"The Lord's Supper"  Rev. Scott Mitchell, Pastor of Community Formation

God intends to change you by His Word. How is He at work in you to do that?  

Read the following passages and consider these questions. 

John 6:47-58

[47] Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. [48] I am the bread of life. [49] Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. [50] This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. [51] I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” [52] The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” [53] So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. [54] Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. [55] For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. [56] Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. [57] As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. [58] This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

1 Corinthians 10:16-17

[16] The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? [17] Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

[23] For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when 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 also he took the cup, 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.

Community Group Questions:

1. What does the meeting of the Reformers Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli at Marburg teach us?
2. Discuss the origins of the Lord’s Supper. Why might Jesus have connected it to the Passover?
3. Why is it important that the Lord’s Supper contains elements of past, present, and future? (1 Cor 11:24-26)
4. In what way is the Lord’s Supper God’s confirmation of the gospel to us?
5. In what way is Christ really present in the Lord’s Supper?
6. The Puritan Thomas Watson said: “We should pray that God would enrich his ordinance with his presence; that he would make the sacrament…the feast of our graces, and the funeral of our corruptions.” What does he mean by this?
7. In what ways do we skim over or neglect the real, spiritual significance of the Lord’s Supper?
8. BONUS: Will Christians partake of the Lord’s Supper after Jesus returns? Why/why not?