Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition

LESSON 1 | THEOLOGY OF THE CHURCH: THE CHURCH AT WORSHIP / 277

2. You may also hear it called the eucharist (which means “thanksgiving meal”), Communion, or the Lord’s Table. The Lord’s Supper was given to the Church by Jesus himself on the night before he was arrested.

There is in the Lord’s Supper a constant renewal of the covenant between God and the Church. The word ‘remembrance’ (anamnesis) refers not simply to man’s remembering of the Lord but also to God’s remembrance of his Messiah and his covenant, and of his promise to restore the Kingdom. At the Supper all this is brought before God in true intercessory prayer. ~ R. S. Wallace. “Lord’s Supper.” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Walter A. Elwell, ed. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1984. p. 653.

B. Established by Jesus Christ

1. Matt. 26.26-29

2. 1 Cor. 11.23-26

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C. Observed regularly from the earliest days of the Church onward

C hr i s t i an M i n i s t ry

All the early evidence . . . indicated that while the elements of the service [of the early Church] had no fixed sequence, the climactic event of the weekly service on the Lord’s Day was the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. ~ R. G. Rayburn. “Worship in the Church.” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Walter A. Elwell, ed. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996. p. 1193. The [Lord’s Supper] might be celebrated in the most becoming manner, if it were dispensed to the Church very frequently, at least once a week. . . . We ought always to provide that no meeting of the Church is held without the word, prayer, dispensation of the Supper, and [collecting money for the poor].

~ John Calvin. Institutes . 4.17.43-44.

A second reason why every Christian should [take communion] as often as he can is, because the benefits of doing it are so great. . . . The grace of God given herein confirms to us the pardon of our sins, by enabling us to leave them. As our bodies are strengthened by bread and wine, so are our souls by these tokens of the body and blood of Christ. This is the food of our souls: This gives strength to perform our duty, and leads us on to perfection. If, therefore, we have any regard