SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR
The Sacrament of the altar, or Holy Communion is a priviledge which is open to all confirmed members of our congregation and the communicant members of all other congregations of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. The policy of the LCMS is described as Close(d) Communion. This means that since not all Christians agree on the nature of this sacrament, it is important that all who commune at our altar have a basic understanding and are in agreement with what we teach and believe about the Lord's Supper.
These doctrines or teachings would include the "real presence": Communicants receive not only the bread and the wine when they commune, but the body and blood of Jesus "in, with and under" these visible elements. Through this means of grace out Lord offers us the forgiveness of sins in a special way, which adds to our assurance of this forgiveness and the eternal life because of it. We do not believe that Christ is sacrificed each time this sacrament is celebrated and it is much more than simply a reminder has done through His death on the cross.
In this sacrament we remember that communion means "union with". Those who participate in the Lord's Supper are strengthened in their union with their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and with their fellow communicants in our congregation and throughout the holy Christian Church. It implies a unity with those with whom we are communing and an agreement with what they teach and believe about this sacrament.
In addition to this basic understanding and agreement in the nature of the Sacrament of the Altar it is also important to approach Holy Communion with the right attitude. This matter is discussed in the Small Catechism. In order to approach the Lord's Table worthily one is;
In summary, the Lord’s Supper is celebrated at this congregation in the confession and glad confidence that, as He says, our Lord gives into our mouths not only bread and wine but His very body and blood to eat and to drink for the forgiveness of sins and to strengthen our union with Him and with one another. Our Lord invites to His table those who trust His words, repent of all sin, and set aside any refusal to forgive and love as He forgives and loves us, that they may show forth His death until he comes. Because those who eat and drink our Lord’s body and blood unworthily do so to their great harm and because Holy Communion is a confession of the faith which is confessed at this altar, any who are not yet instructed, in doubt, or who hold a confession differing from that of this congregation and The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod, and yet desire to receive the sacrament, are asked to wait before they receive the Sacrament and first speak with the pastor or an elder.
For further study, see Matthew 5:23f.; 10:32f.; 18:15-35; 26:26-29; 1 Cor. 11:17- 34.
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
See also, the LCMS Pamphlet; Sacrament Of The Altar