BIG Church: Communion

#1 On Communion…

 

This Sunday was Round Rock’s first Big Church. We spent much of our time meditating on and exploring communion.

 

If you were able to attend, what did you learn about communion?

What struck you as interesting or challenging or true?

 

#2 What

What is communion?

What other names do we have for it? What do those names tell us about what happens as we observe it?

Read Luke 22:1-20 and Mark 14:22-25.

  • What do we learn about communion from these passages?

Now read I Corinthians 11:17-34.

  • What were the Christians doing wrong as they participated in communion?
  • What does Paul mean in verse 27 when he says we shouldn’t drink or eat in an “unworthy manner”? Be sure to consider the immediate context as opposed to relying on what we’ve always heard.

 

#3 How

It’s been said that communion is a time when we:

Remember what happened.

Celebrate what’s happening

&

Anticipate what will happen one day.

What does that mean? How do we accomplish it?

How do you stay present in the moment of communion? What do you do to keep your mind from wandering and to make the most of the moment? Share with the group.

How can we emphasize the communal nature of communion within our current communion tradition? Do you have any ideas for making an individual’s communion experience an opportunity for connection with the body?

Should communion be silent? Why or why not? Be sure to make room for complexity.

 

#4 Because Jesus Died and Rose…

When you participate in communion, you might consider the following prompt as you try to focus your thoughts:

Because Jesus died and rose again ________________________.

Go around the room filling in the blank. What in your life right now would be impossible without the cross and empty tomb?

 

#5 MEDITATE

Consider these words about communion:

“Why did Our Blessed Lord use bread and wine as the elements of this Memorial? First of all, because no two substances in nature better symbolize unity than bread and wine. As bread is made from a multiplicity of grains of wheat, and wine is made from a multiplicity of grapes, so the many who believe are one in Christ. Second, no two substances in nature have to suffer more to become what they are than bread and wine. Wheat has to pass through the rigors of winter, be ground beneath the Calvary of a mill, and then subjected to purging fire before it can become bread. Grapes in their turn must be subjected to the Gethsemane of a wine press and have their life crushed from them to become wine. Thus, do they symbolize the Passion and Sufferings of Christ, and the condition of Salvation, for Our Lord said unless we die to ourselves we cannot live in Him. A third reason is that there are no two substances in nature which have more traditionally nourished man than bread and wine. In bringing these elements to the altar, men are equivalently bringing themselves. When bread and wine are taken or consumed, they are changed into man's body and blood. But when He took bread and wine, He changed them into Himself.”
― Fulton J. Sheen, Life of Christ

  • What strikes you as interesting or compelling?
  • Anything you’d never thought of before?
  • Does this help you take communion with a better understanding of what's happening? How so? (Or why not?)
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