MEAL AND THE MEAL
MEAL
Good things happen around a table. We often read of Jesus and His disciples eating and discussing life and spiritual matters.
Don’t rush the important fellowship that happens at mealtime.
You can do potlucks or take turns providing meals.
You can use a banking app to reimburse costs.
You could ask someone to oversee a meal calendar.
It’s best to keep the meals simple and budget conscious. Whatever you, don’t get into a competition and one-upmanship with meals.
THE MEAL
Plan on celebrating the Lord’s Supper at every gathering.
You can read the story from one of the Gospels or from the Apostle Paul (See Matthew 26:26-30, Mark 14:22-26, Luke 22:14-20, 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 or 23-29) or Psalm 23 or Isaiah 53.
The Lord’s Supper is for believers only. Regularly mention this before celebrating. But also stress that anyone can become a believer right then and there and use the Lord’s Supper as a declaration of his or her faith in Jesus.
Serve alcoholic and non-alcoholic wine or juice. Children and pregnant women and those who don’t drink alcohol for the sake of health or conscious will be there so have a non-alcoholic option. If there’s someone in your MicroChurch who’s really struggling with alcoholism or against the use of alcohol, the strong may need to forgo their freedom for this weaker brother or sister and not serve any alcoholic wine. (See Romans 14-15. You can be right for all the wrong reasons.) For the sake of simplicity, you may want to serve only non-alcoholic juice.
As you pass out the bread and cups, you can say, “The body of Christ, given for you” and “The blood of Christ, shed for you” or just “The body of Christ and the blood of Christ for you.”
This is a great place for the family to minister to one another.
You could have different people pray before taking the bread and the cup.
You could have a person share what the Lord’s Supper means to them or what Jesus’ sacrificial death means to them.
You could also have a person share the Good News of Jesus Christ as way to prepare for The Meal and to practice sharing the faith.
You could lay hands on each person, have a person pronounce a blessing over them and then serve them the Lord’s Supper.
You could wash each others’ feet and then serve communion.
You could start your meal or end your meal by celebrating the Lord’s Supper.
Be creative.
Here are two liturgical forms you could use for the Lord’s Supper. The first form was already introduced in Week 6 - DISCIPLESHIP.
LORD’S SUPPER
Form 1
Leader:
We give thanks to God the Father that our Savior, Jesus Christ, before He suffered, gave us this memorial of His sacrifice, until He comes again. At His last supper, the Lord Jesus 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, He took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this in remembrance of Me.” For whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
Together, let us declare our faith in the words of the Apostles’ Creed (1).
All:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ,
His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day He rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit
the holy Christian (2) church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
Leader:
Together, let us pray as Jesus taught us to pray.
All:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins
As we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.
Leader:
Take, eat, remember, and believe that the body of our Lord Jesus Christ was given for the complete forgiveness of all our sins.
Take, drink, remember, and believe that the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ was shed for the complete forgiveness of all our sins.
(1) This creed is called the Apostles' Creed not because it was formulated by the apostles themselves but because it contains a brief summary of their teachings.
(2) Traditionally, “the holy catholic church”. That is, the true Christian church of all times and all places.
LORD’S SUPPER
Form 2
Leader:
We praise You, merciful Father, because in Your tender love You gave the world Your only Son, in order that the world might be saved through Him. He made You known by taking the form of a servant, healing the sick, freeing the captives, and seeking the lost. Betrayed, reviled, and nailed to the cross, He confronted the power of sin and disarmed it forever. In His offering of Himself, He became the perfect and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. Redeemed by Christ, we have been adopted as Your children. By Your pardon, You have made us worthy to praise You.
Together, let us declare our faith.
All:
Christ has died,
Christ is risen,
Christ will come again.
Leader:
We give thanks to God the Father that our Savior, Jesus Christ, before He suffered, gave us this memorial of His sacrifice, until He comes again. At His last supper, the Lord Jesus 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, He took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this in remembrance of Me.” For whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
In obedience to Him and with grateful hearts we approach Your holy table, remembering our Savior’s sacrifice, and rejoicing in His victory.
Together, let us confess our sin.
All:
Most holy and merciful Father,
We confess to You and to one another,
that we have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved You with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
We have not fully loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We have not always had in us the mind of Christ.
You alone know how often we have grieved You
by wasting Your gifts, and by wandering from Your ways.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
Forgive us, Father, and free us from our sin.
Renew in us the grace and strength of Your Holy Spirit,
for the sake of Jesus Christ Your Son our Savior. Amen.
Leader:
Send Your Holy Spirit on us that as we receive this bread and this cup we share in the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and feed on Him in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving. May we be renewed in His risen life, filled with love, and strengthened in our will to serve others. May our lives be a pure and holy sacrifice, acceptable to You. And knit us together as one in Your Son Jesus Christ, to whom, with You and the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory, now and forever.
All:
Amen.
Leader:
The body of Christ, given for you.
The blood of Christ, shed for you.
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