Come as a Sinner. Leave Forgiven.
Saturday’s Verse:
From 1 Corinthians 11:25 ESV
“In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’”
I have a friend who, for a very long while, didn’t attend church. He grew up in the old neighborhood back in New York and attended a Roman Catholic Church, but when he went off to college, he stopped attending worship. Recently, after so many years, he called to tell me that he and his family have found a church. It’s a non-denominational “come as you are” church. He loves the music that he can listen to on K-Love radio during the week, the pastor’s sermons that teach about the Bible, and enjoys the men’s club each Thursday night.
What is a “come as you are church?” It is honestly a marketing term that says you can attend church and wear any kind of clothes you want. My friend wears shorts and flip-flops since it is summer. Come fall, he may just wear jeans and a Jacksonville Jaguars NFL jersey. No one makes a fuss about what he and his college-aged children wear. They come as they are.
If you came to my church wearing shorts and flip-flops, no one would say a thing. But you may get a word or two if you wear some football jersey that wasn’t a New York Giants or Jets one. And those words would come from me, the pastor.
To me, church worship is more than just a marketing and music time. It is a time when we Christians come together and worship our Triune God, receiving the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ for our forgiveness. As we see in the verse, Jesus doesn’t leave His disciples empty as He prepares to go to the cross. Jesus gave them a meal of Himself. With the cup after supper, He speaks words that echo the promise of Jeremiah 31: a new covenant, written not on stone but in blood, sealed not by animal sacrifice but by His own.
In Lutheran confession, we receive this literally and lovingly: Christ’s blood is truly present “in, with, and under” the wine, not as symbol alone but as means of grace. Here, God does not ask us to climb up to Him; He comes down to us, offering forgiveness, life, and salvation in a tangible gift.
To remember, in Scripture, is more than mental recall. It is to participate actively in the reality of what God has done. Each time we drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death—and we do so “until He comes,” anchoring our hope in the promise of His return.
That is why I still pray for my friend to find a church that includes the Eucharist every week. Good music is nice. Sermons with depth are wonderful. But worship without Christ’s body and blood misses a great point of why we attend church in the first place.
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Lord Jesus, thank You for giving Yourself for my forgiveness. May I feel this grace and love every time I receive the Supper. In Your name, I pray. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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