FAQs

What is communion?

Communion, also known as the Lord’s Supper, is one of two sacraments Jesus has given his Church. A “sacrament” is a physical sign of spiritual reality—a powerful way to make truth tangible. In communion, Jesus has given us a physical reminder of his body that was broken and his blood that was shed to set us free from our sins (1 Cor 11:23–26). When we taste the bread and the cup, we are driving the finished work of Jesus home to our weary hearts—celebrating that the sins we struggled with this week have no power to separate us from the love of God or define us anymore!

Communion is also a means of active fellowship (1 Cor 10:14-21). The first Christians celebrated communion as an entire meal in their gatherings because in that culture, meals were the ultimate expression of friendship. While the mode of celebrating communion has changed today (we take just a piece of bread and we use grape juice instead of wine to honor the conscience of all), the point is the same. In communion, “the Spirit mediates the presence of Christ by bridging the distance between the ascended Christ in heaven and his people on earth.”* In other words, in the bread and the cup, we get to fellowship with our risen God and Savior in what can only be described as a taste of Heaven. In this way, communion isn’t just something we do—like any fellowship, being with God does something to us.

When we take communion, we are celebrating that God loves us in spite of the sin we struggled with this week and enjoying afresh fellowship with him that nourishes our weary souls, relieves our doubt, removes our guilt, humbles our pride, and alleviates our anxiety so that we can enter a new week in the confidence of the gospel.

* From Truth We Can Touch by Tim Chester, p 90.

Who should participate in communion? 

Communion is for all baptized believers in Jesus Christ.

If you’re not a Christian, we’re glad you’re here! We’d love to meet you and pray with you and/or talk with you about any questions you have. Our church is built for you to have a safe place to explore the claims of Jesus. As you are exploring the claims of Jesus, we would encourage you not to take communion before you are ready. This is not because we are trying to keep anything from you but because the power in communion does not come from the elements themselves (this is not magic bread or juice) but from receiving them with faith. If you have not yet trusted Jesus as your savior, we believe you will find it far more meaningful to bring your honest questions to God during this time and process what you believe. Again, we’d love to be a part of your journey.

If you have placed your faith in Jesus (maybe for the first time today!) but haven’t yet been baptized, we would also ask you to please hold off from taking communion. Again, our goal is not to keep anything from you but to help you engage fully with the sacraments Jesus has given us. Baptism is the second of two powerful sacraments Jesus has given us and we want to make sure to connect you to the sacrament of baptism before you partake of communion. To learn more about baptism or to sign up to get baptized, fill out a Connect Card.

What’s the right age to begin participating in communion?

Ultimately, there is no right age. Anyone with the capacity to understand and believe in the sacrificial death of Jesus should be baptized and begin participating in communion. We encourage parents to use the elements as a visual way to teach their children about what Jesus did for us on the cross. If your child is ready to be baptized, please fill out a Connect Card so we can partner with your family in this important step in your child’s faith journey!

I’m not a member of Fair Oaks. Can I still take communion?

Absolutely. The table is open to all baptized believers in Jesus Christ.

What does it mean to partake in an “unworthy manner” (1 Cor 11:27)?

In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul is talking about the divisions and lack of love in the church in Corinth. In the midst of this discussion, he notes that when they come together for worship, instead of dealing with these issues, they were ignoring them and taking communion anyway. In so doing, the manner in which they were taking communion expressed their divisions and lack of love instead of their unity in Christ and God’s great love. That is what Paul refers to as partaking in an “unworthy manner.”

Notice that the problem wasn’t that they had sin in their lives; it was that they were simply going through the motions of worship (in this case, taking communion) without dealing with the real issues in their life. That is what Paul calls unworthy and even dangerous (see vv. 29-30). Therefore, we should “examine ourselves” before we participate in communion (see v. 28). This is not a call to frantically try to name every sin we committed this week in fear of judgment if we forget something. Rather, it's a call to bring our real self to God. To open our heart to him. To quit pretending we don’t have sin in our life and get honest about our struggles. In other words, communion is not intended for the perfect to celebrate their achievements, but for sinners to rejoice in the blood-bought righteousness our great God and Savior won for us (Mk 2:17).