My understanding of the Lord's Supper is that the bread is to not have yeast (symbolic of sin?) in it. Can someone with more knowledge and background shed some light of this issue for me? I have seen services in which cheese and wheat crackers have been used for communion and it seemed very odd to me.Agape
During WWII English prisoners of war in Japanese prison camps used grains of rice and water. Do you think the Lord would have been offended? ;-) Some cultures do not have 'bread' at all. The heart of the matter, I think, is that we have the basic necessities of life in a given culture.
I used wheat bread and grape juice when I was on a 1 week canoeing trip that was a personal time of communion with the Lord and it was the only time all summer I had it but let me tell you it was definetly one of the most solemn and exciting times of communion I ever had. The Lord did bear witness to it and surely it was remembering him before his coming again.hmm rice, I need to try that one.. just kidding.
Hi repentcanada...!It is my belief that the Lord's Supper was meant to show the "type and shadow" of Christ's sacrifice as found in the Passover supper. If you ever are given the opportunity, you may want to attend a Passover Seder with a group of Messianic believers in Christ. While most of such seders are virtually identical with typical Jewish seders -- they seem to have much more meaning for believers in Christ! On a side note, I have used the most peculiar things for the supper. I've used everything from french bread to crackers to tortillas. I've even used grape Kool-Aid and grape soda pop. I didn't mean this to be sacrilegious. Its just that I didn't have anything else available. In fact, those personal times of communion seemed much more meaningful than the religious ceremonies that are often performed in Church fellowships. The Lord's Supper is definitely important. But I feel that the most important thing is that we "do this in remembrance" of Christ. It is meant to be a time of realization of the meaning of the sacrificial death of our Lord. We should not even participate in such a meal if we are going to "forget" the importance of what it symbolizes. :-)
Hi,I hope I'm not hijacking this thread. The first church I attended was a very strict Missionary Baptist church. We had a closed communion and always used matso bread (unleavened) and Kosher wine. I can't remember the exact reasoning, but wine was used and grape juice was disdained by the pastor - it had something to do with the purification process that occurs during natural fermentation. I've never been that strict about it myself, but...I live in Thailand. The church I most often attend is a mostly Thai congregation with bilingual sermon and songs (Vineyard style) in Thai and English. I generally choose my words carefully. Notice I did not call it 'my church'.Their Lord's Supper is held on the first Sunday of the month. The last time I attended on a Lord's Supper Sunday - several months ago - the pastor gave an altar call first. Several Thai's went forward. Immediately after leading them in a sinner's prayer, they served the Lord's Supper to them as well as the rest of the congregation. They tried to get me to help serve, but I declined. I took the Lord's Supper, but was really upset by the whole affair.I quizzed the Thai pastor privately about this afterward as I have always felt that the scriptures taught that the Lord's Supper was for baptized believers. He said something to the effect that it was valuable for casting out demons, which he had witnessed happening on several occasions. He further seemed to intone that it was good to get them to have the Lord's Supper and to be baptized as soon as possible because only about 5 - 10% would continue to attend beyond the first few weeks. I believe he was inferring that at least that way they would be saved.Sad to say I now avoid that church on the first Sunday of each month. Every other church I've been to here seems to be more into a party spirit than the Holy Spirit. Sadly, this is not a joke.I would say more, but I'm kind of biting my tongue. I find it really difficult to not be critical of all that I see going on. I feel like I'm to stand strong for the Lord, but feel alienated from the church in doing so.Thanks
I live in Thailand.There are some of us who are thrilled with concept of the church throughout the whole world. Would you do something for ME? Go to 'View Account' from the hyperlink somewhere on your upper right and type in 'Thailand' in the location. I really think the world-wideness of SI is one of its unique facets and your 'Thailand' will be a constant reminder to our SI family that this is not an American site! :-D In anticipation... thanks.
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