DOCTRINES >> COMMUNION
SDAH 409
Jesus invites His saints
To meet around His board,
And sup in memory of the death
And sufferings of their Lord.
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For Worship Leaders
Make each hymn more meaningful with these helpful tools: Short, ready-to-use hymn introductions for church bulletins, multiple ways to introduce a hymn based on your worship theme and in-depth history and insights to enrich your song service.
Hymn Spotlight: Jesus Invites His Saints
Though based partly on an Isaac Watts text from 1707, this Communion hymn in the SDA Hymnal has been significantly adapted from the original. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 10:16–17 and Colossians 1:18, it invites believers to unite in remembering Christ’s sacrifice and sharing in the bread of life together. Set to the dignified SCHUMANN tune, adapted from classical music, it reflects the sacred fellowship of the Lord’s table—a reminder that in Christ, we are one body, redeemed and nourished for His service until He comes again.
📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.
Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
Only the first two lines of this hymn for Communion are identical with a hymn written by Isaac Watts (1674-1748; see Biographies), which appears in his 1707 Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Part III, No. 2. It is titled appears “Communion With Christ, and With Saints, 1 Cor. 10:16, 17.” So the hymn as it appears in SDAH is only one-twelfth Watts’s. The change was made in the 1886 Hymns and Tunes and perpetuated in Church Hymnal, 1941. Watts’s words paraphrase 1 Corinthians 10:16, 17; and Colossians 1:18.
SCHUMANN appears in Cantica Laudis, 1850, a collection published in Boston by Lowell Mason (see Biographies) and George Webb (see SDAH 618). It was designed to raise the standards of American hymnody by adapting selections from classical music. The tune is thought to be taken from the works of Robert Schumann (1810-1856; see SDAH 541), the famous German composer of songs, orchestral symphonies, and chamber music. SCHUMANN is also used for SDAH 670; another arrangement by this composer appears at SDAH 541, 548, and 686.
📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.
Text
1
Jesus invites His saints
To meet around His board,
And sup in memory of the death
And sufferings of their Lord.
2
We take the bread and wine
As emblems of Thy death;
Lord, raise our souls above the sign,
To feast on Thee by faith.
3
Faith eats the bread of life,
And drinks the living wine;
It looks beyond this scene of strife
Unites us to the Vine.
4
Soon shall the night be gone,
Our Lord will come again;
The marriage supper of the Lamb
Will usher in His reign.
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(a) 1 Cor 11:26 (b) 1 Cor 11:26 (c) John 6:35; John 15:4 (d) Rev 19:9
Author
Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
Year Published
1707
Hymn Tune
SCHUMANN
Metrical Number
S.M.
Tune Source
Mason and Webb’s Cantica Laudis, Boston, 1850
