Communion

Communion. What does communion mean? The definition means to commune with someone or something. What does commune mean? It means to discuss, communicate, or think about someone or something. Okay, with that in mind? What does communion when taken as the Lord's Supper mean? I would like to know what it means to YOU!

Some churches take communion every quarter, some once a month, and others only during certain traditions or holidays. Some churches, like ours, take the Lord's Supper each and every week. Does it get monotous? Not at all! Someone once said that if you feel like it's getting routine then the problem isn't with God or the taking of the Lord's Table, it is with you and your heart. YOU need to examine your heart each week before you take communion. That's why we do it each week.

Now on to the topic that everyone will disagree on. The communion glass. Oh My! What a stir that can cause. Do you use wine or grape juice? Did the Lord drink wine or grape juice? Do you allow your children to drink wine or grape juice? Such a touchy and controversial topic. I dare not speak of it for ruffling someone's feathers but I think I am going to do just that!

There are many ways you can take or receive communion. Our church is a little unique. We have glasses that are for the heads of the households. The head of the household receives the glass and distributes it to his family. Who else knows the hearts and minds of his own family than the fathers? If the father (and on a rare occasion it might even be the mother, if the father is absent from the home or from church attendance) deems that a child has been received into the Lord's grace then that child can take communion. It is up to each individual family to decide whether or not you will use wine or grape juice at our church, as we will have both at all times. Some families do not wish to give their children wine. Others feel that if the Lord used and drank wine at the Last Supper then we will also do as unto the Lord.

When we first started our little church, I bought a Wheat Thins-type cracker and that is what we used for communion. Well, I didn't have a recipe for a communion bread and I tried to search for one but for some reason I couldn't find one that I thought would be appropriate. And since it was just us at the time, it was easiest to just buy the box and use one at a time. Now that we are no longer meeting on our living room and we have grown, I have been given a recipe for a communion bread. I rise early each Sunday morning to make this bread and I wish I had a recipe to give you but as I actually got the recipe and tweaked it a little because it was the blandest tasting "cracker" I had ever tasted and I really am not sure what I put in it, then I cannot possibly give you the recipe.

What I can give you is something to think about? Are you receiving the Lord's Table? Does it seem like just another time to eat bread and drink some "juice"? Then please think about your life. What can you do NOW to prepare your heart for when you take of communion? We have such sweet fellowship with our Lord, please do not think that communion is just another ordinary element of worship. Please put communion where it needs to be. Reverent. Holy. Set apart. Like we, as Christians, are set apart from the world. So is our communion with the Lord!