1:58 PM Today in the gathering brother Joel taught about the memorial significance of the Lord’s Supper and suggested that perhaps — just perhaps — our church should observe the Supper on a weekly basis. It’s my opinion that a strong case can be made from the Scriptures for a weekly observance, and indeed a return to such a practice would, in my mind, restore the Supper to the heart, rather than the periphery, of our weekly gatherings. I recall once reading a book by Robert Webber (of Wheaton College) documenting the exodus of evangelicals from traditional evangelical denominations, partly because they had become attracted to the weekly Eucharist practiced by many of the more mainline denominations. His book, Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail, directly addressed one of the greatest problems I see in many our churches, namely our anthropocentrism (read pulpit-centeredness). As I’ve remarked before on this blog, some point the finger at us for having a faulty view of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Bible). In other words, we seem to have elevated a 30 minute monologue to a place of importance and preeminence it never had in the New Testament, at least not so far as I can tell. Apparently the early church met weekly to observe the Lord’s Supper (at that time it was part of a full fellowship meal) — see Acts 20:7, 1 Cor. 11:20, and Acts 2:42. Should Bethel Hill Baptist Church be any less regular than the early church in this regard?

I, for one, would love to see us refocus our meetings on the Lord Jesus, our absent but soon-to-return Savior. I, for one, would love to see us become less man-centered, even less pulpit-centered in the sense that we have elevated a sermon above the Sermo that was in the beginning with the Father. (One version of the Vulgate renders John 1:1 as In principio erat Sermo instead of In principio erat Verbum. I like that.) I personally advise against giving into the thinking that says “If we partake of the Lord’s Supper weekly it will become mundane and lose its significance.” Hogwash. Would anyone say that about weekly prayers or even our weekly “messages” from God’s Word? You say, “There is no possible way we could fit all of this within a one-hour meeting.” You are right. But then again, the early church seemed to be in no hurry to get over with their services so that they could all go home and watch a game on TV. They seemed to luxuriate in the fellowship their meetings provided.

Churches that have a weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper stand in the tradition of the apostles. No church ever suffers for doing this. Indeed, it may just bring a special blessing from the One whom we remember.

(From Dave Black Online. Used by permission. David Alan Black is author of Energion titles The Jesus Paradigm, Christian Archy, and Why Four Gospels?.)