Recount
Kids learn best through storytelling, plus they love to hear tales about when you were a child. Help lead your kids through an exercise of remembrance. I showed my kids an old sewing machine like the one my mother used to teach me to sew when I was growing up. I explained that when I see an old sewing machine, I’m taken back in time and a flood of memories of my mother comes to my mind. In a similar way, the bread and the cup of Communion remind us of Jesus and what he did for us every time we receive them.
Remember
Explain to your kids that Communion is a way for people to remember what Jesus did for us in his death on the cross, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Read or share the story of the last supper from Matthew 26:26-28.
Reflect
Communion is one of the two sacraments Jesus has given the church, with Baptism being the other. They are opportunities for us to remember the significance of what Jesus has done for us.
Revere
When we take Communion, we remember what Jesus did on the cross, and we reflect on the blessing we receive as children of God. This gives us a sense of reverence for God. Communion is an act of worship that leads us to be in awe of who God is and what he has done in our life.
Chances are your kids will want to know exactly what is going on during Communion. Explain that you’ll have a small cracker or piece of bread and small cup of grape juice.
• The cracker or bread represent Jesus’ body that was beaten and broken. Ask your child to consider all the things Jesus went through on his way to and on the cross. He did that so that your sins could be forgiven. Then you eat the bread to remember Jesus’ broken body and death on the cross.
• The juice represents Jesus’ blood that was shed to forgive your sins. His blood is what makes forgiveness for our sins possible. You drink the juice to remember Jesus’ blood shed for you.
• After you eat the bread and drink the juice, you’ll have a moment of prayer and reflection.
Communion is designed to bring us into a special time of reflection, remembrance and reverence.
Have questions? Email us at kids@bayhope.com
