COMMUNION & COMMUNITY

SUNDAY SERVICE: 3 NOV 2013 
SPEAKER: DAVID TAN 
TEXT: 1 CORINTHIANS 11:23-34

In Mt 28:19-20, Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples, baptize converts and “to observe all that I have commanded you” (v20). We believe that the Lord’s Supper and Baptism are the only 2 sacraments that Jesus commanded His Church to observe.

Our Lord himself commanded us to observe the Holy Communion as a memorial, “in remembrance of me” (1 Cor 11:24). The Bible does not provide instructions regarding the actual observance – composition of bread, wine, who should conduct, how frequent, etc - and therefore what is important is ‘discerning’ the occasion (1 Cor 11:25) and participating with gratitude.

Here are other lessons to take home from our Communion celebration. 

We acknowledge that only Jesus truly satisfies  We begin by recognising what Jesus has accomplished. John 6:53-56, Jesus said: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you…Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.”

Eating and drinking are another way to describe participating in God’s drama; we enter into God’s salvation story. The Lord’s Supper tells us only Jesus can nourish us, satisfy us deeply, and sustain us for this life and until he comes again.

We affirm our communion with God and community with one another Observance of the Lord’s Supper is profoundly about communion and community. Communion means intimate fellowship. Community is a group of people living in active meaningful fellowship and sharing things or values in common. Jesus’ death brings us into right relationship with God, and right relationship with one another.

1 Cor 10:16-17 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.  I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation (koinonia) in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf 

• We are equally welcomed before the Lord The fellowship is a free invitation offering the same meal for all who say yes. The whole bread means we are one though we are many. But this symbolism is meaningless unless we eat and drink and fellowship together. 

• It teaches us to care for one another Christians who eat together in communion cannot neglect or remain indifferent to one another. The Lord’s Supper reminds us of the importance of forgiving one another, caring for one another, and supporting the body towards life and growth in Christ. We are one body in Christ, one with each other, with responsibilities towards one another. 

• It gives us grace to bear life’s tragedies While we remember how Jesus death has saved us from God’s wrath, his victory over death and all its symbol of hope and triumph does not make the tragedy less painful. Before there is relief, there is need for endurance. Being in community we find grace to bear each other’s pain. Gal 6:2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 

• It is a hint of what heaven will be like  When a person accepts Jesus Christ, he or she becomes a member of the Church, the true invisible Church, and is automatically engaged to Christ. A caring community of forgiven sinners from all walks of life reminds us what true community is intended to be.

May God grant us grace to be a community that glorifies His name!

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DAVID TAN is Chairman and Elder of Hope EFC and the proprietor of an advertising agency.