The Gospels and Christ

Thus is recounted within the Gospels one of the few rituals Christ performed explicitly for his disciples and demanded performance until His return. This is known as Communion or the ritual of the Last Supper.

When the ceremony takes place is at the discretion of the minister. Some Baptist churches perform it weekly, some monthly, some perform it at times of pain (such as during prayer service memorials for 9/11), some perform it at revivals and some bi-annually at Christmas and Easter.

The ceremony is presided over by the head minister. He reads a portion of scripture dedicated to the Last Supper (either from the Gospels or Paul's account in I Corinthians). The bread is taken first. It is some form of cracker and is passed among the congregation while solemn hymns are played on the organ with content regarding the crucifixion death of Christ. He prays then the bread is eaten. This is repeated for the cups (usually filled with grape juice rather than wine due to the Baptist stance on alcohol). This time the solemn hymns are about the blood of Jesus, its power and flow. He prays again and then the grape juice is drunk.

In this paper, we will discuss the ritual of communion or The Last Supper as performed within the Baptist church. Other church systems such as Catholic and Episcopalian perform the

. . .
o offer to the Father on Calvary the following day could be renewed through the centuries in a sacramental way. In order that His sacrifice on Calvary is perpetuated, during that same meal He conferred on the apostles the power to effect that same miraculous change. The Liturgy refers to the Eucharist - which is both a sacrifice and a sacrament - as a "mystery of faith." We can attempt to explain what Christ did at the Last Supper as described in the Gospels, but it will still remain a mystery that we believe because of our faith in His word. In no way can we come up with a natural explanation of this miraculous change and of His abiding presence which results from it. Nowhere in nature do we find a change similar to this. We will examine briefly the Church's teaching on this central doctrine of our faith. This is an important differentiation between the faiths, as the Catholics believe Christ conferred the power of the miracle of Transubstantiation upon the apostles and therefore then upon all the holy Fathers who perform this miracle of the Mass each time it is performed. The miracle sacrifice is then repeated every time the Mass is celebrated and Eucharist is given. With the Baptists, this is only a symbolic remembrance
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lord's Supperáfor, Passover Celebration, Eucharist Baptists, Lutheran Episcopalian, Gospels Paul's, Lord's Supper, Christ Supper, , Father Calvary, Unlike Catholic, lord's supper, eat bread, bread drink cup, bread drink, drink cup, eat bread drink, 1 cor, word god, bread wine, solemn hymns, grape juice, body blood,
Approximate Word count = 1696
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

More Essays on The Gospels and Christ