As Providence Church Celebrates its First Communion, We Ask: What is the Lord's Supper?

Sunday night, as usual, we will gather to sing praises to God, pray, and hear teaching from God’s word. However, this Sunday night (11/4), we will do something very special! For the first time, Providence Church will celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

Some call it Communion, the Lord’s Table, or maybe even the Eucharist, depending on your background… but what is the Lord’s Supper? Before we break bread together, let’s make sure that we are all on the same page when it comes to this very special event in the Christian faith.

1. Our Beliefs About the Lord’s Supper are Sumarized in the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 29.

Our church heritage dates back nearly 500 years to the Protestant Reformation. The church in those days had become corrupt, and God moved in the hearts and lives of men to “reform” the church of Jesus Christ and to “protest” against the teachings of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. Providence Church is protestant and reformed in our doctrine. This doctrine (or teaching) dates back to the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF), written in 1647. We believe this document is an accurate summary of the Bible’s teaching. We live in a culture that changes constantly. We change our minds, and present “new ” ideas that all too often lead to old results. The WCF has been a rock for many churches over for many, many years. When the windsand waves of liberalism and sin beat upon her, she did not move because her foundation was built entirely upon the Word of God. While the WCF is certainly not authoritative or infallible in the way the Bible is believed, we are nevertheless grateful for it’s guidance and precision. Leaders in the EPC (our mother church) have taken vows to this document, myself included. In the same way, military personnel take vows to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States. We believe the Westminster Confession of Faith. I recommend it to every serious Bible student.

2. It’s Not JUST a Memorial

For the sake of simplicity, we can say that most churches hold one of three different views of the Lord’s Supper. First, and perhaps most popular in our time, is the idea that the Lord’s Supper is most like a memorial. It is done frequently, sometimes casually, and does not impart any extraordinary benefit for the believer outside the physical demonstration and remembrance of the gospel. It’s a popular view, and it avoids much of the superstition that has sometimes accompanied the Lord’s Supper throughout the history of the church.

The second view, and perhaps opposite end of the spectrum, concerning the Church’s understanding of the Lord’s Supper is a position that we will call the Catholic view. While the Lutheran Church holds a variation of this doctrine, it is commonly known to Catholics as Mass. During the Mass, a priest sets apart the elements by incantation, and through a bit of hocus-pocus, the bread and the wine (according to Catholic doctrine) ACTUALLY become the body and blood of Jesus Christ. If the words said by the priest are not exact, the transubstantiation does not occur, and the Mass cannot be taken! Concerning this kind of superstition, I think the WCF says it best, “The teaching that the substance of the bread and wine is changed into the substance of Christ’s body and blood … is objectionable not only to Scripture but even to common sense and reason”. It just doesn’t make sense, but sadly it is the result of hundreds of years of man’s teachings set on the same level as God’s Word.

The third and final position is what we will call the Reformed position. The Reformed position (our position) sees a “real presence” of Christ in the Lord’s Supper; not the physical presence of the Catholic and Lutheran views, but more than a mere memorial, noted above. Christ is present spiritually, and the believer feeds upon His body and blood in a spiritual, but real way. For the believer, this is what we call a “means of grace”. In other words, we believe that through the participation in the Lord’s Supper, God’s children are spiritually strengthened by the actual presence of Christ. It’s a marvelous teaching, and one that encourages believers to look forward to breaking bread with our Lord and Savior.

3. The Table is Open, but Fenced

At Providence Church, the Lord’s Supper is an “open table." By this, we mean that our table is not closed to other traditions, other denominations, or even visitors from other churches. This is not a Presbyterian table. This is a Jesus table. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you have repented and put your faith in Him, if He has become your treasure, then this Lord’s Supper is open to you and offered to any who confess Jesus Christ as Lord. It’s inclusive in the sense that ANY believer may participate. However, there are some important words of warning that must be made.

