Season of Creation Communion Liturgy

Source

Invitation
God, who has created and is creating, has invited us to gather here.
Jesus, the Word-Made-Flesh, calls us to eat and drink together.
The Holy Spirit emboldens us as community to share this meal with all who come to the table of faith where all are welcome.
Here we meet each other and the Divine in the simplest of meals.
Come and taste the grace eternal
Come and see that God is good.

Great Thanksgiving
The God who spoke and sang Creation into being is present here.
We are not alone.
As part of God’s wondrous Creation we lift our voices,
sharing prayers and songs of thanksgiving and praise.

Creator, Source of all, we remember the beginning of the story when you spoke into the chaos
Let there be light!
Then you began the song of the ages, bringing order to the chaos, form to the world.
Sharing the foundational notes of light and dark, day and night, dry land and gathered waters.
But also the undertones that link them together: twilight and shadow, dawn and dusk; fen and marsh, estuary and shoreline.
And still the song continued,
calling forth tree and grass, bush and shrub,
bringing life to the creatures of land and sea and air.
And the song grew as more voices joined in.
The babbling brook, the rustling leaves, the lion’s roar and the chickadee’s chirp. All of Creation sang together.

As the song reached it’s crescendo you sang us, humanity, made in your image, into being.
The great notes of male and female, along with the harmonics of non-binary, and trans, and intersex
Inviting us to join in the song, to care for and guide it as both singers and conductors.
And after all these generations the song continues.
We have not always been good conductors of the song.
Too often we have chosen our own melody, overpowering others. And the great harmonies dissolve into dissonance and discord.
In response you have raised up people of wisdom who call us back to the song. Prophets and priests and protesters who sing the old melody with new words, new variations.
And we are thankful that the song continues, as we attempt to sing it together.

Remembering the Story
Then there came the time you introduced a new movement into the symphony of life.
You sang to Mary of Nazareth, and in return she sang a song of the world being renewed.
Through Mary’s child, Jesus, the song took physical form, walking on earth.
He sang the old song of love in word and action, drawing others to come near and soak in the music of hope.
His song of a world renewed sometimes fell on hardened ears, and some took up a different song in opposition to his vision.
Their song seemed to win as he was arrested, tried, convicted and executed. The old song fell silent.
But only for a moment. You brought the song of Creation back with resurrection, new life, new hope.
And still the song echoes through the Cosmos.

Invoking the Holy Spirit
God whose Holy Spirit blew through the chaos of the beginning, stirring the waters of life into motion,
send, we pray, that Spirit upon and among us here and now.
As the notes of Creation’s great song resound in our ears and hearts, as the Spirit sings to us of love and hope and possibility,
may we be recommitted to sing our parts with full voice and passion.
As the Spirit moves in this meal, transforming the simplicity of bread and juice into a great banquet,
may we be emboldened to care for the song, and for the world which sings it with us.
We pray in the name of Jesus, the Risen Christ, who sings in our souls and encourages us to pray saying...
Our Father...

Sharing The Meal
The bread we share is the Staff of Life.
The cup we share is the Cup of Love.
Gifts from God for the Beloved Children of God
Thanks be to God.

Prayer After Communion
Gift-giver, Creator, Source of all that was and is and yet will be,
we have gathered at the table you set, we have shared the gifts of grain and vine.
May this meal today strengthen us in body and soul, heart and mind,
as we go out to continue to sing, to continue to care for the world as you have called us to do from the beginning.
AMEN.

Epiphany Communion

INVITING
Be it the simplest wooden table or the grandest carved stone altar
this is Christ’s table.
Christ invites us to meet him here.
All are welcome to this meal, there is room for everyone.
Come and taste the grace eternal, come and see that God is good.

THANKSGIVING
Jesus is born! Emmanuel has arrived!
Glory to God in the Highest!
God is with us right here, right now!
And so we sing songs of praise and thanksgiving!

