The Lord’s Supper is one of only two ordinances that Christ commanded believers to observe. This brochure deals with the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. The Baptist Faith and Message makes this statement concerning the Lord’s Supper:
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
We normally partake of the Lord’s Supper once every three months. Because of Covid19 we have not participated in observing the Lord’s Supper out of an abundance of caution as to not spread Covid19. A year is a long time to go without participating in this incredibly special ordinance of the church. However, we have developed what we believe is a way to distribute the elements safely. Yet, we understand there are some who would like to participate, but still feel uncomfortable receiving any items that are handed out. Therefore, we are giving two options for those wishing to participate in the partaking of the elements on Sunday, Jan 10th.
The first option is to receive the elements handed out by our ushers. Ushers wearing gloves and mask will be distributing elements in one single package. (If you do not wish to receive those elements just keep your window rolled up and give them a thumbs up when they come by. That way they will know to move on to the next car). The bread and juice are all in one little self-contained package. In order to open the bread and juice you will notice a tab on the container. There are 2 layers to this tab. The first layer is a clear cellophane. You can pull back just the cellophane and that allows you access to the waver. The second layer of that tab is foil. When you pull it back carefully you can then drink the juice. In the package you are handed will also be a little alcohol towelette that you can use to wipe your hands before partaking.
There is a second option for others that are just not comfortable with receiving anything handed out. We understand. So here is a second option. You can bring your own grape juice from home and some form of unleavened bread. You can usually get those items at any grocery store. Just have them with you in your car next Sunday, January 10th.
The Lords Supper is an ordinance commanded by Christ; promoted by the Apostles and practiced by the New Testament Church. The Lord commanded His followers to practice this ordinance on a regular basis. It serves as a visual reminder to us of what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us at Calvary. Some Christians believe this to be a way of receiving grace. As Baptist our understanding from scripture is that the bread and juice do not literally nor spiritually turn into the body and blood of Christ. Jesus Christ made a once and for all sacrifice on the cross, never to have to be repeated again (Hebrews 10:12). Even though the ordinance is symbolic, this practice is intended to be an act the Lord uses to draw us closer to Himself. When one studies the scriptures concerning the Lord’s Supper, it is easy to see that it was never meant to be something merely done by rote, void of emotion or interaction with the Holy Spirit. Communion is an act that when done with the right heart and motive can help us experience a sense of closeness with Christ. It should always be taken seriously and never flippantly. There should be some time of individual preparation before we partake of the bread that represents Christ body and the juice that represents His blood.
During the course of this next week, we need to prepare ourselves to participate in this beautiful ordinance of the church. We want it to be as meaningful as possible. We want to place ourselves in a position where we can experience the blessing God intended us to receive from participating in the Lord’s Supper. So here is a 7-day devotion that starts today.
Sunday, Jan 3
Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper the on Thursday evening, just hours before His arrest. The occasion was the Jewish celebration of Passover which was and is the Jewish celebration of God delivering the Jews out of Egyptian bondage. The night before their deliverance from Egypt, each family sacrificed a lamb, and that lamb was then prepared and eaten by the family. In the Lord’s Supper we see that Passover foreshadowed an even greater deliverance and that was a deliverance of all who would trust in Jesus, the Lamb of God. He would deliver them from the eternal bondage to sin. Read the passage below that records Jesus words during the Lord’s Supper.
Luke 22:19-23 (NKJV) 19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. 21 But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. 22 And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!" 23 Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.
Action: Ask God to help you to be grateful for the tremendous sacrifice Jesus made for you. He gave his body and blood so you could experience deliverance from sin.
Monday, Jan 4th
The Lord’s Supper is a Reminder to the church of the great unity we can and should experience in Christ. All Christians are connected to Christ and each other through the sacrifice of His body and blood.
1 Corinthians 10:16-17 (NKJV) 16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.
Action: God is there someone I need to forgive or someone from whom I need to seek their forgiveness?
Let this passage spur you to be sure you are walking in unity with your brothers and sisters in Christ. If there is something that is blocking that unity, then as much as it is possible with you seek to restore that relationship. If you need to ask forgiveness, then please do so. If someone has hurt you, then please take this moment to put that hurt in your past and with God’s help forgive the one who offended you. If you are struggling with forgiving that person, remember the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18 as well as God’s instruction for seeking unity before worshiping God in Matthew 5.
Matthew 18:23-35 (ETRV) 23 "So God's kingdom♦ is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. 24 The king began to collect his money. One servant owed him several thousand pounds of silver. 25 He was not able to pay the money to his master, the king. So the master ordered that he and everything he owned be sold, even his wife and children. The money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed. 26 "But the servant fell on his knees and begged, 'Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.' 27 The master felt sorry for him. So he told the servant he did not have to pay. He let him go free. 28 "Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him around the neck and said, 'Pay me the money you owe me!' 29 "The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.' 30 "But the first servant refused to be patient. He told the judge that the other servant owed him money, and that servant was put in jail until he could pay everything he owed. 31 All the other servants saw what happened. They felt very sorry for the man. So they went and told their master everything that happened. 32 "Then the master called his servant in and said, 'You evil servant. You begged me to forgive your debt, and I said you did not have to pay anything! 33 So you should have given that other man who serves with you the same mercy I gave you.' 34 The master was very angry, so he put the servant in jail to be punished. And he had to stay in jail until he could pay everything he owed. 35 "This king did the same as my heavenly Father will do to you. You must forgive your brother or sister with all your heart, or my heavenly Father will not forgive you."
