Acts 20:7 also tells us that New Testament Christians took the Lord's Supper. The term "breaking bread" describes how they communed with Christ and other Christians in the memorial service by eating the Lord's Supper. This was the main reason why they met together. Memorials are instituted to help people remember a loved one or event that is very important in their lives. God instituted many memorials in the Old Testament.
For example: The Passover was a day when the Jews remembered their deliverance out of bondage. The rainbow is one we still have today. It is a reminder of God's promise that He will never flood the earth again. Christ instituted his own memorial in Matthew 26:29. He knew that He was about to face death on the cross when He told them, " This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many." He commanded His disciples to "Do this in remembrance of me," Luke 22:14-21. In Acts 2:42 we read that Christians continued faithfully in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and prayer. The first century church of Christ always remembered the Savior who died to take away their sins, just as He had requested.
They knew the importance of obeying the commands He handed down to them through the apostles. In the Lord's Supper, Christians used bread (without yeast) to represent Christ's broken body on the cross. When they broke it and ate, it reminded them of the life He gave for them. To symbolize Christ's blood shed for their sins, they used the unfermented juice from grapes. When they ate of the bread and drank the juice, they communed with Christ's body and blood, remembering His love and sacrifice on the cross for them. Christians today are under the same New Testament commands that first century Christians followed. In the twentieth century, can we neglect to remember our Savior, who died for our sins when we are commanded to remember Him?
Today, few churches honor Christ as He commanded, by eating the Lord's Supper on the first day of the week. In some churches it is not done at all. Some observe it yearly, while others do quarterly. Why? I have heard it said that having the Lord's Supper every week gets old and loses its meaning if it is done that often. This is only an excuse to disobey. If your church does not honor Christ as He asked to be remembered, by observing the memorial of His death, burial and resurrection, it is disobeying plain biblical teaching given by Christ. The church at Corinth was warned of the consequences of taking the Lord's Supper incorrectly, 1 Corinthians 11:20-29. Churches that do not honor Christ by observing His memorial service every first day of he week, are not true churches of Christ.
Copyright 1989 by Carmen D Hilliard. Used by permission