The Lord's Supper @ The Crossing

What is the Lord's Supper?

The Lord's Supper is an object lesson that represents a great spiritual truth.

It is a simple act. The Bible says that the very first communion, the Lord Jesus, on the night that He was betrayed, took bread and broke it. He didn't have some big elaborate ceremony, wearing special costumes and vestments and burning incense and doing all kinds of fancy rituals. The Lord's Supper is a very simple act. He took bread and He took wine and He gave it to the people. It's not some big elaborate ritual. When we take the Lord's Supper at we don't turn it into a big ritual. We just observe the elements.

It is a reminder. "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.'" The whole purpose of the Lord's Supper is for us to remember what Jesus did on the cross.

It is a symbol. "In the same way, He took the cup, saying, `This cup is the new covenant in My blood; drink it to remember Me.'" When Jesus said, This bread is My body and this cup is My blood, He didn't mean that literally. When He said this, He hadn't even gone to the cross yet. He hadn't died yet. Obviously, He's talking about a symbol, not His actual blood. He hadn't even gone to the cross yet.

If you were to pull your wallet out of you pocket and show pictures and say, "This is my wife." You wouldn't think that she was photographic paper with chemicals on it. You know what is being talked about. It represents “my wife.”

Jesus once said "I am the door." Does that mean He's a piece of wood? He said, "I am the bread of life." Does that mean He's a loaf of bread? No. He's giving symbolism.

He says this is My body which is for you. It's a symbol.

It's a statement of faith. "For whenever you eat the bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes back." When you take of the Lord's Supper, you're preaching a sermon. There's a forward look and a backward look. We look forward to the fact that Jesus is coming back and He says do this until He comes back. And we look back at the cross. Jesus didn't stay dead. He's coming back again.

Who Should Take the Lord's Supper?

Only those who are already believers. When Jesus offered the communion (the Lord's Supper) He didn't offer it to the 5000 where He fed the loaves and fish. He only offered the Lord's Supper to the twelve disciples whom He knew were true believers. He didn't offer the Lord's Supper to the crowds.

That is why we don't do it on Sunday Celebrations. The Celebrations are designed to celebrate what the Lord is doing in the church – The LIFE groups. It's to bring non Christians to, bring your friends and celebrate with them. The Lord's Supper isn't for your friends who don't know Christ. In fact, the Bible says that when a non believer takes the Lord's Supper he brings judgment upon himself. We don't want to cause a non believer to sin even more so we don't take it very often on Sunday morning.

We take the Lord's Supper when primarily it's just believers. We take the Lord's Supper once weekly during LIFE group gatherings. We take the Lord's Supper a couple times a year at banquets when it's primarily just our church family. We have authorized all ministers in our church to serve the Lord's Supper in homes anytime they want to in small groups. That's the way they did it in the New Testament. In Acts 2 you don't have one example of them taking the Lord's Supper in the large Sunday meeting. In fact, it says they took and broke bread from house to house. So the Lord's Supper was taken in the small groups in homes.

But about twice a year we take communion on Sunday Celebration. We usually do it on Sundays when we know there's not going to be a whole bunch of visitors like the Sunday after New Years Eve. We figure all the unbelievers are home with hangovers. While they drink to forget, we drink to remember. And we remember what Jesus did for us.

The Bible says, "For anyone who eats or drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment upon himself" So it's not for unbelievers.

How do I prepare myself for the Lord's Supper?

"Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A person ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup." Anytime we take the Lord's Supper here at this church we always have a time of prayer and self examination before. We say, "God, is there anything in my life that's between me and You that I need to confess and get rid of before I take communion." The Bible says that we are to examine our self every time we take the Lord's Supper.

We do these four things. First self examination -- "God, what is it in my life that needs to be changed." Then we confess our sins. We recommit our lives and we even restore relationships. The Bible says if you've got something against another person -- you're bitter and angry and resentful -- you shouldn't take the Lord's Supper. In fact, it says you shouldn't even give an offering. It says go get it right with that person first and then come and worship.

When and how often should we observe the Lord's Supper?

The Bible doesn't say. The Bible doesn't give a rule about how often. Anytime you hear a rule like, "You ought to take the Lord's Supper every Sunday" it's a man-made rule. It's not in the Bible. Or, "You ought to take it once a month". It's a man- made rule. It's not in the Bible. Jesus never said when or how often believers should observe the Lord's Supper. He instituted it on a Thursday night. And since it's a Supper it seems more appropriate to observe it in an evening service. It's not the Lord's breakfast. It's the Lord's Supper. It's more appropriate to take it in the evening. Acts 2 they took it in their homes.