How to lead communion at home with your kids

Hi Parents, the Easter season has begun and we would love to partner with you in the discipleship of your children in the area of communion. Communion can be taken anywhere and anytime, not just during weekend services at church – Good Friday would be a fantastic opportunity to speak about the importance of communion this day. As the spiritual authority over your children, we encourage you to lead your children through communion at home. Here is a simple guide to help disciple your kids at home in this area. 

1) Prepare the elements

Find these common food items at home to use as elements for communion.

• Bread – Piece of sliced bread, biscuit, cracker, rice cake, potato chip, doughnut, etc.
• Cup – Cranberry juice, blackcurrant juice, red cordial, water, soft drink, etc.

Give a piece of bread and a cup of juice to each of your children. Remind them not to eat and drink the elements until you have given them instructions to do so. Inform them that you want the family to understand the reason you are doing communion together before they eat and drink the elements.

2) Watch the following cartoon with your children

Saddleback Kids – The Story of Easter (The Last Supper)

You could say something like this to get them ready to engage with the video:
“Let’s watch this video together! It will show us about the last meal Jesus had with His twelve closest followers. It will help us understand more about communion.”

3) Teach your children “What is communion”, “What the elements represent”, and “Why we do it” using the following information.

Communion is a special moment to remember Jesus’ death and promises by using this bread and cup.

Before Jesus died on the cross for us, He had a last supper with His friends, the twelve apostles. For supper He gave each one of them a piece of bread and a cup to drink and talked about what He needed to do on the cross to make the way for everyone to become part of God’s family.

Jesus said that the bread was like His body because He gave a piece of bread to His friends, and He gave His body on the cross so everyone can have their sin (disobedience towards God) forgiven.

When Jesus died and came back to life, He made a new promise (Covenant, contract, testament) to the whole world, that anyone who believes in Jesus and makes Him the Boss (Lord, King) of their lives becomes part of God’s Family.

Jesus said the cup was like the new promise and when we eat this piece of bread and drink from the cup, it is to help us remember Jesus and what He did for us so we can be part of God’s Family.

4) Lead your children in partaking of the communion elements

A great scripture to lead your family in partaking the communion elements would be 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (NIRV).

You might say the following:

“The apostle Paul taught the church in the town of Corinth about communion using this Bible passage “

 < Read 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (NIRV) >

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

“Let’s take a few moments to think about Jesus and remember His great love for us. Remember that He chose to die on the cross so we could be friends with God, and more than that, be part of God’s Family.”

< Pause for a few moments for reflection>

“Let’s all eat the bread at the same time, remember that the bread is like Jesus’ body that He gave so we could have our sins forgiven.”

< As a family, eat the bread together at the same time>

“Let’s all drink the cup together and remember Jesus’ promises to us, that when we make Jesus the Boss and Lord of our lives we have eternal life and become part of God’s Family.”

< As a family, drink the juice together at the same time>

5) Close with a thanksgiving prayer

You might say the following:
“Let’s thank Jesus for what He did for us and His wonderful promises.”

“Dear Jesus, thank you for loving us and taking the punishment for our sins. Thank you for making us children of God so we can be part of God’s Family. In Jesus name, Amen!”