The Family Reunion

By William Baker The original Supper of the Lord took place at a table (Luke 22:21, 30). It was a Passover meal. It was Jesus” last supper with his devoted disciples. In a matter of hours he would be arrested, beaten, and crucified. He treasured these last moments with them because they offered a foretaste of the greatest family festival reunion of all time. They would be back together again like this””at another table, at another time. Next time, gathered around the table would not just be this handful of solemn believers. Next time, every tribe, tongue, and nation would

The Table

By William Baker The original Supper of the Lord took place at a table (Luke 22:21, 30; John 13:28; 1 Corinthians 10:21). Friends gathered together in a large second-story banquet room to share a meal. But they did more than eat; they talked and sang and celebrated. This was a Passover meal, a festival meal reliving God”s rescue of the Jewish people from slavery and infant genocide. They ate greens and bitter herbs dipped in a spicy sauce, along with flat, unleavened bread. They drank wine, sharing sips out of at least three passed cups. They ate meat, one of

The Lodge and the Lord”s Supper

By Mark A. Taylor I”m not sure now why I attended the monthly meeting of the local lodge. I had been invited by someone, maybe to pray or see him installed into some office. I don”t recall who he was or any specifics about the evening. I only remember my reaction to being there. The whole service was meaningless to me, in spite of the sober demeanor of the lodge members who participated in it. They somberly went through the motions, careful to complete the program “decently and in order.” But none of it communicated anything to me. Many of

More Than a Memorial

By Tom Lawson The language we use when talking about Communion has a great deal to do with our history. A quick review of any English Bible will demonstrate words like memorial or emblematic or symbolic are not found in any of the passages about Communion. So, where do they come from and why do we hear them so often? The flip side of that question might be: Why are there a number of biblical phrases and teachings about the Lord”s Supper we rarely hear? To understand why we hear what we hear, it is important we take a brief

Meeting and Meaning at the Lord’s Supper

By Lee Magness   Gathering is central to our identity. Worship is central to our gathering. And breaking bread is central to our worship.   Luke describes how, “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread” with the early Christians of Troas (Acts 20:7). So many centuries later, their practice is still instructive. The Lord’s people gathered for the Lord’s worship on the Lord’s Day to share the Lord’s Supper.   The church may gather for any number of reasons—for service, for prayer, for study. But there is no better reason for Christians to gather

The Lord”s Supper as Abstraction

By Jason Bembry I want you to imagine our world in the year 2111, 100 years from now. Imagine it”s a few days before Thanksgiving. The fastest-selling grocery item is “Thanksgiving on the Go,” a package containing a little cube of pressed turkey meat, a congealed cube of stuffing, and a tube of cranberry sauce. People in the 2100s are busy folks. Traveling to see loved ones for the holiday has become too hectic; many have deemed it psychologically stressful. Most people opt to work on the fourth Thursday in November, carrying with them the handy “Thanksgiving on the Go.”

The Time for Cross-Examination

By Charles Gerber Examine is a word often used in court proceedings. Examination can be defined as “putting yourself under evaluation, as with a microscope.” This type of examination is for our own good, like when we visit a doctor. Some examinations are done with great care and precision. The word examine is found only twice in the New Testament, in 1 Corinthians 11:28 and 2 Corinthians 13:5. The word examine is from the Greek word dokimazo, meaning to test (literally or figuratively); by implication, to approve. Cross-examine is another term used in court proceedings. A witness is cross-examined by

In Communion

  by C. Robert Wetzel “Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body” (1 Corinthians 10:17). In 1909 Christians from the Restoration Movement were making plans for the centennial celebration of the Declaration and Address to take place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that October. At the same time, in what was then a remote part of mountainous western North Carolina, a small group of believers were making plans to establish a church. Late in 1908 there had been a 30-day evangelistic meeting that led to the baptism of 14 people. In the spring of the following year,

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