Being the Church #17

Historically, many church denominations have viewed the existence of the local church to include the celebration of Communion. This is for good reason, as we see in Paul's words in I Corinthians 13:
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.

Remembering Christ's sacrificial death for us is indeed something we should find His people doing. We cannot imagine it otherwise.  Many congregations celebrate it weekly. So why does Paul even mention it? Most of his words to the Corinthian church were corrective.  Some of their "celebrations" of the Lord's table did not clearly commemorate our union with our Only Savior; they had a blend of idol worship and a pompous show of affluence mixed in.(read chapters 10 and 11 in their entirety.)  True believers do look back and look ahead to get a proper grip of where we are now in our relationship with our Lord and Savior. Let us not take the Lord's table for granted.