We want to provide you with a simple, direct guide that will help you as you navigate taking communion as an individual or a family. Below are three different avenues that you can engage with as you take communion in one of our Sunday worship experiences, or at home.

Before Jesus returned to heaven, he asked us to always remember that he was with us, and that he would return and we would be with him throughout eternity. He asked us, every time we partake of communion together, to remember his sacrifice for us, to remember that he is with us, and to remember that we will one day partake of the Lord’s Supper together with him in heaven. Before we partake of communion, we are to examine ourselves to make sure we are in right relationship with God and each other.

Read 1 Corinthians 11:27-28: “So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup.”

Pray: [Sample Prayer] Father, we are thankful for your salvation, and we are thankful for the promise of your scripture that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus; therefore, we take a moment to allow your Holy Spirit to help us examine our lives. We ask for your forgiveness for our transgressions (sins) and we repent with a heart to live our lives according to your purposes and plan.

Read: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26: “For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’

<Take the bread (or crackers) and eat>

In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.’”

<Take the wine (or juice) and drink>

Pray: [Sample Prayer] “God, thank you for sending your son, Jesus, that our sins could be forgiven, that we could know you, and that we could spend eternity in your Presence. We look forward to that day, when we will partake of this communion around your table with Jesus. Amen”

Jesus was a master of taking deeply-rooted Jewish traditions and breathing life into them by connecting them to His Eternal Kingdom work.

The Passover Meal was no exception.

Read Exodus 12:12-14: “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.”

For the Israelites, the blood of the Passover lamb meant victory. While those around them were grieving from devastation and loss in their families, the blood of the lamb brought peace, security and deliverance for the Israelites. Read Mathew 26:26-28 "While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

<eat the bread (crackers)>

Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."

<drink the wine (or juice)>

Read 1 Corinthians 15:57: "But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Every time you take Communion, you receive the victory of Christ and you remind the Devil of his failure. He wants to harm you, but because of the brokenness and blood of our Great Passover Lamb, the Devil will not prevail!

Pray: [Sample Prayer] “God, thank you for sending Jesus to be the perfect Passover Lamb so that we can be victorious in this life and the one to come. In the midst of this battle that I’m facing, I receive afresh the victory you’ve secured for me through the brokenness and blood of Jesus Christ. I praise you for victory over the enemy! In Jesus’ name, Amen"

In the Old Testament accessing the presence of God was a very structured process for a very select group of people. The life and death of Jesus Christ changed everything the Jews had ever known about the accessibility of the presence of God!

Read Hebrews 10:19-22: "And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”

The veil is like Jesus’ flesh. His body was broken to make His Spirit available to all mankind.

<eat the bread (or cracker)>

Pray: [Sample Prayer] “Thank you, Jesus, that you have torn the veil so that we can enter into the presence of God!” 

The juice represents the blood of Jesus. His blood gives us access into a place we were never able to go before. Before Jesus died, only a few very special people could go in to the presence of God. No one else could do that!

<drink the wine (juice)>



Pray: [Sample Prayer] “Thank you, Jesus, that because you poured out your blood to make us clean, we can go boldly into the presence of God!"

Have a question about communion, or about how we navigate the process here at Shannon Oaks Church? Contact us below.