Communion

There are two sacraments which we observe in the Baptist Church, one is baptism is mentioned on another page,  the other is The Lord's Supper (Communion).

WHAT IS ITS MEANING?:-

It Helps Us To Look Back:- 

in that it reminds us of Jesus, particularly His death. The bread & wine symbolize Jesus' body on the cross with his life blood flowing out.
and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said,
"This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."
In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying,
"This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." 1 Cor 11:24-25
If we are to have any part of Christ then we must understand the cross. What it meant for Him to die in our place. Therefore we are constantly to look back and remember in whom and in what event our faith is founded. (though we must also remember that the cross without the resurrection is meaningless).
 

It Helps Us To Look Chrisward:-

Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying,
"Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Matt 26:27-28
In saying that the wine is His blood it does not literally mean that it changes into His blood (Transubstantiation). Rather that it represents His blood - just as the cup of water which David's friends secured for him in peril of their lives represented to him 
"the blood of these men who had risked their lives" 1 Samuel 23:17
But though Jesus is not physically present in the bread & wine, He is spiritually present at the table. We read that the couple walking along the Emmaeus road recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. Luke 24:30-31
This experience has been repeated in the lives of many Christians since. So, when we come to the table, we come not simply to remember a dead Christ, we expect to meet a living Saviour.
 

We Look Forwards:-

"I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom." Matt 26:29
The purpose of Christ's death & resurrection was to make it possible for sinful man to be 'accounted as righteous' so that we can enter into His presence, not only in the spiritual sense we have so far mentioned but in His physical presence also. But that is a future event in a place which is still under construction.
In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. John 14:2-3

We Look Upwards:-

We look upwards in that the sacrament reminds us of our relationship with our Lord Jesus. That we cannot do anything in our own strength, that we must die with Him in that we surrender our lives to His will. As Paul says ...
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Rom 12:1

We Look Around Us:-

Although it is an intensely personal act it is done in communion with others. As we come closer to our Lord we also seek to become closer to one another. We are like a wheel in which we all stand on the rim, but as we move along the spokes towards the hub (Christ) we are also moving closer to one another. So the death of Christ was also to 'make us one in Him'.

We Look Onwards:-

If the Lord's Supper is to be meaningful then it must end in renewed dedication - it must spur us on in our service of Christ. The word sacrament comes from the Latin word 'sacramentum', which once mean a soldiers oath of loyalty to his emperor. So we regard The Lord's Supper & Baptism as times when we renew our commitment to Christ.