House Church Talk - Passion --> in remembrance of Me

[Dan Beaty]

David,

When you wrote about how the sacraments were cut off from the
"excommunicated," it got me to thinking. The real discipline exercised in
the early church towards serious offenders was to deny them the privilege of
eating with the family of God.

While the threat of separation from God in the afterlife existed, the
immediate loss was the fellowship of the brothers and sisters and the piece
of heaven on earth they shared together!

This loss was serious enough to bring one individual in 2 Corinthians unto
true godly sorrow and repentance, which of course was the goal of the
discipline!

To be deprived of the presence of Jesus that is experienced in His Body
would truly be painful.

Dan B.