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God brought punishment to the offending parties at Corinth because they were sinning. God's "punishment" was corrective punishment or disciplining. In this way they may see the error of their ways and fix it. Sickness and death as a punishment; sin is serious. In the OT the first fruits were brought to the Temple. The owner held the lamb and slit its throat. This lamb was valuable to the owner and to the herd for expansion. This hurt economically. Sin is serious business. We think of death as it, the worse thing that could happen to us. Death is the beginning for us! According to the Hebrews God disciplines us as a father would his child. We are God's children. He wants the best for us and for us to become more like Him.

"Not discerning the body" at the Lord's Supper constitutes a grave sin. We approach the Table with respect and we and in fellowship and love our neighbors. We come holding no grudge. We come with humility and respect for the one who instituted this meal. We come knowing He will not have this meal again until He has it with us. We come as the body of Christ. The Church comes as one. As terrible a sin as this not discerning the body is the sin of neglecting one of the least of our brothers. That is a sin against Jesus.

When I think of seeing His face, and when I take Holy Communion many thoughts go through my mind. I think of what Jesus did for me. I think of my sins and the nails that were pounded into his hands and feet. I know when I see his face it will be radiant. The sun could not be brighter than his face! When I kneel at the altar and take the bread and drink the cup I see myself taking it with my Heavenly Father and I am filled with awe.

The Lord's Supper points to the past in that it is our reminder that this life isn't the best life. We have a much better life ahead of us. This life points to the present as a communion with the living Christ and to the future as a promise of eternal life in the presence of God.

The Lord's Supper finds fulfillment in the Great Banquet in that the new earth has come into completion. The old earth has passed away, the resurrection of the dead has occurred. We are now with the Father. Each time I take Holy Communion I think of what Jesus did for me, how he suffered, died and was resurrected. I think of the last meal he had with his disciples and how he will not partake of the fruit of the vine until he has it with me.

I believe so many of Jesus' teachings are oriented toward the future because the future is where our eternal life is. If we have faith and works here in this life our reward will be eternal life with the Father. I of course think of all the Biblical teachings of great banquets but, when I think of the Great Banquet I think of a very long table where we are reclining. Christ is at the head of the table and the light that shines round him is so bright we can hardly see his face. I do not know what is on the table or who all is at the table I see only the light. We will feast and have the fruit of the vine with him.

"Eating the Bread of Life" nourishes our faith in that we remember as we take Holy Communion that His body was a living sacrifice for our sins. He is the one who give us eternal life. Our faith is nourished by remembering what He did for us. He became sin, separating himself from His father because he loved us. Each time we take Holy Communion we do it in remembrance of all He did for us. He suffered and died, becoming sin for us to the extent that he died. But rose on the third day. He did all of this because of love. God wanted us to know how serious sin is. In the OT He required a lamb to be sacrificed. A perfect first fruit. The throat was slit, blood was spilled. God sent His Son to become the sacrificial lamb. No further sacrifice is required. That bread of life which is Jesus the first fruit of God died for us. This is what we remember. He is never to leave our thoughts. His name should be on our foreheads and on our wrists.

Jesus spoke in parables. I believe those with a heart to follow our Lord would understand and have their ears and hearts opened. The 12 that followed him and the disciples that turned away are different in that those who left only followed until they heard something they did not like or understand. It is like separating the wheat and the chaff. A true disciple is one who believes and practices what he believes in remembrance of Him.

When Jesus says, "This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world," he is saying I am giving my body so that those who believe will have eternal life. The similarities with the Last Supper are He uses the common household item like bread to be extraordinary. The bread is His body which is the sin sacrifice for us.

"Eating the Bread of Life" means the person who believes in has eternal life. If one nibbles the bread of life instead of eating it is like almost being saved. And, being almost saved is NOT saved at all. I prefer to have a whole mean IN REMEMEMBRANCE of Him and to do His will.

I think Christians or at least I am looking forward to the events surrounding resurrection to see Jesus and to live with him in eternity. Our loved ones are with him now. Will we know them? I do not know, but I am looking forward to seeing Jesus. A lot of people live in the here and now. They do not worry about what lies ahead. Life is but a batting of an eye. It is gone so quickly. We are not promised another second but this one. We should always be ready. We should always be right with God. We need to live and commit ourselves to God. John Wesley said, "I am no longer my own, but Thine.." We belong to God. We are lent to this world for such a short time. We belong in Heaven with our Heavenly Father. We need to remember that and do His Will here on earth.

