• From the Baptism Service: ‘In baptism these children begin their journey in faith. You speak for them today. Will you care for them, and help them to take their place within the life and worship of Christ’s church?’

• How can you help them to ‘take their place within the life and worship of Christ’s church’. The simple answer is to bring them along to worship God with other Christians who have been baptized also.

• This group of people are called ‘the church’. There is a building called a ‘church’, but the real church is the believing people of God when they gather together in Christ. One of the expressions we use for this gathering is ‘the body of Christ’.

• From the earliest of times the ‘body of Christ’ – all the baptized people in one place – has met to remember Jesus in a particular type of worship. The New Testament calls this worship The Eucharist  which means ‘Thanksgiving’. It is also known as the Mass, The Holy Communion, the Breaking of Bread. Whatever name we use, the centre of the worship is the same thing – namely that we remember Jesus and what he did for us; we celebrate Jesus for being with us now; and we look ahead to when Jesus will come again.

• The Eucharist is one of the sacraments of the church, Baptism being the other major sacrament.

• What is a sacrament – ‘the outward visible sign of a hidden invisible grace’ – grace is how we might describe the joy of God working in his world with us through ordinary ways.

• At the service we call the Eucharist we all say, ‘Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.’ So we are remembering past, present, and future life in Jesus Christ, because for Christians Christ is the beginning and the end of all things.

• When you look at the inside of church buildings you will see that really they are designed around a table. Look at the design in a local church – how is designed around a table? Why a table?

• The central act of worship over 2000 years of Christian worship is a meal. So a table is essential for the meal.

• The meal that we are celebrating – when we think of Jesus past, present, and future, recalls his final earthly meal with his disciples (followers) the night before he died on the cross. This meal we call the Last Supper.

• We can read about this meal in Matthew 26, 26; in Mark 14,22; and in Luke 22, 14.

• We know how important this meal was to early Christians after the death and resurrection of Jesus because of St. Paul’s reference to the Christian church in Corinth (1 Cor 10,11), and because in Acts 2,42, there is a reference to the followers of Jesus meeting for the ‘breaking of bread’. So clearly from the earliest of times Christians have participated in the remembrance of this last supper.

• However the origin of the meal that Jesus was keeping with his disciples goes back much further into history, because the meal that Jesus had on the night before he died was a Passover meal, a meal that the Jews had been celebrating for hundreds of years – this was a meal that recalled freedom and liberty – the freedom of the Jews when God allowed them to escape from the slavery of the Egyptian Pharaoh at the time of Moses.

• So freedom and liberty, and remembering what God had done for his ancient people lay at the centre of this meal. It was more than just a meal for eating food – it was about gathering family together, sharing the stories from hundreds of years ago, it was about identity as a people, it was about God’s faithfulness in bringing freedom to his people

• The Old Testament tells us about how the Jews celebrated this Passover – all sorts of things had to be done, but there was to be unleavened bread, and there was to be a roasted lamb. (you can read all about this in Exodus 11). For centuries this is what Jews did to ‘bring alive’ from the past what God had done, and to celebrate it in the present, and to hope for things to come. It was more than remembrance, it was like re-living an event, rather like the telling of a powerful story in your own life – it never leaves you. It is as much NOW as it was THEN, and always WILL BE.

• So Jesus is keeping this meal with is followers. They do not know that within 24 hours he would be dead on a cross, and three days later alive again in the power of God.

• The meal had to be done in a certain way. Think of times in your own life when you know that certain people have to do certain things at the meal, like the Christmas lunch. But Jesus took liberties with the meal! He took some of the bread and said to his followers, ‘this is my body, broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me’

• 'Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation: through your goodness we have this bread to offer, which earth has given and human hands have made. It will become for us the bread of life.       These words we use in our worship now.'

• Jesus then took a cup of wine and passed it round saying ‘this is my blood shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.’

• 'Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation: through your goodness we have this wine to offer, fruit of the vine and work of human hands, it will become for us our spiritual drink.'

These words we use in our worship now.

• So ever since his death and resurrection this action of Jesus has been at the centre of our worship. That is why a table (altar) is at the heart of any church building, and the focus of the church (the people) gathered together.

• It is extraordinary that for nearly 2000 years now this central act of remembrance is still carried out by Christians – but it is not just the meal we remember, but the fact that Jesus died and rose again for us, and we remember this wonderful act of God in bread and wine.

• The bread and wine are ‘signs’ of what God is doing with each of us, and what he has done in history with believers, and what he has in store for us in the future or ‘end times.’

• When we meet together for this meal, we now have a more elaborate act of worship, but this Last Supper is still the real focus, especially when we are all invited (as baptized Christians) to share in the meal, and receive of the bread and wine.

• When we gather we firstly say that we are sorry for the things that are wrong. This we call confession (or penitence). Then we listen to the readings from the Bible, with an explanation from the priest or other minister of the church, we declare our faith (called a Creed) and at the baptism service we all say the ‘Apostles Creed’, we pray together, we share the peace of Christ, we remember the Last Supper and receive bread and wine, and then we are sent out to make a real difference to the world. In between we sing songs. Christians have been doing all of these things for hundreds of years, and you are now invited to be part of that.

• All baptized Christians are welcome to receive from the meal of the Lord, ie the bread and wine. It is almost like, when you are baptized you become a member of the family of Christ, so you can share in the meal just like any member of the family.

• In this parish baptized children at any age can receive the bread and wine – if parents consent, and if the child is physically able to do so in a reasonable way. In the Eastern Orthodox church the bread and wine are given to babies on a spoon! This is the origin of people giving a ‘christening spoon’ as a present at baptism.

• At this service called the Eucharist, the priest is called the ‘President’, ie he is ‘presiding over’ the Christian assembly. The priest will be wearing a garment called a chasuble, and underneath a stole of the same colour. This is ancient custom at the Eucharist.

• The four principal colours are white, red, purple and green.

White (or gold) for Christmas and Easter seasons (and some other special celebrations)
Red for Pentecost (when the gift of the Holy Spirit is given) or for saints who are martyrs
Purple for the seasons of Advent (4 weeks before Christmas) and Lent (six weeks before Easter)
Green  for all the other times of the year

• You will see in many churches a small ‘cupboard’ in church with a light or a candle by it. This is called an Aumbrey. In the aumbrey we keep some of the bread and wine which has been consecrated (made holy) so that people may receive from it through the week, such as the sick and housebound. Some people also come and say their prayers here. We call this set aside bread and wine the Reserved Sacrament. You will see some people bowing in front of the sacrament, showing it great respect.

• As parents and God-parents you are being asked to help your child take his or her place within this wonderful body of Christians worshipping Christ, who died, and rose, and will come again. What a great invitation this is!