Rules for the Lord's Supper
Your worship services do you more harm than good. I am certainly not going to praise you for this. I am told that you can't get along with each other when you worship, and I am sure that some of what I have heard is true. You are bound to argue with each other, but it is easy to see which of you have God's approval.
When you meet together, you don't really celebrate the Lord's Supper. You even start eating before everyone gets to the meeting, and some of you go hungry, while others get drunk. Don't you have homes where you can eat and drink? Do you hate God's church? Do you want to embarrass people who don't have anything? What can I say to you? I certainly cannot praise you.
The Lord's Supper
I have already told you what the Lord Jesus did on the night he was betrayed. And it came from the Lord himself.
He took some bread in his hands. Then after he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is given for you. Eat this and remember me."
After the meal, Jesus took a cup of wine in his hands and said, "This is my blood, and with it God makes his new agreement with you. Drink this and remember me." The Lord meant that when you eat this bread and drink from this cup, you tell about his death until he comes.
But if you eat the bread and drink the wine in a way that isn't worthy of the Lord, you sin against his body and blood. That's why you must examine the way you eat and drink. If you fail to understand that you are the body of the Lord, you will condemn yourselves by the way you eat and drink. That's why many of you are sick and weak and why a lot of others have died. If we carefully judge ourselves, we won't be punished. But when the Lord judges and punishes us, he does it to keep us from being condemned with the rest of the world.
My dear friends, you should wait until everyone gets there before you start eating. If you really are hungry, you can eat at home. Then you won't condemn yourselves when you meet together. After I arrive, I will instruct you about the other matters.