Have Jesus Anyway: Celebrating Communion at Home Without Church or Clergy

By Lynne H. Dixon

Not everyone who loves Jesus can (or even wants to) celebrate Communion inside an official church or through official clergy.

Have Jesus Anyway is a complete step-by-step guide with everything you need to know to celebrate Jesus in Communion at home, whether by yourself or with Christian friends and family, no matter what's going on in your world! You'll learn how Jesus and the early Christians celebrated Communion, the kinds of things you will and won't need to do Communion right, and more. Have Jesus Anyway also includes three complete Communion programs you can use immediately either as-is, or as guides to creating your own celebrations.

The author, a lifelong student of the Bible and decades-long ministry worker, has been enjoying Jesus-loving, Bible-based Communion at home with other small groups of believers for years.

Buy this book and begin your home Communion celebrations today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lynne Dixon
• Release date: Jun 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201872427

Lynne H. Dixon

Lynne H. Dixon was raised in a Cessationist, Holiness church, and over the years journeyed through Charismatic, Catholic, Evangelical, and mainline denominational churches. Today, she meets with other believers in small groups at home and remotely. She’s been an ordained minister, a Christian writer, and has a heart for those who are persecuted, hurting, or alone. Currently, she lives in the Pacific Northwestern USA where she enjoys tinkering with old computers and being a barely adequate Minecraft player.

Book preview

Introduction: It's about you – and Jesus

There are a lot of ways to think about and celebrate Communion, but one thing stands out: it's about you, and it's about Jesus. Even in a massive cathedral or huge megachurch with thousands of participants and dozens of clergy celebrants, it's still all about you and Jesus – or it should be.

While participating in clergy-led Communion in a church building can be inspiring, beautiful, and rewarding, it's not always possible or desirable to do so. In some parts of the world, this has been a common experience for some time. Those in Western industrialized nations also learned this very painfully in 2020, when church buildings closed and gatherings to worship and celebrate our Lord were forbidden by both government and church leaders for many months.

In that time, though, many of us learned, just as did early and modern Christians persecuted for their faith or living within underground fellowships, that whether we have church buildings or church gatherings or not, whether we have institutional clergy or not, it is always possible to remember Jesus Christ and what He did for us. No matter our circumstances, we can celebrate the memorial and healing ceremony Jesus provided for His followers, and we can do it in ways that fully honor Him and fill our hearts.

This book is all about how to celebrate Communion despite what's going on in the world or in your life, and how to do so in ways that work for you – whether you means:

Just you

Your family

A group of neighbors

A local group who travels to a home, a park, or other location

A local or long-distance group who meet online or in a group phone call.

My prayer is that this book will help patch any holes in your knowledge and get you quickly up to speed regarding what Communion really was and is, how to celebrate it in a way that truly honors the Lord, and what's needed to make it happen without a church building, clergy, and so on.

I’ve included three different kinds or flavors of Communion celebrations, each based on a different style or need:

A Bible-based celebration that recalls the first Communion and very first Christians via Scripture

An early-Christian focused celebration that follows descriptions of Communion as done by the Christians of 20 to 100 years after Jesus’ resurrection

A personal Communion celebration for one - specifically for those who either wish to or who can only celebrate Communion by themselves.

I’ve also included some ideas for where to find additional Communion celebration ideas. You can use any and all of these celebrations as they are written or as a guide to mix and match what works for you and any other believers you are celebrating with.

So, let's get started!

What is Communion?

There are many ideas of how Communion can be celebrated, but common to all is that Communion is a remembrance activity involving some form of bread, some form of what the Bible calls the fruit of the vine, and a retelling and recollection of Jesus' Last Supper before He allowed Himself to be sacrificed to save each one of us.

Christians know Communion by several different names. For example:

Communion (meaning sharing or fellowship, with each other and with Jesus)

The Lord's Supper (honoring the night Jesus initiated Communion)

Eucharist (meaning giving thanks)

The Elements or Sacrament (referring to the bread and fruit of the vine)

The Body and Blood of Christ (what we honor and take part in through the bread and fruit of the vine)

The Cup of the Lord, and Table of the Lord (1 Corinthians 10:21)

The Cup of Blessing (1 Corinthians 10:16)

The Breaking of Bread (Acts 2:42).

Please note that for simplicity’s sake through most of this book I'll be using the term Communion. Please feel free to understand and use the wording that works for you.

Who defines what Communion is?

Though denominations over the last 1,800 years or so have added or changed small or even significant definitions of and/or requirements for the celebration of Communion, it's easy to find what celebrating Communion was to Jesus, to those who learned directly from him, and to those who learned directly from those who learned directly from Him.

In the New Testament, writers Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Paul each clearly show Communion as Jesus started it.  They did this by including an account of the Last Supper, with Paul adding some instruction for celebrating it in a Jesus-honoring manner (Matthew 26:17-30; Mark 14:10-26; Luke 22:1-23; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34).

We also have a few other writings from Christians of the first 100 years