Holy Communion

At Forest Meadow Baptist Church, we observe the Lor’s Supper—Holy Communion—on the first Sunday of each month. When possible, we tie our observance in with the theme of the Sunday Message.

On September 6, 2026, we introduced the Lord’s Supper like this: Today we observe Holy Communion. At this table, we remember what Jesus did for us by dying on the cross. We gather around the One in whom all things hold together, the One who gave Himself for us, and the One who will come again. Christ is not one feature within the Christian faith; Christ is its living center.

Today’s message is the fourth in a four part series examining what we as a church must be and do to be ready for what tomorrow brings.

The transition between the four messages

Following the first message in the series, we should have been able to say:

• “Our strength is small, but we know Christ has not abandoned us.”

Following Message 2:

• “Our past is a testimony, but it is not our destination.”

Following Message 3:

• “There is a time to  grieve and a time to release what was once important to us without declaring it worthless.”

After today’s message, we should all be able to say:

• “Our future does not depend upon preserving FMBC’s form as a multi-congregational church. Our life and fruit come from keeping Jesus Christ at the center of everything.”

After acknowledging weakness, remembering the past, and releasing grief, we may think we are ready for action. Unfortunately our conclusions about today can create another danger: we may find ourselves inadvertently substituting an alternative for Jesus as the center of our lives.

Introduction

Let me clarify: Through the years, I have talked to you a lot about people groups, about the Great Commission, about movements. The thing is, a church can become as preoccupied with movements or methods or prosperity or money or maintenance as it once was with the Lord Jesus Christ. We go off the rails, and when we do, we are no longer centered.

Now hear me carefully: Our ultimate purpose as a church is not:

• Keeping the doors open
• Paying the preacher
• Saving FMBC.
• Reversing decline.
• Becoming younger.
• Growing attendance.
• Completing Zúme.
• Planting a certain number of churches.

All of those things are forms we hope will result from focusing on our central function. But our function is, no matter what form we adopt,  to function as a community of baptized believers who live together with Jesus at the center, under his lordship, trusting him, obeying his teaching and making disciples who do the same.

Multiplication then matters more than anything else because the life of Jesus Christ is worth sharing.

Paul says in Colossians 1:15-21:

¹⁵ Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, ¹⁶ for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.¹⁷ He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

¹⁸ Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. ¹⁹ For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, ²⁰ and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.^[1]

These verses tell us that Jesus Christ is the center of everything.  Let’s unpack this from a practical perspective. What does it mean for FMBC to say the Jesus is the center of our church?

1. Christ is not one ministry or philosophy among many others.

Read it carefully. Colossians 1 presents Jesus as:

• The image of the invisible God. If you look at Him, you see God.
• The one through whom all things were created- He is the creative and sustaining agent of all the universe.
• The one for whom all things exist.
• The head of the body.
• The beginning.
• The one in whom God’s fullness dwells.
• The one through whom God reconciles.

Jesus Christ does not occupy just one area of church life. He is no cloistered, isolated monk who exists at the boundaries of our world. Everything finds connectedness and unity in Him. And He is in everything.

Every single issue we consider at FMBC should therefore ask:

“How does what we are becoming, how does what we are doing, help all people groups, including our own, and the communities in which we live, center their lives on Jesus Christ, the One without Whom we could do nothing?” Jesus is the center.

2. Life flows from connectedness and union, not from exertion. In John 15:1-11

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. ³ You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. ⁴ Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

⁵ “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. ⁷ But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! ⁸ When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

⁹ “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. ¹⁰ When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! ^[2]

In John 15, the parable of the vine and the branches,  the branches do not produce their fruit by frantic activity. They don’t try harder. They bear fruit by remaining, literally abiding, in the vine. The branches’ task is to remain connected; then the vine will do all the heavy lifting.

An exhausted church member may hear me talking about a Great Commission vision for  multiplication and consider it just one more demand on their time, a demand they cannot fulfill. That church member might say:

“We are already tired, and now he’s telling us we need to become missionaries, start groups or plant churches.”

That would be a serious misunderstanding of what I am trying to say.

But listen carefully now. Jesus does not begin by saying, “Do more.” He says, “Abide in me. Stay closer to me. Watch what I do. Listen to what I say.”

