A Table of Remembrance...

This past Sunday, we began a new sermon series called Foundations: What Every Christian Should Know. The goal of this series is simple but important, to slow down and take a closer look at the core elements of the Christian faith.

For many believers, especially those who are newer to the faith, there are things we practice that don’t always get clearly explained. Over time, it’s easy to find yourself participating in meaningful acts without fully understanding why they matter. And even for those who’ve been walking with Christ for years, there’s real value in returning to the basics with fresh eyes.

We started this series by focusing on Communion, the Lord’s Table, and asking one central question:

What are we remembering?

One of the dangers in the Christian life is allowing sacred things to become routine. When that happens, something powerful can start to feel ordinary.

Think about Memorial Day. For many, it’s a long weekend filled with cookouts and time off. But that’s not what it was set apart for. It was established to remember those who gave their lives in service to this country. For some families, that day carries deep weight, names, faces, and memories that are still very real.

Same day. Completely different meaning, depending on whether you understand the cost.

Communion can be the same way. It can become something we simply do, or it can become something that stops us in our tracks.

Jesus didn’t give us Communion as a routine. He gave it so we would remember.

I. Remembrance Is a Command

When Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me,” He wasn’t making a suggestion. He was giving a command.

Communion isn’t optional for the believer. It’s an act of obedience. Whether you understand it as a sacrament, where God is actively working through the act, or as an ordinance, an act of obedience that symbolizes what Christ has done, either way, it is something Jesus told His followers to do.

But this obedience isn’t meant to be empty. It’s not just about taking the bread and the cup. It’s about engaging the heart.

It’s possible to go through the motions outwardly and miss it inwardly. But Jesus never called us to hollow actions. He calls us to wholehearted obedience, to slow down, reflect, and remember with intention.

The early church understood this. In Acts 2:42, we see that they devoted themselves to the breaking of bread. This wasn’t occasional. It was central.

II. Remembrance Is Deeply Rooted

When Jesus shared the bread and the cup with His disciples, He was sitting at a Passover meal. That matters.

Passover was already a memorial. It was how God’s people remembered their deliverance from Egypt. Year after year, they gathered, ate, and retold the story of how God brought them out of bondage.

But that story pointed forward.

Every lamb that was sacrificed, every door marked with blood, every Passover meal was preparing the way for something greater. When Jesus took the bread and the cup, He wasn’t starting something new out of nowhere. He was stepping into a story that had been unfolding for generations.

And in that moment, He made it clear.

He is the Lamb.

He is the sacrifice.

As Paul later wrote, “Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.”

Just like in Egypt, the difference was the blood. Not their strength. Not their goodness. The blood.

And when we come to the table today, that’s what we’re remembering. Not just a historical event, but a completed work. Deliverance, not from Pharaoh, but from sin.

III. Remembrance Refocuses the Heart

You can’t look at the cross and stay casual - You just can't.

When you truly remember what Jesus endured, it brings everything back into focus. Isaiah 53 reminds us that He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. This wasn’t symbolic suffering. It was real.

At the cross, pride fades. Distractions lose their grip. The things that seemed so important start to shrink.

Why? Because you’re confronted with the truth.

You didn’t earn this. You didn’t contribute to it. Jesus took your place.

And when you slow down enough to truly remember that, it does something deep in your heart. It humbles you. It centers you. It draws you back to what matters most.

A Personal Encounter at the Table

There are moments when remembrance becomes more than reflection, it becomes encounter.

During a time of Communion in seminary, while wrestling with God’s call on my life, I shared how the Holy Spirit began to press something deeper into my heart. As I prayed, I sensed a clear and repeated prompting: “Go lower.”

What started as a simple moment at the altar turned into full surrender. And in that moment came a clear word: “No more half measures.”

In other words, God was telling me that He wanted my whole life, not just what I was willing to give.

That moment didn’t come from rushing through Communion. It came from staying, listening, and being open to what God wanted to do.

While not every time at the table will be dramatic or supernatural, there’s a truth worth holding onto: when you come expecting nothing, you’ll leave with nothing. But when you come open and expectant, God meets His people.

As we closed, we returned to the question:

What are we remembering?

We’re remembering the body that was broken.

We’re remembering the blood that was shed.

We’re remembering the price that was paid.

And we’re remembering the One who gave Himself willingly, Jesus Christ.

Communion is not just a ritual. It is remembrance. And remembrance changes how you approach the table.

You don’t come casually.
You don’t come distracted.
You come humbly.
You come gratefully.
And you come expecting.

Because when you truly remember what Christ has done, you don’t walk away the same.

If you would like to listen to the message, you can do that by clicking here.

– Pastor Charley Munro
Living Grace Church, Tyler, Texas