Call to
Worship
One: Once
again, we are here.
Many: We have
come looking for comfort, for refreshment, for another taste of God’s presence
in our lives.
One: It is
good for us to be here.
Many: And it
is good for us to take the good news, the comfort, the refreshment, into the
world for those who need them.
Reconciliation
One: It has
been another week, O God, and once again we must admit to stumbling.
Many: Once again, we have not done what we wished to
do, or done it poorly.
One: Forgive
our weakness, give us strength and courage to do what we know is right.
Many: For we know that nothing can separate us from
your love. Amen.
One: My
friends, before we have asked, God has forgiven us. In the name of Christ, we
are forgiven!
Many: We are forgiven! Thanks be to God!
Communion
One: Lift up
your hearts!
Many: We lift them up to our living God!
One: God of
all creation, you made humans in your image, giving us your divine impulse to
create and do new things. But in our arrogance, we took the earth as a
possession, without thought for tomorrow, our sisters and brothers to come, or
your divine plan. We mocked the ones you sent to set us back on your path. We
call them saints but do not always follow their teachings, whining that they
are too difficult for us. So in the end you sent Jesus the Christ, bearing
witness to your grace and healing power, to show your presence with us always.
And on the night before he paid the ultimate price for proclaiming your truth,
he gathered with his friends in an upper room. There he took the bread, blessed
it after the manner of his people, and broke it, then shared it among them with
these words:
Many: This is my body, opened for you. Do this in
remembrance of me.
One: And when
the meal was over, he took the cup and blessed it after the manner of his
people, then passed it among his friends with these words:
Many: This is my love, poured out for you and for
all nations. Do this in remembrance of me.
One:
Remembering all that God has given us, remembering the saints who have gone
before us, testifying to your grace, we are bold to proclaim the mystery of our
faith:
Many: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will
come again! Go and tell!
One: Gracious
God, we ask that you would make these gifts of grain and grape to be what we
need them to be, in order for us to carry your love and healing with us. Pour
out your spirit on cup and bread; make them a foretaste of your heaven and our
hope. Amen.
Benediction
One: We have
shared in the words of God, in the bread of life, our joys and our fears. Now
as we go out into the world again, we take the wisdom, the strength, and the
hope of God with us.
Many: Amen! Thanks be to God.
One: The love of God, the fellowship of the Holy
Spirit and the grace of Christ go with you now and always, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment