Question: Why does your church take the Lord’s Supper each week and not quarterly or semi-annually like other congregations?
Answer: This is a good question that I hear very often. We at the Christian church take the Lord’s Supper each week, while many congregations relegate communion to a semi-annual or quarterly event. The simplest answer to that question is that the apostles along with the very first Christians took it each Sunday and we are commanded to follow their example in Scripture.
We are to imitate the “traditions” of the early Christians. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:1-2 “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you because you remember me in everything, and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.” We should hold firmly to the traditions and teachings of the early church. It was their practice to take the Lord’s Supper every Sunday and only on Sunday.
There are literally hundreds of denominations of churches with various doctrines. How are we to know which is true? How are we to ever come to unity as Christians? Unity can only come by looking back to the New Testament and seeing what the early Christians did, and imitating it just as Paul commanded us to. We must look to the word of God. It is the truth.
Every kind of Church has traditions. We need to make sure our churches follow the New Testament Christians traditions as taught by the apostles and prophets, not the opinions of uninspired men.
Ephesians 2:20 says the church is to be “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” And
Ephesians 3:5 says the mystery of the gospel was “…not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.” Let us build on the Apostles foundation laid in the New Testament.
Paul also wrote in
2 Thessalonians 2:15, “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.” The instructions Paul gave were for us to follow their written commands (The New Testament) and to follow what they taught by “word of mouth.” Now, how are we supposed to obey what Paul taught by “word of mouth” when we were not there? The answer is that what they taught by “word of mouth” is played out in their example. The example of their lives is recorded for us in the book of Acts. The birth and growth of the church is recorded for us in specific detail in the book of Acts. It lays for us a foundational example of what we should be like as churches. The book of Acts is not just a bunch of stories to help fill our Sunday school hour. It is a road map. It is the guidebook for the church. The book of Acts is not just a history book; it’s an example, which God commands us to follow.
So what does the book of Acts tell us about when to take the Lord’s Supper?
Acts 20:7 says, “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.” Why did they meet on Sunday? The whole reason they came together was “to break bread.” The verse that tells us when the early Christians met tells us why they met. Ask all most any preacher why we have church on Sunday and he will tell you that is the day Jesus rose from the dead and that’s when the early Christians met to have church. There are two ways he knows this. Number one, we have the writings of early Christians from the first and second century who say that is when they met. Number two we have the record in Acts 20:7 which says that is when they met. But remember, the only verse that tells us when they met tells us why they met. Early Christians met each Sunday to take the Lord’s Supper. And Paul commanded us to follow their example.
Some may suggest that this was not a pattern of behavior for all churches. But church history confirms early Christians met each week to take the Lord’s Supper. There was a pattern to their behavior. And we are commanded in
Philippians 3:17, “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.” Once again, Paul is commanded Christians to follow the “pattern” and “example” of himself and the early churches.
Some may suggest that what Paul did in Acts 20 at the church in Ephesus was different than what he did in other churches. However, that is just not true. Paul explains in
1 Corinthians 4:17 “For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.” Paul’s teaching and example were consistent. He taught the same traditions everywhere.
Some argue that if we take the Lord’s Supper each week, it would become to commonplace and lose its freshness. I have noticed that preachers who say this do not apply that teaching to coming to church or singing praise to God and especially not to taking up an offering each week. Charles Spurgeon, after defending weekly communion, answered the objection that it would be to commonplace if observed to often by saying, “You may have more and more and more of everything Christ instituted and ordained, especially more and more of Himself, and the more you have the more freshness there will be.” Let us freshen our relationship with Christ by following the early Christians example of weekly communion.
