Abounding Grace: Belonging, Spiritual Nourishment

This Sunday, we move from baptism to consider how the Lord’s Table (communion) speaks to us of belonging to God. As the disciples finish the Passover meal, Jesus takes the bread and the wine, the two most common elements of nourishment, using them to signify the grace provided in his atonement. The bread represents his body, broken for us, while the wine represents his blood shed for us. We know this is “representation” since at the time of instituting these elements he is still living (Matthew 26:26-29).

The early church, during the lifetime of the Apostles, celebrated the Lord’s table after a community meal where they were physically nourished. Then, near the end of the meal, the church leaders would take up the bread and the cup, administering them to the congregation to be nourished spiritually. A significant point of the communion meal, and why Paul calls it the Lord’s Table (1 Cor. 10:21), is that it is the meal Jesus provides his family to nourish them in the graces of his salvation. As we feed on Christ symbolically and by faith, the Spirit of Christ comes to assure us of the application of his sacrifice and strengthen our weak souls. How does this speak to us of belonging? Christ only feeds his family! Join us as we consider this beautiful truth and then let’s share the Table of Christ.