God of star light and angel song,
like the shepherds and the Magi
we come to see the newborn Saviour.
Like Anna and Simeon we sing our songs of praise
that after our long wait the promise has come true.

We remember the many Herods in our history,
people who actively worked against your hope and promise.
With thanks we remember all those who, encountering you,
chose a different path, went a different way,
so that the hope would win.
God who is revealed in many ways we give thanks
for all the ways we have come to know you, to hear you.
Keep our eyes, ears, minds, and souls open,
that we would continue to meet you –
in places expected and unexpected.

STORYTELLING
God of Christmas, as the Christmas season comes to its close,
we remember not only the Babe in the manger
but the adult he will become.
Jesus, child of Mary, will change so much –
how we understand the world, ourselves, and you.
For challenging the powers around him
he will be arrested, tried and executed.
But then he will break the bonds of death.
Here at this table we remember another table,
there Jesus will take bread, bless it break it and share it saying:
This is my body broken by the world, eat it and remember me.
At that same meal Jesus will take a cup, bless it and share it saying:
This is the cup of the New Covenant, drink it and remember me.
After all these years we still gather to eat and drink and remember.

SPIRIT-INVOKING
God, in Jesus you took on human form, sharing our lives.
Your Spirit moved through him into his followers.
As we gather at this table today, may your Spirit move among us.
Give us the wisdom to look for you, the courage to be ready to encounter you, and the willingness to take our part in your remaking of the world.
We pray in the name of the Child in the manger, the man he will become, the Risen Christ, who encourages us all to pray saying:
Our Father...

BREAKING, POURING, SHARING
The Bread we break is the bread of life
The Cup we share is the cup of love.
Christ is present in these ordinary things.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
God who took on flesh in Jesus,
We offer thanks for meeting us at this table.
We pray that this encounter with you would feed us in body, mind and soul. May every time we encounter you push us to grow into you would have us be. May we leave this table ready to carry your light and love into the world around us. Amen

A Communion Prayer for an Upside Down World

INVITING
A simple table, a basic meal.
But in the upside-down logic of God’s Reign also a great banquet
God invites us to this table where there is a place for Ev’ryone Born
God is the host, we are the guests,
all are welcome to share in the Banquet of faith.

THANKSGIVING
May God be with you
And also with you
Lift your hearts in praise and thanksgiving
It is good to offer thanks to God

Source of life and love we give thanks for all that you have given us.
We see the beauty of the earth and sing praise.
We remember those who came before us, the communion of saints
the ones who passed on the stories of faith and we are thankful
for their witness, their hope, their commitment to a New World.
We share again the promise that you are always with us,
turning over our expectations and assumptions,
re-creating the world into a reign of love and hope and justice
and we sings songs of hope and thanks.

STORYTELLING
In the midst of our thanksgiving we remember the core of our story.
In Jesus, child of Mary, you broke into the world in a new way,
reshaping expectations of who the Messiah could be.
Jesus challenged his friends and his enemies to see the world anew,
to turn upside down their understandings:
of blessings, of power, of leadership, of status.
Some welcomed this upending, others did not.
Jesus was arrested, tried, executed.
But then you turned the world upside down again, raising Jesus from death.
And we give thanks.

As we gather at this table we remember another table, long ago and far away
where, just before his arrest, Jesus gathered with his friends.
There he took bread, blessed it, broke it and passed it to them saying:
This is my body broken by the world, eat it and remember me.
At that same meal Jesus took a cup, blessed it and passed it to them saying:
This is the cup of the New Covenant, drink from it and remember me.
After all these years we still gather at tables to eat and drink and remember.

SPIRIT-INVOKING
God who has created and is creating, as we gather at this table here today.
Send your Spirit upon and among us.
Help us see the upside-down logic that leads to your Reign of peace, justice, hope and love.
Awaken in us a willingness to be turned head over heels
that we would participate in the mending and re-making of the world.
We pray in the name of the Risen Christ, who brings us to this table.
And with full voice the people all said: AMEN!

