Communion Explanation
In out culture today we have the unique privilege of celebrating a special activity in the life of the church. The Lord’s Supper. Our goal as a church will be to regularly practice this celebration as a way of practicing our faith. Traditionally this is done by passing & consuming of bread or a wafer & wine or juice.
Communion is a practiced by believers all over the world and has been celebrated by believers for more than 2000 years. In fact the practice comes from the Last Supper found in Luke 22:7-38.
Jesus asked the disciples to find a place for them all to celebrate what is known as the Passover dinner which we now know as The Last Supper. The Passover or (Seter) dinner is still practiced today by both those in the Christian & Jewish faith.
As followers of Christ we find a rich heritage in the practice of communion. When we take communion we participate in a strong statement of faith and unity in the body of Christ.
Traditionally these are known as SACRAMENTS which comes for the latin word (sacramentum), it means something sacred or consecrated. One of the first translation of the bible was known as the Latin Vulgate and was used by the Catholic Church for many years to teach the word of God.
In the Latin Vulgate the greek word (musterion) or mystery found in Ephesians 5:32 was translated from Greek to Latin as (sacrementum). This is where the ideology of the bread and wine mysteriously turning into the body and blood of Jesus entered the church culture. It was called a sacrament.
Others call the practice of communion an ORDINANCE which comes from the Latin word (ordo) meaning “a row, order or something that was ordered”. The thought then was that communion was “ordained” by Christ in the scripture as a symbol of the faith and therefore there is nothing “mysterious” about them.
Both can be used to describe them, I just wanted to point out that neither term is in the scripture. I’d like to call them “practices”. Communion is a practice of the church as a way of affirming our faith and unity as a body of Christ.
I would like to invite our worship team and ushers up. I’m going to ask you to fill out your response cards as well.
As we prepare for communion, let me share a few things.
This is the Lord’s table and we are invited to it.
This is a table of remembrance. Here we remember what Jesus has done for us.
1 Cor. 11:23-26 NIV
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
How do we come to the table?
- Prepare your heart.
- Have a proper attitude. We are called to examine ourselves
See 1 Cor. 11:28
28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.
- We should judge ourselves.
- See 1 Cor. 11:31 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment.
If you are here and not yet a follower—communion is something that the Bible tells us is for people who are followers of Jesus. If you are ready this morning to make the decision to become a follower of Jesus then you can tell him “God I know I am a sinner, and I believe Jesus died for me and came back to life. Ask him to forgive you and to lead your life and he will! Then, we invite you to take communion with us.