, the table offers a recurring, tangible means to remember, receive grace, and renew relational unity with fellow followers across time and space.

Key Takeaways

1. Examine your heart before partaking Honest self-examination exposes hidden motives and unconfessed sin that would turn a sacred act into self-deception. Pausing to discern one’s spiritual posture prevents taking judgment upon oneself and opens the way for genuine reception of grace. This discipline trains the conscience to align with Christ’s humility rather than personal pride, removing barriers to healing and wholeness. [35:05]
2. Do not participate amid unresolved conflict Bringing bitterness or grievance to the table corrodes fellowship and renders worship inauthentic. Reconciliation honors Christ’s command to pursue peace and protects the community from the corrosive effects of hardness. Choosing to repair relationships first enables the supper to function as a means of restoration rather than a scene of hypocrisy. [37:25]
3. Avoid communion while unrepentant in sin Remaining defiantly unrepentant treats grace as optional and devalues the sacrifice commemorated at the table. Repentance reorients the will, acknowledges harm, and opens the heart to transformative mercy rather than mere ritual. Abstaining until genuine sorrow and change prepares one to receive forgiveness rather than judgment. [39:08]
4. Communion restores remembrance and unity The bread and cup both recall Christ’s death and renew the bond among believers across history and geography. The meal replaces the old sacrificial system with a once-for-all covenant, inviting sinners to receive grace rather than earn it. Sharing the elements re-centers scattered hearts on Jesus and reaffirms common identity in his body. [43:07]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[28:33] - Would you participate or pass?
[29:40] - Communion's main teaching passage
[30:16] - Problems in Corinth
[32:55] - Abuses during the meal
[35:05] - Warning about unworthy participation
[37:25] - When to abstain from communion
[43:07] - Communion as remembrance and gift
[46:29] - The new covenant explained
[48:07] - Communion renews unity
[53:10] - Invitation to examine and receive

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
1 Corinthians 11:17-34 (ESV)
Matthew 5:23-24 (ESV)

Observation questions

What specific problems in the Corinthian church did Paul address regarding their observance of the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:17-22)?
According to 1 Corinthians 11:27-29, what warning does Paul give about partaking in communion unworthily?
How does Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:23-24 connect to Paul’s instructions about resolving conflict before participating in communion? [37:25]
What Old Testament event does the sermon connect to communion, and how does Jesus reinterpret it (1 Corinthians 11:25)? [47:13]

Interpretation questions

Why does Paul link physical consequences (weakness, illness, death) to unworthy participation in communion (1 Corinthians 11:30)? How might this reflect God’s view of the sacredness of the meal?
The sermon mentions communion as a “new covenant” (1 Corinthians 11:25). What does this covenant replace, and why is this significant for believers today? [46:29]
How does unresolved conflict with others distort the purpose of communion as a unifying act (Matthew 5:23-24)?
In 1 Corinthians 11:26, Paul says communion “proclaims the Lord’s death until he comes.” What does this imply about the relationship between communion, evangelism, and Christian hope?

Application questions

Before taking communion, what practical steps could you take to honestly examine your heart for unrepentant sin or unresolved conflict? [35:05]
Is there a relationship in your life where bitterness or unresolved tension might make it wise to pause before participating in communion? What would repentance or reconciliation look like in that situation?
The sermon warns against treating grace as “optional” while clinging to unrepentant sin. What area of your life feels resistant to God’s correction, and how could you invite Him to soften your heart? [39:08]
How might regularly participating in communion reshape your daily awareness of Christ’s sacrifice and your dependence on His grace?
The sermon describes communion as uniting believers “across history and geography.” How could this truth impact the way you pray for or serve the global church? [50:08]
For those who aren’t believers: What questions or hesitations do you have about communion, and how might exploring Jesus’ sacrifice address them? [40:47]
When have you rushed through communion as a ritual? What tangible habit could help you slow down and engage with it as a “gift” (e.g., journaling, prayer prompts, etc.)? [44:10]

Sermon Clips

54s

#MeaningfulCommunion

“Now, it'd be very easy for us to kind of laugh at the early church and say, those guys in Corinthians, they just they didn't know what they were doing. They were crazy. They were out of control. They were I'm so glad we're not like them. You know, they totally missed the point. But I wonder, are there times when we take communion and we miss the point? Is it just something that we are doing at the end of a service, a ritual that we're going through while we're thinking about our plans for the rest of the day, and how long is the pastor gonna keep talking before we can leave? Or is this something that is truly spiritual where you are meeting Christ and remembering what he has done for you?”

