Why the Lord’s Supper?

Why do Christians celebrate the Lord’s Supper or Communion during their Sunday assemblies? In short, because Jesus asked us to. The emblems remind us of His sacrifice on our behalf and of the covenant relationship we share with Him. Elsewhere, I have suggested that the entire focus of our assemblies should be Christ, and Him crucified. When that is our focus, it is amazing how the cross of Christ, and the memorial meal He asked us to celebrate, illuminate everything else. It is fascinating to me how rich and multi-faceted the Communion becomes. Just about every subject and topic ties in to it.

Why the Communion meditation?

The idea behind giving a meditation before celebrating the Communion, is to focus the thoughts of the congregation on some aspect of Christ’s sacrifice and/or our covenant relationship with Him. But there is another very practical reason for the meditations: They are an opportunity for mutual ministry. It’s an opportunity for men to actively share their spiritual insights with the rest of the congregation instead of remaining passive spectators. It’s a relatively non-threatening way for men to get experience standing in front of a group and talking to them about Christ. It’s a way to give men practice in studying the Scriptures and organizing what they have learned so it can be shared.

To give you an idea of what can be done, I’ve decided to share some of the Communion meditations I’ve given. They cover a fairly wide range of topics, yet the focus is always Christ.

• Victims or Volunteers? - In our culture these days there’s a lot of talk about privilege and victimhood. Various groups claim that they’ve been oppressed or discriminated against. For example, we hear talk about how the 1% is holding everyone else back. It almost seems sometimes like there’s a competition going on to claim who is the most victimized. … Continue reading →
• Suffering For Doing Right - (I gave this talk one Sunday when the preacher brought a sermon on Job’s suffering.) Each week we remember Jesus’ suffering by eating a piece of bread which recalls to mind His body on the cross, and drinking a cup of juice which reminds us of His shed blood. When we do this we remember … Continue reading →
• Strength In Weakness - The Christian life is full of paradoxes. There are many things which are totally opposite to the way the world thinks and works. For example, the world says that in order to get ahead, you have to take. You have to use every opportunity to accumulate things. But Jesus taught the opposite. He said, “Give, … Continue reading →
• It’s Time - (Prepared to go along with a sermon on Acts 24:24-26 titled “When It’s Convenient”) Solomon wrote, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV) This year in particular I’m enjoying the change in the seasons from Winter to Spring. From my office window I can see … Continue reading →
• Escape From Hell - One of the arguments people use to say that there cannot be a God is the existence of evil. They say that if an all-powerful, good God existed, He would not permit the pain and suffering we see all around us. People who say such things fail to recognize that if God is to give … Continue reading →
• New Birth - Every birth is special. It’s a time of wonder and amazement. I suppose that when he or she first holds a newborn, just about every parent thinks about the potential of this new life. What is this child born to do? Who will this child become? Will this child live up to its potential? We … Continue reading →
• Suicide - I don’t know what drives people to commit suicide. I’ve never been particularly tempted to take my own life. However, I imagine that the major cause of suicide is despair. Someone feels so hopeless; he feels that the situation is so beyond his ability to cope that there is no way out. Death is preferable … Continue reading →
• Forgiven - In Christian circles you hear a lot about belief and faith. There is a certain body of knowledge that a person has to accept as true in order to become a Christian. When teaching – even when going verse by verse through a book of the Bible – it is easy to just concentrate on … Continue reading →
• Seeing Reality - Have you ever had the experience of walking somewhere at night and being scared by something you saw? You saw a shadow and thought that something, or somebody, was going to jump out at you. Or, perhaps you saw what looked like eyes staring at you. Your fight or flight mechanism started to kick in. … Continue reading →
• Reenacting the New Covenant - No doubt we are all very familiar with the passage in 1st Corinthians 11: “The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 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.” In the same way, after supper … Continue reading →