In the Lord’s Supper we share in receiving spiritual nourishment and refreshment for our souls. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:53-54 NIV). Again, Jesus was not speaking about a literal eating of his flesh and drinking of his blood to gain eternal life but of a spiritual feeding on Christ: We feed on Christ in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving. The sixteenth-century Reformer, John Calvin, called the bread and the wine “visible words”.

• In the Lord’s Supper we share in the unity of the saints. Paul wrote: “Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” (1 Corinthians 10:17). And so in Communion we join together with believers down the ages and throughout the world, in receiving and worshipping the risen Jesus.
• In the Lord’s Supper we share in receiving Christ’s personal affirmation of His love for us. Jesus instituted the sacrament and invites us to partake of it, and so we join together, come into His presence and then we each personally receive a vivid reminder of His love for us in the sacraments, the symbols.
• In the Lord’s Supper we share in receiving Christ’s personal affirmation that the blessings of salvation are reserved for us. We are eating and drinking a foretaste of the King’s wedding banquet, where a place has already been reserved for us.
• In the Lord’s Supper we share in affirming our personal faith in Christ. As we share in Communion we are acknowledging that our sins were the reason for Christ’ suffering and death, and that our forgiveness is found only in accepting by faith the gift of God. Paul wrote: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no-one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV).

In addition to all of this, Christ is spiritually present in a special way when we come together as a church and share in Communion. Jesus promised to be with us always: “Surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). But he also promised to be present when believers gather in his name to worship: “Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20). – I think of it like this: Jesus is always with us because we live in the same house, but when we come together in worship to share communion, it’s like we are in the same room, sat around the table. Jesus presence with believers is an abiding presence but in another sense, there is a special presence, a nearness of His being with us, when we come to share in the Sacraments… when, that is, we partake with a sincere and grateful heart (after self-examination).

In the Lord’s Supper we share in receiving spiritual nourishment and refreshment for our souls. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:53-54 NIV). Again, Jesus was not speaking about a literal eating of his flesh and drinking of his blood to gain eternal life but of a spiritual feeding on Christ: We feed on Christ in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving. The sixteenth-century Reformer, John Calvin, called the bread and the wine “visible words”.

• In the Lord’s Supper we share in the unity of the saints. Paul wrote: “Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” (1 Corinthians 10:17). And so in Communion we join together with believers down the ages and throughout the world, in receiving and worshipping the risen Jesus.
• In the Lord’s Supper we share in receiving Christ’s personal affirmation of His love for us. Jesus instituted the sacrament and invites us to partake of it, and so we join together, come into His presence and then we each personally receive a vivid reminder of His love for us in the sacraments, the symbols.
• In the Lord’s Supper we share in receiving Christ’s personal affirmation that the blessings of salvation are reserved for us. We are eating and drinking a foretaste of the King’s wedding banquet, where a place has already been reserved for us.
• In the Lord’s Supper we share in affirming our personal faith in Christ. As we share in Communion we are acknowledging that our sins were the reason for Christ’ suffering and death, and that our forgiveness is found only in accepting by faith the gift of God. Paul wrote: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no-one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV).

In addition to all of this, Christ is spiritually present in a special way when we come together as a church and share in Communion. Jesus promised to be with us always: “Surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). But he also promised to be present when believers gather in his name to worship: “Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20). – I think of it like this: Jesus is always with us because we live in the same house, but when we come together in worship to share communion, it’s like we are in the same room, sat around the table. Jesus presence with believers is an abiding presence but in another sense, there is a special presence, a nearness of His being with us, when we come to share in the Sacraments… when, that is, we partake with a sincere and grateful heart (after self-examination).