The second ordinance given to the Christian church in the Bible is the Lord's supper, also known as Holy Communion.

The Lord's Supper was first done at the Passover. Everything in the Passover was intended to be a symbol of something in Christianity, Jewish history, or life itself. One of the parts of the meal was eating bread and wine, and Jesus Christ explained that this was to represent the body and blood that He gave to forgive our sins.

Matthew 26:26-27 - And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed [it], and brake [it], and gave [it] to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave [it] to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

Why do we take the Lord's Supper? Jesus Christ and Paul said we do this to remember what He did for us. The Lord's Supper plays no part in salvation, rather a picture to remember Jesus' death.

Luke 22:19 - And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake [it], and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

1 Corinthians 11:26 - For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

Does the bread and wine literally turn into Jesus Christ's body? No. Not only would this be a repulsive form of cannibalism, but the Jewish culture is built on symbolism. Everything they did was to symbolize humans' and God's relationship, and Jesus Christ spoke to them with this in mind. So, when Jesus said that it was His body and blood, He knew the people understood this as a symbol and did not take it literally, anymore than Jesus saying that the leaven of the Pharisees was literal or that we are God's sheep is literal. The disciples sometimes had problems because they mistook Jesus' words as literal rather than as symbolic.

Can the Lord's Supper be taken improperly? Yes. That is when the Lord's Supper is when it is taken without understanding it and its seriousness or doing it in a manner that is improper. In one church, the people were treating the Lord's Supper like a meal, gorging on in like at a buffet and not leaving enough for everyone. The Bible says that such disrespect will be judged by God with sickness or even death.

1 Corinthians 11:21 - For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? what shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

Some also believe that a person ought to be in a right state of mind before taking the Lord's Supper, having asked God to forgive their sins. Whether the following passage means this, or merely that we should take the Lord's Supper in solemness is debatable though.

1 Corinthians 11:27-30 - Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

Finally, anyone who is not saved, should not take the Lord's Supper. They have not accepted Jesus Christ and can not understand it or appreciate it to the extent a saved person would.