In Remembrance of Me: The Lord's Supper

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Recommended: Doctrine of the Lord's supper

Introduction

Christians have been celebrating the Lord’s Supper for almost two thousand years. In this paper I will refer to the Lord’s Supper as an ordinance of the church. “An ordinance is an outward rite prescribed by Christ to be performed by His Church.” There are quite a few varying interpretations among the different churches on how the Lord’s Supper is to be practiced. I Corinthians 11:23-34 provides Christians with the scriptural meaning and reasons for observing the Lord’s Supper, also known as communion. Many consider the Lord’s Supper of little or no value and some consider the ordinance as more of a ritual. In some modern churches, preaching the Word is emphasized the most and communion is only observed once a month or perhaps even less often than that. This is unfortunate because if we truly understand the purposes for partaking in The Lord’s Supper and we can see the spiritual benefits I feel that believers will be more convinced of the great value that the Lord’s Supper still has for Christians today.

The purpose of this paper is to explain some of the important reasons why believers still need to partake in this ordinance and to discuss some of the spiritual benefits that regular observance of communion can offer. In sharing this information with you I hope that you will be able to recognize that the Lord’s Supper is more than a pointless ritual kept alive by tradition and a sense of duty or obligation.

Purpose and Significance of the Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper is an important observance of the church and we should understand why we do it so that our participation is not meaningless to us. The first purpose of this ordinance is to serve as a memorial for Jesus. “Many great and magnificent thin...

... middle of paper ...

...e that I am not alone and I truly know God cares about me.

Works Cited

Barclay,W. The Lord’s Supper. Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press.2001

Grudem,W. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids, Michigan.: Zondervan.1994

Maxey, A. One Bread, One Body. Frederick, Maryland: PublishAmerica. 2010

McEachern, A. The Lord’s Presence. Nashville, Tennessee.: Broadman Press.1986

Phillips, J.B. Appointment with God-Some Thoughts on Holy Communion.

New York: MacMillan.1967

Ryle, J.C. Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew. Carlisle, Pa: Banner of Truth.1986

Whitsett, R. This Do in Remembrance of Me. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald.1952

Biblical Passages:

Ephesians 2:13-18

Luke 22:19

1 Corinthians 10:17

Other:

Anderson,Gerry. The Lord’s Supper. Lancaster, California:Valley Bible Church.

Positional paper written April 2003.

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