Our scripture texts for this Sunday are Luke 22:14-21 and 1 Corinthians 11:17-28. I'd encourage you to also read Matthew and Mark's accounts of the institution of the Lord's Supper. You can read all of them here.Last week and this week, we are discussing the sacred ordinances of our faith: the two practices that Baptists, historically, have upheld as central to and formative of the life of faith, particularly as we practice it together in community. Last week we explored the first of these, baptism; this week we will explore the ongoing practice Jesus gave us to shape our life and our worship, the practice of communion (or the Lord's Supper, or Eucharist).
I would invite you to reflect on some of these questions as we prepare to come together:
- What was your experience of this practice growing up?
- When did you first participate in it?
- How was it explained to you?
- What did you call it--Eucharist, the Lord's Supper, communion, or something else? Do you think what you call the meal impacts how you understand it?
- What do you remember of the taste of the bread and of the juice/wine?
- When you come into worship and learn it is our Sunday to celebrate communion (we typically only do this once a month), what is your reaction? Are you excited? Relieved? Perturbed? Something else?
- What has been your most meaningful experience of this practice?
- Why do you think this is the thing Jesus said we should do in remembrance of him? Why is this meal so central to our faith?
These should be more than enough questions to get you thinking, reflecting, and mulling. If you can't be with us Sunday (or even if you can!), feel free to post any of your responses in the comments section of the blog to start our dialogue. But I hope to see you Sunday as we continue this exploration together!
