Communion together during Covid.

Carl Emerson

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Friends,

As I woke yesterday, I immediately thought of the following...

With so many on lockdown and churches not functioning normally, I am offering to take communion live on Youtube with folks from CF.

We would have to work out a suitable time that will work for those interested.

I would make it simple with a 5 minute intro. No funny hats, I would bake a loaf and we have half a bottle of Pinot Noir.

We are One Body - I am non denominational - I have found He blesses us inexplicably during the breaking of bread.

Why not join us at this challenging time and be strengthened and refreshed in Him?

Jesus is our King.

When two or three gather together He is there.
 

Sooti

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... Hello again Carl

Thanks for your inspiring comment,

"We are One Body - I am non denominational - I have found He blesses us inexplicably during the breaking of bread."

- You struck a note there, saying that Holy Communion is inexplicable, so I hope you don't mind if I hoped to take a moment to explain, just in case someone's there who agrees with that and may not yet know where to find the actual explanation . . . To start, there is also one special thing about communion I wanted to mention, that many people don't seem to celebrate anymore and have either forgotten or missed out on learning. . . it is an opportunity, each and every time we celebrate it, to be permitted to imagine, meditate upon, and celebrate a groovy sort of Devine time travel, even in the most orthodox denominations. In many churches we have been taught that, during the act of Holy Communion, no matter how often we celebrate it, we are allowed to imagine that at that moment when we partake in Holy sacrament that we, (and everyone else who eats and drinks Holy Communion) are actually there and all fitting in that little room where the Last Supper was celebrated, with Him and all the disciples, seated at His very table, with the Lord Jesus Christ himself breaking and offering us the bread to represent his bodily sacrifice, saying (Matthew 26:26) “Take, eat, this is my body." (The logic of this is also backed up in His promise you've already mentioned - Matthew 18:20 - "For where two or three are assembled in My name, I am there among them.”)
Jesus' own description of the "Pinot Noir" is not merely a special "inexplicable" warm fuzzy feeling from a vague religious toast, but a represntation of His actual "blood, the blood of the covenant, that is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:28)
That covenant was the GOOD News (Gospel) of a New Testament - not just an unexplained warm fuzzy feeling, but literally a deadly serious promise that we, despite our fallible and human condition, with all our constant mistakes, naughtiness, illwill and ommissions, would be freed from the sin which would otherwise rot and kill our souls and make eternal life impossible, by one single sacrifice to make GOOD for ALL the sin of the whole world, past, present and future.
The full ceremony of Holy Communion includes a pattern that nowadays (again) all too few either remember or have ever been taught. It has always been based on the Lord's prayer itself:
For the part "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kindgom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven", in Holy Communion services we do what is known as "Glorification and Magnification" and we have a whole range of prayers to thank God and tell God how very special He is, with every word of orthodox services all borrowed from verses we can find for ourselves in scripture, so that we know are true.
Then we do the next part of Jesus' prayer - "Give us this day our daily bread" and to parallel this part of his prayer during communion, we pray for the whole body of the church, and for the whole world. . . In these current times this is where we would put in a mention thanking Him for keeping some of us safe and the rest of us brave during the COVID crisis AND all the other ongoing crises which haven't shown the world the good manners to at least stop while we all deal with that.
The next part of Jesus' special prayer is "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us"
And that's where each of us needs to have realised, confessed, repented and resolved or committed to resolve our sins and ommissions, as well as reaching into our own hearts to make sure we have also forgiven anyone who has accidentally or deliberately caused us personal harm or offense. (Otherwise, we don't get forgiven - see Matthew 6:15 "But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins".)
Then there is a special moment I love, called absolution, where we accept, as I said earlier, that the blood of Jesus is the only reason that all our sins ever possibly could have been forgiven: (not through any penance or sacrifice or donation or volunteer work or spiritual advancement on our own part, let alone from any special minister's presence or purity, but only by Jesus' sacrifice . . . i.e. God's sacrifice of His only begotten Son . . . for our sakes). In a church that has ordinations, we believe that the ordained minister making the sign of the cross during this absolution phase of Holy Communion is passing on a measure of the very same Holy Spirit that settled upon the heads of the apostles at Pentecost, and has been since passed on by the laying of hands for ~2000 years.
Then with all that done as sincerely and whole-heartedly as we can, we have got ourselves as ready as we could be, to receive the Holy Communion - but still, despite all that soul preparation, we tell God that we know that "we are still not worthy so much as to gather the crumbs from under" His table.
Nevertheless, the walls of the church don't fall down, so we are 'allowed' to go to the next step and partake together in His body and His blood: I suppose what I've been driving at here is that Holy Communion has never been either inexplicable or unexplained, not at any stage during these millenia, and has never been merely a "special sort of feeling" that ever merely came from a good drop of wine or good brotherly company or a good sermon.
And of course next there's the last part we say the end of the Lord's prayer: To match where we say "For the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory are Yours, now and forever" . . . At the closure of the Holy Communion ceremony, after the sacrament has been shared, the last act of the minister is to send us all back out into the world with a Trinity of blessing - saying, for example, may the Love of God, the peace of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ which surpasses all understanding, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and forever." Again, this is where ordained ministers and many of us as well make the sign of the cross, and again, either through 2000 years of laying-on of hands since the day of Pentecost (or through that promise that God is with us when we gather in His name) this is where we are blessed by another final dose of the Holy Spirit to give us strength until next we meet
I hope this maybe helps someone to realise or remember why they feel so good about celebrating Holy Communion - when I was little everyone knew all this, but in some places sometimes I hear people who certainly love God, but haven't been aware that He did after all explain exactly how and why Holy Communion is (and feels) so very special, every time. Have a lovely day on Sunday, Carl, and good on you for conducting a service. I wish my internet was good enough to join you
 
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CaspianSails

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... Hello again Carl

Thanks for your inspiring comment,

"We are One Body - I am non denominational - I have found He blesses us inexplicably during the breaking of bread."

I always find it to be a time of reflection. I reflect on my standing with the Almighty, I used to reflect on sin but as I become less and He more this is not as much of an issue. I reflect on the fact that the creator of all we know or see thought enough of His creation to become the substitutionary sacrifice for me and you. I think of His resurrection and all that implies for victorious Christian living, overcoming, hope and the promise of eternity. I don't know that I can take communion without a few tears when I think of Christ and His suffering. It is, as He said, a remembrance of the Christ who gave up all to become nothing and then willingly lay down himself for me. A worthless sinner without hope before becoming His child. Thanks be to God.
 
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