FRACTION AND DISTRIBUTION
The Bread we break is the bread of life
The Cup we share is the cup of love.
Gifts from God for the beloved people of God.
Thanks be to God.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
God who invites us to the table,
we have eaten, we have drunk, we have tasted your goodness.
May this meal and this faith-filledcommunity strengthen us in body, mind and soul,
as we continue to live into a world that is being turned upside-down.
May we have the courage to stand on our heads
as we try to see the world as you see it.   AMEN

For October 5, 2025 --Worldwide Communion Sunday

 CALL TO WORSHIP
The table of faith is set, inviting us to gather.
We come with hungry hearts and hungry souls.
The cup of hope waits for us to come and drink.
We come thirsting for love and justice in the world.
The bread of life sits waiting to be broken and shared.
We come to worship together, gathered at the family table with the rest of the family of faith.

OPENING PRAYER
Give us this day our daily bread...
we still share the ancient prayer.
Bread of Life, we seek to be fed.
In this time together fill us with the Living Bread
show us the abundance of bread, of manna from heaven
feed our hungry hearts and souls.
And when the meal is ended,
send us back out to sing songs of thanksgiving for the feast. Amen

 Dedication Prayer
Gift-giving God, you have set the table before us, you have filled it to overflowing,
As we give thanks for the abundance in our lives we choose to share that abundance with the world around us.
We offer these gifts of treasure, we offer our time and our talent to help bring bread to those who hunger, hope to those who despair, love to those who are afraid, and a passion for justice to the world around us.
We offer them to your service, in the name of Jesus, the Bread of Life.
Amen.

COMMISSIONING
We have gathered at the table,
where there is a place for everyone born.
We have eaten together, giving thanks for the daily bread that feeds us,
now we go to share the Bread of Life with the world, helping to create justice and joy
And may God: the Baker; Jesus, the Bread of Life; and the Spirit, the Yeast that lifts us up, be with you always
Sharing delight in a world fed and renewed. Amen.

Maundy Thursday Communion Prayer

Source of light, and life and love, you invite us to the table.

We gather here in the name of Jesus, the Servant King,
who challenges us to love family, friend, neighbour, and enemy,
and who reveals most fully your loving purpose while sharing your hope for what the world could be.

God who has created and is always re-creating,
you spoke and the world came into being,
in you we live and move and have our being.
As part of the world you love, as some of your Beloved children,
we reflect on the many gifts that have filled our lives.
We join our hearts with the rest of your Beloved children around the globe who sing, shout, and dance their thanks.
And we name, aloud or in silence those things for which we are thankful this evening...
For all your goodness God, we sing thanks and praise.

Ever present, ever loving God, you promise to be with us always, to the end of the age,
you are there when our hearts are heavy with pain, sorrow, grief, anxiety or fear,
you are there to carry us when our strength fails,
you share our tears and comfort us in our dis-ease.
Here, tonight, in your presence we hold in prayer all of your Beloved children who struggle
and we name them aloud or in silent prayer...
Comforting God, may all those who are in pain, who are afraid, who weep, all those who struggle
know that they are loved this night.

God of our past, our present, and our future, The One who was and is and is to come,
From the beginning of our story you have found different ways to communicate with your children.
You have sent messengers and teachers, prophets, priests and pastors.
With joy we remember them, the named and the unnamed, the famous and the unknown.
All those who have been part of our cloud of witnesses, reminding us of the Good News,
all those who have challenged us to be who you created us to be.
God of community we give thanks for all we have learned for others in our walk of faith.

God who has been and is and will be active in the world.
As followers of Jesus of Nazareth whom we name as Christ, Messiah, Word-Made-Flesh
we give thanks for his life, teachings, death and resurrection.
We remember what he taught about the Kingdom that is and is yet to come.
We remember who he modelled what living as citizens of the Kingdom of Love should look like
as he ate with the marginalized, healed the broken-ness in life, calling all to love each other
and we commit our selves to follow The Way he showed us.

