House Church - The Lord's Supper Feast

I love celebrating the Lord's Supper.

We partake of this ordinance as a key aspect of our weekly meetings. As we conclude our time of sitting together and singing, praying, teaching, exhorting, etc., we all move to the kitchen and celebrate the supper together. We eat of the loaf and drink of the cup as part of our lunch.

The theology behind the Lord's Supper as practiced in the house church is very similar to that in most orthodox churches. We thankfully remember what Christ has done for us on the cross. Some may think of Christ as being more spiritually present at the meal than at other times, but we really don't get into much of that. The theology is best described by Paul in I Corinthians 11.

What makes the house church celebration of the Lord's Supper unique (as compared to most churches in this country) is that it is a full meal. This Sunday the theme will be Italian. We'll probably begin the meal by tearing pieces from the one loaf and drinking from cups filled from one pitcher. We may eventually move to actually drinking from one cup, but we haven't gotten past the whole germ thing yet. Wine, by the way, acts as a natural disinfectant, so if we go to one cup we'll need to switch from the grape juice to wine.

There are a few things that I like a great deal about partaking of the meal in this way:

1. It follows the biblical model.

2. It's a full meal. Meals not only taste good, but they also allow for much wonderful conversation.

3. The full meal keeps the continuity with the Passover meal (looking backward) and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (looking forward).

4. The full meal is a real celebration instead of a solemn ceremony.

5. The one loaf and one cup (pitcher for now) help us remember that we are united in Christ. This spurs and encourages the unity of the body.

6. Since the meal takes place right in the same spot as the rest of the gathering, there is no artificial dividing line between the Lord's Supper and the remainder of the fellowship.

7. The church in Troas gathered together for the purpose of breaking bread. We do the same.

I can hardly overstate the joy that I have experienced in this type of celebration. Regardless of what church family you are a part of, I highly encourage you to partake of the Lord's Supper as a full meal. It connects us back to the Passover, forward to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and presently to each other. Above all else, we remember and exult in what Jesus has accomplished for us at Calvary.