Sunday We Partake
Sunday we will share in Holy Communion, with God and with each other. We want you to partake together with discernment, understanding, faith and joy. Toward that end, here is an excerpt from a Mike Horton article:
There are essentially 4 views of what happens in Holy Communion. First, there is the Roman Catholic view, which is familiar to many. The official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church is that the bread and wine are actually changed into the body and blood of Christ. This is called “transubstantiation,” from two words meaning, “to change substance.” The bread still looks like bread and the wine still has all of the appearances of wine, but appearances are deceiving. Furthermore, the Lord’s Supper, according to the Roman Catholic Church, is the repetition of Christ’s atoning sacrifice and every time one participates in this sacrament, they believe that Christ is being sacrificed again on the altar for their sins.
(Views 2,3, and 4) At the time of the Reformation, however, Protestants differed in their understanding of what actually was received–and how–in Holy Communion. First, the Anabaptists (View #2) interpreted this meal as merely a memorial or symbolic remembering of Christ’s death. The purpose was to arouse a sense of gratitude and duty in the light of the suffering Jesus endured for us. The Lutherans (View #3) argued that this denied Christ’s express statement, “This is my body,” and made this sacrament into the work of man, because the activity was human–my remembering, rather than divine–God forgiving. Lutherans believe, therefore, that Christ is physically present at the altar in this sacrament, but deny the Roman Catholic doctrine of a change in substance from bread and wine into body and blood. They also, of course, deny the notion of a resacrifice of Christ. The Reformed (View #4 and that of Christ Community), after Calvin, were influenced by the Eastern Orthodox interpretation, arguing, along with Lutherans and Roman Catholics, that Christ is truly communicated through this sacrament, against the Anabaptist view of Communion as a mere memorial. But they believed that the mode or means of receiving Christ was by the Holy Spirit uniting believers to Christ in heaven through the elements of bread and wine.
The apostle Paul says, in fact, that Holy Communion is an actual participation in the body and blood of Christ: “Is not the cup of thanksgiving…a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread the we break a participation in the body of Christ?” “Therefore,” says Paul, “whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the memory of the body and blood of the Lord.” Is that it? No, Paul says that he “will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.”
But the purpose of this Holy Supper is not to hold out judgment, but rather to hold out God’s forgiveness and pardon. Through it, we receive the benefits of Christ’s death and present intercession; in fact, through it, we receive nothing less than Christ himself.
the article is HERE
About This Blog
This blog is one of the primary ways that Christ Community's staff can connect and share information. Look for important updates on our community life here each week.
Visit the CCC Website.
View our Church Calendar.
Reminders & Reflections
Blog Archive
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011