Ordained by Jesus, the Lord’s Supper or Communion is one of two ordinances of the Church. The elements, bread and wine (or grape juice), symbolize the new covenant made possible by Jesus’ death and resurrection. When we take communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we remember Jesus’ death and look forward to our future where we will spend eternity together in fellowship with Him. 

The Lord’s Supper has its roots in the Passover, where God demonstrated His faithfulness by saving, freeing, redeeming, and making a family of His people, Israel. As we receive the elements, we are reminded of God’s faithfulness in providing Jesus, the Lamb of God, as an atoning sacrifice for sin, and we look forward to our future when we, His people, will spend eternity in fellowship with Him. The Lord’s Supper reminds us that the past, present, and future all find their meaning in Jesus Christ. 

As we partake of the elements of the Lord’s Supper, we actively participate in the body and blood of Jesus by faith. In this manner, the Supper is an act of worship shared with other believers where Christ is worshipped, His death is remembered, His grace spiritually nourishes us, and the Church is built up together in Him. We celebrate the Day when we will be fully united with Christ in the new kingdom. 

Because the Lord physically resurrected and ascended and is now bodily seated with the Father, we deny that the elements are His physical body and blood or that they become the body and blood of Christ. We uphold that Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit, is uniquely and mysteriously spiritually present in the Lord’s Supper. Because the Lord’s Supper celebrates communion with God and the family of God, it is to be taken regularly by believers after examining themselves before God.

Matthew 26:26-30, Mark 14:22-26, Luke 22:17-20, John 6:32-51, 1 Corinthians 10:14-22, 1 Corinthians 11:24-35, Jeremiah 31:31, Exodus 10, Exodus 11, Exodus 12, Exodus 13, Exodus 24:9-11, Deuteronomy 14:23

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