 The Liturgy of the Table 

The Great Thanksgiving

Celebrant: The Lord be with you.

All: And also with you.

Celebrant: Lift up your hearts.

All: We lift them to the Lord.

A Wee Worship Book, Iona Community

Celebrant: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

All: It is right to give God thanks and praise.

We praise you, O God, whom eternity cannot contain, for coming to earth and entering time in Jesus. (the Celebrant continues..)

Therefore we gladly join our voices to the song of the Church on earth and in heaven:

Sanctus The Sound of My People

Jesus was always the guest. In the homes of Peter and Jairus, Martha and Mary, Joanna and Susanna, he was always the guest. At the meal tables of the wealthy where he pled the case of the poor, he was always the guest. Upsetting polite company, befriending isolated people, welcoming the stranger, he was always the guest.

But here, at this table, he is the host. Those who wish to serve him must first be served by him. Those who want to follow him must first be fed by him. For this is the table where God intends us to be nourished. This is the time when Christ can make us new. So come, you who hunger and thirst for a deeper faith, for a better life, for a fairer world. Jesus Christ, who has sat at our tables, now invites us to be his guests.

On their last night together, and as they were sitting at a meal, Jesus gave thanks, took a piece of bread and broke it. He gave it to the disciples saying, “This is my body. It is broken for you. Do this to remember me.”

Later, after they had eaten, he took a cup of wine, gave thanks and said, “This cup is the new relationship with God made possible because of my death. Drink this all of you, to remember me.”

So now we do as Jesus did. We offer this bread and this wine to each other, and proclaim the mystery of faith:

Celebrant and People

Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ will come again.

We ask that these signs of your love be filled with the fullness of Jesus. Let that same love rest on us, converting us from the patterns of this passing world, until we conform to the shape of him whose food we now share. Amen.

And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now pray,

The Lord’s Prayer Version from New Zealand Prayer Book

Eternal Spirit,

Earth-maker, Pain bearer, Life-giver, Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, Loving God, in whom is heaven:

The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!

The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!

With the bread we need for today, feed us.

In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.

Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!

Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth!

In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.

From trials too great to endure, spare us. From the grip of all that is evil, free us. For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever. Amen.

The Fraction: Breaking of the Bread Enriching Our Worship

Celebrant: We break this bread to share in the Body of Christ.

People: We who are many are one body, for we all share in the one bread.

Celebrant: The Gifts of God for the people of God; holy food for holy people.

Invitation to Communion

Please be seated until you are invited to come forward to receive communion. Please let us know if you would like the bread brought to you.

Communion Hymns See insert

The Post Communion Prayer (Please stand as you are able.)

Celebrant: Let us pray.

Jesus, we have feasted on the bread of life. Together we have tasted the love of your kin-dom here on earth. In your risen power you have united us with all of those who have come before, with those gathered today, and with those yet to find their way to this table of love set and ready to welcome all. May the sense of a new heaven and a new earth strengthen and renew us today and in the days to come. Now, send us out into the world to do the work you have given us to do offering your fearless love and priceless peace to all we meet in the name of our loving, liberating life-giving God. Amen.

Blessing

As we leave this place, may God bless us with seeking. Seeking out the hungry. Seeking the weary. Seeking the good in every person we pass Seeking out the hopeful. Seeking the faithful. Seeking God in everyone As we seek and as we wonder, may we all find what we are looking for. In the name of our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, who is always seeking us. Amen.

May the rain fall off your shoulders when you’re caught in a storm.

When the frost comes a callin’ may it find you safe and warm. May your place be set, and may your promises be kept. And may you never forget that you are loved.

Sending Hymn

Dismissal

Wisdom Freed a Holy People See insert.

Deacon: Go in peace to serve our loving, liberating, life-giving God. People: Thanks be to God.