Student Study Guide
Chapter 12
The Covenants of Communion
Section 1 — Fellowshipping at the Table
Section One
Steve and his ministry partner Travis have taken communion together on many prayer journeys across the nations, and it has become one of the most consistently powerful experiences of their ministry partnership. When they sit down to receive communion, the Lord directs each of them separately to passages of Scripture - not ones chosen in advance, but ones the Spirit brings to mind in the moment. They begin to speak them out, and almost without fail, the two passages connect, revealing themes that speak directly to the specific situation they've been sent to address.
They have sat at that table for one, two, even three hours - not rushing, not performing, simply fellowshipping with God, with His word, and with each other in the Spirit. This is Acts 2:42 lived out in a hotel room in a foreign city. The koinonia of the bread and cup is not separate from the rhema word of the Spirit - it releases it. They walk away knowing what to pray, knowing where to stand, knowing what the Father is doing in that place.
Think It Through
Steve and Travis describe communion as taking one to three hours, not rushed or performed. How does that compare to how you have typically experienced communion?
Your Thoughts
Recall Check
Fill in these details from the story above, from memory.
The two separate passages the Spirit brings to mind almost always .
This is Acts 2:42 lived out in a room in a foreign city.
The koinonia of the bread and cup releases the word of the Spirit.
Section 2 — The Lord's Supper: Two Covenants
Section Two
Remember From Section 1
The table is the ___; the anointing that flows from it is real.
The Lord's Supper is the new covenant meal Jesus instituted before the cross: "This is My body given for you... This cup is the new covenant in My blood" (Luke 22:19-20). But when believers come to the table, they are reaffirming two aspects of the covenant, not one. The first is the covenant with Jesus - the betrothal covenant, paid for with His own life. The second, largely forgotten by the Church, is the covenant with one another: the mutual, self-denying, foot-washing covenant of love inseparable from the table.
When Jesus said "do this in remembrance of Me," He said it to a room full of people who had just had their feet washed by the Son of God. The foot-washing set the standard; the table sealed it. Coming to the bread and cup is a horizontal declaration to every person in the room: "I am in covenant with you. I will lay down my life for you."
Recall Check
Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.
"This cup is the new covenant in My ." (Luke 22:20)
Believers reaffirm the covenant with Jesus and the covenant with one .
The foot-washing set the standard; the table it.
Reflection
Why do you think the horizontal covenant - our covenant with each other - has been "largely forgotten" by the modern Church?
Your Thoughts
Section 3 — The Bridal Meaning of the Table
Section Three
Remember From Section 2
When the two covenants are separated, the table stops producing life and starts producing ___.
In first-century Jewish culture, betrothal (kiddushin) was a legally binding covenant requiring an actual divorce to break. The bridegroom paid the bride price, shared a cup of wine, and the bride's drinking was her act of acceptance. He then returned to his father's house to prepare a place, and she waited, ready, until he came for her. Jesus used this exact pattern on the night of the Last Supper: He paid the bride price with His own blood, shared the cup, and promised, "I am going to My Father's house to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2-3).
God spoke through Hosea: "I will betroth you to Me forever... in righteousness and justice, in steadfast love and in mercy" (Hos. 2:19). Every time the Church gathers at the table, she is re-enacting the betrothal covenant, declaring that she is waiting, ready, her lamp filled.
The bridal language here - the bride price, the cup of acceptance, the Bridegroom preparing a place - will return again later in this book, when the D.E.E.P. anointing is described in full as the cry of a readied Bride. Keep this picture in mind; it is the frame the whole book has been building toward.
Recall Check
Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.
The bride's drinking of the cup was her act of .
"I am going to My Father's house to prepare a for you." (John 14:2–3)
God said through Hosea, "I will you to Me forever." (Hos. 2:19)
Reflection
Knowing the bridal pattern behind the table, how does it change how you see communion - not just as remembrance, but as a betrothed bride saying yes again?
My Thoughts
Section 4 — Acts 2: What the First Church Understood
Section Four
Remember From Section 3
Only the Father knows the day and the ___ of the Bridegroom's return.
After Pentecost, "they continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers" (Acts 2:42). The Greek behind "continued steadfastly," proskarterountes, carries the sense of persistent, wholehearted devotion - the kind of commitment you don't walk away from. And "fellowship" translates koinonia: deep covenant sharing, joint participation, where what belongs to one belongs to all - the same word Paul uses for our participation in Christ's body and blood at the table (1 Cor. 10:16).
Acts 2:44 adds that "all who believed were together and had all things in common" - because you cannot drink the cup of the new covenant and walk out treating your brother as a stranger. The covenant renewed at the table reshapes how you live with everyone who shares that table with you.
Recall Check
Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.
Proskarterountes means persistent, wholehearted .
Koinonia means what belongs to one belongs to .
Acts 2:44 says all who believed had all things in .
Reflection
"You cannot drink the cup of the new covenant and walk out treating your brother as a stranger." Is there anyone you currently treat this way?
