I became a Christian at an early age. Because of my parents, I was quite aware that the things that I had done wrong were eternally punishable.

In order to be free from this sin, I accepted the free gift of forgiveness that Jesus Christ offered by taking communion. I ate a small piece of bread dipped into a cup of grape juice - my first communion - at Northland Community Church. My understanding was that the drink represented Christ's blood, and the bread His body.

Jesus was crucified painfully. This served as a sacrifice to pay for the sins of all men. We remember this sacrifice by eating and drinking a symbolic representation of the outcome of that sacrifice: Christ's body, broken as bread would be, and Christ's blood, poured out like wine.

The gift is free, and simple enough for even me, as a child of five to understand and take. Communion is a representation of this gift. To recieve it, one must only ask God in sincere prayer.