Here tonight we remember a special part of the story, a special meal just before his death: (Luke 22:14-20)

When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves, for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

God of Grace, as we continue to eat and drink and remember,
pour your Holy Spirit onto and into us.
Reawaken in us the dream of what the world could be, fan the fires of passion for your Kingdom.
Embolden us to give of ourselves to spread your love and hope where ever we go.
Help us follow The Way of Jesus Christ.
We pray these things in his name and memory as we join with millions of others through the centuries and across the miles to share words he once taught his friends: Our Father...

The Bread we Break is the Bread of Life
The Cup we Share is the Cup of Love.
Gifts from God for the People of God.

COmmunion Prayer for Maundy Thursday

Source of love, light, and life,
we gather at this table in the name of Jesus, the Servant King,
the one who calls us to love and serve each other,
who reveals most fully your love and hopes for the world.

Creator, you spoke and the world came into being,
in you live, we move, we exist.
Here and now we reflect on the many gifts we have received throughout our lives.
We join our hearts with people around the globe who shout, sing, dance their thanks.
And so we name, aloud or in the silence of our hearts,
those things for which we are thankful this evening....
For all you goodness God, we give you thanks.

Ever-loving God, you promise to never abandon us,
you are there when our hearts are heavy,
you are there to carry us when our strength fails,
you share our tears and comfort us in our dis-ease.
This evening we hold in prayer all who struggle, for whatever reason,
and we name them aloud or in our silent prayers...
Comforter, may all those in pain, in grief, in fear, all those who struggle,
know that they are loved this night.

God of our past, our present, and our future,
The One who is and was and is to come,
Since the beginning you have communicated with your children in many ways.
You have sent messengers and teachers and prophets.
With joy we remember folk like
Sarah and Abraham, Moses and Miriam, Deborah, David, Micah,
Peter, Paul, Mary, Lydia, and so many others.
The writer of Hebrews reminds us that we all have a great cloud of witnesses.
As part of the community that stretches far into the past and wide in the present
we remember those who are part of our clouds and name them aloud or in silence...
God of community, we give thanks for all we have learned from others in our walk of faith.

God who is always active in the world.
As followers of Jesus of Nazareth, the one we call Christ and Messiah,
we give thanks for the life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Word-Made-Flesh.
We remember what he taught about your Reign.
We remember how he modelled what living as citizens of the Kingdom of Love could look like.
Eating with the marginalized, healing the broken-ness in people’s lives.
And we commit ourselves to follow The Way he showed us.

As we gather at this table we remember another table, long ago and far away.
Jesus and his friends gathered at that table to share the feast of liberation, of freedom from bondage.
During that gathering he took bread, blessed it, broke it and passed it to his friends saying:
Take, eat. This is my body, broken by and for the world. Whenever you eat it remember me.
Then later Jesus took a cup of wine, blessed it and passed it to them saying:
Take and drink, This is the cup of the New Covenant. Whenever your drink it remember me.
All these years later we continue to eat and drink and remember, God who meets us here.

As we eat and drink here tonight, pour your Holy Spirit onto us.
Awaken in us a passion for your Kingdom.
Make us willing to give of ourselves to spread your love and hope in the world.
Help us follow The Way of Jesus Christ.
We pray these things in his name and we share together words that unite us with Christians across the miles and through the ages, words Jesus taught his friends long ago:
Our Father...

A Communion Prayer for May 31, 202 -- Pentecost During COVID-19

INVITATION

From the Beginning, followers of Christ have broken bread together.

Gathered at tables fancy and simple, sharing wafers or full meals.

In this era of pandemic and separation we continue to gather together.

Sitting in our homes, with our own supplies, but linked together by the bits and bytes and cables.

The meal we share is hosted by the God who meets us where we are. And so all who seek to live by the values of God’s Kingdom are welcome to join as we eat together, from a distance.

