 Welcome to Foundations of Faith. Today I want to talk to you about an important element or ordinance or sacrament of the Christian church called communion. It's often times called Holy Communion or the Eucharist or just communion. Sometimes it's called the Lord's Supper. What is communion and why is it significant? On the last night that Jesus had with his disciples as he had them gathered around a table, Jesus took bread and he took wine and he instituted an ordinance for the church. It says that he took the bread, he blessed it, he broke it and he gave it to them and he encouraged his disciples and he said, eat this, take this, for this is my body broken for you. Then Jesus took the cup and he blessed it and he gave it and he said, this is my blood of the new covenant. Take and drink this. Then Jesus said, and this is Luke chapter 22, he said, I will not drink of this until I drink it new with you in the kingdom. And he gave them the bread and he gave them the wine just before he went to the cross where he suffered and his body truly was broken and where his blood was shed for our sins. Ever since that time, when Christians gather in worship, they have celebrated communion together as a remembrance of what Jesus has accomplished for us on the cross. We take the bread and when we receive it, we're reminded of the price that Jesus paid for our sins. We're also reminded of Isaiah chapter 53 in which the Bible prophesies the Messiah coming and suffering in our place and it says that by his stripes we are healed. There's very often a discerning of the Lord's body when we receive the bread in which healing takes place, body, soul and spirit in a believer's life. When we drink the cup, we're reminded that it was his precious blood that was shed that has brought peace and reconciliation between us and God the Father through the blood that Jesus shed. So when we take the bread and the wine and we do it in remembrance of what Jesus did for us on the cross, it's a powerful, powerful event in which God's presence is there with us, reminding us and softening our hearts once again with gratitude for the gift that Jesus gave us. And when we do it together with other believers, it's a very unifying sacrament, a unifying event in which we remember salvation isn't about you or me. Our salvation was wrought by our Savior Jesus Christ and it becomes the centerpiece of our faith. It's very simple, but it's very powerful and we need to celebrate communion more often even as the day of the Lord's return approaches. If you have never received communion or if maybe you've taken it and you really haven't understood the significance, let me encourage you to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to communicate to your heart how significant and important it is and the next time you have the opportunity to receive the Lord's Supper or communion, do it prayerfully, do it honoring and do it as an act of worship. Do it with believers and let the importance and the significance of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection renew your faith day by day.