Whom We Welcome To The Lord's Table

At First Baptist Church, it is our belief that Jesus Christ ordained the Lord's Supper for His people to observe and practice until He returns (1 Corinthians 11:26)1 Corinthians 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. We believe that both Baptism and the Lord's Supper are intended to be exercised by Christ's disciples alone - only those who have been born again of the Spirit of God and profess a living faith.

While many churches choose to observe the Lord's Supper once a month, we have come to see our worship-services as incomplete without the privilege of gathering together at His Table. Therefore, we end each Sunday Morning service by celebrating God's goodness and grace to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ as we participate in the Lord's Supper. We believe that at the Table, we proclaim our faith in His death for us, and that through faith, we participate in the blessings of His atoning work as He continues to strengthen and feed our hungry souls (1 Corinthians 10:16)1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

At First Baptist Church, we joyfully welcome any and all to the Lord's Table who profess to be born again of God's Spirit, and confess a living faith in the triune God through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul gives this admonition to Christians in (1 Corinthians 11:27-28); "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. "

To approach the Table unworthily is a serious matter, but it does not mean to approach without sin. Quite the contrary, the very purpose of the Table is to come as needy sinners to receive grace and mercy in our time of need. But we must come in humble acknowledgment of our sin and our need of grace. We must come confessing our sins, and not harboring them. It is for this reason that Paul's instruction for self-examination is so important. If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, or if you cannot approach worthily, we respectfully ask that you allow the bread and cup to pass and refrain from participating.

Our practice at the Lord's Table is to confess our sins silently before God and then to pass out the elements while we join together in corporate prayer to God by lifting our voices together in song. As you receive the bread and the cup, please hold them until everyone is served, and we will partake together.

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