When should you take communion?

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Nancy

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How often? Is it true that you can take communion either every week, month or year? Thanks everyone!
Good question TLP,
I've always seen communion as the family of God breaking bread together, or having supper. I know it's a simple way of looking at this but, there you have it! Always remembering Him and communing with Him, in fellowship with other believers.
:My2c::)

1 Corinthians 11:25,26
"In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.
26For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes."
 

Deborah_

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How often? Is it true that you can take communion either every week, month or year? Thanks everyone!
It depends on your church, how often they offer it.

Jesus never stipulated how often we should take communion, which is why different denominations now have different traditions. The early church did it every week, at their Sunday meeting.

Personally, I feel that somewhere between once a week and once a month is about right (but that's purely my personal opinion). Too frequent, and it's in danger of becoming an unthinking habit. Too rarely, and we are in danger of minimising its importance.
 
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Lambano

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I suppose it depends on your understanding of what communion means.

My own denomination has communion on the first Sunday of every month, up from once a quarter when I was a kid. Sometimes it's just a ritual; we shuffle up to the altar rail and receive the bread and the grape juice and we remember: "The body of Christ, broken for you. The blood of Christ, shed for you." A few special times... I sensed something I can't put into words.
 
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Randy Kluth

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How often? Is it true that you can take communion either every week, month or year? Thanks everyone!
I've never received much teaching on Communion that explained its purpose outside of the routine use of Scriptures describing it. It seems to be a kind of NT ritual, in which believers meet together for purposes of edification and recognize Jesus as the source of their life and inspiration.

As a ritual it is to be taken very seriously as indicating we are ingesting Christ in a spiritual way, embracing the grace that he gives to us through the Holy Spirit. As such we are able to take on his virtues of love and kindness.

Remembering this keeps a Christian group centered on him, so that we live by his love and guidance. How often we do this is a matter of how we sense the need to redirect ourselves as a group to Christ, because as flawed human beings we can easily get distracted or side-tracked.

For example, we can easily gather together for a potluck and turn the meeting into an eating fest or into a gossip fest. But we can turn a meal into a sacred ritual when we determine, as a group, to celebrate communion.

That's what I think Jesus did at his last supper. It wasn't just a meal--much more, it was preparation for a great sacrifice. And he wanted his disciples to be centered on that, rather than just thankful for another meal.
 
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Bob Estey

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How often? Is it true that you can take communion either every week, month or year? Thanks everyone!
Different churches have Communion at different intervals. I've been in churches that do it weekly. Our church does it monthly. I grew up in a church that did it once every three months.
 

Jim B

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"Take communion" whenever you want. It doesn't have to be in church.

"For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes." 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
 

DJT_47

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Every week as did the the disciples.
Acts 20:7

7And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
 
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DJT_47

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Acts 2:46
"And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,"

Every day
That's different. They ate their meat. That's a meal not a remembrance or honoring of the Lord as in partaking of the Lord's supper.
 
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Randy Kluth

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Acts 2:46
"And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,"

Every day
I haven't really looked into it. But I imagine the fellowship of Christians met together regularly, even daily, and shared meals. And certainly not every meal was communion. I'm not really clear on how they decided when to celebrate communion, as opposed to just sharing meals with one another.
 

DJT_47

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I haven't really looked into it. But I imagine the fellowship of Christians met together regularly, even daily, and shared meals. And certainly not every meal was communion. I'm not really clear on how they decided when to celebrate communion, as opposed to just sharing meals with one another.
Read the following. Start with Matthew 26:26-28, then Acts 20:7, then 1 Cor 11:23-29, then 1 Cor 16:1-2. You'll see the ref to the 1st day of the week also mentioned in 1 Cor 16:1-2 regarding taking up the collection, so that in conjunction with the other verses would seem to indicate that it was the first day of the week that the disciples gathered together as the church to worship, partakers of the Lord's supper, and conduct church affairs such as the collection.
 
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Eternally Grateful

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Acts 2:46
"And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,"

Every day
Amen,

Much of the church has broken from this NT standard, and made a ceremony out of it.

When they got together. They broke bread together (had a meal) and drank from the cup.. in remembrance of Jesus who was the root of their body..
 

Randy Kluth

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Read the following. Start with Matthew 26:26-28, then Acts 20:7, then 1 Cor 11:23-29, then 1 Cor 16:1-2. You'll see the ref to the 1st day of the week also mentioned in 1 Cor 16:1-2 regarding taking up the collection, so that in conjunction with the other verses would seem to indicate that it was the first day of the week that the disciples gathered together as the church to worship, partakers of the Lord's supper, and conduct church affairs such as the collection.
That's what I was insinuating, that Communion was not likely a *daily* ritual, that they sometimes *daily* met with one another and shared meals. That was my point, that *eating together* was not always "Communion."

Acts 2.46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.

It appears, based on what you're saying, that they took Communion once a week when they met together specifically for worship? If so, that does seem likely. They turned at least one regular meal into a ritual celebrating the focus of their worship, which was on Christ.
 

amigo de christo

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How often? Is it true that you can take communion either every week, month or year? Thanks everyone!
Often . DO it in remembrance of the glorious LORD . Let all that has breath praise the glorious Lord .
And even two or three can do it . DO it in remembrance of HIM . Now lift those hands , cause its LORD PRAISING TIME
in the building and round the world .
 

marksman

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Every week as did the the disciples.
Acts 20:7

7And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
What the disciples did was not communion. It was a meal that was shared by all which is what the breaking of bread means in the original. The communion was something that was introduced by Catholics and the protestant church continued with it during the reformation.
 

DJT_47

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What the disciples did was not communion. It was a meal that was shared by all which is what the breaking of bread means in the original. The communion was something that was introduced by Catholics and the protestant church continued with it during the reformation.
When you take all the aforementioned scriptures into consideration as mentioned in my previous post #14, it suggests that the 1st day of the week and the breaking of bread participated in thereon was not a meal, but rather the time that the disciples came together as the church and remembered the Lord accordingly at that time, partaking of the Lord's supper weekly. Look closely at the scriptures cited to ascertain the difference.
 
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Jim B

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What the disciples did was not communion. It was a meal that was shared by all which is what the breaking of bread means in the original. The communion was something that was introduced by Catholics and the protestant church continued with it during the reformation.
Jesus twice said "do this in remembrance of me".

1 Corinthians 11:23-25, "For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

This happened long before the Catholic and Protestant denominations came into being.
 

marksman

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Jesus twice said "do this in remembrance of me".

1 Corinthians 11:23-25, "For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

This happened long before the Catholic and Protestant denominations came into being.
I am not denying the fact, but what is the context and meaning of the words. Until you know what they are you are just trotting out tradition.
 

marksman

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When you take all the aforementioned scriptures into consideration as mentioned in my previous post #14, it suggests that the 1st day of the week and the breaking of bread participated in thereon was not a meal, but rather the time that the disciples came together as the church and remembered the Lord accordingly at that time, partaking of the Lord's supper weekly. Look closely at the scriptures cited to ascertain the difference.
Well, believe it or not I have looked at the scripture time and time again. I have compared notes with scholars who are impeccable in their understanding. I have read the comments of people who are experts in the language of the day. When all is said and done, what I have said is the product of extensive research that cannot be faulted because it is not my ideas. it is the product of learned men.