Spreading the Feast: Instruction and Meditations for Ministry at the Lord's Table

It is alarming when a pastor or a minister in a given congregation only refers to 1 Corinthians 11 with the occasion of the Lord Supper. Of course this is not the only passage that clearly talks about this ordinance. When that happens, we can only think this minister is not familiar with the biblical and theological foundations of the Lord’s Supper. There are many books on Theology, many exegetical commentaries on the different books of the Bible, but there are few books in the Christian market that are devoted exclusively to the ordinance of Lord’s Supper.Spreading the Feast (Howard Griffith, 2015, published by P&R Publishing) is a book that will change or affirm readers’ perspectives about the Lord’s Supper and does this ceremony really implies. The book is divided into two sections. Part one: Foundations (pages 25−73) is divided into three chapters. Chapter one (Theology) contains the theological foundation of the Lord’s Supper. The author goes from to the gospels to Paul’s writings, exploring also the meaning of the term covenant as it is related to the Lord’s Supper. Griffith provides a relatively brief but profound and effective theological perspective of the Lord’s Supper.Chapter two (Inviting) is an exhaustive study on who is entitled to participate of the Lord’s Supper, based on the biblical point of view. Griffith develops the idea of including all believers who have been baptized according to the Lord’s ordinance, not matter if they belong to our local church or not. This chapter also provides three examples of invitation to the Lord’s Supper. The author closes chapter two with a warning section. Griffith refers to the warnings Paul addressed to the Corinthians in participating the Lord’s Supper.Chapter three (Basic Themes) is devoted to the explanation of basic concepts and their meanings about the Lord’s Supper; what it means and what it does not mean.Part two: Mediations (pages 77−144) is more personal and introspective. It contains meditations on passages that point to the Lord’s Supper. This part is divided into three sections: (1) Old Covenant Anticipations; (2) New Covenant Fulfillment; (3) The Riches of Union With Christ. This section is of great help for ministers as the author walks through the Scriptures reflecting and meditating on passages that support the importance of the Lord’s Supper.Summarizing, Griffith has made a remarkable job in writing from his own experience as a pastor and theologian regarding the Lord’s Supper. I anticipate this book is going to be a point of reference for ministers today and in subsequent decades. This book has helped me to gain more awareness of the Lord’s Supper and its implications. It has impacted me not only as a pastor but also as a Christian for whom the blood of Christ was spilled.I recommend this book, first to pastors and ministers who are in charge of ministering at the Lord’s Table. Secondly, I recommend this book to seminary students who are pursuing pastoral studies. Finally, I recommend this book to every Christian seeking to have a broader awareness of what does it mean participating of the Lord’s Supper.

Spreading the Feast is the latest publication from Howard Griffith (PhD, Westminster Theological Seminary and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Washington, DC.). The book as you can infer from the title is about the Lord’s Supper, Communion, Eucharist, what ever term you chose to use they all work for me, but they seem to have more significance depending on your ecclesiastical or church tradition. As a Baptist we like the term “Lord’s Supper” because it reminds us of the Last Supper upon which our Lord was betrayed and offered Himself up as He atoned for our sin by which we “memorialize” His death. It is at this point that Griffith is so very helpful as he shows from Scripture not only the memorial aspect of the Lord’s Supper but the benefits and blessing therein, something that we don’t hear about very often yet very essential to the believer regardless of your tradition.The book itself is very accessible and a good read. It’s 152 pages broken down in to 2 parts with six chapters total. Interestingly Griffith explains a book that he read while still in seminary by John Murray simply entitled Table Addresses which became the motivation behind this book. Table addresses are just that, brief meditations on Christ’s person and work through the promises given in the OT and fulfilled in the NT presented at the Lord’s Supper Table every Sunday. The blessing this was to his congregation left no regret in his mind for providing these meditation and was the basis for his writing this book in order to help other ministers while they minister at the Lord’s Supper table.However, Griffith doesn’t start the book out with these table meditations. In today’s Christian circles it has somewhat become common place to communicate in broad and general terms. Fortunately Griffith lays a solid foundation in part one of the book before he begins his discussion on table meditations. Here he clarifies what is meant by the Lord’s Supper and explains its antecedents in the Gospel and Covenant so as to leave no ambiguity. Once the foundation has been established he enters part 2 which is the central point of the book the meditations.I found this to be an enjoyable read. The book appears to be written for ministers. However, I am not a minister. I found the book to be helpful in my understanding of the theology of the Lord’s Supper. But not only that I found the meditations to be very encouraging. So I would not only recommend this title for ministers and seminarians but I would say even the laity will find it to be edifying.PERSONAL RATING: 5 StarsJames https://acts242blog.wordpress.com/Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

As a Christian who attends a brethren church, one of the things I appreciate the most is that we partake the Lord Supper weekly. I am reminded weekly of my need for Christ and His gracious love towards me. Yet, many a times, my understanding of the Lord Supper remains ever so shallow.Seeing this book, I was eager to see how this will help me grow in this area. Howard Griffith has written this book to help christians and pastors have a deeper understanding of the Lord supper whenever they partake of it.The book is divide in 2 parts. The first explains the significant and theology of the Lord supper. The 2nd acts mainly as meditations on the Lord supper. These can be taken as topical sermons on the Lord supper. Two of them focus on the fulfilment aspect of the Lord Supper, The other on the application of union of ChristSo who is the book for? I would think this book is meant primarily for lay christians who wants a deeper and clearer understanding of the Lord Supper. The 3 mediations will prove to be especially helpful for christians to see the continuity of the bible. For pastors though, I would not recommend this to be a book for you to get. You will probably need a book that gives you more meat for the theology of the Lord Supper. Other resources will be able to better meet your needs.Rating: 4 / 5Disclaimer: I was given this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review