The Lord’s Supper is one of two ordinances that have been given to the church by God (Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-25). It is a memorial and celebration of the cross work of Jesus- his death, burial, and resurrection as our substitute, the reality pointed to by the picture of the slain lamb during the original Passover (Exodus 12:21-27). It is also a tangible picture of the results of that cross work, that of sinners saved by grace eating together in unity as saints. Therefore, we also call this ordinance Communion, and we read a section of the Church Covenant each time we observe it together.
Due to the inability to display our collective communion we paused our observance of it at the beginning of COVID-19. Now in a desire to celebrate the Lord’s Supper together we believe those who are unable to attend in-person can observe it in small home gatherings as we did before. Here are a few considerations as we prepare for home gathering communion:
- There should be more than just one’s own family members gathered to participate. Communion is best expressed when members of multiple families, yet part of the church family, are gathered.
- The participants must be believers in Jesus, as this is both a remembrance of His cross work and the evidence of it. Those leading in this observance in each home gathering should remind any participants that they must be believers to share together.
- The participants should examine themselves (1 Corinthians 11:28) to see if there is any unconfessed sin before God and/or unresolved conflict between another church family member. These issues ought to be dealt with Biblically before participating.
- The elements are vital as they are symbolic of the sinless, broken body and shed blood of Jesus. Thus, for those leading in the observance of communion in their home gathering, grape juice and unleavened bread of some kind needs to be adhered to. Grace uses Welch’s Grape Juice and special wafers; any brand of grape juice would suffice, and unleavened bread could be soda crackers, pita bread, tortilla’s, etc.
If all these things are in place, we welcome those watching at home to follow along as one of the elders leads us in the observance of the Lord’s Supper. Any questions can be sent to jeff@gracepei.com. Thank you.