31s

#ReverentCommunion

“If you are not a Christian, you are not a follower of Christ, why would you take this anyway? And I don't mean to be mean or flippant here, but like, the the bread and the wine is the body and the blood of Christ. This is our most treasured thing as believers, that Christ would go to the cross for us, allow his body to be punctured, and let the the blood flow freely from his veins, so that we might receive the forgiveness that he offers to us freely.”

41s

#ReceiveGrace

“And I don't know about you, I find remembering very easy. I find receiving very difficult because I wanna earn it. And I'd rather have Jesus give me a checklist and say, I'll give you grace if you do a, b, and c, because then I know that I have it. And so many of us were were wired that way, but it's something that we freely receive, something that he gives to us that we've done nothing to deserve or earn. And so in the moment, when we take communion, we remember his death on the cross, and we receive the grace that comes through the table, the bread and the cup.”

41s

#WelcomeAsYouAre

“Because here's the deal. I know that all of you are carrying something. I don't know what it is, but you walked in here with it. As we come to the table here in just a few minutes, Jesus welcomes you in your weakness. And he's not waiting for you to clean yourself up before you come to the table. He is offering you the table before you're cleaned up. And what Jesus does here in the scripture, and it's really you might have missed it in in verse 25, he said, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. And so the old covenant, the old testament, the way of sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin, in that moment, it passes away.”

49s

#RememberAndReceive

“And when we take communion, it is a gift for us. So we bring our hearts back to Jesus, and it is an invitation from Jesus to both remember and receive the grace that he freely offers. What do I mean mean by that? When we take communion, it's an invitation for us to confess our sin and to align our hearts with Jesus. It is an opportunity to remember what all he has done for us, How he went to the cross. He took our place. He shed his blood, gifting us the forgiveness of sins, the thing that we do not deserve. So not not only do we remember what he's done for us, but in the same way we also receive the grace that comes through his death.”

32s

#ResolveBeforeCommunion

“We should not take communion if we are in conflict with someone in the church. And what we ought to do, the better thing to do, would be to resolve that conflict. Go to that person, ask for their forgiveness, say I've wronged you, I've messed up, I've done something I shouldn't have. Maybe you need to be the person who seeks the forgiveness, and say, hey, you wronged me, you may not know this, and I would like for us to be on good terms, so let's let's get the air. What do they call that? What's the expression? Clear the air. There we go. Let's clear the air.”

44s

#RepentantHeart

“Now again, we all have sin. The right attitude is, Lord, I'm stuck. I know I have this sin. Help me to overcome it. I I confess my sin freely to you. Forgive me, please, Lord, and help me in my struggle to be able to overcome. Do we see the difference? We all have sin. One is repentant. One is humble. One is willing to take correction. One wants to change. The other, the unrepentant sin says, I'm good. I don't need to change. I don't need anybody to tell me what to do, including God. So if we have that kind of attitude, we don't need to take communion.”

48s

#GlobalChurchUnity

“When we come together on a service day, whether it's for the Hutto Resource Center or for some other organization, we come together as the body of Christ and what we do, we do together. When it comes to communion, today, we're gonna do, what we do, we do together. We are unified. And as we take communion, not only are we participating in this holy act together, but we're also joining with our brothers and sisters in Christ across the globe going back two millennia, all the way to the very first night that Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, and we are participating with the body of Christ, and we are unified with the global church. It is a unifying thing.”

Ask a question about this sermon

Hutto Community Church This sermon · AI assistant

When is it appropriate to abstain from communion?

What does communion require in personal examination?

How does communion renew relational unity among believers?

Do I Really Have To Take Communion

Devotional

Day 1: Tables Divided, Hearts Exposed

Day 2: Unworthy Hands, Merciful Judge

Day 3: Night of Betrayal, Dawn of Covenant

Day 4: Altar Call Before the Table

Day 5: One Bread, One Body, One Table

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Do I Really Have To Take Communion

Share