WE ARE TOGETHER… WE ARE ONE
The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, 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.” In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until H comes… A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself (1 Corinthians 11:23-29, NIV).
Participating in Christian Communion enables the child of God to receive inner strength and assurance of the lasting relationship to his resurrected and living Lord.
Christian Communion ties the child of God firmly into the body and blood of Jesus Christ, given freely for his sins, enabling him to enjoy life on the highest plane. This abundant life generates from the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It continues to pulsate in living faith that Jesus Christ is coming to claim Hs own; and one day all of God’s family will be seated together at “supper time.” By participating in the Lord’s Supper the child of God is affirming his belief in the purpose for which Christ lived, taught, practiced and died — that of belonging to the Father.
Filled with the power of love and acceptance coming from the Father, the child of God reaches out to his brothers and sisters in Christian Communion and shares in their lives through this common bond. Their lives are interwoven. There is no room around the table for hostility, lukewarmness, selfishness, lovelessness, pride, vanity, greed or ill-will. We are family, we are one. This unity is made possible only by the body and blood of Jesus Christ. As Jesus has accepted and loved me, so I reach out to all my brothers and sisters in the family and accept and love them.
This weekly supper brings us together. Its purpose binds us together. Its love-in-action sustains us in our weakness. This Divine fellowship enables us to reach up to God and to reach out to one another in Christian love. This love compels me to correct any problem, any sin, with my God or with any member of the family. These precious moments of intimate fellowship with God and the Christian family must not be marred by the cares of this world. We are together — we are one!
I need the fellowship of God. I need the fellowship with all my Christian family. I am happy to come together each week with my brothers and sisters to share my life with them and their lives with me. Together we share life with our living Lord.
“Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation 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 partake of the one loaf” (1 Cor. 10:16,17, NIV).
By Walter Fennel