Our resurrection bodies will be like Jesus' resurrection body. We will be flesh and bones. Our resurrected bodies will be glorified, powerful and able to navigate in the spiritual realm. I think we will be given these resurrected bodies because of age, illness, and disabilities. We will be raised to a physical body that is full of energy and strength. The purpose of these bodies; I believe is to administer the rule of God on the new earth. However, we do not know the rest of the story....

Redemption of our bodies means we will be given a "new" body. It is our body but it will be full of strength and in perfect "working" order. Our redemption of body is spiritual and physical. We will be of both worlds. A physical body in good order and a spiritual body in Heaven. The words in 1 Corinthians that describe our resurrected bodies is; "it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body."

Christians, according to the verses read, will be in the presence of God from the instant of their death. The dead are in Heaven. They are the 144,000 wearing the white robes and holding palm branches and praising Jesus.

The word resurrection is used in the Bible instead of the word rapture. Although I believe they are one in the same. It is a gathering. The resurrection will take place with Christ's return. The judgment will happen right before entering glory.

One needs to be steadfast and immovable in their faith. We need to firm in our beliefs and immovable in our faith. We need to do the work of our Lord. Our reward is not of this world. Everything we do for another we do for God himself. This is our mission. Our labor is never in vain. All we do we do for Him. And when we get to Heaven He will not ask what did you do, but did you do your best.

I am assured from the Bible that I will be physically resurrected rather than experience disembodied immortality. Jesus was the "firstborn from the dead" we will come after. He himself holds the keys of death and Hades. We will be physically resurrected. Jesus is the "firstfruits" and the "firstborn". The 'firstfruit" means the first of the harvest. We will follow. "Firstborn" from the dead mean he was raised but never died again as Lazarus did.

Using immersion as the vehicle for Baptism one is "buried" in the water. Coming up out of the water symbolized the resurrection. We were dead in our sins. God loves us so much and by grace saved us. He saved us when he raised up His Son and He seated us with him in Heaven.

God sent His Son into this world to save us. Jesus was fully human and fully divine. He took on our sins and became sin separating himself from God. God raised him from the dead and seated him at His right hand. By this act we are saved and forgiven by God through Jesus Christ. If God did not raise up His Son, why would He raise us on the last day?

Jesus' ministry would lack credibility if He were not raised from the dead. He predicted it ahead of time. I do not think those that heard the prediction really understood all the implication of the resurrection ahead of time. However, if Jesus had not risen they would not have believed. Those that remembered Jesus' words knew when they seen the tomb that He indeed had risen. God's seal of approval was in resurrecting Jesus. Only God can raise someone from the dead and by His doing this He said, "I am well pleased."

Paul's teaching on the One Loaf does affect our relationships and love for those of other Christian denominations and traditions. I was in Africa a few years ago in Maua, Kenya. I met a group of Muslims. We talked about God and they became upset at my being a United Methodist. Several of the villagers came to my rescue. But before they left we agreed we were brothers and sisters just different religions. They are people with feeling just like you and I even though our religious preferences are different. They were not violent just Muslim. They were born into Muslim homes the same as I was born into a United Methodist home. We are to extend ourselves in love to others. We do not have to believe as they do nor do they have to believe as I do. We just need to love and to be tolerant.

I have been in my present congregation for 2 years. I can honestly say there is no bickering, fighting, or discord. When we have an issue we discuss it. The congregation is small and when we have a meeting we all attend. We have our say and no one is offended. We are on one page and if not we compromise. Our focus is on God. We pray together and for each other. I think a bickering congregation should try to settle their differences before Holy Communion. If it cannot be solved maybe bringing in a third party as a negotiator. We did have a problem in a congregation I attended years ago. A certain couple caused the entire congregation to be upset. After all of us doing a corporate counseling the couple served us Holy Communion. This healed the congregation.

The verses in Mark and Matthew relate to Paul's teaching on the One Loaf in that all are concerned with unity. One cannot come to the Table harbouring grudges against another. We must be in fellowship and love our neighbors as ourselves. Personally before Holy Communion we must be right with God, our fellow man and with ourselves. We must pray and be in "touch" with our heart and our Heavenly Father.

The "cup of blessing" teaches us to focus on our Lord and Savior. We should focus on what He has done for us and the world. When the cup is lifted heavenward the blessing and thanksgiving is toward God for all His blessings to us, especially forgiving us of our sins in the Name of Jesus Christ.

For me the most compelling evidence of the resurrection is the spread of Christianity. This religion of ours would not have spread if we did not have the faith to believe in the resurrection. This is our religion. I do have a friend who does not believe in the resurrection or the birth. He does not believe in God. We have talked and I do not understand how one can look at a flower, a baby, or the animals and not know there is God. He is love, the warm feeling in your heart. The peace I feel in my heart and the one who hears my prayers and my fears. He lives because I live.