Every Sunday at this table you are reminded to come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ. You are not merely coming to bread and wine. You are coming to a living man. A human. A human who is also God. Your God. Your Savior, who was made like you in every way yet without sin.

Nothing satisfies apart from this Christ. Work, apart from Christ, is empty. Rest, apart from Christ, never refreshes. Eating and drinking, apart from Christ, will not bring joy. Fasting, apart from Christ, leaves you but a pharisee with the devil as a father. So you must ensure that you come to Christ in faith and not merely to that which represents Him.

As you come to this table in faith, you truly participate in Christ. You feed on Him spiritually. He is here among us in a special and peculiar way at this table. So we should come mindful of His presence among us here.

As we do, we are training ourselves for how we should always live. When Christ said, “Take, eat, this is my body. Do this in remembrance of me,” He was teaching us how to come to this table; and how to live every day. You must live in remembrance of Him, recalling that He is with you always.

Why do you work hard when no one is watching? Because Christ is with you. Why do you mortify those sins that have not yet manifested themselves before the eyes of others? Because you live before the face of God. How can you rest from your many labors without anxiety about all of the deadlines out in front of you? Because Christ is with you always and will never leave nor forsake you. So come remembering Him. Come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ.