Keeping Preaching and the Ordinances Together, Part 3

Today marks a major change in the weekly rhythm of meetings at Parker Hills. Our previous schedule included three meetings on Sunday morning; but beginning today, we’re bringing the Lord’s Supper into our worship service and making it a regular part of that weekly gathering. Why?

First, we’re making this change for the sake of our members’ spiritual growth. Similar to the way God uses sunlight, water, and nutrients in the soil to help plants grow, so He uses various means to help His children mature spiritually. Things like Bible intake, prayer, and Christian fellowship are the means God uses to help us grow in grace—hence, the term “means of grace.” One of the key means of grace for Christian growth is the regular observance of the Lord’s Supper. Jesus made reference to this when He said: “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (Jn 6:56). The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic meal, depicting our ongoing fellowship with Jesus and bringing us into a deeper experience of that fellowship—what He graphically described as “feeding on His flesh and drinking His blood.” So we observe the Lord’s Supper because it contributes to our growth, not merely because Jesus commanded it.

Second, we’re making this change to better portray the communal symbolism of the Supper. The Lord’s Supper is a meal, meant to be enjoyed together. As such, it portrays our oneness made possible through the death of Christ on the cross. Paul put it this way: “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor 10:17). This corporate aspect is, of course, why the Supper is also known as “Communion.” Since the majority of our church family gathers for the corporate worship service, it makes the most sense to observe Communion at this time.

Finally, we want to keep the Lord’s Supper and preaching together. Gospel preaching interprets the symbols in the Lord’s Supper; and the gospel reenactment in the Supper reinforces the message of preaching. Keeping these two together creates a synergy where the gospel proclaimed from the pulpit works together with the gospel presented in the Supper to lead worshipers into more profound levels of understanding and appreciation.