The one thing you need to do above all else is to simply pay attention to Jesus Christ:

• Listening to his Word. Not just hearing it.
• Receiving his love. Not pushing away.
• Responding in obedience. Not telling Him you’ll pray about it.
• Praying. Not through your “gimme” list. But through His priority list.
• Depending upon his Spirit. Not your own power or might.
• Loving one another. Not just the precious few saints you have most in common with.
• Joining what he is doing. Not asking him to follow and bless whatever it is you do.

3. Let’s talk about pruning for a minute.  Pruning is purposeful, not meant to be merely punitive.

John 15 tells us that the Father prunes not just dead and fruitless branches, but He even prunes fruitful branches so they may bear more fruit.

Pruning does not mean the branch is rejected. It may mean that something good is being reduced so life can be concentrated toward greater fruitfulness. Higher priorities are pursued, while lesser ones are pruned away.

Here are some questions that  give us a functional way to evaluate ministry:

• What are we doing that is producing Christ-centered life?
• What are we doing that consumes strength without producing its intended fruit?
• What are we doing that requires renewal?
• What are we doing that can be simplified?
• What are we doing that should be combined with something else?
• What are we doing that should be struck off our to do list?
• What are we doing that needs our attention so there is room to grow?

The criterion for prioritization is not preference, novelty, or age. It is fruit in relationship to Christ.

4. Fruit is life that carries the character of the vine

Fruit should not ever be reduced to numerical statistics, what we used to call in Christendom nickels and noses.

Christ-centered fruit includes results that cannot be quantified:

• Love.
• Obedience.
• Prayer.
• Reconciliation.
• Christlike character.
• Truthfulness.
• Generosity.
• Courage.
• New Christ followers.
• Developing disciple makers, not just disciples.
• Communities sharing Christ’s life and concerns.
• People helping others abide in him.

That is an entirely different skill set from a spreadsheet. Numbers can help identify activity, but only transformed lives reveal the true nature of the fruit.

5. Abiding naturally in the vine eventually becomes reproductive.

Fruit of any kind carries within it  seed for the next generation. In other words, healthy life possesses within it an ability to reproduce.

When people live in Christ, engage his Word, love one another, and participate in his mission, live according to the values and character of the Savior, they become capable of helping others enter the same life.

When deciding where to abide, you do not have to choose between spiritual depth and multiplication. Genuine spiritual life begins with Jessus Christ as the center and moves outward in love. It always desires to share, always wants to give away, always wants spiritually to reproduce. But that life will always be recognized because Jesus Christ will be at the center.

Now, let me conclude by asking some questions.

Questions to ask publicly

• What currently functions as the practical center of FMBC?
• What are we most afraid of losing?
• Are we asking Christ to preserve our plans, or allowing him to direct us?
• Which activities help people abide in Christ?
• What evidence of Christ’s life do we see among us?
• Where might pruning create space for fruit?
• How could the life of Christ among us become life in others?

Congregational practice

Begin a four-week shared “abiding rhythm”:

1. Read a short Gospel passage slowly.
2. Identify what it reveals about Jesus.
3. Sit quietly before Christ.
4. Ask what response of trust or obedience he desires.
5. Practice that response during the week.
6. Share the passage and experience with one other person.

This rhythm is not intended to become another permanent pietistic good work. Its function is to help you develop the capacity to attend to and respond to Jesus Christ.

Ministry evaluation exercise (time permitting)

After the message, ask each ministry group to complete this sentence:

“The Christ-centered function of my ministry is…”

Then ask:

• What evidence suggests that this function is being fulfilled?
• Which parts of the present form of your ministry help fulfill its function?
• Which activities consume your energy without serving the function?
• What could be simplified?
• Who is becoming capable of carrying the function forward?
• Could this function be expressed outside FMBC’s existing programs?

(Note: No ministry should be eliminated solely through this initial exercise. Its purpose is to teach the congregation how to discern functionally.)

Desired functional outcome

Members begin evaluating themselves and the church according to whether Christ’s life is being received, embodied, shared, and reproduced.

Note: I pray that this message has been a blessing to you. Feel free to share it, teach it or preach it. There is no Copyright claimed. Give attribution as your conscience guides. And give glory to God!

Pastor Tim Ahlen

Dallas TX USA

September 25, 2026

^[1] Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015), Col 1:15–20.

^[2] Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015), Jn 15:1–11.