Communion and the Benediction....is it necessary?

[seeker2122]

So the communion (the eating the bread cookie and drinking the cup of grape juice)
and the benediction (the simple saying of 2 Cor. 13:14) are often given in church services.

In my church, we haven't had it for 6 months. The reason is because our part-time pastor
is not ordained. It appears that only ordained pastors can deliver communion and the benediction.

Of course it is always nice to have communion and/or given a benediction at the end of service,
but why do some people seem to need it like it is a requirement to their spiritual survival or sustenance?

It is always a blessing to have it but I don't feel less blessed if I don't. Communion is a sacrament, not
means for salvation. The benediction is just a nice blessing given but I don't believe it has any more or
less power than if you used any other verse or prayer to bless people.

Can anyone explain where some members got their deep-seeded reliance or dependency on these?
It just surprised me.

 

[Paidiske]

Christ meets us in communion in a very particular way. For some people, that is very important. Personally, I prefer to have communion at least weekly and have made choices about which church to attend in the past on that basis.

And look at it this way; a service without communion may have everything else, but it can still feel like something is missing or lacking because it does not have all that it could.

 

[seeker2122]

Christ meets us in communion in a very particular way. For some people, that is very important. Personally, I prefer to have communion at least weekly and have made choices about which church to attend in the past on that basis.

And look at it this way; a service without communion may have everything else, but it can still feel like something is missing or lacking because it does not have all that it could.

Would you say this is more common in liturgical style churches/denominations or equal all the same on the spectrum of denominations?

I can respect it for sure if some feel they need it to be closer to God.

I don't actually think however there is any special power or insight in it per se by doing it regularly in this fashion.
I used to do communion with myself at home and I'd eat a piece of bread and drink some grape juice and read the passage
to Jesus and do it by myself. I also gave myself and others the benediction even though I am not ordained pastor. Why does that
have to be a requirement to do so? That again sounds like legalism to me. Anyone should be able to pray the words from the Bible
and be blessed by it all the same. There is no special power in an ordained pastor vs a true follower of Jesus that lives on the streets in beggar clothes. He can give the benediction and it would be just as powerful and blessed prayer too.

 

[Paidiske]

Would you say this is more common in liturgical style churches/denominations or equal all the same on the spectrum of denominations?

In my limited experience, more common in more liturgical churches; but that's not an absolute rule. The Church of Christ my husband grew up in, for example, insisted on communion every week.

I used to do communion with myself at home and I'd eat a piece of bread and drink some grape juice and read the passage
to Jesus and do it by myself. I also gave myself and others the benediction even though I am not ordained pastor. Why does that
have to be a requirement to do so? That again sounds like legalism to me. Anyone should be able to pray the words from the Bible
and be blessed by it all the same. There is no special power in an ordained pastor vs a true follower of Jesus that lives on the streets in beggar clothes. He can give the benediction and it would be just as powerful and blessed prayer too.

This is perhaps a separate issue. I would say it is because when doing these things in public worship, the pastor speaks as an authorised representative of the church; and ordination is the way that that authority and recognition is given.

 

[HTacianas]

So the communion (the eating the bread cookie and drinking the cup of grape juice)
and the benediction (the simple saying of 2 Cor. 13:14) are often given in church services.

In my church, we haven't had it for 6 months. The reason is because our part-time pastor
is not ordained. It appears that only ordained pastors can deliver communion and the benediction.

Of course it is always nice to have communion and/or given a benediction at the end of service,
but why do some people seem to need it like it is a requirement to their spiritual survival or sustenance?

It is always a blessing to have it but I don't feel less blessed if I don't. Communion is a sacrament, not
means for salvation. The benediction is just a nice blessing given but I don't believe it has any more or
less power than if you used any other verse or prayer to bless people.

Can anyone explain where some members got their deep-seeded reliance or dependency on these?
It just surprised me.

Jhn 6:53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.

 

[seeker2122]

Jhn 6:53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.

This is understood but you only have to do it once (gift of salvation). Now is it good to do it often as remembrance? Absolutely. Is it a requirement to do this regularly or else lose your salvation and life? No. Remember that sacraments are only that. They are not the power behind anything. Jesus is the life. The sacraments have no power in of themselves. I have no problem if people need sacraments weekly and a benediction but it is only when they start to think we are somehow losing our salvation or life or faith by not doing these rituals.

 

[HTacianas]

This is understood but you only have to do it once (gift of salvation). Now is it good to do it often as remembrance? Absolutely. Is it a requirement to do this regularly or else lose your salvation and life? No. Remember that sacraments are only that. They are not the power behind anything. Jesus is the life. The sacraments have no power in of themselves. I have no problem if people need sacraments weekly and a benediction but it is only when they start to think we are somehow losing our salvation or life or faith by not doing these rituals.

Can you show me someone in the history of the Church who agrees with you?

 

[seeker2122]

Can you show me someone in the history of the Church who agrees with you?

Yes, Jesus Christ. He is the majority my friend

 

[HTacianas]

Yes, Jesus Christ. He is the majority my friend

Actually, no. Nowhere does he say that.