Covenant Prayer Circle Guide

A – Adoration C – Confession T – Thanksgiving S – Supplication COVENANT PRAYER CIRCLE GUIDE

Week of July 23, 2017 Following in the Wesleyan Tradition—Communion Prayer Focus: To develop an awareness of the miracle of God’s grace through Communion.

Scripture: Do this in remembrance of me. Luke 22:19.

Jesus gave us few commands—come, go, love, do. This one, “Do this in remembrance of Me,” seems so easy to follow. Don’t we always remember Jesus? If this is something we are to do because we remember Him, doesn’t it seem like it would be easy to do? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Communion Sunday is the least attended Sunday and there are many reasons for that. John Wesley addresses some of these concerns in his sermon titled “The Duty of Constant Communion.” Oh, as an aside, Wesley thought that we should celebrate Holy Communion every time we meet and celebrated communion himself at least four times a week. Can you imagine what might come out of an administrative council meeting that was set in the context of Holy Communion?? Just something to think about! Wesley gives us several reasons to celebrate communion. First, as Christians, it is our duty to celebrate Holy Communion just because Jesus told us to. In fact, Wesley calls this the dying wish of Jesus since He proclaimed these words at the last supper. Another reason for us to celebrate communion is because of the benefit to us—we are reminded every time we celebrate that our sins have been forgiven. What a grand example of God’s grace—constant forgiveness of sin. The third reason is that this bread and wine (juice, if you’re UM!!) is food for our souls. And our souls need feeding just as much, if not more, than our physical bodies. A fourth reason is our desire to please God. We are commanded to do this and we should desire to follow God’s commands. Wesley then addresses excuses for not celebrating communion beginning with this is something God tells us to do; therefore, we do it because we cannot pick and choose which commands of God to follow—we are to follow all of them. Wesley then tells us that God is giving us this opportunity to receive His grace and mercy and we say no? Why would we say no to this beautiful gift? The answer to not accepting this gift is that we are unworthy. If we are unworthy, why would we not take opportunity to do something that makes us worthy? Communion makes us worthy—even when we leave the communion table and sin, Communion makes us worthy through God’s grace and God offering us pardon. To the excuse that if Communion is celebrated too often it loses its “specialness,” Wesley says hogwash!! We are to do this regardless of what WE get out of it because God is telling us to do this. And, if we keep doing this, we will get so much more out of it. We get to celebrate that God is in our lives, that we receive grace every single time—regardless of our feelings, and that we are obeying God.

Questions/Discussion: 1. What excuses do you use for not celebrating Communion? 2. When you do celebrate Communion, how do you prepare? How do you feel before, during, and afterwards? 3. When have you seen God this week?

Prayer: Dear God, something so simple—do this in remembrance of Me—and yet we don’t take advantage of all that’s offered. Please help me to come to the Communion table with awareness of the miracle in which I’m participating. In Jesus’ name, Amen.