Saturday, March 17, 2007

Re-Thinking the Lord's Supper

Alan Knox, over at his blog, The Assembling of the Church, recently published the following post: The Assembling of the Church: The Lord's Supper as a Meal? Since then, he has posted a series of reviews on some of Watchman Nee's teaching, including one on The Breaking of Bread. In the first, he posits the celebration of the Lord's Supper as an actual meal (instead of the appetizer-sized elements that most of us utilize). In the second, he brings out the command for the unity of believers as we come to the table. Some interesting and thought-provoking stuff.
At Living Hope Bible Church, we have varied the times and manner of our celebration (although it is all too easy to fall into a pattern of same-ness. Sometimes we include the Lord's Supper as part of a Sunday evening supper. The one that made the most impact on me was a "Bread and Water Supper", of which the menu consisted of....bread (any kind, as long as it was bread), butter & honey, and water. We did use matzoh and grape juice as the elements for the time of remembrance, but our focus was on Christ as our Bread of Life and Living Water.
I guess one of the things the Lord has been impressing on me is the need for His Supper to be central when we celebrate...the focus for the morning (or whenever we gather for that purpose) instead of it being the "closing act". Perhaps everything should point to that as the reason we are gathered instead of its being an accessory.
Read what Alan has to say, and stop back here to share your comments. I'd love to see what you think. How can we make the Lord's Supper meaningful for children? Any ideas?

3 comments:

Alan Knox said...

Elder's Wife,

Thank you for linking to my blog and for the kind words. I enjoyed reading how your group has shared in the Lord's Supper. I'm that many people are thinking seriously about the supper. I appreciate your comment about the supper not being tacked on to the end of a meeting.

-Alan

Elder's Wife said...

Alan-
What's your policy on children taking the Lord's Supper? We allow children to participate with the parents' permission if they feel the child is saved and understands the significance of what is being done.
Is there something you might do to make the Lord's Supper more easily understood by children who are present?
Kat

Alan Knox said...

E.W... (are initials ok?),

Whether or not children participate in the elements is left up to the parents and the children. We welcome children to the meal. In fact, I enjoy talking to children while we eat. The children also join in during our prayer time following. They always suggest great songs to sing and make heart-felt prayer requests.

We explain the significance of the Lord's Supper from Scripture. We haven't tried to do anything specifically aimed at children.

-Alan