I have been a member of the Church for many decades and have never felt the Lord’s Supper should be served before the invitational hymn. We want to wait for those who care to join our work, so we should serve it after the hymn. Do you agree?<\/p>\n\t
The assumption is that most people decide to become Christians when the invitation song is offered. Biblically and in my experience people respond when they are taught and that can be at any hour of the day. No matter when the Lord’s Supper is offered, there will always be some who decide to become a Christian after it has been served. There is no problem with missing the Lord’s Supper because they were not yet a Christian at the time it was offered. The command is to wait for one another (I Corinthians 11:33). It is taken when the brethren gather together as a church (I Corinthians 11:18). If someone is not yet a part of the church, that command has not been violated.<\/p>\n
Another way to look at this is to realize that when people knew the truth, they were baptized immediately. If someone wants to be a Christian, there is no need to wait until the invitation. “For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation<\/em>” (II Corinthians 6:2).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I have been a member of the Church for many decades and have never felt the Lord’s Supper should be served before the invitational hymn. We want to wait for those who care to join our work, so we should serve it after the hymn. Do you agree? Answer: The assumption is that most…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[836,146],"class_list":["post-50157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-invitation","tag-lords-supper"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24070,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-believe-it-scriptural-to-offer-the-lords-supper-at-an-evening-service-in-a-separate-room-from-the-remainder-of-the-congregation-after-the-invitation-but-before-a-closing-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":50157,"position":0},"title":"Do you believe it scriptural to offer the Lord’s Supper at an evening service in a separate room from the remainder of the congregation after the invitation but before a closing prayer?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: While researching this question, I stumbled across your web site. \u00a0What a wonderful amount of information! Do you believe it scriptural to offer the Lord's Supper at an evening service in a separate room from the remainder of the congregation after the invitation but before a closing prayer? \u00a0My\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":82678,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-congregations-practice-closed-communion\/","url_meta":{"origin":50157,"position":1},"title":"Should congregations practice closed communion?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My family and I are members of the Lord's church, and we visited a congregation this morning. During the Lord's Supper, we were bypassed and not given the opportunity to partake. One of the leaders noticed our expressions and approached us before Bible class began. He explained that we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13317,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-shouldnt-the-lords-supper-be-served-again-for-latecomers\/","url_meta":{"origin":50157,"position":2},"title":"Why shouldn’t the Lord’s Supper be served again for latecomers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In your\u00a0training, you state that you should not serve again for latecomers. What is the reason for that, given Paul's instruction to \"tarry one for another\" in I Corinthians 11:33? I am in agreement with you, but interested in your rationale. Answer: The statement in the class notes is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8996,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-acceptable-to-take-the-lords-supper-at-the-evening-service\/","url_meta":{"origin":50157,"position":3},"title":"Is it acceptable to take the Lord’s Supper at the evening service?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 13, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I work shift days and nights. I go home on Sunday morning, sleep, and then get up and go to church on Sunday night to take the Lord's Supper. I hope this is good in God's eyes. Answer: This particular question has been the subject of intense discussion. Up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48762,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-children-not-yet-christians-help-serve-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":50157,"position":4},"title":"Can children, not yet Christians, help serve the Lord’s Supper?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We have a small congregation. We are not under an eldership at this time.\u00a0 My question is: Who is qualified to serve communion or can anyone serve it? We have a couple of young boys aged 6 and 7 who are following the men who serve, so they can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27750,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-we-know-that-the-lords-supper-wasnt-taken-once-a-year-in-troas\/","url_meta":{"origin":50157,"position":5},"title":"How do we know that the Lord’s Supper wasn’t taken once a year in Troas?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was doing some searching on the Internet and discovered an argument against Acts:20:7 that I've never encountered. Since Acts 20:7 is the only reference we use (that I know of) to decide how often we take the Lord's Supper this is pretty important. 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