Around the Table
The Lord’s Supper is the central, communal, corporate act of the Church. Instituted by our Savior, passed on by the apostles, and practiced for centuries by God’s people, our communion meal has historically served as the primary reason for Christian gathering and the climax of the Christian assembly. The high point. The pinnacle.
My great desire is to see it returned to its rightful place of prominence in our Church of Christ assemblies.
I teach a 13-weeks class on our Lord’s communion meal. The aims of this study are three-fold:
1) to more fully understand the meaning and function of the Lord’s Supper
2) to more fully appreciate the multiple and varied facets of the Lord’s Supper
3) to restore / renew our communion traditions and practices
The study is drenched in much reading and prayer. We discuss biblical passages and ancient practices. We consider history and context, custom and command. And, by God’s grace, we arrive at a deeper and stronger Communion theology for our church.
I intend to fill this page of my blog with Lord’s Supper and Communion resources. I’ve posted here all of our lesson outlines, charts, handouts, articles, bibliographies, and links. I hope this page will take on a life of its own and become a nice place to study and discuss the Lord’s Supper. I pray that you will benefit from the things you discover on this page and that God will use these resources to his glory. And I trust these studies and reflections will lead to our gathering around the Lord’s Table not looking inward to our own souls, but around us to our Christian brothers and sisters and to our surrounding communities, and beyond ourselves to Christ, who meets us at the table and continually prepares us for the coming Feast.
“They saw God, and they ate and drank.” ~Exodus 24:11
Peace,
Allan
Lesson 1 Communion with God in the Hebrew Scriptures: The History and Nature of Covenant Meals
Handout 1-1 God’s Two Great Redemptive Acts
Handout 1-2 You Will Be My People and I Will Be Your God
Lesson 2 Communion with God in the Hebrew Scriptures: The Presence of God & the Joy of His People
Handout 2-1 Alexander Campbell on Breaking the Bread
Handout 2-2 John Mark Hicks on “Table” in Stone-Campbell Movement
Lesson 3 Communion with Jesus in the Gospels: Breaking Bread with Jesus
Handout 3-1 Meals of Jesus in Luke
Handout 3-2 Connection Between Meals in Luke 9 & 22
Lesson 4 Communion with Jesus in the Gospels: Jesus’ Post-Resurrection Meals
Handout 4-1 Resurrection Day Quotes
Lesson 5 Communion with Jesus at the Last Supper: Passover Context of the Meal
Lesson 6 Communion with Jesus at the Last Supper: New Covenant Context of the Meal
Lesson 7 Communion with Christ & One Another in the Church: Breaking Bread on the First Day of the Week
Handout 7-1 Sunday is Resurrection Day
Handout 7-2 “Breaking Bread” in the New Testament
Lesson 8 Communion with Christ & One Another in the Church: Correcting the Meal in Corinth
Handout 8-1 Markus Barth on “Proclaim the Lord’s Death”
Handout 8-2 Correcting the Meal in Corinth: Four Commentaries
Lesson 9 Communion Through the Ages: From Celebratory Feast to Solemn Service
Handout 9-1 Source Quotes: Full Meal Context of the Lord’s Supper
Handout 9-2 Source Quotes: Destructive Shift of the Lord’s Supper
Lesson 10 Communion Through the Ages: Restoration Views and Reformation Attempts
Handout 10-1: Stone-Campbell Views of the Lord’s Supper
Handout 10-2 Hicks: Practice of the Table in 20th Century Churches of Christ
Lesson 11 Communion at Legacy: Where Are We and Where Do We Want to Be?
Handout 11-1: Willimon from Word, Water, Wine and Bread
Handout 11-2: Barth & Kodell Excerpts
Handout 11-3: McNicol from Preparing for the Lord’s Supper
Handout 11-4: Hicks from Come to the Table
Communion Meditations
Instead of beginning your “table talk” Sunday morning with “When Howard called me last night to ask me to do the Lord’s Supper…” how about starting it with some theology? Some inspirational Scripture? A short illustration that ties what’s happening at the table today with Jesus’ meals from two thousand years ago and that great wedding feast of the Lamb to come? Jay Guin has written several beautiful communion meditations and made them available at his excellent blog “One in Jesus.” I invite you to read them. And use them.