communion & your children

You know it is funny what people in church will make their buisness and raise more then an eyebrow at. I allowed my 8 year old girl to take part of the communion with the cracker and juice. Her heart is more than Christ centered, even more so then some adults, I was so proud of her explaining to her little friend sitting next to her what each item ment and we did this to show jesus we loved him and remembered what he did for us. But it caused a great stir in the church, some even said people HAD to be babtized first before taking part. We sda's have on OPEN communion, anyone can take part, I do feel that you need to have your heart centered in the right place, that it isn't just something to do out of tradation. What do you all feel, and how would you approach these brow raisers when they approach you?

Hi Lisa,

If there is any info you could use, to help honestly seeking SDA's feel free to reprinte it. It is in Private Specialty Forums, under Family Concerns, in the thread kids and communion.

Jesus

never

told the disciples, "suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, woops wait a minute they ain't baptized."

The Bible defines eating and drinking communion unworthily. This child seems to have the needed preparations and displayed them to her little friend and confessed Jesus as her Saviour at the same time, within the limits of her understanding in a childs language. but hit the heart of it more squarely than a lot of the grownups. They seem to have problems understanding and acting upon the written intensions of the gospel.

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Edward F Sutton

If they confess with the mouth, and believe in their heart that Jesus is the Son of God, what more does the heart of Jesus require?

He said to suffer (LET)the little children come unto Me.
[ Mark 10:14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.]

He rebuked the desciples because they were trying to keep the children away from Him.

Jesus was/is a child magnet.
They were/are drawn to Him like a bee to a flower.

Your child is so enamored of Him, she listened to all you told you about Him.

Don't worry, she's in good company, she belongs to that special group that Jesus specificaly called to Him.
Children, the only ones that really know how to love without being taught.

I say God bless your child, not only does she know Jesus, she isn't hesitant to share Him with others.

More than can be said for some adults.

As I am sure you know, the communion service came from the Last Supper, which was a celebration of Passover. Passover, you remember, was the celebration of the deliverance from Egypt, and the "saving" of the firstborn in those homes that ate the passover lamb and put the blood on the doorposts. In Jewish society, children are and were a very important part of those feasts. And I suspect that the children of the homes at the time of the deliverance from Egypt were very interested in the ceremony, especially the first born.

If children were involved in the origin of the service, what right do we have to exclude them now?

I have heard that children should not be included because there were no children at the Last Supper. There also were no women, should they be excluded also.

We had communion this past Sabbath. The children's story was the story of the Last Supper and what communion is all about. Children should be informed, and not partake just because it is happening. But once they know the story, why not let them show their love for Jesus?

quote:

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Originally posted by Wedntgp:
As I am sure you know, the communion service came from the Last Supper, which was a celebration of Passover. Passover, you remember, was the celebration of the deliverance from Egypt, and the "saving" of the firstborn in those homes that ate the passover lamb and put the blood on the doorposts. In Jewish society, children are and were a very important part of those feasts. And I suspect that the children of the homes at the time of the deliverance from Egypt were very interested in the ceremony, especially the first born.
Good point, in fact this last Sabbath, my sermon was based on the Passover, I called it 'Christ, our true passover'.

If children were involved in the origin of the service, what right do we have to exclude them now?
I agree whole heartedly.

I have heard that children should not be included because there were no children at the Last Supper. There also were no women, should they be excluded also. (g)

We had communion this past Sabbath. The children's story was the story of the Last Supper and what communion is all about. Children should be informed, and not partake just because it is happening. But once they know the story, why not let them show their love for Jesus?

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Why would we stop them from showing their love for Jesus?

[This message has been edited by Gerry Buck (edited April 16, 2001).]