Let us break bread together in our homes.

GREAT THANKSGIVING

May the Peace of Christ be with you.

And also with you.

Feel the wind of God blow in your lives.

Refreshing us, bringing in new air.

We offer the God who is in our every breath our prayers

With the breath of God in us we share our fears, our hopes, our dreams, our thanks.

God you speak Creation into being. We give thanks for all that You have made.

For the waters from which life sprang forth, for the wind that fills our lungs, for the food that fills our bellies,

for the fellow creature with whom we share the world.

We sing songs and shout cries of praise and thanksgiving.

God you call us to live in you and you choose to share our lives.

And so we pour out our fears and anxieties...

We scream our laments....

We dare to share our dreams and visions...

Trusting that you hear our prayers, trusting that in love you hold them and answer them.

God you meet us where we are, be that in our churches, or in the fields, or in the forest, or in our living rooms.

You speak to us constantly through many voices.

You remind us over and over again that even when we are distanced from each other we are not alone.

We thank you for all those voices that have shared your love and promise over the centuries:

prophets and pastors, men and women filled with your Spirit,

all those who remind us of who you would have us live within the world you have made.

And as followers of Jesus of Nazareth, who we call Christ, we join in the cry of the ages:

Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the Highest!

REMEMBERING

As followers of Jesus, the one we name as the Messiah we remember his story.

Born of the young woman Mary, raised in a backwater town,

he came out to share your vision for the world.

He modelled your Kingdom, lived by its values, and in doing so enraged those with power.

Knowing what was to come, he promised that we would not be left orphaned;

that an Advocate, the Holy Spirit would be there to sustain us always.

Then he was arrested, tried, convicted executed.

But the story was not over.

You, God of power in weakness, you raised him from death

and he returned to breathe hope and life into his fear-filled followers, into us.

As we gather for this meal we remember a meal Jesus shared with his friends on the night before his death.

We remember that he took some bread, blessed it, broke it, and passed it to the 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, Drink it and remember me.

And so, even all these years later, we continue to eat and drink and remember, sharing in the meal of faith.

And pledging, as we remember, to follow the Way that Jesus laid out for us.

INVOKING

Holy Spirit, you blow though closed doors and into the places where we are.

You meet us in our homes and fill us with hope, you light the fire of transformation in our hearts.

As we pause to eat and drink this morning,

make us, while separate, unified in heart and hope.

In this bread and this cup may we meet the Risen Christ.

In this meal of faith and transformation may we feel the fire and wind of the Kingdom.

And once we have eaten, may we be unified in the common quest to share the dreams You have given us.

Willing to offer what we have so that those dreams and visions take shape in our world.

We pray in the name of the Risen Christ, who breathes hope and peace into our fear, and who encouraged us to pray together saying:

Our Father, who art in heaven...

And all the people said

AMEN!

BREAKING/POURING

The Bread we break is the Bread of Life

The Drink we pour is the Drink of Love

These are Gifts from God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

Shall we eat and drink together?

PRAYER AFTER THE MEAL

We have broken the bread, we have poured the drink, we have shared a meal together.

Even while we remain physically separated, we have been united in our souls.

May this meal we share with each other and with the whole Christian family across the centuries and miles change who we are.

May it feed the fire in our bellies. May it strengthen us when the storms blow through.

And now, as we continue to live as people who have had the Holy Spirit breathed onto and into us, may we love and serve God, our neighbour, and ourselves.

So that the Kingdom of Love is made real in our lives. Amen

Communion PRayer for A Presbytery Meeting (service talking about God doing a new thing)

Communion Prayer

INVITATION

Here at this table we join in a ritual that stretches through time and space.

Here God invites us to share in the banquet of life.

This is God’s table, and God invites all who seek to follow the Way of Jesus Christ to eat and drink from it.

Come and taste the grace eternal, come and see that God is good.

