All agree that the Lord’s Supper is a remembrance meal, but it is also communion with the Lord and with each other. In 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, Paul corrected errors and explained the Lord’s Supper, who should participate, and how to participate.
From several texts in the New Testament, this message answers four questions: What is the meaning of baptism? Who should be baptized? How should we baptize? Is baptism necessary?
Although faith in Christ has become more and more of an individual matter in the West, those who became Christians in the New Testament were added to local churches. Acts 2:36-47 records the addition of 3000 new church members in one day and describes the privileges they shared.
In the last three verses of our Old Testament, Malachi 4:4-6, two of the biggest figures of biblical history make a cameo appearance, Moses and Elijah, representatives of the law and the prophets and forerunners of Jesus.
In the sixth dispute between God and his people in Malachi 3:13-4:3, we find the proper response to everything God was saying to them. That response will make all the difference on the day God promised to bring, a day for which we all need to be ready.
In another dispute with his people in Malachi 3:6-12, God gave his people of that day a lesson in generosity, which Christians need to learn as well, especially as it has been transformed by the coming of Christ.
While the people cynically questioned God’s justice and longed for his intervention, in Malachi 2:17-3:5, God told them he would be coming in judgment after his messenger prepared the way. In the New Testament, we learn who that messenger was and what God did when he showed up, which was a shock to all.
In the third dispute, found in Malachi 2:10-16, God accused his people of being faithless to his covenant with them by being faithless to the covenant of marriage. This timeless message calls each one of us to marry within the faith and stay faithful to our spouse.
As God continued talking to the priests in Malachi 2:1-9, he rebuked them for failing in their two duties: offering sacrifices and teaching. If they refused to change their ways, God threatened them with extinction. Although they lasted another 500 years, they eventually disappeared and became obsolete, once the perfect high priest offered the perfect sacrifice.
In God’s second dispute with his people, recorded in Malachi 1:6-14, he accused the priests and the people of despising him. After they objected, God demonstrated how they were cutting corners in their worship. Their failure points to the need for a perfect priest who would offer a perfect sacrifice for sins, which is just what we find in Jesus.