2009-10-28T10:57:34-05:00 GCI info@gospel.com /feeds/topics/eucharist/ http://gospel.com/blog/index.php/2009/10/21/sharing-saliva-with-others/ 2009-10-28T10:57:34-05:00 The idea of a common cup during communion is a bit freaky to me. All those germs from all those mouths are a bit unsettling, but after reading Swine Flu and the Common Cup over at the Gospel Coalition blog, I’m beginning to think there’s something beautiful that happens when we indiscriminately share the cup. http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2010:16-17&version=NIV 2009-09-17T16:38:20-05:00 The Christian practice of communion is a commemoration of Jesus' Last Supper, where he shared bread and wine and used them as vivid illustrations of the sacrifice he was about to make. Today at communion services, Christians around the world drink wine and eat bread to remember Christ's blood and body, sacrificed for us on the cross. http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2026:17-30&version=NIV 2009-08-26T14:44:42-05:00 At the Last Supper before Jesus' arrest, he instituted a tradition than has been followed in Christian churches for centuries. He offered bread and wine to his disciples, telling them to remember his sacrifice on the cross. Countless churches still commemorate this supper, often calling it "communion." http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2026:26-28&version=NIV 2009-08-06T17:45:30-05:00 The Christian practice of communion springs from this story, in which Jesus shares bread and wine with his disciples and encourages them to view it as a symbol of his sacrifice for them. http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2022:7-20&version=NIV 2009-07-16T10:31:08-05:00 The Last Supper was Jesus' final meal spent with his disciples before his death. During this meal, Jesus established the use of bread and wine as symbols of his body and blood, and of his sacrifice on the cross. Thousands of years later, Christians still celebrate "communion" in imitation of this meal.