The God who calls us to follow welcomes
us to this table.
The God who calls us to share in the
Kingdom invites us to share in the Banquet.
This is God's table, foretaste of the
Banquet that is to come. And so all who seek to follow The Way are
free to eat and drink here.
Come and taste the Grace eternal. Come
and see that God is good.
GREAT THANKSGIVING
God is here, among us, within us.
God is here, and so we give thanks.
Creator God,
in the beginning you spoke into the
chaos saying “Let there be light”.
Nearly 14 billion years from the
beginning we gather here to give thanks for the world of which we are
a part.
“For rocks and tree for skies and
seas,”
For mountain ranges and deep valleys,
For open plains and ancient forests.
For birdsong, whistling wind, and
children's laughter.
“Your hand the wonders wrought”
Guiding God,
over the eons You have move within and
among Your people.
Giving them hope, giving them vision,
giving them a Way to live.
But time and time again Your children
have strayed.
Making poor choices, following other
paths.
And so you sent prophets, wise women
and men, people with a vision.
Challenging the world as it was,
sharing what the world could be.
And so we today listen for their
voices, ancient and modern, as You call us into the future,
as You challenge us to take new paths,
to climb new hills.
TELLING THE STORY
Immanent and Present God,
centuries ago You broke into the world
in a new way/
Born of the woman Mary, Jesus of
Nazareth revealed Your love, Your hope, Your path
in a way that was not seen before nor
has been seen since.
Eating with outcasts, he broke down the
social boundaries of his world.
Proclaiming Your forgiveness, he
reminds us that we are Your Beloved Children.
Speaking truth to power, he challenged
“the way it is” with a vision of “the way is should be”.
And for that he was condemned to death.
But death could not contain Your power.
And so we celebrate his resurrection.
As we gather at this table, as we share
the meal Jesus told us to share,
we remember a special meal he shared
with his closest followers.
As they gathered to remember the
ancient story of liberation,
Jesus shared with them the hope and
promise of the Kingdom's Banquet.
During that meal he took the bread,
blessed it, broke it, and passed it to them saying:
“This is my body, broken by and for
the world. Eat it and remember me”
Then later he took a cup of wine,
blessed it and passed it to them saying:
“This is the cup of the New Covenant,
sealed in my blood. Whenever you drink from it remember me”
So it is that we continue to share the
loaf and the cup,
remembering Jesus, Crucified and Risen,
and waiting for the Banquet that is to
come.
SPIRIT
Spirit God,
blow among us here and now.
As we share this meal together may we
be emboldened.
May Your Spirit ignite the fires of
hope and change in our hearts and souls.
May we see the hope of the future.
May we be made ready to follow The Way
through new territory.
CONCLUSION
Threefold God: Parent, Child and
Spirit,
we gather here together in body. We
gather with the whole of Your global family in Spirit.
And as we come together to share the
meal which makes us one we say together the prayer which also makes
us one...
Our Father...
And the people
called out AMEN!
FRACTION & DISTRIBUTION
The Bread we Break is the Bread of
Life, Food for the Journey.
The Cup we share is the Cup of Love,
Sustaining moisture on The Way.
These are the Gifts of God, for the
People of God Thanks be to God.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
God of the Table,
we have eaten, we have drunk, we have
tasted your goodness.
Grant that the meal we have shared here
today will fill our hearts with hope.
May the fellowship we share today fill
our hearts with love.
May the worship we share to day, fill
our souls with You.
And as we go out, may we carry Christ
to friend and stranger.
AMEN.
