Weekly Lord's Supper

The early church took communion on the first day of the week - that's also when my church does it.


Is it wrong to do it differently? I don't know - I'm personally not going to condemn others for doing it differently.

How do you know that when the early Christians partook of this memorial Wes? Also, why does the congregation where you worship adhere to this as well?

I'm fairly certain that I know what you will answer, but I have learned never to assume the anwers for another individual. I look forward to hearing back from you

I think that the LS can be eaten whenever a group of believers comes together for worship and fellowship. I believe it should be shared together at least once a week (the Lord's Day). The more you do it, the better. Of course, how it is done is a different issue.

Why do you believe this?

Me? (I think so..)

I believe this because I believe that the LS is a meal shared with resurrected Lord and with other believers. It is a fellowship meal to celebrate the Life we have through the Life of Jesus. It's really just a matter of opinion...I like to celebrate stuff and that sounds like an important thing to celebrate--much more than a birthday or whatever. It is fine to take one day a year and reflect on Jesus' birth or his death...but those things were one time events in the past. He is living today and every day; he is raised from the dead and each day has a newness about it because of his Living Spirit. That is why I believe this.

Why do you believe that this can be done on any day rather than just the first day of the week?

I apreciate your answer; I should have been more specific with my question the first time. I look forward to hearing back from you again

aggie03 said:

Why do you believe that this can be done on any day rather than just the first day of the week?

I apreciate your answer; I should have been more specific with my question the first time. I look forward to hearing back from you again

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Because the Lord's Supper is not a legalistic ritual. It is a meal. It is a meal shared with Jesus and with one another. I can't be any more specific than that. There is no law for or against sharing the LS once a day, once a week, or once a year. It is up to you when you want to share it with other people.

Can you provide me with some evidence from the Bible that supports what you are saying? This is something that I am currently studying, and I am genuinely curious of your thoughts on the topic.

aggie03 said:

How do you know that when the early Christians partook of this memorial Wes? Also, why does the congregation where you worship adhere to this as well?

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I cannot remember the exact Scripture. If I remember it I will post it.

aggie03 said:

Can you provide me with some evidence from the Bible that supports what you are saying? This is something that I am currently studying, and I am genuinely curious of your thoughts on the topic.

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Sure.

Covenant Meals in the OT:

Gen.2:16-7; 3:17-23
Gen.9:1-9
Gen.14:18-20
Gen.24:52-54a
Gen.26:26-30
Gen.31:51-54
Ex.12
Ex.24:1-11
Lev.7:11-15
Deut.27:1-7
2 Chron.7:1-7
Ps.116
Esther 9:17 (ff)
Isa.25:5-10
Ezra 6:13-22
Neh.7:73-8:18

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Fellowship Meals in the OT

Lev.9 (also Lev.3:1-17; 4:10,26,31,35; 7:11-38)
Ex.20:24; 24:5
Lev.9:4,18,22
Num.29:39
Num.6:13-17
Deut.27:7; Josh.8:31
I Sam. 1
I Sam.11:15
2 Sam.6:17; I Chron.16:1-2
II Sam.24:25
I Chron.29:21-22
I Kings 3:15
I Kings 9:25; II Chron.7:7
II Chron.29:35; 30:32
II Chron.31:2
II Chron.33:16
Eze.43:27; 45:15, 17; 46:2,12
Ps.116
Ps.56:12-13
Ps.107:22
Ps.50

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The Last Supper:

Mt.36
Mk.14
Lk.22
(Jn.13ff)

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Table Fellowship in Luke-Acts:

Lk.5:27-32
Lk.7:36-50
Lk.9:10-17
Lk.10:38-42
Lk.11:37-54
Lk.14:1-24
Lk.19:1-10
Lk.22:7-38
Lk.24:13-35
Lk.24:36-53
Acts 2:42-47
Acts 20:7-12

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Paul:

I Cor.10:1-22
I Cor.11:17-34

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Only after the first century did the gradual separation of the bread/wine and the meal occur. By the fourth century the agape meal was not even allowed in churches anymore and the use of tables was forbidden.

By the 8th Century, the whole concept of meal and table were fogotten. Meals were no longer even a conceptual part of the LS memorial.

Throughout the centuries, some have tried to bring back the concept of a communal meal (the Unitas Fratrum, the Brethren Movement, The Quakers, John Glas, Robert Sandeman, and even Alexander Campbell!) but these have been pushed aside and the altar concept of the LS remains today.

Pliny's letter to the Emperor Trajan, written in the shadow of the apostolic age (112 A.D.), declared of the Christians that:

Romans 14

ischus said:

Sure.

