Communion is the kingdom of God actually happening among us. Paul made this clear in 1 Corinthians 10:16: "Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?" Lesslie Newbigin said that the Church experiences in Communion "a foretaste of the reign of God in the midst of history." In other words, the Eucharist is not just a picture of God's kingdom; it is a live feed.

Not long ago we began celebrating the Eucharist every week at our college chapel service. Our new focus on Communion inspired us to offer the same thing in our outreach that we experienced at the Lord's Table—a taste of God's kingdom and abundant love. As soon as we began celebrating Communion every week, our question changed from "How do we invite people to the Table with us," to "How do we go and prepare a table among our neighbors?" Because we are a small church near a big university, many of our ...