That could simply mean that they ate meals together, but most commentators and Bible scholars see the suggestion of celebrating communion in these informal, house to house ways. In fact, there is a passage in Acts that implies that communion was observed informally in homes: Acts 2:46 says that the early Christians were breaking bread from house to house. Yet, I don’t see anything in the Scriptures that absolutely restricts it to church meetings. So, definitely, in New Testament church communion was celebrated and received at church meetings. My response to this would be that 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 presents communion in the early church at a church setting – having to do with the meetings of the church. One other matter: people sometimes ask if communion must be celebrated or observed only in church, or if it can also be received in other places, without recognized church leaders.
When it comes to communion, the power is not in the ritual itself, but in the reality of what Jesus did for us on the cross, and our receiving it by faith – receiving it into our innermost being.
Christians declared each other to be out of God’s kingdom over things that are clearly side issues, and one can be wrong about without being deadly. Example: the Quartodeciman controversy in the early church, over whether Easter should be celebrated in connection with Passover or should always be celebrated on a Sunday. We need to be careful about the things we would divide over or declare to be heretical.However, because of the Luke passage which does mention a cup before the bread, I would not regard it as dangerous or heretical for someone to take the cup first.I would say that taking the bread before the cup is the correct way and should be the normal way of receiving communion.In this passage, again, we see that the taking of the bread comes before the taking of the cup. This do,as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink thiscup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the samenight in which He was betrayed took bread and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said,“Take, eat this is My body which is broken for you do this in remembrance of Me.” In the samemanner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. There is another relevant passage in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, mentioned by Christoph: If you are confused by all the cups, don’t be – the ritual of the Jewish Passover meal (both ancient and modern) has four ceremonial sips or “cups” of wine. Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you do this in remembrance of Me.” Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” In Luke, it is a little more complicated – there are two cups spoken of, one before the bread, then another one after the bread. In Matthew and Mark, it is clear that the bread came before the cup (Matthew 26:26ff, Mark 14:22ff). The order of taking the bread and the cup: In the different places we see communion or the Lord’s Table in the New Testament, the bread comes first and then the cup.
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