A Service Centred on the Breaking of Bread

On the Lord's Day morning we have a Breaking of Bread service. But what does that mean? Is it simply a service that contains the Breaking of Bread, or is it something more? Acts 20:7 shows us that for the early Christians, the Breaking of Bread was the purpose of their meeting together on the Lord's Day. On this occasion the apostle Paul was in Troas. Yet, although he did preach (and at considerable length), the primary purpose of the meeting was to break bread.

If the goal of our Lord's Day morning meeting is to break bread, then that should have an effect on the whole meeting. Therefore everything in the meeting should contribute to this purpose. Hence, the focus of the meeting should be on Christ and above all on His Cross. This means:

· Songs – we should sing about Christ and His Cross. The focus should be on Him and what He has done, rather than on us. This means that some songs which would be very appropriate at other times are not so appropriate on the Lord’s Day morning.

· Prayers – the main focus of prayer in this meeting should be on praise and thanksgiving, as well as the accompanying confession. It's not a prayer meeting; there are plenty of opportunities in other meetings for supplication and intercession

· Preaching – ‘Him we proclaim’ (Col 1:28). Our preaching should be Christ-focused, faithfully proclaiming Christ, the chief subject of the Scriptures, in all the Scriptures.

· Rubrics (the transitions between bits of the meeting) – should not distract from the purpose of the meeting. They should be kept on focus, and kept Scriptural. They should highlight God’s grace to us in Christ shown at the Cross.

In short, the Breaking of Bread service should be full of Gospel content.