That is, by the power of the Spirit and through faith, we feed upon Jesus himself, who is our forgiveness, righteousness and bread of life (manna from heaven). We agree with the apostle Paul who said: "Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation (koinonia) in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ (1 Cor. 10:16)?" As we partake of these God-given elements, we are actually communing with our risen Lord.

Furthermore, through the Eucharist we are privileged to give thanks for the grace of the one who sustains us and to whom we are eternally united, and with whom we will eternally dine in heaven. We believe that this foretaste of the Great Marriage Supper of the Lamb is not to be missed, for through the ordinary means of bread and wine, God graciously includes us in an extra-ordinary banquet of backward looking remembrance and forward looking delight.

Biblical studies suggest that frequent observance was the pattern of the early church. In Acts 2:42 and 20:7, we find the church "breaking bread" together – a phrase that connotes the inclusion of communion in corporate worship (cf. Matt. 26:26-30). Also, Paul’s rebuke of the Corinthians (1 Cor. 11), for their poor treatment of one another during the Lord’s Supper, implies that communion was a central aspect of their weekly gatherings.

Our PCA Directory for Worship says: "The Communion, or Supper of the Lord, is to be observed frequently; the stated times to be determined by the Session of each congregation, as it may judge most for edification." (58-1). Our session has determined that weekly observance will edify us all. We also concluded that if we agree with the meaning of the Lord’s Supper, as laid out in the Scripture and developed by our tradition, the real question becomes: "Why wouldn’t we have weekly communion?"

The Westminster Larger Catechism says: "The Lord’s Supper is a sacrament of the New Testament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine according to the appointment of Jesus Christ, his death is shewed forth; and they that worthily communicate feed upon his body and blood, to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace; have their union and communion with him confirmed; testify and renew their thankfulness, and engagement to the God, and their mutual love and fellowship each with the other, as members of the same mystical body." (Answer, 168)

Following the theological method of the framers of the Westminster documents, we need to look at the entire Bible in its progression from promise to fulfillment in Christ to ascertain what God is doing with and saying to his people. As with baptism, the theme of covenant is at the heart of our denomination’s approach to the Lord’s Supper. God binds himself to his loved-ones by means of covenants (cf. Genesis 15; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 7:22; 8). We also find that God not only speaks about his covenant relationship through his Word, but that he offers his children covenant signs through which they are sealed to him, blessed with the benefits of his grace, called to live-out the covenant terms, and included in his magnificent, redemptive activity in the world.

The dynamic relation between God’s covenants and his covenant signs is called a sacramental union. This means that the sign, in some measure, spiritually participates in the reality to which it points, conveying that reality to those who receive the sign by faith. For example, in Genesis 17:10 God defines the covenant between himself and Abraham and Abraham’s offspring as a covenant of circumcision. God, of course, wasn’t reducing everything to that physical mark; rather he was saying that that physical mark would signify, communicate and apply to their lives the spiritual realities of God’s covenant relationship with them.

Closer to our theme, we find that every time Israel ate the Passover meal they were not only recalling that their forbearers had been saved from God’s wrath by the blood of the sacrificial lamb, but they were also partaking of the benefits of that sacrifice themselves (cf. Exodus 12:21-28). In other words, the Passover was made contemporary to them when they sat down to eat and drink. They would experience God’s covenant work anew as they received the signs linked to that covenant. Furthermore, we find in Exodus 24 that after the Israelites were sprinkled with the ratifying blood of the covenant, the leaders ate a meal in the presence of God. In the Bible, the corporate enjoyment of food is theologically and spiritually meaningful.

