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Supper
The night before Jesus was crucified he celebrated the Passover, a Jewish festival, with his 12 disciples. During the meal, he told them about his death and resurrection. He said to them that after his resurrection from the dead they were to gather again and share bread and wine the same way they did now, in his name, and he would be present in the bread and the wine.
Jesus in us
At his last supper, Jesus gave the disciples bread, saying "this is my body", and wine, saying "this is my blood". When we as followers of Jesus eat the bread and drink the wine during the Eucharist Jesus is not only present among us but also in us. The Eucharist is a rite where we hear, see and taste that we belong to Jesus and that we have fellowship with others because we all belong to him.
The order of the Eucharist
The Eucharist consists of four elements: Eucharistic Prayer, The Lord’s Prayer, Preparation and Communion (see Liturgies in other languages). After the communion the pastor gives thanks and blesses the congregation.
Forgiveness and resurrection
When the communicants have received the bread and the wine, they are told that they have received forgiveness for their sins by the body and the blood of Jesus who gave his life for all and conquered death by his resurrection. The pastor makes the sign of the cross as a symbol of the victory of life over death and sends the communicants back to their everyday life with the words "May He strengthen and preserve you…Peace be with you".