Have you ever stood in line waiting to ride a roller coaster? Maybe it’s because I’m a sign maker by trade, but do you ever pay attention to all of the warning signs along the way? WARNING: Do not ride this roller-coaster if you are pregnant, have any injuries, lower back pain, high blood pressure, etc, etc. Does it scare you a little? That’s a natural response. The point is, we need to listen carefully to the warnings. They are posted for a reason. In a sense, this is what we mean when we say that The Lord’s Table is “fenced”. The Lord’s Supper is exclusive in the sense that it does have some restrictions to it, but they are for our safety. Here are some of the restrictions based on what scripture teaches…

1. The Lord’s Supper is for believers ONLY.

Regardless of any pressure felt to conform to the group or person you are with, please do not take the elements unless you have truly repented and put your faith in Jesus Christ. Taking the Lord’s Supper as an unrepentant enemy of the cross is a grave offense and sin against Christ. It is for your own sake that we ask you to abstain from the Lord’s Supper. That said, just because you walked into the church as an unbeliever does not mean that you must come to the table as an unbeliever. It is possible that the moments leading up to the Lord’s Supper have driven you to a real and saving faith in Jesus Christ. If this happens, praise God! We rejoice with you, and welcome you for your first Christian sacrament. Please let us know by filling out the communication card or talking to Greg after the service.

2. The Lord’s Supper is for children who have confessed their faith to an elder of the church.

Children of believing adults will eventually share a desire to participate in the Lord’s Supper. This is a good thing! We believe that since they are children of the covenant of God’s grace in Christ, they should be brought to the table and share in the sacrament alongside the rest of their family. That said, it is important that children understand what it is that they are doing when they eat the bread and drink the wine (juice). In other words, it’s not just snack time. They should be able to (in a simple way) confess their need for a savior, their faith in Jesus, and be able to confess personal sin through prayer. If a child can do this, then we welcome them to the table. If you would like to have your child partake of the Lord’s Supper, please see Greg after service.

3. The Lord’s Supper is for REPENTENT believers.

1 Corinthians 11:27-29 states,

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself" (1 Corinthians 11:27-29 ESV).

These verses make it clear that before we take the Lord’s Supper, we must first “examine ourselves” to be sure that we are taking the bread and drinking the cup in a way that is worthy of the gospel. Now, this can really freak some people out. I am one of them! Sometimes when I heard this early in my Christian walk, I would say to myself, “how could I possibly confess every sin or become worthy enough to come to the table with Christ Himself?” I think I missed the point of the warning. The meaning that the Apostle Paul is trying to convey is one of holiness. God knows that we are sinners and that we are not perfect. He knows that we sinned yesterday, today, and we’re probably going to sin some more tomorrow. Coming to the table in a worthy manner does NOT mean “clean yourself up” and somehow become good enough to eat this meal.

Discernment means that we are humble before the majesty and holiness of God, grateful for the heroic work of Christ on the cross, and dependent upon the grace of God to cleanse us from all sin. We confess our sin, our sin nature, and the sin we cannot remember or even see. Then having our conscience cleansed by the gospel, we are free to enjoy this meal with thankful hearts to and for the glory of Christ.

Are you excited about taking the Lord’s Supper? When you come Sunday, remember that the real presence of Christ is with us.
 
If Jesus invited us to dinner at His house, would that not be THE highlight of our weekend?


Matt Johnson is an ordained deacon at Faith Church (main campus) and is an integral part of the planting team at Providence Church in Spring Hill, Florida. 

A Review of the 32nd General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian church

By Matthew Everhard

Last month, Faith EPC of Brooksville sent ruling elder Gwynn Blair and I as delegates to the 32^nd annual General Assembly of our denomination, the EPC, in Baton Rouge Louisiana.  Delightfully, this was the first time that I also took my wife and children to the Assembly.

As an event, the G.A. was very well done. Worship times were Christ-honoring and reverent. The preaching was outstanding this year. Nothing compares to elders and their families singing gloriously to our Risen Lord and sharing the Lord’s Table as an entire denomination.

Credit here goes to our Stated Clerk and Executive Pastor, Jeff Jeremiah, and host pastor Gerrit Dawson and their staffs for spearheading the event!

Our host church, First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge, did an amazing job in hosting. We were fed “southern style.” I was particularly impressed with the way that the host church and the EPC headquarters prepared events for the children. It was wonderful to see my three kids enjoy fellowship with other “P.K’s” (pastors’ kids).

