Communion

I am sure that each of you has been present at least once in a church service where "The Lord's Supper", or "Communion" is being served. Do you all know what it means to take part?

Back in ancient history during Bible times, when people made covenants with each other, they would partake together of a covenant meal. They ate from the same loaf of bread, and shared in the same cup of wine. This sharing of the same bread and wine was a symbol of the agreement between two parties to honor the terms of the covenant. The weaker of the two parties took on the authority and status of the stronger-- what belonged to one party belonged to the other.

During the time Jesus was here on earth, before he was crucified, he had a meal with His disciples that we usually call the Last Supper. It was the time of the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread in Jerusalem. Two of His disciples went ahead of Him to Jerusalem to prepare the Passover meal. It was during this meal that Jesus took bread, broke it, and gave of it to His disciples to share with Him. He also took the cup of wine, gave thanks and offered it to all of them.

Jesus spoke of a "new covenant" in Luke 22:17-20. While they ate and drank together of the same loaf and the same cup, he explained to them that they were partaking of much more than just bread and wine. He was entering into covenant with them providing His body as the bread they would all share and His blood as the wine in the cup. There was great spiritual significance to this.

When we remember our covenant with Him during communion, we remember that all that belongs to Him is now ours. Every blessing. All authority. Nothing is held back. He purchased for us our salvation. But we also need to remember that everything that we have is now His, also. And we need to hold nothing back from Him. We give him our lives. We have entered into covenant, and we need to honor that covenant.


Scripture References:

Matt. 26:26-30;
Mk 14:22-25;
Luke 22:15-20
I Corinthians 11:23-26


Activation: Have a small communion service together, explaining the meaning of the breaking of the bread and drinking of the juice as you go. It is important to explain that if you are not in covenant with Jesus, you should only watch, but not take part at this time. The covenant we share with Jesus is serious. The kids need to realize this.