When we celebrate the Lord's Supper, which we also call "Communion," we invite all present who are professing members in good standing of a church that worships Jesus Christ to participate. To understand our beliefs about communion, perhaps it would be most helpful to read one of our church's statements which we use sometimes when we celebrate the Lord's Supper:

Beloved in the Lord, hear the words of the apostle Paul concerning the institution of the holy supper of our Lord Jesus Christ:

For I received from the Lord what I also passed onto you: the Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when 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, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself (1 Corinthians 11:23-29).

When our Lord said, "Do this in remembrance of me," he ordained this holy supper as a constant memorial and visible proclamation of his death. The apostle Paul also teaches us that as often as we eat the bread and drink the cup we proclaim the Lord's death. As we partake of this communion supper, therefore, we bear witness that our Lord Jesus was sent by the Father into the world, that he took upon himself our flesh and blood, and that he bore the wrath of God on the cross for us. We also confess that he came to earth to bring us to heaven, that he was condemned to die that we might be pardoned, that he endured the suffering and death of the cross that we might live through him, and that he was once forsaken by God that we might forever be accepted by him.

The sacrament thus confirms us in God's abiding love and covenant faithfulness. By his holy supper; our Lord seals to our hearts the promises of God's gracious covenant and so assures us that we belong to his covenant family. Let us then be persuaded as we eat and drink that God will always love us and accept us as his children for the sake of his Son.

Our Lord promises, moreover, that as we eat the bread and drink the cup, we are fed with his crucified body and shed blood. To this end he gives us his life-giving Spirit, through whom the body and blood of our Lord become the life-giving nourishment of our souls. Thus he unites us with himself and so imparts the precious benefits of his sacrifice to all who partake in faith.

The holy sacrament is also a means of grace that unites us with one another in the bond of the Spirit. For the apostle says that "we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf'" (1 Corinthians 10:17). Thus, even as he unites us with himself, he strengthens the bond of communion between us, his children.

Finally, the remembrance of our Lord's death revives in us the hope of his return. Since he commanded us to do this until he comes, the Lord assures us that he will come again to take us to himself. So, as we commune with him now under the veil of these earthly elements, we are assured that we shall sometime behold him face to face and rejoice in the glory of his appearing.

Our Lord Jesus will surely do what he has promised. Let us draw near to his table, then, believing that he will strengthen us in faith, unite us in love, and establish us more firmly in the hope of his coming.

Now "to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen" (Revelation 1:5b-6).

(This material has been taken from a form used for celebrating the Lord's supper in our church which is printed in The Psalter Hymnal (Grand Rapids, Michigan: CRC Publications, 1987), pp. 979 - 980.)