Riverside Feb. 1, 2026

Back to Basics #5

I’m holding on to the old way

Communion

There’s no other way to Heaven, but by the cross of Jesus Christ.

If it had not been for a place called Mount Calvary,

If it had not been for the Savior called Jesus, dying there upon that cross, then my soul would be lost.

-There is no hope outside of the cross, outside of the death of the one who died in my place.

-and Jesus told us, you and me, to never forget it, to remember His death until He comes again. This is why we do ‘communion’ -to remember His sacrificial, substitutional death on a cross for us.

So, I’m holding on to the old way -remembering, taking part in Communion, partaking in the Lord’s table, breaking bread together recalling the simple blunt truth that Jesus died for my sin, He paid my debt out of love so I could be with Him forever.

I live my life now, beneath the shadow of the cross, I can not escape it -the old gospel truth -that I’m a sinner, that I have failed, and lived a self-life devoted to me and what I desperately need is a Saviour, it’s my only hope. It’s the old way, it’s the gospel truth and it’s the only way to heaven, it’s the only way to know God and walk with Him. So, I repented, I surrendered and now I LIVE again, forever.

The old, old, story is true. The Old way is true. Hold on dear Christian because He comes again and then we’ll have full communion with Him.

Remembering Christ’s death is to re-experience the cross again and again every Communion we share together. We keep on remembering.

-enter the dawn of that dark crucifixion day -see that day in your memory, Christ has been beaten, flogged and judged by sinful men.

-now Jesus carries a weighty cross and soon He will be nailed to it.

-oh, the pain written on His face, every sinful thought, every sinful word, every sinful deed of mine hung upon Him like thorns piercing His brow.

-see your name written in His wounds, the wounds are deep, bloody and lead to His death -it should be me but it wasn’t -He paid my cost.

-see the daylight flee as the sky darkens,

hear the cry of the crucified one -It is finished!

Feel the earthquake and hear the tear of temple curtain

Stand now in the shadow of the cross and know -death is crushed and life now is yours.

-Son of God, slain for us. What a love! -what a price paid for you -stand forgiven at the cross.

The slain lamb of God, the King of heaven comes again for us soon

BUT

Until then -Jesus, keep me near the cross; there a precious fountain,free to all, a healing stream, flows from Calvary's mountain.

-Near the cross! O Lamb of God, bring its scenes before me;help me walk from day to day with its shadow o'er me.

Until then -Near the cross I'll watch and wait, hoping, trusting ever,till I reach the golden strand just beyond the river.

In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever,till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.

Communion -it’s the old way, established by Jesus some 2000 years ago, it’s old -in fact it’s ancient -it was established in the heart of God even before He made the world. God knew we would sin and that we would need a Savior. All of human history leads up to the cross,

-the promise of a Savior in the garden of Eden,

- the substitutional ram that Abraham sacrificed

-the giving of the law and the sacrificial system initiated by God

-to that night in Bethlehem when the angel proclaimed -a Savor is born

-this night in Bethlehem was planned in ancient times

Micah 5:2“But you, Bethlehem …, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

-to that dark afternoon on a hill outside of Jerusalem where Jesus cried from that old rugged cross ‘it is finished’ -He did it!!

-the Savior died, our substitutional lamb died for us -you and me.

DON’T FORGET -the old way, the ancient way, the only way.

This is what the Lord says in Jeremiah 6:16:

“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls…’

-remember Jesus’s death -this old way -this ‘Lord’s Table’.

Communion is for Christians, for believers only, for those who have repented of their sin, and turned to Christ for their salvation for eternal life. Communion doesn’t save you, only Jesus saves through faith in His death for you.

-if you are not a believer then let the bread and wine pass you by-don’t mock God by partaking in something you don’t believe in. Better yet, believe now and partake now.

-you see, somebody died for you, for your sin, His name is Jesus and He paid your debt so you could live -so do it the old way -repent of your sin to God, surrender your life to Him today and LIVE and then partake of Communion.

(Bread) sing Jesus keep me near the cross (-participants)

The origin of taking Communion started with Jesus. The night before he was terribly betrayed, falsely arrested, judged unfairly, punished brutally and crucified unjustly He had 1 last meal with His disciples.

-Jesus took 2 common elements, bread and watered down wine, and told them to use these two food staples to remember Him and what was about to happen to Him -death by crucifixion.

-nothing fancy, just common, ordinary food and drink, to serve as sacred symbols of His beaten body and His precious spilt blood.

Jesus gave us these two elements as representations of what He did for us -He died for us -for you and me personally. And we are to use them, as we are doing now, to remember His death for us. Oh, how He loves you, that He would die for you, that He would overpower death and rise for you and that He is coming back for you.

This is the old way to remember His death, and it’s Jesus’s way for us.

It’s not complicated and not to be twisted into religious practice for any other purpose or meaning. Jesus said “Do this in remembrance of me.”

(The Old Rugged Cross)

On a hill far away, stood an old rugged CrossThe emblem of suffering and shameAnd I love that old Cross where the dearest and bestFor a world of lost sinners was slainOh, that old rugged Cross so despised by the worldHas a wondrous attraction for meFor the dear Lamb of God, left his Glory aboveTo bear it to dark Calvary

In the old, rugged Cross, stained with blood so divineA wondrous beauty I seeFor the dear Lamb of God, left his Glory aboveTo pardon and sanctify me(wine) sing the Old rugged cross.

I don’t understand some things, I just don’t understand WHY -Why did Jesus die for me -why does God love me so? I don’t understand why but I do assuredly believe that Jesus died for me, that He took my place – that He saves me and keeps me and one day He’ll bring me home to heaven. That’s the old way and I’m holding on to the old way -I’m just believing / I’m just trusting my Savior Jesus.

-Father in Heaven, I remember Jesus’s death

-Father -we remember Jesus’s death.

Live always in the shadow of the cross, it’s the old way, it’s the only way believer. Examine your life before the Lord every time you take communion

-look and see the cross in the background of your life

When I survey the Wondrous Cross

When I survey the wondrous crossOn which the Prince of glory died,

-the King of Heaven died-my Saviour died for me

VERSE 2Oh, Forbid it, Lord, that I should boastSave in the death of Christ, my God.All the vain things that charm me most,I sacrifice them to His blood.

VERSE 3Look -See, from His head, His hands, His feet,Sorrow and love flow mingled down.Did e’er such love and sorrow meetOr thorns compose so rich a crown?

Sing -When I survey

(Pray)