Matthew 5:23-24 (ESV) 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Tuesday, Jan 5th
Just because we are Christians does not mean we are not tempted to do evil; to live in a way that would make satan happy and our Lord grieved. Paul reminds us that if we are trying to straddle a fence and live in a manner contrary to Christ, while claiming the name Christian, God will not put up with that. The Lord does discipline His children.
1 Corinthians 10:21-22 (MSG) 21 And you can't have it both ways, banqueting with the Master one day and slumming with demons the next. 22 Besides, the Master won't put up with it. He wants us—all or nothing. Do you think you can get off with anything less?
Action: If the Lord is convicting you of active sin in your life, sin that is unconfessed and remains ongoing, please know that you desperately need to choose which side you want to be on. Will it be the Lord’s side or are you going to be on the wrong side? Remember all sin has a price and their will be a payday someday. So, take this time now to ask God to right what is wrong in your life and to help you see sin how he sees your sin. Then ask for God’s forgiveness and restoration. Read 1 John 1:9:
1 John 1:9 (NKJV) 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Wednesday, Jan 6th
In heaven we will never again partake of the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is for us on this side of Heaven. It is meant not only to remind us of the sacrifice Jesus made for us. It is also meant to remind us that He is coming back for us. Oh, what a glorious day that will be!
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (HCSB) 23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 gave thanks, 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⌋ also ⌊took⌋ the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant established by My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
Action: Spend time thanking God that He is coming back again. Thank Him that He will eventually put an end to sin and that there will be a day that you think just like He thinks, you will act just like He acts, and there will be a day that sin is finally and utterly destroyed. Be grateful that He is going to return!
Thurs, Jan 7th
Sometimes we as Christians can be guilty of partaking of the Lord’s Supper without giving a second thought as to what it is supposed to remind us of, which is, His love for us. If we fail to remember this, then we are treating Jesus with the same contempt as those who mocked him, beat him and spat on him at His crucifixion. The Lord’s Supper is of profound importance. Remember He is the one who instituted it, so we must treat it with great respect.
1 Corinthians 11:26-32 (MSG) 26 What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt. 27 Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master irreverently is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death. Is that the kind of remembrance" you want to be part of? 28 Examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy awe. 29 If you give no thought (or worse, don't care) about the broken body of the Master when you eat and drink, you're running the risk of serious consequences. 30 That's why so many of you even now are listless and sick, and others have gone to an early grave. 31 If we get this straight now, we won't have to be straightened out later on. 32 Better to be confronted by the Master now than to face a fiery confrontation later.
Action: Lord, please help me as I prepare myself to participate in the Lord’s Supper. Help me to participate in such a way that shows my love and appreciation for you. I know that starts with me living daily for you. Yet, when we observe the ordinance this Sunday help me to recall a sense of what you did. Help me to be in awe of how much you loved me. Help me to be ever grateful for the church you created; for the body of believers you allow me to be part of and to know because of you I have the blessed hope of being with you in heaven one day. Even now I have your promise that you will never leave me nor forsake me and that I can also experience you through the body of the local church. This Sunday, help me to approach the Lord’s Supper with an attitude of great reverence and thankfulness. Help me not be guilty of treating your remembrance in a way that is like the people who mocked you and spat on you at the cross.
Friday, Jan 8th
Be reminded that through Christ sacrifice we now live under a far better covenant than God’s people had in the Old Testament. We no longer have to bring sacrifices to try and atone for our sins. We don’t have to go to a temple and have a Levitical priest help us make that sacrifice. Christ did it once and for all time on the cross at Calvary.
Mark 14:23-24 (NKJV) 23 Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.
Action: Praise God for just how wonderful this new covenant is. This new Covenant allows us to call God Father. It makes us a part of God’s forever family. We have the indwelling of the Spirit of God to Comfort us and Exhort us. We are counted as above the Angels. We possess eternal Life. We are being transformed by the Word into the image of Christ. We are citizens of Heaven. We have been promised things we could never earn nor deserve. We have the treasure of the gospel to share w the next generation. We have comfort in times of sorrow and a hope in times of distress. We have a King whose return is drawing nearer. Now consider how great our covenant is when it comes time to Partake of the Lord’s Supper. Let us thank him for these great promises purchased by His sacrifice. Most of all give Him praise for His marvelous and everlasting love. A love that laid down His life for us.
Saturday, Jan 10th:
The Lord’s Supper is a reminder of the greatest gift a man could ever hope for or imagine. It reminds us that our greatest gift is Jesus. Tomorrow as you worship the Lord through singing His praises, giving to the advancement of His Kingdom, listening with a view to be transformed by His Word and drawing closer to God through Communion, be grateful for all God has done and is continuing to do. Give Him praise!
James 1:17-18 (ICB) 17 Every good action and every perfect gift is from God. These good gifts come down from the Creator of the sun, moon, and stars. God does not change like their shifting shadows. 18 God decided to give us life through the word of truth. He wanted us to be the most important of all the things he made.
Action: Ponder how different life would be if there was no Jesus; if there was no savior; if He had not saved others before us; if He had never reach down from heaven to draw us to himself. Ponder the hopelessness of man without the Good News of Jesus Christ. Now give thanks that this is not the case. As you partake of the Lord’s Supper tomorrow. Do it with reference. Do it with a renewed zeal to live for the one who died for you. Do it as a child who is thankful for a Father’s gift. Do it as one whose life is forever changed. Give God praise!