New City Catechism, Week 46 (Question 46)

Q: What is the Lord’s Supper?

Children’s answer

A: Christ commanded all Christians to eat bread and to drink from the cup in thankful remembrance of him.

Adult/older children’s answer

A: Christ commanded all Christians to eat bread and to drink from the cup in thankful remembrance of him and his death. The Lord’s Supper is a celebration of the presence of God in our midst; bringing us into communion with God and with one another; feeding and nourishing our souls. It also anticipates the day when we will eat and drink with Christ in his Father’s kingdom.

Video explanation:

Song to assist with memorization:

Relevant Scripture to read:

1 Corinthians 11:23–26

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when 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 also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Children’s Activity (printable pdfs)

Younger Kids (pages 22 and 23)

There are no resources for older kids currently available for this lesson.

Special thanks to Del Rey Church for sharing their New City Catechism kid resources with us!

Devotional questions for individual/family/group reflection and discussion:

  1. This question and answer highlight three “directions” that Christians should look when receiving the Supper. What are they? Which one do you tend to think of the most? The least?

  2. There are two sacraments. We baptize babies, but children do not receive the Lord Supper. Why not?

  3. What are some other understandings of the Lord’s Supper that you are aware of in the Christian tradition? How are they different than our understanding?

  4. Does anything "happen” when we receive the Lord’s Supper? How does it build us up as believers?

For an additional “deeper” dive into this question and answer, check out this video from Dr. Michael Allen (which a few of the above questions are based on):