In fulfillment of the Old Testament, Jesus shared his Last Supper on the eve of the Passover, identifying the bread as his body and the cup as the new covenant (Matt. 26:17-29). Therefore, as believers physically eat of the bread and drink of the cup, we receive the benefits of Jesus’ "Passover" death on our behalf (remember the notion of sacramental union). That is, through the physical elements that he has ordained we experience the spiritual blessings of the new covenant, ratified in his sacrificial blood.This is why we call the Lord’s Supper a means of grace: the elements are not ends in themselves, but a means to an end – Christ. And so, we can say with the catechism that at the new covenant meal our union with our covenant Mediator is confirmed and strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit, who has lifted us up to be seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6).

Jesus said these startling words in John 6: "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 on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live for ever."

It’s only as we partake of Jesus’ flesh and blood that we can receive his eternal life. And though he wasn’t referring directly to communion, it’s not a stretch to say that as we drink the wine by faith we are drinking of his blood; that is, we’re receiving the forgiveness, cleansing and life that his blood has procured for us, represented by the visible sign. The thematic and theological connections between the Lord’s Supper and Jesus’ call to feast on him cannot be denied. The grace of Christ is conveyed to us not only by the auditory Word, but also by visible emblems – baptism and communion.

The elders read a helpful book entitled The Lord’s Supper: Eternal Word in Broken Bread. In it, Robert Letham’s connects John 6 with the supper in a helpful way, holding forth two truths we mustn’t lose sight of: "First, we feed on Christ the bread of life through faith. The eucharist is not some magical rite that automatically conveys the grace of God . . . we cannot eat the Lord’s Supper aright apart from faith. Second, Christ is the bread of life in the Lord’s Supper. Jesus does not teach magic but neither does he purvey some idealized spiritual salvation, divorced from the flesh. Eating and drinking go together with faith. The are two sides of the same coin. The eucharist is central to the Gospel. While the eucharist without faith profits us nothing, so faith with the eucharist is barren and empty." (13). Amen.

We desperately need contemporary worship. That is, we need what God did through Christ 2000 years ago to apply and to speak to us today. And though, for example, a consideration of the tempo of our songs, and the use of humor in sermons is worthwhile, wouldn’t it behoove us to cling to God’s method of making our faith contemporary and applicable? The Bible teaches that one of the key ways that the deep goodness of God and his relationship with us is made relevant and "brought home" to our minds and hearts is through the sacraments (covenant signs) he has gifted to us, the new Israel. Baptism has been called God’s sign of initiating grace (Romans 6:3-4), while communion has been called God’s sign of preserving grace. Through one we’re joined to Christ, while through the other we’re nourished in Christ. Furthermore, through these "props" God includes and confirms us in his dramatic, ancient, living story -- the story that is certainly more relevant and interesting than anything we might invent.

Another clue to the meaning of the Supper is found in the word already used above, eucharist, the basic Greek root of which is charis -- grace. The verb eucharisteo means ‘to give thanks.’ See how these all tie together? At the eucharist we give thanks for the grace of God in Christ. And so, though we come to grips with our sin at the Supper, more importantly we are gripped by God’s mercy which gladdens our hearts. Communion entails testifying and renewing our thankfulness. So, joy and celebration, not sorrow, should be the dominant note at the eucharist.

Finally, communion is a corporate event that concerns our relationship with God and our relationship with one another. When Paul tells the Corinthians that they mustn’t eat and drink without discerning the body (11:29), he’s most likely referring to our need to discern the church, given the surrounding context. As we partake of the bread, we are reminded that we are one body. And so, as our catechism says, communion is an opportunity to express and strengthen our unity, even as we seek to be reconciled to those with whom we have tension, disagreements, etc. Weekly communion makes it harder to hold something against our brother or sister, because it confronts us with grace, even as it calls us to extend grace.

As a Reformed church we have a decidedly different view of communion than Rome does. Though a thorough explanation of our respective doctrines is beyond the range of this paper, we neither believe in transubstantiation, wherein the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ, nor do we affirm the corresponding doctrine that says that Christ is being re-sacrificed in the meal. The elements don’t become inherently holy; neither do we call the meal a Mass, nor the table an altar. We are, and will continue to be, Protestant.

