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dedication: every good thing

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We praise you, O Lord, and everything in us proclaims your holy name. You have forgiven our sin, healed our brokenness, and redeemed us from the power of death. You satisfy us with every good thing. We celebrate your goodness in the sacrament of this meal, and we respond with gratitude through the gifts we present. Receive our offerings and our discipleship with your blessing, and lead us as we serve you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

Submitted by Rev. Nathan Williams, Echo Hill Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA

Advent communion–come to bless us

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The Lord be with you.  And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.  We lift them to the Lord. 
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

God of our salvation,
we do not deserve your love and yet you lavish it upon us.
Not being content to be apart from us,
you came to us in human form,
donning flesh and becoming one of us.
You are not a God that is removed from our reality
but is intimately present in our lives and our struggles.
We lift up to you our thanks for your presence among us.
We give thanks for your son, Jesus Christ,
the very incarnation of your being on this earth.

With all of creation, with all peoples in every time and place
we join the ever lasting chorus:
  
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.  Hosanna in the highest.

We remember how you called your servant Mary to bear your son,
how you called your servant Joseph to accompany her,
how you called the wise men to search and the shepherds to ponder,
how you called John to proclaim and Jesus to be baptized,
how you called Peter and the disciples to follow and serve.

With them, we gather on the night on which Jesus was betrayed,
when, after having dinner with his friends, he took the bread,
blessed it and broke it, and gave it to his disciples saying,
take, eat, do this in remembrance of me.

Likewise, he took the cup and, pouring it, said,
this is cup of the salvation, shed in my blood, for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this in remembrance of me.

For as long as we eat this bread and drink this cup,
we proclaim the resurrection of our living savior until he comes again.

As we wait, during this blessed rest known as the season of Advent,
we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died; Christ is risen;
Christ will come again.

We give thanks for your gifts of grace,
and ask that your Holy Spirit would come to bless this sacrament,
that we might preside with you and you in us.
Hear us as we pray the prayer you taught us to pray, saying:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,
for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever.  Amen.

Submitted by Rev. Stephen M. Fearing, Shelter Island Presbyterian Church, NY

communion: thankful

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As thankful people we approach this table. As invited people we come to share in the feast that is prepared for us but does not belong to us. We come as Christ’s own at his invitation, for this table is not for the worthy but for the hungry.

Let us pray.

Gracious God, we give you thanks for all your blessings,
but even in this season of thankfulness we struggle to be thankful people

We are thankful that the angel of death passed over our ancestors in Egypt,
but we quickly forget your blessings when we become fearful in our own desert.

We are thankful for clean water to drink and healthy food to eat,
but we forget that you will provide and we demand more than manna.

We are grateful for strong leaders like Moses and the judges,
but we forget to follow them and wander our own ways.

We are thankful for the voices of the prophets, then and now, calling us to be better, to repent, to pray, and to follow your commands –
but we wonder in our thankfulness, do they have to be SOO persistent?

We are thankful for Jesus. Who wouldn’t be thankful for a cute little baby savior?
But we forget that we don’t get to create him in our image.

We are grateful for the teachings of Jesus.
Except for the ones that are confusing, frustrating, or hard to follow.

We are thankful for the night that Jesus shared a meal with his friends and how he took the bread, blessed, and broke it and gave it to them telling them to “take and eat and do this in remembrance of me.”

And we are thankful that Jesus took a cup and poured wine into it saying, “this is the cup of my covenant, poured out in my blood for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink of it, remember me.”

Yes, we are thankful. But did he really have to die?
It is hard to be thankful for death.

But we are grateful that death is not the end. With the women we stare open-mouthed at the empty tomb.
With confused understanding we are grateful for resurrection.

Lord, send your Spirit to lift us above our lukewarm thankfulness.  Turn our desire to be grateful into true gratitude. Take these simple gifts of bread and wine and use them to transform us. Mold us into people who are truly thankful for your blessings as we participate in your very body and blood.

With Christ, in Christ, through Christ, in communion with the Creator and the Spirit we are thankful. Amen.

 

Submitted by Rev. Nikki Cooley, First Presbyterian Church, Liberty, MO

invitation to the table: World Communion

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designed for 2 readers (one in bold, one in plain)

 

This is the joyful feast of the people of God!
Men, women, and children will come from North and South,
and from East and West,
and sit at table in the kingdom.
They will come wearing traditional clothing from the cultures of the world,
in kilts and kimonos and in seersucker suits,
in mumus and cowboy boots, lederhosen and caftans,
and they will come wearing rags,
and they will sit at the table together.
They will gather, and God will serve them bread, and wine,
and rice, and kim chee, and quesadillas, and curries
and fish stew, and cheeseburgers, and all manner of things that are good to eat,
and in that feast they will eat as much as they like,

TOGETHER: and never hunger again.

The kingdom of God is not far away –
it is here, among us,
and God invites us to join that feast now.
Come, for all is ready.
Submitted by Rev. Talitha G. Phillips, Montclair Presbyterian Church, Oakland CA

communion: taste and see

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The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

 

We do praise you, O Lord, at all times,

and our souls boast in you.

From the beginning, you have reached down to the depths

and lifted your people into new relationship with you.

You shine your light on the world, and we are radiant with your joy.

When we cried out to you, drowning in our sins,

you heard us and came to us in Jesus Christ.

Through his life, death, and resurrection,

you have delivered your people from every trouble.

 

Therefore, we join with the faithful of every nation,

singing joyfully to the glory of your name:

 

Holy, holy, holy…

 

You are great and holy, O God, and blessed is our Lord Jesus.

By his grace, you have provided for all your people,

and we have all we need.

Pour out then your Holy Spirit upon these gifts of bread and cup

that we have taken from your bounty,

that as we eat and drink in Jesus’ name,

we might taste and see that the Lord is good indeed.

 

Let your eyes remain on your people, and listen to our prayer.

More than that, walk with us as we take refuge in you,

so we might carry your good news to the brokenhearted

and lift up those who are crushed in spirit.

Bind us to you and to all your people, now and forever,

in the name of Jesus, with whom we pray, saying together:

The Lord’s Prayer

 

Submitted by Rev. Nathan Williams, Echo Hill Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA