Communion Elements
Continuing the reading from the Westminster Confession on the Lord's Supper:
3. The Lord Jesus hath, in this ordinance, appointed His ministers to declare His word of institution to the people; to pray, and bless the elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to an holy use; and to take and break the bread, to take the cup, and (they communicating also themselves) to give both to the communicants; but to none who are not then present in the congregation.
4. Private masses, or receiving this sacrament by a priest, or any other alone; as likewise, the denial of the cup to the people, worshipping the elements, the lifting them up, or carrying them about, for adoration, and the reserving them for any pretended religious use; are all contrary to the nature of this sacrament, and to the institution of Christ.
3. The Lord Jesus hath, in this ordinance, appointed His ministers to declare His word of institution to the people; to pray, and bless the elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to an holy use; and to take and break the bread, to take the cup, and (they communicating also themselves) to give both to the communicants; but to none who are not then present in the congregation.
4. Private masses, or receiving this sacrament by a priest, or any other alone; as likewise, the denial of the cup to the people, worshipping the elements, the lifting them up, or carrying them about, for adoration, and the reserving them for any pretended religious use; are all contrary to the nature of this sacrament, and to the institution of Christ.
posted by M Clark at 11/30/2005 07:25:00 AM
2 Comments:
Wine? What wine? ;-)
In the same way that preaching is typically done by a Teaching Elder (Minister), so communion is presided over by a Teaching Elder, though both can be done as needed by a Ruling Elder. The sign of the sacrament is to be accompanied by the spoken word, both of which proclaim the gospel. And because Communion expresses the communion of Christ with his Body, so the sacrament is to be observed in the context of the gathered body of Christ. An exception made by many churches is to provide Communion for shut-ins and the seriously ill. When done so, usually the minister will be accompanied by an elder or other members of the church to represent the church body.
As to "pduggie's" question - what do you think we elders are drinking!
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