[Pastor Ralph]

Q1. (1 Corinthians 10:16). What does the "cup of blessing" teach us about our focus at the Lord's Supper? Who is to be blessed when the "cup of blessing" is lifted heavenward?

[pickledilly]

The focus of the Lord's Supper is not me or how much I have been blessed by the LORD, even though that has been unfathomable. The purpose of the celebration is to remember God's goodness and mercy as He instituted a new covenant of grace with humanity. It is to thank Him for the forgiveness and salvation provided to us through the blood of the Son of God. It is to praise Him for such wondrous love as this that would give every drop for us. It is to bless Him with our humble adoration and worship. As we lift the cup of blessing it is to glorify Yahweh, for He is our God and He has made us His own cherished children through the death of Christ.

[Helenmm]

The cup of Blessingis offered to God with praise and thanksgiving to bless Him. Not only does He bless us, but He loves to receive our praise and thanksgiing. This is a blessing to Him and gives Him joy as we align ourselves with Jesus, His teaching, and His giving of Himself, and give of ourselves likewise to Him. Our mighty God is so humble, to receive blessing from us also. Glory to His Name.

Our focus turns away from what we receive from God for ourselves, toGod Himself, and what He longs to receive from us, and we bless himwith honour, glory, thankgiving, praise and majesty.

[charity]

What does the "cup of blessing" teach us about our focus at the Lord's Supper? Who is to be blessed when the "cup of blessing" is lifted heavenward?

We learn to redirect our focus from ourselves to Christ and to our heavenly Father. I believe this is in direct
line with the words of Christ in John 5:23, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.” The Holy Spirit teaches us to worship the Father in a pleasing way by giving testimony of the works of the Father. The Holy Spirit does not seek after His own interests. Thus, in turning our minds and hearts from ourselves and our own benefits we imitate the Holy Spirit’s worship and our own spirits are quickened to exalt God in a worthy manner. The partaking of the Lord’s Supper becomes a true expression of worship to the Father in spirit and truth.

[Eudora]

Q1. (1 Corinthians 10:16). What does the "cup of blessing" teach us about our focus at the Lord's Supper?

The focus should always be on Jesus Christ, whose body was the cup, spilled out for us. We are the ones who benefited, when He willingly gave His life in exchange for our sin. But it is still His body, His vessel, His cup that was spilled out.

Because this is Paul in this passage, we must remember that he was Jewish, born of the tribe of Benjamin. Paul is showing us from the nature of the Lord's Supper, and of the Jewish sacrificial feasts, that to eat in an idol feast is an idol communion. In the Old Testament, when a Jew offered a sacrifice, he ate part of that sacrifices as a way of restoring his unity with God, against whom the Jew had offended by his sin. In Paganism, this was a practice as well. I think this may be why Paul pointed out that this cup was a cup of blessing which was to be blessed. The very word eucharist, is Greek for thanksgiving.

Paul was reminding folks that this was a sacred table, asking the blessing of God to be upon the table. Setting this table aside for a blessing and partaking of those benefits which were purchased by the body of Christ. He wanted to clarify that this was a holy communion and not of a communion with idol sacrifice and worship, like that of demonic behavior.

Who is to be blessed when the "cup of blessing" is lifted heavenward?

It is to God be the glory, who gave His only begotten Son, that who so ever would believe in Jesus Christ, would have everlasting life with God in the heavens. It is our benefit to remember this as Jesus has requested, lest His death be in vain, for our lives. This is our participation. This is unity and fellowship with God.

[RonS]

What does the "cup of blessing" teach us about our focus at the Lord's Supper?
The cup is a repersentation of Christ's blood. How could it be about us? We are nothing, Christ is the all in all, the Lord of Lords, The king of King. Why do we try to make everything about us? We are to be only empty vessels to be filled by Christ so when other people see us they only see the Christ in us.

Who is to be blessed when the "cup of blessing" is lifted heavenward?
Our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

[JustJeff]

1 Cor 10:16 reminds us that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ shed His blood and had His body broken on the cross that we would be set free of our sins. We have entered into a New Covenant with the Father and become elligible to receive the Holy Spirit which, gives us a fighting chance to spend eternity with Him, in heaven.
By lifting the cup of the communion toward heaven we are blessing Adonai by proclaiming our remembrance of His great and painful sacrifice, and His undieing love toward us.

[Elwood C O'Dell]

What does the "cup of blessing" teach us about our focus at the Lord's Supper?

I really appreciate what Dr. Wilson said when he wrote: "the "cup of blessing" doesn't designate a cup that conveys blessings, but the phrase "cup of blessing" designates the cup that evokes blessing and thanksgiving towards God for all his blessings toward us, especially forgiveness of sin through the death of his Son." This cup causes me to focus on Who Christ is and What He has done for me which in turn causes within me a deep desire to give Him praise, honor and glory.


Who is to be blessed when the "cup of blessing" is lifted heavenward?

Again I found what Dr. Wilson had to say a great help. "We must take care not to be self-focused, but focused on Christ as we partake of the Lord's Supper. It is a feast of remembrance, of proclamation, of blessing God, and of thanksgiving towards him. " He should be the the one who receives the blessing. He alone is worthy of all praise, honor and glory.

[Jezemeg]

When the 'Cup of Blessing' is lifted heavenward, the blessing to is sent upwards, it is our acknowledgement of God's sovereignty in our lives and our willingness to do what He requires of us.

