How to Give an Effective Communion Meditation
Taking the Lord's Supper is a special component of our spiritual lives. Jesus instituted it as a reminder of the sacrifice that he made for our sins and to give us hope as we walk the daily discipline of the life as a disciple. However, the communion time in our churches often loses part of its power when a communion meditation is not prepared properly.
I have been in the church all of my life and over the years have heard hundreds of communion meditations. Then as a preacher and church leader I have given hundreds of meditations myself. Let me share with you a few suggestions on how to give an effective communion meditation.
1. Keep it Pertinent
A communion meditation is about Jesus. Because of the familiarity with communion and the lack of specific passages in the Bible it is easy for a person to speak about a multitude of topics during the communion time other than Jesus. If you want your communion meditation to be effective, keep it on its central theme, the sacrifice and personhood of Jesus.
2. Keep it Personal
The number one mistake that most people make when delivering a communion meditation is to read some meditation out of a book. These books can be useful tools as a person begins to develop a model for communion meditations. However, the most powerful and effective meditations communicate in a real way what Jesus means to that person. Communion is about a real person speaking about what a real Savior has done in their real life.
3. Keep it in Perspective
Another pitfall in delivering communion meditations is to make them to long and disorganized. Communion meditations are not sermons; they are simply a devotional thought to help us to “do this in remembrance of (Him).”
4. Keep it Powerful
There is nothing as powerful as a person confronting his or her true self and revealing that true self to a Savior. This is what the communion time was destined to be by God. Communion meditation presenters should never forget the sacredness of what takes place in those moments when the cup and the bread is passed.
It is the presenters' job to bring people to a realization of what is happening in this part of worship. This can be done through tone, passion, and the words that are spoken. Each of these should be done in a powerful way to communicate the power of communion.
Even though through the years I had heard and given hundreds of communion meditations there is one that is firmly fixed in my mind as the most effective. An elderly man in a church that I was attending stood up one Sunday to give his meditation. He slowly made his way to the pulpit and then slowly spoke these words. He said,
“When I was a younger man I thought when I would be aged that I would be done with sin. Now as an old man I realize that sin is more powerful to me today then ever before. That is why I need this cup and this bread. That is why I need Communion. That is why I need a Savior, and that is why I am thankful what my Savior has done.”
It is with those simple words that the man sat down and together we worshiped in a time of true communion.
FREE: Download a Sample Communion Meditation (45 kb PDF)
Ken Gosnell is the lead pastor for a new church work in the DC Metro area. You can contact Ken at Kenspeaks@gmail.com
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