GREAT THANKSGIVING

May the Peace of Christ, the love of God, and the Power of the Holy Spirit be with you.

God of life, in the beginning of our story you decided to do a new thing.

And so you spoke and creation came into being.

And we join with thousands who have gone before us to share words of praise and thanksgiving for this universe you spoke into being.

Then after a while you decided again to do a new thing.

You called Abram and Sarai into a new life, promising that through them the world would be blessed.

The new thing continued through the lives of their children and grandchildren through many generations.

Then the people were enslaved and you once again did a new thing.

Calling Moses and Aaron and Miriam to lead the people to freedom,

giving them a set of rules to guide how they lived with you and with each other,

covenanting to be with them always.

Over time the people would forget their part of the covenant, they would wander from the path.

And you would send messengers to call them back, men and women filled with your Spirit.

Remembering all these gifts, all these new things, all these ways you attempted to regenerate the people we join in the old songs of praise and thanksgiving.

THE STORY IS TOLD

Eventually, looking at the world you again decided to do a new thing.

You chose to become one of us, Word-made-Flesh, to share the joys and sorrows, the slings and arrows of our lives.

In Jesus of Nazareth, child of Mary you walked among your people

Jesus revealed a new way of being, Jesus revealed what it would look like to live a life based on love for all he met, Jesus challenged his peers and challenges us to live as though the Kingdom of God was really present in our midst.

But the world was not ready for Jesus’ message, for his challenge, for the Kingdom.

And so he was arrested, tried, convicted, executed.

But then you once again did a new thing!

You raised Jesus from death, shattering the bondage of the grave.

Here at this table we remember a meal Jesus shared with his closest friends.

During that meal he took bread, blessed it, broke it and passed ti to them saying:

Take, Eat, this is my body broken by the world. Whenever you eat this loaf remember me.

Then he took a cup of wine, blessed it and passed it to them saying:

Take, Drink, this is the cup of the new covenant, sealed in my blood. Whenever you drink from it remember me.

Joining with the community of Christian faith across the miles and the centuries we continue to eat and drink and remember.

As we share this bread and this cup send your Spirit upon and among us.

In the eating and the drinking may our commitment to living as people of The Way be strengthened.

Fill us with hope for the present and the future so that as people of hope we are ready to give of our selves so that your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

As we gather at this table, unite our hearts and souls with our brothers and sisters in faith across the country and around the globe.

We pray in the name and memory of Jesus, the man from Nazareth; whom we cal Christ and Messiah, and who encourages us to pray together saying:

Our Father, who art in heaven...

BREAKING, POURING, SHARING

The Bread we share is the Bread of Life.

The Cup we share is the Cup of Love

Gifts from God for the people of God.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

God who invites us to the table,

We have eaten, we have drunk, we have tasted your goodness.

May the meal we share here today awaken our hunger for the Banquet of Life.

May the company of these brothers and sisters renew our commitment to live a people of the Kingdom of Love.

God who regularly does a new thing,

As we go out from this meal may we be refreshed and renewed.

When the next new thing comes along may we have:

the wisdom to discern if it is from you,

the courage to embrace what you offer,

and the energy to journey with you on the road.

We pray in the name of Jesus, our Teacher and Guide, our Rock and Redeemer.

Amen.

Communion for October 2, 2016 -- Worldwide Communion Sunday, Story of the Passover

Note: Dayeinu is a Hebrew word meaning ‘enough’ it is pronounced Die-yea-noo

INVITATION

It is the season of harvest, the grain which once was scattered on the fields is now being gathered in.

Today the people of God gather from all corners of the earth to gather at tables like this.

Here at this table we take part in the feast of faith.

Here we share the meal that unites us with all the followers of The Way.

This is God’s table, God is the host,

and so all who seek to follow the Way of Jesus Christ are welcome to eat and drink.

Come and taste the grace eternal, come and see that God is good.

GREAT THANKSGIVING

God is here

Blowing among us with the breath of life.