[masika]

The "Cup of blessing " should teach us to remember what Our Lord Jesus Christ did for us at Calvary .We should be thankful because our sins were forgiven . We focus on the lord and give Him great honor.

[Lion of Grace]

The cup of blessing teaches us that the focus we should have is on the blood that Jesus shed for us. When we focus on this, we are overcome with joy and thankfulness and we lift our hearts to Him and we praise Him and we bless Him. I do that anytime I am in communion with Him, during prayer, musical praise or just in reflecting on His goodness to me. It is a responce from the heart overflowing from within because we know He has given us His all and there is not one thing that isn't from Him. We would be lost without Him. It is all about Him and always has been!

[Blessed Me]

Q1. (1 Corinthians 10:16). What does the "cup of blessing" teach us about our focus at the Lord's Supper?

1Co 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

Our focus must be on the one who deserves to be blessed, the one who deserves our adoration, He is to be commended for the awesome work He did, that enables us to have fellowship with the Father, and with each other. The One who deserves our praise, the One who deserves the glory forever and ever. I lift the "cup of blessing" up to you my wonderful savior, my commendation goes up to you, my praises goes up to you Jesus Christ, the savior of my soul.

[charisbarak]

The cup of blessing teaches us to have our focus entirely on God & thank & bless Him for all He has done for us, the giving of His Son as a sacrifice for our sins.

Primarily, God is blessed as we lift up our thanks & blessings to God. (we are too!)

[Lisa Rupert]

Q1. (1 Corinthians 10:16). What does the "cup of blessing" teach us about our focus at the Lord's Supper? Who is to be blessed when the "cup of blessing" is lifted heavenward?
The "CUP OF BLESSING" teaches that our focus at the "LORD'S SUPPER" should be on Jesus. For he is the one who gave his life to save us from sin. He is the one who suffered to save us. He is the one who has risen and sits at the right hand of the father. He is our Savior.
When the "CUP OF BLESSING" is lifted heavenward it is to give thanks and praise to God for all that he has and will do for us. It is to show our gratitude for having such a loving God.

[Don W]

This “cup of blessing” teaches us about our focus must not be on ourselves or what we can get out of the worship service, but rather on the Lord Jesus Christ and He alone is to be blessed when this cup is lifted heavenward. In the Old Testament (and Last Supper), this “cup of blessing” was a figure of the Lord Jesus who was to come and offer Himself as the last and finished sacrificial work of the Lord God, and as the Old Testament believers lifted the “cup of blessing” towards their God of heavenly glory, so we are to do the same to the Lord Jesus Christ and to bless Him and all of His glory as we partake of the New Covenant of the Lord’s Supper.

[godsanointed523]

What does the cup of blessing teach us about our focus at the Lord's Supper?Who is to be blessed when the cup of blessing is lifted upwards?

The Lord's Supper is us remebering the awesome thing that he had done with his disciples before dying.The Cup of blessing has to do with us giving thanks to God and praising Him for what he has done and will continue to do for us in the near future.The focus is on God and the great Messiah that he sent to die for us on the cross.In no way does it acknowlege us cause then that would be selfish cause it is not about us but what Jesus symbillically shared with the other disciples shotrly before his crucifixtion. When we lift the cup of blessing upwards is to focus on God in the heavens where he is awaiting for the day that we come home Him,the Holy Spirit is always guiding us and it is a time of reflection and of praise to the everlasting Father.

[heavenlymann]

Our focus should always be on our LORD.
the cup of blessing is to focus our spirit on Him and all He means which is hard for the human mind to comprehend. But we worship Him in truth and spirit as He directed.

[carroll]

Q1. What does the "cup of blessing" teach us about our focus at the Lord's Supper? Who is to be blessed when the "cup of blessing" is lifted heavenward?

It teaches us that the blessing receive is only a segment of the whole experience. Surely, those who partake of the “cup of blessing” are blessed beyond measure. However as Jesus taught us, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Therefore in being blessed, it must be remembered; and the focus ought to be on offering blessings, praise and thanksgiving to God for all of his wondrous benefits; chief among which is the sacrifice of the body of Christ for the purpose of saving the world.

God alone must be blessed and glorified when the cup of blessing is lifted heavenward.

[PCHRIS]

Q1. (1 Corinthians 10:16). What does the "cup of blessing" teach us about our focus at the Lord's Supper? Who is to be blessed when the "cup of blessing" is lifted heavenward?

The cup of blessing teaches us that our focus is to be on Christ, what He did on the cross for each one of us.
Without that we are lost. We are also blessed that we can come to the Son and partake in this meal together.


God is blessed when the cup is lifted heavenward, with our thankfulness and heartfelt humility to Him who created everything for us. Everything we have comes from God.

[steve.c]

Pastor Ralph, on May 25 2006, 09:55 PM, said:

Q1. (1 Corinthians 10:16). What does the "cup of blessing" teach us about our focus at the Lord's Supper? Who is to be blessed when the "cup of blessing" is lifted heavenward?

The "cup of blessing" or "thanksgiving" is a thanksgiving to God for the gifts He has bestowed on us. We thank Him from His loving act of sending His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. This teaches us that the first focus of the Lord's Supper is to God; thanking and praising Him for His gifts to us. Although we share in the Blood of Jesus during the Lord's Supper which focuses us on His personal sacrifice for each of us and His forgiveness of our sins, when the cup is raised heavenwards we are thanking God for His great blessing and grace.