A Handy Guide to Taking the Lord's Supper (Pack of 5)

Each Sunday, Jesus sets out a feast and says to His followers, “Come to My table.” Those few minutes are easily the most important event in every Christian’s week. The Lord’s supper connects one’s baptism to His eternity. The supper takes us beneath the surface of life. Like a funeral, it pays respect to our loved One’s death; like a wedding, it acknowledges His singular importance in our lives; like a spouse awaiting a deployment’s end, it eagerly anticipates His return. Without the Lord’s supper, the soul starves (1 Corinthians 11:30), and worship is incomplete (cf. John 4:24), but with it, the soul is satisfied, and worship is in truth.

Paul explained the Lord’s supper in First Corinthians 11:23–26. This passage teaches first that, like running a chainsaw, shooting a rifle, or walking a ledge, the Lord’s supper is not something to do carelessly. One must be focused. Why? The Lord’s supper can destroy you. Paul warned, “He who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body” (11:29). How did Paul define “unworthy”? “Not discerning the Lord’s body” (11:29). Why such drastic punishment? Abuse makes one “guilty of the body and blood of the Lord” (11:27). Let us examine how God’s people should partake of His supper.