Communion.

I grew up in the Lutheran church and loved it. In my middle school years, we transitioned into a non-denominational church setting and I loved that too. My dad is a pastor and I grew up fully immersed in the church and I loved it.

When I think back to moments of childhood and so much time spent in the church building and with our church family, all the good feelings come flooding to me. I learned so much in those years and the foundation of my faith was built.

I learned so many fundamental prayers and rituals in those church days that have always stuck with me, and continued on throughout all my years growing up in the church. The Biblical practices and rhythms of things like the Lord’s prayer, baptism and communion have these deep meaningful roots that bring rich traditions to life in an actionable faith walk. Communion (the Lord’s Supper) is the breaking and eating of bread to symbolize Christ’s body broken for us and drinking wine to remember the blood he shed for our sins.

Recently, my 2 oldest daughters went through a First Communion class with my mom and dove into the reasons and purpose behind communion and it served as a reminder for me to engage in communion with the Lord more often, and as a family.

Since then, I’ve started a Sunday family communion tradition and it has been life-changing. For us as a family, to take time together each Sunday and sit down and talk about the Bible stories, why Jesus has called us to commune and taking that time to repent and receive God’s forgiveness is crucial. It’s vital. It’s growing for us as a family unite to engage in this act together. It’s been this very peaceful part of our Sabbath that I really look forward to.

We are practicing traditions and entering into a covenant where we observe the Lord’s Supper and what He is doing in/through/with us through the process. We are symbolically intermingling Christ’s blood with our own while sharing a meal together as a people which makes him a part of us and us a part of him. How precious and holy is that?

1 Corinthians 10:16-17 ESV

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

Each week, it looks different. The bread. The wine. The vessels. But the purpose behind it all remains the same. The reason we do it rings true. The action steps and process are powerful each week.

Sometimes, my husband leads the conversation and teaching, and some weeks, I do. Some weeks, we ask the children to prepare something for our communion time together. The point is that we are doing it. And that we are walking through rhythms that build habits and grounding.

Matthew 26:26-28 ESV

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Let’s dive further into communion together a little, shall we?

There is so much purpose and passion behind taking communion:

• Remembering Christ died for us

• Giving thanks

• Examining our hearts

• Repenting of our sins

• Communing with God + fellow believers

• Accepting God’s forgiveness

• Acknowledging our covenant with him

• Turning away from our sin

• Anticipating His return

You get to do communion as often as you’d like and whenever you’d like. There is no specification in this. Do it as the Holy Spirit prompts you or pick a day like us, or do it on special days or whenever you randomly feel the prompting.

“Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes (1 Cor 11:25-26).”

Here are a few different ways to actually take communion:

• crackers + grapejuice

• intinction: where you break of pieces of bread from a larger loaf and everyone dips into a communal glass of wine

• communal wafers + wine

• individual cups or communal vessel to drink out of

• any mix of everything above

Simply pick your “bread” that represents the body and choose the “wine” that represents the blood. This is a symbolic ritual so find what resonates best with you and know that at the core of it all, it’s about Jesus, not what particular cracker or juice you choose or how you ingest it.

For me, there is even something special in the preparation, presenting and process of communion. In our hearts but in physical form. For me, I take pleasure in preparing a place for us to gather and partake of this meal together.

However, you don’t need anything fancy. You can use a paper plate or no plate. Paper cups or take sips straight out of a bottle. What is most important is where your heart is positioned in the process.

1 Corinthians 11:26 ESV

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

John 6:53-58 ESV

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. ...

You can honestly just use paper cups and stale crackers, if that is all you have. But I do want to share a portion of preparation that I enjoy taking part in- making a really pretty set up for our communion time. I have slowly collected little glass cups and glasses just to use in the home for special occasions that have been very useful in our communion time.

I have grabbed them all at garage sales and thrift stores for extremely cheap prices so it hasn’t been this huge investment either. I also try to keep some sparkling juice on hand for each Sunday communion time as well as a different kind of break. We switch up HOW we take communion each week and just go with what we feel. Make it work for you and just sit in the process.

Before we take communion, we sit in a space of silence where we spend time repenting of our sins and connecting with our forgiving Heavenly Father. As a family, those moments have been humbling and to experience that with our children is powerful.

This sacrament is sacred.

What other questions do you have about communion? I hope this inspires you to look deeper into communion, it’s meaning and purpose and maybe decide its something you want to consistently partake in for your life.