Another scholar, whose work the session studied, made this fascinating historical observation: "[While] the evidence from Scripture and the writings of the early church fathers points to the regular, weekly celebration of the Lord’s Supper . . . infrequent communion was the later (Middle Ages) Roman Catholic Church innovation." (Keith Mathison, Given For You: Reclaiming Calvin’s Doctrine of the Lord’s Supper, 297). Therefore, following the lead of Reformers like John Calvin, we want to return to the apostolic Christian practice of weekly communion.

No, of course, not. The real problem is that we don’t always mean what we say, failing to invest ourselves in our words. Though repetition can dull our reaction to anything in life, it can also help us to appreciate things more. The issue is often our attitude and focus.

Likewise, everything we do in worship (including our coming to the same place, at the same time every week), can potentially lose its "special-ness." The solution is to ask the Lord to keep our minds from wandering from, and our hearts from growing cold to, the wonder of our weekly Lord’s Day meeting with him. When you say that you love him in a familiar song, mean what you sing; when you eat the familiar bread and wine, look with trust to the Person they represent who says, "I love you so much that I died to set you free, to make you my own and to bring you home someday for eternal communion."

Worship is more about what we receive from God than what we grant to God. Therefore, at each Lord’s Day gathering learn to revel in his mercies that are new every morning (Lamentations 3:20).

Having said this, we must recognize some things. The abuse of wine is not merely a problem of modern society. It was an ancient problem as well -- one that the writers of the Bible warned God’s people to avoid (cf. Ephes. 5:18; 1 Peter 4:3). And yet the same Bible that cautions against abuse, celebrates the proper and prudent use of wine, even calling it a gift from God (cf. Gen. 14:18; 27:28, 37; Prov. 3:10). Notice what Isaiah says about the theological import of wine in the assembly of God’s people: "On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine [mere grape juice doesn’t need to age], of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined" (Isaiah 25:6). The consummation of our salvation is pictured as a grand festival, complete with superb food and drink. And there’ll be no "two-buck chuck" in heaven, for Jesus himself will be the master wine maker, marveling his guests like he did at Cana, saving the best till last! So here’s the crucial question: if wine will be enjoyed then, why must it be forbidden now?

Christian freedom and charity work two ways on this issue: those who think wine is improper should, nevertheless, accept their church’s biblically motivated use of wine in communion. On the other hand, your leaders believe that the church must welcome and make room for those of you whose own backgrounds and scruples (perhaps based upon their own biblical studies) keep you from drinking any alcohol. The Bible does not give us a rigid blueprint for how we ought to proceed in these matters. God’s Word does, however, call us to balance doctrinal concerns with love and compassion. We hope and pray that our solution, following the example of many other churches, PCA and otherwise, meets both these goals!

While believers are re-focused upon Christ's saving and sustaining work, non-believers are confronted with his death and how they are going to respond to it. The Supper encourages the presiding minister to give a short, simple explanation of the Gospel each week, no matter the scope and depth of the sermon.

Moreover, we plan to print some explanations and prayers in the back of the order of worship that might help non-believers consider Christ and come to him. More than a few churches have found this to be a powerful witness to the lost!

Also, we'll offer a couple of second hour classes on this theme in October. More of your questions can be fielded in those forums. Therefore, we can't really say that wine ought to be avoided since "these days" some brothers and sisters struggle with it. Remember that some brothers and sisters also struggled with it in "those days," and yet the Corinthians weren't told to completely avoid wine; in fact, it was used in their observance of the supper. The Bible's answer is not absolute prohibition, but Spirit led self-control. And if we say that the church is leading people into sin through the use of wine, then this accusation must be attached to Jesus and Paul, as well – something none of us would want to assert. To pick up on another of Isaiah's themes, some people struggle with gluttony, but this doesn't mean that food should be abolished. Rather, food-abusers must realign themselves with a responsible use of this gift from the Lord – proper nourishment and prudent celebration.