Lesson 12
Lord's Supper

Study Compiled by Kevin L. Ziegler, Evangelist
at South Side Church of Christ, Danville, IL 61832
southside.restorationplea.com

Back to Outline

• What three biblical phrases or words are used to describe Communion?

• The Lord's Supper - I Corinthians 11:20

• The breaking of the bread - Acts 2:42

• Communion - I Corinthians 10:16-17

• Is communion a sacrament or an ordinance?

• What day of the week was the Lord’s Supper instituted on?

• What day of the week should we partake of the Lord’s Supper?

• How often should the Lord’s Supper be taken?

• Is it ok to take it another day of the week other (in place of or in addition to) Sunday?

• What does the cup remind us of?

• The blood of Christ

• What does the bread remind us of?

• The body of Christ

• Who should partake of communion?

• What does forgiveness of sins have to do with the Lord’s Supper?

• The Lord's Supper is a memorial service.

• Costly memorial

• Enduring memorial

• Universal memorial

• The Lord's Supper is a proclamation

• Longest sermon on record

• The most universal of sermons

• The Lord's Supper is a participation in Christ's death

• The Lord's Supper feeds the mind, the heart, the inner man, promoting spiritual life

• The Lord's Supper is a bond of unity

• The Lord's Supper is a formal, dying, covenantal request of our Lord and Savior

• Suggestions in partaking the Lord's Supper

• It is a remembrance for the Christian of the death of Jesus, that which saves us! That is one reason it has no meaning to the non-Christian. They have not come into contact with the death of Jesus yet. And it is just a remembrance! I do not have my sins forgiven when I partake of the Lord’s Supper. I have my sins forgiven at baptism, when I am baptized into His death and continue to have them forgiven as a Christian when I confess my sins to God (I John 1:9). I am glad that I do not have to wait until Sunday to have my sins forgiven. Communion is a remembrance of the death of Jesus, which saves us! To not partake is to say to God that it is not important.

• Acts 20:7 says, “And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.” One of the reasons the early Christians even met on the first day of the week, that is Sunday, was to partake of the breaking of the bread. Some would say that is only one verse that says they partook on the first day of the week. Let me ask you: how many times does someone have to tell you something before you do it? If we only have one verse, does that make it any less important?

• Partake of the emblems SERIOUSLY! It is NOT just a ritual! Communion is something that God, in His infinite wisdom, has told us to do every first day of the week. He knew we would forget! He offered the Hebrews of the Old Testament the Sabbath to remind them of their salvation from bondage (passing through the Red Sea). It was a weekly reminder to keep their minds always in tune that God had saved them. In a similar way, celebrating the Lord’s Supper on the first day of every week keeps in our minds ALWAYS that God has saved us! I Corinthians 11: 27-30 – Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.

• I Corinthians 11:24 – “and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

• I Corinthians 11:25 – In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”