A meal to remember

01 · GATHER ROUND

Start with a question.

“Is there a special meal your family has that reminds you of something or someone?”

Holiday dinners, a grandparent’s recipe, birthday pancakes—food and memory go together.

03 · OPEN THE BIBLE

Grandma Ruth’s cinnamon rolls.

Every Christmas morning, the Park family makes Grandma Ruth’s cinnamon rolls. Grandma lives far away now, but they use her recipe card, stained with butter and written in her loopy handwriting. As the kitchen fills with that warm, sweet smell, someone always says, “Remember when Grandma…?” And the stories begin.

Food helps us remember. That’s one reason Jesus gave his followers a meal. Our Bible reading tells us that on the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it. He said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Then he took the cup and said it was the new covenant in his blood.

Jesus knew that the next day he would die on the cross. He wanted his friends—and all Christians after them—to remember what he did. The bread reminds us of his body, given for us. The cup reminds us of his blood, poured out to forgive our sins and bring us into God’s family forever.

The Lord’s Supper is a thankful meal. We don’t eat it the way people might at a sad goodbye. We eat it with grateful hearts, because Jesus’s death means life for us. Some churches call it Communion, because at this meal Jesus draws us close to himself and to one another. Others call it the Eucharist, from a Greek word that means “thanksgiving.”

It looks forward, too. Paul says that every time we eat the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. The meal says, “Jesus died for us, and he is coming back!” It’s a little preview of the great feast we’ll share with him one day.

The Parks will keep baking Grandma Ruth’s rolls, and the stories will keep coming. And every time the church shares the bread and the cup, the best story of all gets told again: Jesus loves you, and he is coming back.

04 · WONDER TOGETHER

Let’s talk about it.

1. Why do you think Jesus chose a meal to help us remember him?
2. What do the bread and the cup remind Christians of?
3. How does the Lord’s Supper look forward to the future as well as back to the cross?

Try answering one yourself first. “I don’t know yet” is a fine place to start a conversation.

06 · TALK TO GOD

Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, thank you for giving us a meal to remember you. Thank you for your body given for us and your blood poured out to forgive our sins. Give us thankful hearts every time we see the bread and the cup. And thank you that you are coming back. We can’t wait to share your great feast. Amen.

Then invite everyone to add one thing they want to tell God.

07 · MAKE IT STICK

A little truth to learn by heart.

Set the table while you say it. Place a plate as you say the first part, a cup as you say the next part, and a napkin as you finish. Take turns being the table-setter until everyone can say the whole answer before the table is ready.