What is the Lord’s Supper?

Discussion

What was your biggest take away from the Pre-Work this week?

Updates from Assignments

Main Point: In the Lord’s Supper, the local church has received a covenant renewal ceremony in which we celebrate God’s work of salvation. It is the means by which God preserves His people until He comes.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Who should take the Lord’s Supper? When?

What are some connections between Passover and the Lord’s Supper?

How is the practice of the Lord’s Supper a retelling of the gospel story?

How does the Lord’s Supper tell the same story as baptism?

Where else do we find covenant meals in Scripture? Why do you think God uses this mode of a shared table with His people so often?

Read John 6:22-65

What does it mean for Jesus to be the Bread of Life?

What does this passage teach us about God’s work in salvation?

Is Jesus speaking sacramentally or metaphorically?

Pointing to the Lord’s Supper or being sustained by faith in Him?

Is the Lord’s Supper merely symbolic?

Popular views of the Lord’s Supper

Transubstantiation (The elements become Christ)

Held by the Catholic Church

Summary: The bread/wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus, even though the still appear as bread and wine.

Theological basis

Matthew 26:26—This is my body

John 6:53-56—Eat the flesh/drink the blood

What’s happening in the Lord’s Supper

Christ is physically present

Grace is conveyed through the sacrament

Consubstantiation (Christ is truly present “in, with, and under”)

Held by Martin Luther and the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Summary: The bread/wine remain bread and wine, but Christ is truly present in them

What’s happening in the Lord’s Supper

Christ’s body and blood are really present

Believers receive grace

The meal is both spiritual and physical, not merely symbolic.

Spiritual Presence (Christ is truly present spiritually)

Held by more reformed traditions such as Presbyterian and Baptists.

Summary: Christ is not physically present in the elements, but believers truly commune with Him by the Spirit.

Real presence, but spiritual rather than physical

What’s happening in the Lord’s Supper

The Holy Spirit lifts us to Christ

The Supper is a means of grace

The “Mediating” View

Held by many modern churches today

Summary: The meal is symbolic and spiritually meaningful.

What’s happening in the Lord’s Supper

God is meeting with His people.

His people are more than just remembering, but having a spiritual encounter.

Discussion

What does it mean to eat or drink in an unworthy manner (1 Corinthians 11:27-29? How can we avoid doing so?

Pre-Work 4.8.26

Turn and Tell: With whom can you share something you learned in this session? What do you plan to share with them?

Continue working on the “Story of Scripture” and “Practicing Mission” assignments

Read Revelation 1-5; 21-22

Read “How Does the Story End” from You Are A Theologian

Read “Kingdom Without End: The Coming of the King” from Remember and Rehearse.

Take five minutes and pray through Romans 11:33-36. Read it once out loud then use it to shape your prayer.

Next Big Idea question: “How does the story end?”