Growing Pains

The EPC is growing quickly. In the past five years we have doubled in size from 182 churches when I was ordained to our current 364 churches. This shows the fact that being a part of the EPC, a denomination that is solidly Reformed in theology and amicable in spirit, is attractive to a larger and larger number of churches.

Although a bit of our growth is attributable to church planting (we pray for far more!) the majority of our growth has come through disaffected churches departing from the increasingly liberal PCUSA. The theology of the old mainline is regarded by many as a sinking Titanic of sorts, rent asunder and foundering.

While this may seem as unqualified good news, the “other side of the coin” is that the EPC is receiving many new churches that are likely not as conservative as our own congregation. Almost all of these churches, for instance, have women elders and quite a few have women pastors (teaching elders) as well.

In our own Presbytery of Florida, for instance, we have—in just two short years—abdicated our former position of complementarianism (men elders only) in favor of accepting women elders and pastors. This change is happening rapidly, and to the chagrin of the elders of this particular local church. 

Read my article "Pastors With Purses" on this topic here.

How dramatically this shift impacts the EPC, only time will tell. Having said that, let me point out a few other highlights of the 32^nd Assembly…

Missions

The EPC maintains a strong missionary passion. As a denomination we send missionaries into the 10/40 window regularly—regarded as the most dangerous places on earth. Our focus as a denomination is on reaching and converting the Muslim world. While a daunting task, “someone has to do it.” Let it be us!

We prayed for 37 of our missionaries in the GA. This was a wonderful moment. I strongly encourage all members of Faith to obtain one of our World Outreach missionary prayer flip-charts. My family regularly prays for all of our missionaries in a year, and many of them are in “sensitive areas” that cannot be disclosed. Our denomination has a plan called “Engage2025” to challenge each presbytery to plant a church in an unreached people group within fifteen years.

More on Church Growth

The EPC has officially closed the New Wineskins and National Non-Geographic Presbyteries that were formerly used to bring in new churches under transition. Now, churches must come directly into established geographic presbyteries. Anywhere between dozens and hundreds of churches will be seeking to enter the EPC in the coming months, as the PCUSA continues its pernicious slide into heresy. Only the Lord knows how many churches will enter the EPC, and how many will enter a brand new denomination, just opened, called ECO (Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians).

In my view, the formation of ECO is a good thing—it will serve as a “middleman” between the EPC and the liberal PCUSA. Hopefully, the more conservative churches will come here and those less so will go to ECO happily.  

Church Planting

The EPC maintains a focus on being “missional” by intending to plant dozens of new churches here in the US. During the Assembly, many of our church planters were invited to pray to open and close business meeting sessions. This brought church planting to the fore of our denomination’s attention. As expected, each of the church planters had a miraculous story of how God is moving in their midst! This was stirring to listen to, as many pastors reported on growth with humility and tears. No church planting story is ever the same. Hearing about these great moves of the Lord’s hand only encouraged me to continue to press on as Faith Church plants Providence Church in Spring Hill.

Statement on Religious Freedom

The EPC took a rather unprecedented move in making a somewhat “political” statement during the assembly. The EPC rarely talks politics (this is a nice feature of our denomination) but this time, the relevant issues touched on abortion. We have always stood against abortion as an evil in our culture. This year, we took a stand for religious freedom by officially opposing some of the clauses in the Affordable Care Act (otherwise known as “Obamacare”). This document passed unanimously states in part:

It is the position of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church that these regulations [mandates to cover abortifacent drugs, abortion related procedures and services] constitute an unprecedented overreach by the federal government and an infringement upon religious liberty and rights of conscience guaranteed by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

You can (and should) read this document in full here. 

Conclusion

To wrap up, though I continue to have some misgivings about the quick growth of the EPC through transfer churches from a much more liberal body, I am optimistic that the EPC remains a solid--if imperfect--denomination. Our historical moorings to the Reformed faith, and specifically the authority of Scripture, will see us through many storms of changing times, if we continue to “hold fast the faith” by building on the foundation of Jesus Christ. God help us.

You can read three of my published articles on this event here.  

Pastor Matthew Everhard is the Senior Pastor of Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Brooksville. Follow him on Twitter @matt_everhard or "friend" him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pastor.everhard

---

Who Was John Calvin? (Part 3 of 3)

[Note: This is the concluding essay in a three-part short introduction to the life of Calvin. See previous posts: part 1/3 and part 2/3].

