52 Sundays but my favorite is...
Fifty-two Sundays a year...Fifty-two worship services… …my favorites to lead and to plan are those where we celebrate communion.
Communion services demand a celebration of the whole story of God…the whole Gospel.
Communion services are an ordinance given by Christ to His followers, to be repeated:
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 gave thanks, broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way, after supper He also took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant established by My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. (I Corinthians 11:23-27)
Inclusion of the story of God, the Gospel, is an imperative for our team when planning worship services. We want to show the majesty of God, the sinfulness of man, the sacrifice of Christ, the available gift of salvation, the promise of ultimate, heavenly encounter with God and our response to all these.
Communion services are a natural way for us to make sure that the redemption part of the story is included, paying attention to the gift of salvation, our short-comings and how we can be right in God’s eyes through what Christ has accomplished.
A blog post from First Baptist Church, Durham, North Carolina describes what they include in a communion services that focuses on God’s redemption plan:
- We look back to the death of Christ
- We look inward in self-examination
- We look up in fellowship with God
- We look around in fellowship with each other
- We look forward to Christ’s return
- We look outward to proclaim God’s word to others
A worship experience that includes communion is one I look forward to. During these services we really experience the Gospel and how God has made it possible to be included now and forever in this great story, His Story.
