THE LORD’S SUPPER

A significant moment in the final days of Jesus on earth occurred, in a room with his friends, around a meal table. In this regular, every day setting Jesus gave his disciples the gift of remembering him that we still enact today. In this restricted time where we haven’t been able to share in this meal together regularly it feels even more poignant this year to take some time to reflect on what this means and how we can love Jesus through it. The Table is Laid

Stephen Cottrell (Archbishop of York) says:

‘the table of the Lord is to be set in the midst of the world’.

• Take some time to think about all you bring to the table today. Your worries, your thoughts, your relationships, your sin, your workload, your environment. • Maybe write down a list of all you are carrying or pray aloud all that is consuming your thoughts. • Imagine sitting down at a table next to close and trusted friends and pouring out all you have going on at the moment. Don’t hold back. The table of Jesus is a safe place.

Take some deep breaths. Remember Jesus meets with us in the midst of our world and embraces us as we are.

The Bread & Wine

Holy Week is a time to think about all Jesus did for us on the cross.

Read through one of the Gospel accounts of the last supper such as in Mark 4: 22-26.

• Let Jesus meet you as you read through this final meal with his close friends. • This an opportunity to stop and remember what Jesus did and what it means for us. • Pray about what the bread and wine mean to you, what the cross means to you. • Ask God to show you how to remember Him in your own life, in your now. A Hungry People

‘We take communion not because we are doing well but because we are doing badly; not because we have arrived but because we are travelling, not because we are right but because we are confused and wrong, not because we are divine but because we are human, not because we are full but because we are hungry.’ Rowan Williams (former Archbishop of Canterbury)

The Lord’s Supper is one way we can come back to our dependence on God, where we can remember we need him to rescue us again and again. He went to the cross for us.

Spend some time in prayer thanking Jesus for his sacrifice and recognising our dependence on Him each day.

Lord, you died to save us because we can’t save ourselves. Help us to live as your rescued Sons and Daughters, who depend on our Father for acceptance and safety. Thank you that you loved us enough to die for us. Help us to remember you in a way that goes deep and brings glory to your name, today and every day.

Amen