Calvin's Lasting Legacy
Calvin left a huge legacy for us to follow as Christians in general and as pastors in particular. I will briefly summarize this legacy with the following points.
 

1. First of all, his literary legacy is unmatched. From his Everest-like work, the Institutes of the Christian Religion, to his nearly unending series of Biblical commentaries, to his heart-felt letters, and his printed sermons, Calvin left enough Biblical teaching for a lifetime of learning. Considering the age in which he lived, the technology through which he wrote (pen and quill!) and the turmoil in which he fought, Calvin’s attention to every detail of every Greek verb is simply amazing. While reading his works are daunting and sometimes technical, one is always amazed at the way in which Calvin so clearly spoke as a tender pastor, relentlessly concerned for his people.

2. As a pastor, Calvin stands as one of the greatest of all times. I will give just a bit of evidence of this. Even though he fought valiantly on the cutting edge of theological controversy of his day, Calvin took the time to visit all of the sick and even wrote letters to the martyrs who were suffering under French rule. More than that, Calvin counseled compassionately those who were hurting and in despair, even visiting daily those who were sick or dying under his care.

3. Thirdly, Calvin’s vision for church planting was way ahead of his time. While most within the Reformation movement were concerned more with theological faithfulness, Calvin was burdened to begin as many churches as possible. Newer research is showing that more than ever before thought, Calvin’s church and academy in Geneva was responsible for literally planting hundreds of churches in France, Europe—and even one attempt as far away as Brazil! The Genevan Academy under Calvin’s tutelage continually reproduced impassioned Christ-loving pastors ready to go forth from Geneva and die for the faith.

4. Fourth, Calvin’s theology sunk into the daily lives of his hearers in an unusual way. Because of his fixation upon the glory of God, Calvin taught his followers that God must be glorified by every act of our daily lives! One example will suffice. Today, if you have a watch from Geneva (still the source of all of the very best watches, clocks, and timepieces) it is no doubt because Calvin taught his Genevan brothers 500 years ago to aspire towards excellence in all things for the glory of God.

5. Fifth, Calvin, by his very precision as a theologian, has inspired generation after generation of believers to forsake the error of “easy-believe-ism” as strive instead toward a full and rich theology of heart and mind. Some of the best scholar-theologians in history were inspired by the French Master himself; from the English Puritans to the Dutch Reformed; from the Westminster Divines to Jonathan Edwards; from John Owen of Britain to Benjamin Warfield of New Jersey; from the French Huguenots to the American Presbyterians; from pastors living today such as John Piper of Minneapolis to Mark Driscoll in Seattle—Calvin towers above them all and summons them upwards.

In the end, Calvin would probably be a little bit disturbed if not angry to hear of his followers being called “Calvinists.” I am guessing that he would have disdained that terminology. He had no desires or aspirations in this life for fame or glory and would be satisfied only that his followers were Bible-preaching, God-exalting Christians. Dying in May of 1564, Calvin’s final wishes were honored: he was buried in an unmarked grave in a simple pine box. His lasting testimony was that John the Baptist’s words be made manifest in his own life: “He must become greater; I must become less! (John 3:30). 

Recommended Reading for Beginning Students of John Calvin

• John Piper, John Calvin and His Passion for the Majesty of God. (Wheaton IL: Crossway Books, 2009). A simple and very short 59-page overview of Calvin’s life and ministry by one of the most popular pastors of today.

• THL Parker, Portrait of Calvin. (Minneapolis MN: Desiring God, 1954). An excellent, short biography of Calvin’s life and times.  

• John Calvin, The Institutes of Christian Religion, Edited by Tony Lane and Hilary Osborne. (Grand Rapids MI: Baker Book House, 2004). This version is a significantly shortened version of the Institutes (thus the slightly altered title). In this condensed presentation, Lane and Osborne present Calvin’s teaching optimistically, that is, they leave out most of his more controversial teaches, especially his attacks on his opponents. For this reason, the book is a good enough sum of what he taught, while leaving out what he taught against.

Matthew Everhard is the Senior Pastor of Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brooksville, Florida. Follow me on Twitter @matt_everhard.