Covenant Meals in the OT:

Gen.2:16-7; 3:17-23
Gen.9:1-9
Gen.14:18-20
Gen.24:52-54a
Gen.26:26-30
Gen.31:51-54
Ex.12
Ex.24:1-11
Lev.7:11-15
Deut.27:1-7
2 Chron.7:1-7
Ps.116
Esther 9:17 (ff)
Isa.25:5-10
Ezra 6:13-22
Neh.7:73-8:18

--

Fellowship Meals in the OT

Lev.9 (also Lev.3:1-17; 4:10,26,31,35; 7:11-38)
Ex.20:24; 24:5
Lev.9:4,18,22
Num.29:39
Num.6:13-17
Deut.27:7; Josh.8:31
I Sam. 1
I Sam.11:15
2 Sam.6:17; I Chron.16:1-2
II Sam.24:25
I Chron.29:21-22
I Kings 3:15
I Kings 9:25; II Chron.7:7
II Chron.29:35; 30:32
II Chron.31:2
II Chron.33:16
Eze.43:27; 45:15, 17; 46:2,12
Ps.116
Ps.56:12-13
Ps.107:22
Ps.50

--

The Last Supper:

Mt.36
Mk.14
Lk.22
(Jn.13ff)

--

Table Fellowship in Luke-Acts:

Lk.5:27-32
Lk.7:36-50
Lk.9:10-17
Lk.10:38-42
Lk.11:37-54
Lk.14:1-24
Lk.19:1-10
Lk.22:7-38
Lk.24:13-35
Lk.24:36-53
Acts 2:42-47
Acts 20:7-12

--

Paul:

I Cor.10:1-22
I Cor.11:17-34

--

Only after the first century did the gradual separation of the bread/wine and the meal occur. By the fourth century the agape meal was not even allowed in churches anymore and the use of tables was forbidden.

By the 8th Century, the whole concept of meal and table were fogotten. Meals were no longer even a conceptual part of the LS memorial.

Throughout the centuries, some have tried to bring back the concept of a communal meal (the Unitas Fratrum, the Brethren Movement, The Quakers, John Glas, Robert Sandeman, and even Alexander Campbell!) but these have been pushed aside and the altar concept of the LS remains today.

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Thank you for this information. I've neglected this study lately, and I apologize to all who have given their input. I will look over these verses and post more questions/comments. Thank again

aggie03 said:

Thank you for this information. I've neglected this study lately, and I apologize to all who have given their input. I will look over these verses and post more questions/comments. Thank again

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No problem. By the way, that list was not intended to be exhaustive. I was just trying to give a Biblical overview of the theme. I look foward to you comments.

This topic is really exciting to me, because I just exhausted my brain in an individual study of the Lord's Supper. This is what I found out about the subject:

To the Jews, the Passover meal symbolized a sacrificed lamb. This sacrificed lamb showed God which houses to "pass over", sparing the death of the firstborn son. This was a common thing to the Jews, being celebrated annually.
When Jesus was preparing the apostles to understand His death, He used the holiday to His advantage. They came together to celebrate passover and Jesus told the guys that they no longer need to think of the bread and juice as the lamb, but as His body and His blood. And that when they commemorate passover, they can think of Him and His sacrifice. Since the passover was a part of every Jew's life, this was an effective way to help understand and remember the sacrifice of Christ.

I do believe the LS is a great way to remember Christ, and that it very well could have been intended for people in 2007, but I think it has far less meaning to us since we haven't grown up celebrating passover.
I am conscious of the references to breaking bread in the NT, but I haven't been shown anything that makes me believe thier breaking of bread is more than a meal together. And the reference to the fact that they got together on a certain Sunday doesn't show me that they even got together every Sunday.

I grew up in a church that emphasized the LS so much that it lost it's meaning. There is danger in making it such a common thing that it loses it's meaning.
I do not believe that the LS has any forgivness power pr needs to be taken to be closer to God.

I hope my train of thought has been expressed well enough to be understood.
For the most part, I looked at the accounts of the "institution of the Lord's Supper" in the Gospels, but if you want me to find and reference other scriptures that I looked at I would be glad to.
(This is a quick summary of what I looked at and the conclusion I came up with and is not intended to give the impression that I even think slightly less of those who think differently)

Acts 20:7-12 said:

7On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. 8There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. 9Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. 10Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "He's alive!" 11Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. 12The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.

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Read the wording carefully. In the passage that is used to prove that we're to take the LS on the first day of the week, they end up having the LS on...the second day of the week.

Stinker said:

Pliny's letter to the Emperor Trajan, written in the shadow of the apostolic age (112 A.D.), declared of the Christians that:

It was their habit on a fixed day to assemble before daylight and sing ... After this was done, their custom was to depart and meet again to take food, but ordinary and harmless food.


And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread,.... Acts 20:7

Christians gather on Sunday to remember Christ.
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There's also a reference in the Didache (AD 90) to the Lord's Supper.

90AD DIDACHE: "Christian Assembly on the Lord's Day: 1. But every Lord's day do ye gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. 2. But let no one that is at variance with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned. 3. For this is that which was spoken by the Lord: In every place and time offer to me a pure sacrifice; for I am a great King, saith the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the nations." (Didache: The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, Chapter XIV)