Opening the new year, the sermon turns the congregation to 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 as they come to the Lord's Table together. The preacher begins by invoking Timothy Keller's observation that the gospel is not merely the ABCs of the Christian life but its A to Z — believers do not graduate beyond the gospel as they mature, but grow ever deeper into the height, depth, breadth, and length of Christ's love as revealed in it. On this New Year's Sunday, the sermon argues, the congregation will not only hear the gospel preached but experience it through the senses in Communion — seeing, touching, smelling, and tasting the bread and cup as signs of Christ's body and blood given for sinners.

Before turning to the text, the sermon recounts the reign of "Bloody" Queen Mary, under whom 288 English Reformers, including the Puritans Hugh Latimer and Thomas Cranmer, were burned at the stake for rejecting the Roman Catholic doctrine that the bread and wine of the Mass are physically transformed into Christ's literal body and blood. The sermon explains why this doctrine of transubstantiation must be rejected: if Christ's body and blood are materially re-presented at every celebration of Communion, then Christ is, in effect, sacrificed again and again, which denies the sufficiency of his one perfect, once-for-all atonement and implicitly denies the necessity of a unique, all-sufficient High Priest. It also denies the true humanity of Christ, since a human body cannot be locally and physically present in countless places at once. The natural reading of Jesus' words "this is my body," the sermon insists, is representational rather than literal — as when someone points to a family photograph and says "this is my family," or a film portrays a historical figure, without claiming the picture becomes the person. The martyrs, the sermon notes, willingly died rather than affirm what they saw as an unnatural, imaginative reading of Paul's words.

The sermon then turns to John 6:51-63, where Jesus' hard saying about eating his flesh and drinking his blood provokes confusion among the disciples, until Jesus himself clarifies that "it is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all" — his words are spirit and life, not a summons to physical cannibalism. John 6:35 supplies the key: to eat Christ's flesh and drink his blood is to come to him and believe in him. Communion, then, is neither empty symbolism nor physical transformation, but — in classic Reformed sacramental theology — a means by which believers spiritually feed on Christ by faith, tasting him, as the sermon puts it, with a "spiritual palate." The ordinary acts of eating and drinking become a profound spiritual sign of union with Christ: believers are in Christ, and Christ is in them.

From this foundation the sermon draws out several applications for the new year. First, echoing a fellow pastor's image of the Christian life as a marathon, the sermon calls the congregation to a steady, sustained pace of discipleship — neither the reckless sprint of youthful zeal that burns out, nor a leisurely walk that never reaches the goal, but consistent, disciplined perseverance. This is tied to the pattern of Joshua being rebuked by God for growing complacent while land remained to be possessed, and to the testimony of a senior pastor who, though elderly and frail, continues to "squeeze" his time, talent, money, and life for the Lord's work, following the pattern of Paul, Calvin (who served fruitfully despite chronic illness), Luther, and Augustine. The sermon warns that being "squeezed" by the pressures of ministry and life reveals what is truly inside a person — either grumbling and breakdown, or praise, depending on whether one's inner life has been grown deep in Christ.

Second, the sermon dwells on remembrance: Jesus twice commands "do this in remembrance of me." Communion calls believers to remember that Christ laid down his life willingly and knowingly, not as a victim but as one who declared "no one takes my life from me" — enduring Gethsemane's agony, submitting to the Father's will, and crying from the cross "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me," the only recorded moment the eternal Son addresses the Father as "God" rather than "Father," marking the terrible weight of bearing sin's judgment. Remembering this costly, loving sacrifice fuels grateful, diligent love for God and neighbor.

Third, Communion is proclamation: "as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." The sermon notes that early Christians were accused of cannibalism precisely because outsiders misunderstood this practice, making it an opportunity for gospel witness — proclaiming not only Christ's death but his resurrection, and his absolute lordship, echoed in the costly confession of Romans 10:9 that Jesus is Lord, a claim that endangered believers under Roman rule where Caesar alone was called lord.

The sermon closes by urging the congregation, as they receive the bread and cup, to remember three things: gratitude for Christ's sacrifice, confidence that the same Christ who gave them life continues to sustain and keep them, and a renewed resolve to proclaim the gospel of his death and resurrection throughout the coming year.

Bible Verses Used

• 1 Corinthians 11:23-26: The sermon's main text, the institution of the Lord's Supper, structuring the whole message around remembrance and proclamation.

• John 6:51-63: Used to show that Jesus' language of eating his flesh points to spiritual, not physical, feeding on Christ.

• John 6:35: Cited as the key that interprets "eating" and "drinking" Christ as coming to him and believing in him.

• John 10:17-18: Referenced to show Christ willingly and sovereignly laid down his life; no one took it from him.

• Matthew 27:46: The cry of dereliction from the cross, cited to show the weight of bearing God's judgment for sin.

• Romans 10:9: Used to connect confessing "Jesus is Lord" with the lordship proclaimed in Communion, at great cost under Roman rule.