I heard a well-worn story of a little girl who didn’t want to go to kid’s church, but wanted to join her parents for the main service. It happened to be a Communion Sunday, and when they passed the tray of cracker bits and small cup of juice, her mother noticed she was visibly disappointed. When the service was over her mother asked her how she liked the main service, and the little girl said: “I’m going to go back to kid’s church next week. The snacks are better and you get way more juice!”

She’s not wrong, a nibble and a sip wouldn’t cut it…if snack time was what this ritual was all about. But, for those of us who’ve encountered the One who is behind this ritual, we know it’s far more than just a snack-break in church.

This Sunday we’ll be observing Communion (we put it off from last week because the text was more appropriate for it this week). We’ll be reading 1 Cor 11:17-34 in our study of Paul’s letter.

As you read Paul’s critique, you’ll notice he states his harshest criticisms over this matter. What stands out to you as Paul’s main complaint (you’ll find it spelled out in v22)? Do you notice that the practice Paul describes doesn’t really seem to match up with how we attend to this ceremony today? We’ll look into that a bit on Sunday.

When Paul says to examine ourselves before taking the bread and cup, what do you think he’s wanting us to determine? What do you think eating and drinking “unworthily” might be? If you’re not sure, v33-34 explain it pretty clearly. How might we be able to put Paul’s instructions into place in our own practice of observing the Lord’s Supper?

I hope you can join us this Sunday as we examine this passage together, and join each other at the Lord’s Table.

Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.