Transcript: The Lord's Supper (Louis Berkhof)

So we return to our study in preparation to be a Christian officiant in terms of the Lord's Supper communion. what is it? Let's just talk about it from a ministry training perspective. What is the Lord's supper? We found out that it really was the replacement of the Passover meal. it's the Christian replacement of the Passover meal. It is a ritual, ceremony habit done in the church and have been done for 2000 years. we see that something about ritual, rituals are extremely important habits are extremely important. this is a habit that's in the fabric of the Christian tradition, the Christian church. It's something that functions to give purpose, and the reason it's been done for generations upon generations, is that it was instituted as a habit that we should be practicing. It is a long-standing tradition. I bring that up because it is deeply embedded in Christianity. what does it mean or what does it do for someone? Let's talk about that. it brings the spiritual presence of Jesus Christ to partakers. Now, there are different ways that's theologically understood in let's talk about those wafers. 

There's transubstantiation, that's the Catholic view, and the Catholics believe and have come to believe that when the priests give the wafer it actually becomes the physical body of Jesus Christ. The Lutheran is kind of substantiation believe that the elements of Christ's body are with, and in the elements themselves, and you can take the theology class to get deeper into what that means. Calvin, which became sort of the view that's shared by most of Angelical, or Protestant churches, believe that the spiritual presence of Christ Jesus is there when communion is taken. There was one more view that was commonly shared that with those Lingley knew that it's a symbolic memorial that reminds us of Christ, but it really didn't address whether his presence was there. those are those views. what does it do for someone is, when you take the elements in share the elements, you are bringing the presence of Christ, to those who participate? What does it do for you? What does it mean? We understand it stands as a nourishment. Nourishment of the soul, that Christians who partake of the Lord's Supper are nourished through the presence of Christ. It is a meal that helps us read our bitterness, our sin unconfessed sin. 

what does it do for those that we share this? It helps them remember in 1 Corinthians, but let a man examine himself before he takes. the decision that's the theme that if you have people that you regularly officiate the Lord's Supper, to ask them I know I've officiated the Lord's Supper, like in hospitals. Before I do a fight, let's have a little prayer of confession. Bob, is there anything that you want me to pray for you? Is there a confession or something and so many times people will say yes, because something is bothering them, is hurting their healing? Interestingly, the Apostle Paul talked about why are there sick among you? I have seen people die of bitterness, and when someone's on the healing path, you as an officiant can really help them just get their soul purged away from those things that drag people down. It's also a visual sign. Were you sort of someone may say, just like it was a visual sign? Passover? People say, well, what does this mean? 

What it means is this: it's a visual sign of the gospel promises. It is also a proclamation of hope. In that Jesus said, do this until I come back. In other words, I'll be there, my spiritual presence will be there, continue to do the Lord's Supper through your lifetime, and know that someday, you will eat with me, in the kingdom of heaven. it's just a beautiful place of hope. who is invited? Let's talk about another question, who's invited to the Lord's Supper. There's a little bit of debate about this. We know believers are invited. Many people believe when Jesus said, let the little children come unto me, children are believers, that it's an open table, that if you do not see a child, who is struggling in any sin, let's say you have a teenager, and they're struggling with sin, you know, you may say, you know what, let's not take that, but a younger child who just in the instance of a walk in faith, you know, many believe that child is welcomed to the table. But in general, we know that is for believers. Now, some denominations are churches, believers, for believers, and members of their church. What's understandable about that is with members, maybe there's more supervision. But then others say, well, the supervision is a relational supervision as a, as an officiant, you would know those they are sharing the table with. 

if you think about what communion is, I want to go back to what I said in the last presentation, it is a fellowship meal. What it does for you, yes, it brings the spiritual presence of Christ through a fellowship meal, it nourishes your soul in a fellowship meal, it keeps you free of bitterness in a fellowship meal. It is a fellowship meal that remembers the death of Jesus Christ, the payment for our sins. It is a visual sign in something clear that we can see. the Lord's Supper is a beautiful thing. I want to do one more thing. What I want to do next is just go through the form. let's say you're now sharing the Lord's Supper. How do you actually do this while you're leaning in, you may, it might be part of another service. Or it might be the service itself. Or if you're in a hospital, you're a chaplain in your officiating communion? It might be that you'll read a Bible passage. In the US, maybe it's your Bible passage, and bitterness, or especially if you're in a hospital and someone asked you to read a passage, can you read Psalm 23, then connect? The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of Shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. Then you can say, you know, Sally, the presence of God is with us. we're going to take communion now, and even pass out the elements. As an officiant, you know, you to have the bread and juice to reenact of the drama. What we’re going to do now is look at the form itself. Again, you can do variations on this. when the person you're leading has a brand new have the brand or the group has the bread and the juice. Then say for I received from the Lord, when he also passed on to you, the Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed took bread. then take hold of the bread in your hand, and when he had given thanks, he broke it. break the break as you are saying these words and said, this is My body wishes for you do this in remembrance of Me. then pass out the bread to all the participants. Or, again, the bread may already be passed out, but again, you just kind of see where the context is. now everybody has the bread, and then say, take an eat, remember, and believe the body of our Lord Jesus Christ was given for the forgiveness of all of our sins, then eat the bread. Now, why are you doing this? 

Again, no rushing; just let this moment settle in. It's a sacred moment. Then say, in the same way after the Lord took the cup saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, do this whenever you drink in remembrance of Me. then pass the cup in the wine for juice to all the participants, and say, take drink, remember and believe the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ was shed for the complete forgiveness of all of our sins. Then all of you drink the cup together. Say a prayer summarizing the theme of the service or the passage that you read as a relates to the Lord's Supper. what's happening here is a just a beautiful experience with people as you are officiating the Lord's Supper. At first, if you're new to this might be alone. You might feel a little bit nervous to do this. But it won't be long, and it will be second nature to you as you are helping people to partake of the body and blood of Christ and be nourished in the spiritual way.