Sunday, April 02, 2006

Taking Communion

Cathy & I took communion today at church. It felt good to be sitting next to her, partaking of the Lord's Supper. I can't remember the last time I took communion before today. Maybe it was January? I missed church on the first Sunday of February (I think?), and March was our Vegas trip.

Observance of the Lord’s Supper is not an option but Jesus' command for the church: “do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). I have missed it; there is some benefit to recalling the purpose of a believer's life, of my life. It helps me to refocus, and to appreciate Him and His redemptive work more.

As all believes should, I had to examine myself to be sure that there was no known sin to hinder my fellowship with Christ before participating in the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:28–32). As I have recently been struggling with my behavior and attitude towards other believers, I confessed my failings once again and asked Jesus for His help to change (the sooner the better).

In communion, we "proclaim the Lord's death until He comes" (1 Cor. 11:26). On the one hand, we are to recall Christ's death and remember once again His sacrifice. In this way, the practice is memorial. However, we also do this to look forward to Jesus' return. It is very interesting that the Church is only to practice this ordinance “until He comes” again, and then we won't need the symbols of the bread and wine, for we will be by His side, forever!

We sang "How Great Thou Art" after communion, and we worshipped God together. It was beautiful.

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