God is here

And we place our hearts in God’s hands.

Let us give thanks

Thanks to God who frees us from our chains.

Creator God, Source of Life,

You spoke into the chaos and brought order, into the darkness and brought light, into the void and brought life.

If that was all you had done, given us life and this earth

Dayeinu, that would have been enough. But you did more.

Then you called your people out of slavery,

you formed a covenant with them, gave them rules and guidelines about how they should live with each other and with you.

If that was all you did, bring forth freedom and community

Dayeinu, that would have been enough. But you did more.

But your people did not fulfill their side of the covenant,

they went astray, wandering from the path of wisdom and faithfulness. In response you sent messengers, men and women to remind them what life could be, who they could be.

If that was the end of your work,

Dayeinu, that would have been enough. But you did more.

Eventually, in the fullness of time, you tried a new path.

You spoke to the woman Mary, promising her a son,

a child who would teach in word and action about the depth and breadth of your love;

a man who would reshape the understanding of what it meant to be faithful to the covenant;

a teacher who would transform the lives of his followers.

In this child, this teacher, this man, Jesus of Nazareth, we realized we had met God in human clothing.

However we were not ready for his message.

And he was arrested, tried and convicted.

To show the depth of his love and commitment he allowed himself to be executed, put to death on a cross.

If that was the end of the story,

Dayeinu, that would have been enough.But you did more.

You raised Jesus, you broke the bondage of death, you continue to set us free from those things that would enslave us.

So it is that we continue to gather at this table to sing songs of thanksgiving, joining our voices to the voices of ages saying:

Holy holy holy are you, Lord of Creation

Blessed is the One who comes in your name.

As we gather at this table we remember the night before Jesus was arrested.

We remember that he gathered with his closest friends to share the meal of faith and freedom.

There, in an upper room, he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and passed it to them saying:

This is my Body, broken by and for the world. Take it, eat it, and remember.

Then he took a cup of goo wine, blessed it and passed it to them saying:
This is the cup of the New Covenant, sealed in my blood. Take, drink, and remember.

Remembering his life, death and resurrection, committing ourselves to follow The Way of love he taught, and anxiously awaiting the coming Kingdom of love and peace we eat and drink and we remember the great mystery of faith:
Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.

God of life, send your Spirit upon and among us as we gather at this table.

As we break bread together, unite us with the global family of faith.

As we eat and drink awaken the fire of hope in our souls, embolden us to live your love and share your promise with the world around us.

This we pray in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, who we call Christ and Messiah, and who taught us to pray saying...

Our Father, who art in heaven...

FRACTION & DISTRIBUTION

The Bread we share is the bread of freedom.

The Cup we share is the cup of promise.

These are gifts from God for the people of God

Thanks be to God

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

We have eaten, we have drunk, we have tasted God’s goodness.

God of freedom, grant that this meal we have shared today will remind us that in you and your love we are set free.

God of love, grant that in eating and drinking here our hearts are warmed and we are changed, moving us closer to being who we are created to be.

God of community, grant that this meal we share with our sisters and brothers around the globe helps to build a sense of unity and closeness that chases away all fear, mistrust, and hatred. These things we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.

COmmissioning for October 2, 2016 -- Worldwide Communion Sunday

COMMISSIONING:

We have gathered at the table of faith

we have joined with the worldwide family of faith to break the bread and pour the cup

And now we go out to continue to live and serve

in a world crying out for love, where so many cry out to be set free.

So go, carrying with you God’s promise of freedom, God’s word of hope, God’s acts of love

to share with all we meet.

Go with God, who is with you always

Dayeinu, it is enough, Thanks be to God.

A Communion Liturgy Using Covenant Imagery

We Invite All to the Table

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

for they shall be filled.

The God who promises life, and that in abundance, invites us to the table.

Where we share in the abundance of life, where we practise living in the Kingdom of God.