Your Thoughts
Section 5 — When the Table Becomes a Judgment
Section Five
Remember From Section 4
Paul uses koinonia in 1 Cor. 10:16 for our participation in the ___ and blood of Christ.
Paul warned the Corinthians with real severity: "Whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Cor. 11:27). "For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep" (1 Cor. 11:30). Wealthy members arrived early, ate and drank to excess, and by the time the poor arrived after their workday there was nothing left. They were failing to discern the Lord's body - the poor person at the edge of the room was the Lord's body too.
"Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you... first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." (Matt. 5:23–24)
Recall Check
Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.
Paul said many were weak, sick, and many , because of how they treated each other at the table.
By the time the poor arrived, there was left.
The Two Covenants We Renew at the Table
| The Vertical Covenant (With Christ) | The Horizontal Covenant (In Your Own Words) |
|---|---|
| I say yes to Christ's Lordship every time I drink the cup | |
| Christ paid the bride price with His own blood | |
| I am declaring I am in covenant with the Bridegroom | |
| I trust Christ has gone to prepare a place for me | |
| I proclaim the Lord's death till He comes (1 Cor. 11:26) | |
| I wait, ready, lamp filled, for His return |
Reflection
Is there a relationship where you might be honoring the vertical covenant with Christ while neglecting the horizontal covenant with a specific person?
My Thoughts
Section 6 — The Table Points Forward
Section Six
Remember From Section 5
Jesus said, "First be ___ to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." (Matt. 5:23–24)
"As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes" (1 Cor. 11:26). Jesus said He would not drink of the fruit of the vine again "until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom" (Matt. 26:29) - the next cup will be at the wedding feast itself. Every Lord's Table is the Bride looking forward to her Bridegroom's return, saying: "We remember what You paid. We are staying ready. Come, Lord Jesus."
Chapter 11 showed you the towel. This chapter has shown you the table. Together they prepare the ground for the actual words Jesus prayed next - the prayer of John 17, "that they all may be one" - which the chapters ahead will finally open in full.
Recall Check
Fill in this from what you just read above, using your own memory.
The final prayer of the Bride in Revelation 22:17 is one word: .
One More Table
| What It Looked Like | What Was Actually True |
|---|---|
| Communion is a fifteen-second formality to keep a service moving | True communion is a conversation with God, a covenant renewal with one another, and an open channel into the heart of the Father. |
| What would it look like for you to approach communion as covenant renewal rather than a quick ritual, starting this week? |
"Pick up the towel. Keep the cloak of humility on. Build the mercy seat. Then come to the table." Write a short, honest response to that sequence as it applies to your life right now.
My Response
Personal Prayer Journal
Write a prayer of covenant renewal - to Christ, and to someone specific in your life - as if you were approaching the table right now.
Chapter 12 — Practice Test
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Part A: Multiple Choice (5 questions · 2 pts each)
1. What are the two aspects of the covenant renewed at the Lord's Table?
2. In first-century Jewish betrothal (kiddushin), what did the bride's act of drinking from the cup signify?
3. What does Acts 2:42's word "continued steadfastly" (proskarterountes) emphasize?
4. According to Paul in 1 Corinthians 11, why were some in the Corinthian church weak, sick, and dying?
5. According to the chapter, what is the final prayer of the Bride in Revelation 22:17?
Part B: True or False (6 statements · 1 pt each)
1. The Lord's Table only renews the believer's vertical covenant with Christ, not any covenant with other believers.
2. In Jewish betrothal culture, kiddushin was legally binding, requiring an actual divorce to break.
3. Acts 2:44 says believers were together and had all things in common.
4. Paul says the Corinthians' mistreatment of each other at the table had no spiritual consequences.
5. Jesus taught that reconciliation with a brother should happen before offering a gift at the altar.
6. The chapter teaches that communion is best treated as a fifteen-second formality to keep services moving efficiently.
Part C: Fill in the Blank (5 items · 1 pt each)
1. "This cup is the new covenant in My ." (Luke 22:20)
2. Koinonia means what belongs to one belongs to .
3. Acts 2:44 says believers had all things in .
4. Paul warned that many were weak, sick, and many had , because of how they treated each other at the table.
5. The final prayer of the Bride (Rev. 22:17) is one word: .
Part D: Short Answer (completion credit)
1. Explain the two aspects of the covenant renewed at the Lord's Table and why the chapter says both matter.
2. Explain the bridal betrothal pattern (kiddushin) and how Jesus deliberately used it at the Last Supper.
3. Explain what Paul means when he says the Corinthians were not "discerning the Lord's body" (1 Cor. 11:27-30), and why it mattered so much.
Part E — Before You Leave
Is there someone I need to be reconciled with before I next come to the Lord's Table?
What would it look like for me to approach communion as covenant renewal rather than a quick ritual?
Where might I be honoring the vertical covenant with Christ while neglecting the horizontal covenant with someone else?