Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ attend to the words of the institution of the holy supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, as they are delivered by the holy apostle Paul (1Corinthians 11:23-29):
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
A Word of Explanation
From this institution of the holy supper of our Lord Jesus Christ we see that He directs our faith and trust to His perfect sacrifice, once offered on the cross, as to the only ground and foundation of our salvation, whereby He is become to our hungry and thirsty souls the true food and drink of life eternal. For by his death he has taken away the cause of our eternal death and misery, namely sin, and obtained for us the life-giving Spirit, that we by that Spirit, who dwells in Christ as in the Head and in us as His members, should have true communion with Him and be made partakers of all His riches, of life eternal, righteousness, and glory.
That we then may be nourished with Christ, the true heavenly bread, let us not cling with our hearts unto the external bread and wine but lift them up on high in heaven, where Christ Jesus is, our Advocate, at the right hand of His heavenly Father, where the articles of our Christian faith direct us; not doubting that we shall be nourished and refreshed in our souls, with His body and blood, through the working of the Holy Spirit, as truly as we receive the holy bread and drink in remembrance of Him.
Prayer of Consecration
Merciful God and Father, we plead with You that in this Supper that You will work in our hearts through the Holy Spirit that we with true confidence may give ourselves up, more and more, unto Your Son Jesus Christ that to be nourished and refreshed in our souls with His true body and blood. And that we may no longer live in our sins, but He in us, and we in Him, and so truly be partakers of the new and everlasting testament, the covenant of grace, that we do not doubt that You will forever be our gracious Father, nevermore imputing our sins unto us, and providing us with all things for body and soul, as Your dear children and heirs.
Invitation
For all those who are weary and desire the rest which Jesus holds out in promise for His sheep are invited now to come to His table.
In breaking the bread the minister shall say:
The Bread which we break is a communion of the body of Christ. Take, eat, remember and believer, that the body of our Lord Jesus Christ was broken unto a complete remission of our all our sins.
When the minister takes the cup he shall say:
The cup of blessing which we bless is a communion of the blood of Christ. Take, drink, remember and believe, that the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ was shed unto a complete remission of all our sins.
After the communion the minister shall pray saying:
O merciful God and Father, we plead with you that through the operation of Your Holy Spirit the remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ and the proclamation of His death may tend to our daily increase in true faith and in blessed fellowship with Christ; through Him, Your dear Son, in whose Name we pray. Amen.