Apollo 11 landed on the surface of the moon on Sunday, July 20, 1969. Most of us are familiar with astronaut Neil Armstrong's historic statement as he stepped onto the moon's surface: "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind." But few know about the first meal eaten there.

Buzz Aldrin had brought aboard the spacecraft a tiny Communion kit provided by his church. Aldrin sent a radio ...

After his ordination in 1969, author and pastor Phillip Johnson received a call to serve one large church and ten smaller churches on the northern coast of Newfoundland, Canada. On the first day of his new circuit ministry, Johnson learned that in order to get to the smallest of the churches, he would have to travel 40 miles by snowmobile to a tiny village. When Johnson arrived, only one person had ...

For centuries, we have drunk the wine of the Lord's Supper, reminding us of the bittersweet truth that Christ's blood was shed for humanity. Jesus has been waiting all these centuries to drink it anew with us at the wedding supper of the Lamb. When he does, there will be no thought of death.

Konstantin Makovskii, a prominent Russian painter of the 19th century, once painted an enormous picture, depicting ...

In his sermon "The Sinner's Feast," Lee Eclov describes what should be the celebrative side of Communion in the context of worship:

This table is different. This table of the Lord isn't where sinners find Christ but where sinners celebrate being found …

Maybe some morning, instead of solemnly passing these trays, we should dance for joy. Maybe we should sing every born-again song we know. Maybe ...

A young friend called me to say she'd admitted herself to a psychiatric hospital. While she was there, I visited her when I could. One of my visits was on Good Friday. I asked her if she'd like for me to bring Communion to her. She said she would and asked if some of the other hospitalized Christians could join us.

On that spring afternoon, five or six of us gathered in her room and shared the sacred ...

In his Letters to a Young Evangelical, Tony Campolo shares a story from his youth about taking Communion:

Sitting with my parents at a Communion service when I was very young, perhaps six or seven years old, I became aware of a young woman in the pew in front of us who was sobbing and shaking. The minister had just finished reading the passage of Scripture written by Paul that says, "Whosoever shall ...

A is for Alcohol: Do you emphasize the freedom of Christians to enjoy God's good gifts, or do you emphasize that alcohol is involved in sexual immorality, dysfunctional families, and deaths from drunk drivers?

B is for Baptism: Should we baptize infants or dedicate them?

C is for Contraception: Should Christians use birth control, and if so, what kinds are okay?

D is for Dating: Is this a fun way for ...

There's a wonderful story by Isak Dinesen called Babette's Feast, about a strict, dour, fundamentalist community in Denmark. Babette works as a cook for two elderly sisters who have no idea that she once was a chef to nobility back in her native France. Babette's dream is to return to her beloved home city of Paris, so every year she buys a lottery ticket in hopes of winning enough money to return. ...

A well-known painting of the Vietnam Wall depicts a young widow and her daughter standing at the wall, reaching up and touching the name of the husband and father who died. The reflection in the polished granite is not of the mother and daughter but of the husband and father reaching out his hand to touch theirs.

That is the Lord's Supper. We arrive at the table and reach out our hands to take this ...

In a game of Bible Trivia, I asked our eight-year-old daughter, "What is another name for the Lord's Supper?" Thinking hard she finally said, "Pot luck!"