How to Prepare for Communion at Home
Easter sure feels different this year. Kids are on spring break, but no one is going anywhere. The weather is warming up, but neighbors at the park are six feet away wearing a mask. Flowers are beginning to bloom, but fear of Coronavirus deaths is hijacking headlines and overshadowing the colorful promises of new life that makes Spring such a special season.
This year, more than ever, we need the hope of resurrection.
Over the weekend the Surgeon General of the United States said this could be the “hardest and saddest” week of “most Americans lives.” Comparing the possibilities to Pearl Harbor, and 9/11, he warned that COVID-19 related deaths could make this week historically grim.
This year, more than ever, we need the hope of resurrection.
With everyone standing behind a microphone at a press conference dutifully reminding us that things will get worse before they get better, we desperately need Easter. We need to preach the Gospel, not only to our world, but to ourselves. We need to declare the Good News to our own hearts, that our God turns mourning into dancing, and death to life.
This year, more than ever, we need the hope of resurrection.
Good Friday is the ultimate paradox. Nothing about it seemed “good.” Jesus was unjustly convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. He was brutally beaten, tortured, and nailed to a cross. He was hung between two criminals, executed, and buried in a borrowed grave. The reason we call it good is because God is in the redemption business. Two thousand years later, the cross testifies that when things look like they’re getting worse, they may already be getting better.
This year, more than ever, we need God to bring something “good” out of “Friday.”
Communion is a precious tradition. Handed down to us from Jesus Himself, it keeps us rooted in the hope of his redemption in our lives. We may not be able to meet in our building, but it will take more than a virus to keep us from gathering around the Lord’s Table, even if that gathering needs to be virtual. This Good Friday, we will be gathering online to experience communion together.
Some have asked me if it’s okay to participate in communion from our homes. Don’t we need to be in a church building? Don’t we need to receive it from a pastor or a priest? Don’t we need a special brand of holy and anointed bread? Wonderfully, the answer to all of those questions is no. In fact, the earliest churches in the history of Christianity experienced communion in homes.
I am eager for the opportunity to gather physically and enjoy communion together again. However, Jesus said “as often as you do this” when He modeled the first Lord’s Supper. Obviously, He expected we would do this “often,” and we don’t have to wait until this season is over to participate. Right now God is taking us back to our roots. He’s reminding us that we don’t need a building to enter God’s house, a priest to access God’s presence, or a particular brand of bread to remember his body.
How do you prepare for communion at home? To help us get ready for our experience this Good Friday, here are some practical thoughts to help you prepare.
Prepare your heart
Communion is a sacred tradition in which we worship God by remembering his sacrifice for our sins. It is an opportunity to search our hearts to make sure that the things we are living for are worth Christ dying for. It is a moment to let the Holy Spirit search us, reveal unconfessed sin, repent, and receive God’s forgiveness and grace. With soft, clean hearts we can rededicate our lives to living passionately for Jesus. Communion is also a time to let our hearts soar with gratitude for who Jesus is and what He has done!
Prepare your mind
We must have a knowledge of what the Lord’s Supper signifies to honor Christ with our participation. The bread is a symbol of Jesus’ body. When we eat it, we remember his death on the cross. The cup is a symbol of Jesus’ blood. When we drink it, we remember how costly it was for Him to purchase our forgiveness. In all of it, communion refocuses our vision in two directions. We look back to recognize what Jesus did to make us God’s sons and daughters. And we look forward to recognize that He isn’t done yet, and one day He will come again and enact God’s ultimate restoration in our world. Studying these passages will help you further understand the purpose and significance of communion.
1 Corinthians 11:23-34
Matthew 26:17-30
Isaiah 53
Prepare your family
I believe God is using this stay at home season to enable families to worship God together in brand new ways. You may have family members or roommates at home with you who want to participate in communion. God can use you to actually lead them in the experience. They don’t have to be a member of City Life to participate. But they should be someone who has put their faith in Jesus and decided to follow Him.
Prepare your home
Communion is an opportunity for reflection and worship. Find a comfortable place in your home, with minimal distractions, where you can join our virtual service and feel the freedom to listen to God’s voice and pray out loud as you feel led. Wherever you choose to worship, make sure it is clean and organized, get there early, and turn on some worship music to prepare yourself in the space.
Here are some answers to a few other common questions.
Should my kids participate in communion with me?
If you are a parent, this could be a great opportunity to be a spiritual leader in your home and lead your children in communion. The Bible doesn’t give us an age requirement for participating in The Lord’s Supper. The most important thing is that you are confident your child has made a decision to follow Jesus, and clearly understands what communion means. God may want to use you this week to be a catalyst in leading your child to a deeper understanding of who Jesus is!
What communion elements should I use? Where do I get them?
All you need to join in is some bread or crackers, and some grape juice. God is more interested in your heart than making sure you have a certain kind of bread or juice. You can use whatever you have in your home. If you are planning to put on a mask and head to the grocery store this week, you can also purchase some supplies there.
Where can I find the City Life Good Friday worship experience?
For Good Friday, we will be gathering live on Facebook at noon. Come expecting God to move! This week, God put it on my heart to pray for miracles during our Good Friday communion experience. In particular, we will be praying for physical, financial, and relationship miracles in our lives.
Fortunately, we are all learning in this season that a virus is no match for the Church of Jesus! Buildings may close, but the heart of the Body of Christ is more open than it has ever been before. This year we may not have community Egg Hunts, family photos, or candy bars. But we will have plenty of faith, hope and love! From our homes we will gather, we will sing, we will pray, and we will celebrate the reality of life beyond the grave.
Jesus is alive! Let’s celebrate Easter!