This table is God's Table. This table is open to all who seek to follow God's Way, to live as people of the Promise.

Here we meet friend and stranger, and recognize all as family.

Come and taste the grace eternal, come and see that God is good.

We Give Thanks to God

Children of God, lift up your hearts.

Our hearts are lifted by God's Spirit in our midst.

Inheritors of the Promise, sing songs of thanks.

We sing our praises for what God has done in our midst.

Partners in the Covenant, open your souls.

To feel God moving among and within us, strengthening us to live out the covenant of life

God of the Promise, from the beginning you have lived in relationship with your Creation.

Walking in the primeval garden with Adam and Eve, speaking with their children and grandchildren.

And as that relationship developed you made covenants, agreements about how we would live together.

Promises made on both sides so that life would flourish as you hoped.

And so we remember Noah and the rainbow

Your sign that the world would not be washed away again, your reminder that we live in relationship.

And we remember Abraham,

The promise of land, of a mighty people, of a blessing to the world.

And we remember Moses on the mountain,

Where you renewed your relationship with your people, laying out a way they should live with each other, with their neighbours, and with you.

As time went on, your people, your beloved children, did not remain faithful to the covenant.

They forgot their promises, they did not live up to their side of the deal.

But you remained faithful, you continued to hold up the possibility of the Promise, of the Covenant.

And so you sent prophets and messengers, faithful men and women who reminded their neighbours about the Covenant and call them back to the path of wisdom.

But still the people moved from the path, and so you chose a new path, a New Covenant.

One that would not be shown by a bow in the clouds, or by a new land, or by laws and rules.

This Covenant would be written on the hearts and souls of your people.

To begin this covenant you chose a young woman in a small town, Mary of Nazareth.

In her womb grew a child, who would be named Jesus.

In his adulthood he would share the wonders of your love, the glory of your forgiveness, the possibility of your Reign.

He would invite his friends and all who would follow them, including us, to participate in the New Covenant of Life and Love. As participants in the community of the faithful we echo the ancient cry:

Holy, holy, holy God. source of power and light.

Blessed is the one who comes in your name.

Hosanna in the highest!

We Remember the Story

As it would happen, the world was not ready for the message of Jesus.

As he shared your vision and hope he challenged the way the world already operated,

Which led those with power to move against him.

He was arrested, tried, and executed.

But that was not the end of the story, or of the New Covenant.

You raised him, breaking the bonds of death, shattering the powers of the world.

We remember that on the night before his death Jesus shared the feast of liberation with his friends. At that table he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and passed it to them saying:

Take, eat, this is my body broken for you.

Then he took the cup of wine, blessed it and passed it to them saying:

Take and drink, this is the cup of the new covenant. Whenever you eat and drink, remember me.

We do remember. And as we remember we also remember the promise Jesus gave,

the promise of a Comforter, of the Spirit, to sustain us always.

Pour out that Spirit upon and among us God.

May the Spirit move in this loaf and cup, in the sharing of this meal,

transforming them, transforming us.

And when our gathering is ended,

Send us out with the fire of the Spirit in our souls, ready to live out the Covenant of Life and Love with all we meet, wherever we go.

These things we pray in the name of Jesus, whose life, death, resurrection and passion write the words of the New Covenant on our hearts and souls, and who taught his friends to pray together saying...

Our Father who art in heaven...

We Break and Pour and Share

The Bread we share is the bread of Life.

The Cup we share is the Cup of the New Covenant

These are signs of the Promise, from the God who gives us the Promise

Thanks be to God.

We Pray After the Sharing

God of the rainbow, God of the promise, God of the table;

we have broken the bread and shared the cup. We have tasted your goodness. We have shared the meal that ties us to each other and to you.

God of the past, the present and the future;

you have been faithful, you are faithful, you will be faithful. You will live out the covenant of life. May we who have shared this meal, we who gather in community, be transformed by our gathering and our sharing, so that we too will live out the covenant of life. Amen.