Communion

By Colleen Podmore

We have come to the time in our service where we will take communion or the Lord’s Supper.
These simple emblems on the table, bread and grape juice, remind us that almost 2 000 years ago, on a hill outside the city of Jerusalem, the Lord Jesus Christ gave His life as a ransom for many.

The Bible says: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16
And what do we believe? We believe that Jesus was like a sacrificial lamb that was slain to pay for the sins of the world, your sins and my sins.

That if we believe this and repent, regret our sins and wrong doings and turn away from them, we will be saved from the righteous anger of a Holy God toward sin.

That if we confess or say out loud that Jesus is our Lord and try to live lives that please Him, then we will have passed from death to life, our sins are forgiven, our debt cancelled.
And that simple transaction means we are born again, born into God’s family and have the hope of eternal life with our God. We give our lives to Jesus in exchange for His perfect life and God remembers our sins no more. ‘As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us’ (Psalm 103:12)

So, for people who believe, these simple emblems of bread and grape juice are both a glory and a shame. A glory because through Jesus death and resurrection, we belong to Him. A shame because we are reminded of the way he died on that Roman cross almost 2 000 years ago, naked and abandoned by His disciples and abandoned by God, so that He said, ‘My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?’ (Matt27:46), but Jesus also said, ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30), because He had dealt with the problem of sin and death and our separation from God once and for all! Hallelujah!

And why do we remember Jesus in this way? It happened like this: On the night that Jesus was betrayed, He took the bread on the table, gave thanks for it and broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you, do this in remembrance of me’ (1Cor 11:24)

He didn’t say, remember me, I am El Shaddai, Lord Almighty, or El Elyon, the Most High God. He didn’t say remember me as the Creator God who brought everything into being. We don’t remember Him as the Healer, who healed the sick and raised the dead, gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. We don’t remember Him as the Word of God who brings revelation and understanding. He is glorious in all these things but He said, ‘Remember my death until I come back again’

Let us Pray: Thank you Lord for this bread which is a symbol of your body broken for us. As we take this bread and eat it, help us to remember that you died for our sins. Thank you for this simple loaf of bread which represents so much. Will you bless it now in Your name, Amen.
In the same way after supper, He took the cup and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, do this whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me (1 Cor 11:24)

Let us pray: Thank you Lord for this cup which represents your blood of the new covenant. We are no longer under the law and subject to it’s penalties, but You have been victorious, your death was an acceptable sacrifice and You rose from the dead in victory and are alive for evermore. We also are raised to new life through You. Thank you for this cup, will You bless it now in Your Name, the name of Jesus which is above every Name! Amen.