On the night in which the Lord Jesus was betrayed, he took bread, gave thanks, and broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, This is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. In the same manner, he also took a cup of wine and instructed his disciples to drink from it, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
The Lord’s Supper, also called Communion, is a sacramental meal. The Lord Jesus himself is the host and believers are invited to eat at his table. It is a solemn yet joyous honour to be invited to eat at the Lord’s Table. It is a token of remembrance of the Lord’s suffering and death. The breaking of the bread is a sacramental action that signifies the breaking of his body; the cup of wine sacramentally signifies his blood shed for us. These sacramental elements and actions, together with the sacrament as a whole, are a visible demonstration of the sufferings and death of Christ, intended both as a help to our faith and to nourish our souls by faith.
However, the Lord’s Supper is not merely a memorial of the death of Christ. It is, in the words of Scripture, communion with the body and blood of Christ. Through faith, believers meet with Christ at his table, and have the benefits of his sufferings and death signified and sealed to them in the elements of bread and wine. Therefore Scripture requires that those who would come to the Lord’s Table must discern the body and blood of the Lord. That is, they must understand that they are not merely eating a piece of bread and drinking a bit of wine, but that they make a solemn approach to the Lord Jesus Christ who is present at his table in a spiritual and sacramental, yet no less real, way.
The Lord Jesus Christ has committed the keys of his kingdom to the elders of his church as stewards of the mysteries of God. It belongs to stewards to be doorkeepers: they admit and deny admittance as the need requires. Because the Lord Jesus is present as the host of the Lord’s Supper, those who eat and drink unworthily by not discerning the body and the blood of the Lord, eat and drink damnation to themselves. The Apostle Paul went as far as to say that unworthy participation in the Lord’s Supper was the cause of many falling sick and dying in the church of Corinth.
The elders of the church, as custodians of the keys of the kingdom, and stewards of the mysteries of God, must oversee the table of the Lord, and only admit such as are capable of worthy participation at it. Worthy participation does not mean a works based righteousness, or some unattainable level of holiness. Rather, worthy participation requires saving faith, requisite understanding to discern the Lord’s body, and the ability to examine oneself. Those with manifest unbelief or scandalous sin are not permitted to the table.
In order to partake in communion at All Saints, you must have a credible profession of faith in Jesus Christ, be a communicant member in good standing in a gospel-preaching church, and meet with the elders of the church prior to partaking, if it is your first time communing with us.