-
Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, is the act of taking bread and juice with other believers to commemorate the Lord’s death.
​
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
- 1 Corinthians 11:26 (NIV)
​
-
It is a memorial to be taken until He comes.
​
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
- 1 Corinthians 11:26 (NIV)
​
-
It is the covenant meal where the covenant promises were made.
And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. - Luke 22:29-30 (NIV)
​
-
Just as the Lord’s Supper calls to remembrance the Passover Feast that celebrated how the Lord delivered His people from bondage in Egypt, so the Lord’s Supper reminds us of how Christ delivered us from the bondage of sin.
Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast. - Exodus 13:3 (NIV)
​
Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
- John 6:53-59 (NIV)
-
The bread represents Christ’s body which was broken for us during His crucifixion and death. Just as bread nourishes our physical body, so Christ’s passion gives us life.
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.” - 1 Corinthians 11:24 (NIV)​
​
The cup represents the New Covenant based on His shed blood, which is represented by the contents of the cup. - 1 Corinthians 11:25 (NIV)​​​
-
Believers are admonished to examine their lives before partaking of Communion.
Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. - 1 Corinthians 11:27 (NIV)
​
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. - 2 Corinthians 7:10-11 (NIV)
​
-
Believers should seek to restore broken relationships before taking communion.
Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
- Matthew 5:23-24 (NIV)
​
And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” - Mark 11:25 (NIV)​
How can I learn more?
Sermon explaining what Christ meant when He commanded us to "eat His body and drink His blood" as a part of communion—and how the Church does so:
The Meaning Of Christ's Communion Command
Pastor Joseph Tillman
Run Time: 45 Min 50 Sec