The Lord's Supper

"For I received from The Lord what I also passed on to 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 broken 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.  That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep."  1 Corinthians 11:23-30 (NIV)

This was the account of The Lord's Supper written by the Apostle Paul to the believers in the church at Corinth.  The description of the seriousness of this act was followed by an explanation of it, and a stern warning regarding the importance of it.  To partake of this was to proclaim the death of The Lord until He returns.  To do this in an unworthy fashion was a sin, and that would bring about judgement and damnation to the individual.  Afterwards he added that this was the reason that many of them were sick and weak, and why many of them had died.

The partaking of The Lord's Supper, Holy Communion, is a way for believers to seriously and ceremoniously reflect on the suffering which Christ endured, the shedding of His blood, and His death on the cross, for the remission of our sins.  To engage in this without respectful prayerful consideration is to do so in an unworthy manner.  A disrespectful lack of reverence to Christ and the price which He paid for our salvation, is a sin and invites the judgment and wrath of God. (John 5:22, Romans 2:5, 2 Corinthians 5:10, 1 Peter 4:17, Jude 1:15)