a community creating for the relentless return of Sunday
One: God invites us to come in and go out and find pasture:
All: to come into the kingdom, into abundant life, into the light;
to go out to serve, out to live our faith, out to be the Body of Christ.
One: Christ calls us to hear his voice
All: and so we come to listen and seek and follow.
One: We stand at the threshold of God’s future,
All: the Spirit stands at the door and knocks.
One: Come, let us worship.
Submitted by Rev. Teri Peterson, the Presbyterian Church of Palatine
Invitation to the Table
Sisters and brothers,
this is the joyful feast of the people of God,
a table prepared for us in the presence of our enemies,
a banquet of love in the face of hatred.
Here God’s love for us overflows,
and here we find the depth of God’s kindness and mercy
as we share this strange and wonderful feast in God’s house.
So let us pray for God’s full presence with us here,
for our great shepherd is our host
and invites us to meet him here.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
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.
Loving God,
you are our shepherd,
granting us everything that we need,
showing us comfort and peace and hope,
restoring us when we are weak,
guiding us when we are going astray.
You stay with us through the darkest valley
and show us the fullness of your love to beyond overflowing.
In Jesus you gave us the fullness of all these things.
You prepare a table for us
just as he prepared a table for his disciples the night before he was killed.
He took bread and gave thanks to you,
broke it, and gave it to his disciples and said:
Take, eat. This is my body, given for you.
Then after supper,
he took a cup of wine and gave thanks once again.
He passed it among his disciples and said:
Take this, all of you, and drink from it.
This is the cup of the new covenant
sealed in my blood for the forgiveness of sin.
Do this in remembrance of me.
So take these ordinary gifts of bread and cup
and use them to show us your presence and love.
Gather us with Jesus, the disciples, and the believers of every time and place,
that we might be one in this feast
and sustained for the days ahead by the power of your love.
Follow us from this table with your goodness and mercy and peace and love,
that we might rise to serve you with new life and hope
as we dwell in your house forever.
Lord, come quickly! Amen.
Distribution of the Elements
The bread of heaven.
The cup of salvation.
Friends, these are the gifts of God for us, the people of God.
Come, let us keep the feast.
Submitted by Rev. Andy James, First Presbyterian Church, Whitestone, NY
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
But, O Lord, we are consumed with wanting more.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.
But, O Lord, other pastures seem greener. The waters aren’t always still. Our souls still thirst.
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
O Lord, we long to be led by you, though we may complain along the path.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff– they comfort me.
And yet, O God, we do sometimes fear. May we feel your presence, your comfort and your forgiveness anew.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
O God, sometimes we refuse to sit down at your table. Forgive us and help us to see your overflowing mercy.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
Forgive us, God, and lead us into your house.
Submitted by Rev. Emily Schlaman Larsen, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Winston-Salem, NC
Holy God,
Planter of green pastures where we might be fed;
Pooler of waters which nourish us forever;
Shaper of paths which lead us into your presence:
all that you made is beautiful and good
and given to those created in your image.
Sadly, our wisdom leads us to choose hunger
over the feast you prepare for us;
we thirst in the deserts
when we could drink deeply
from your grace;
we stumble off those paths
leading to your holy presence.
Yet you continue to seek us out,
to bring us home to your kingdom,
preparing a feast for those who will not respond
to your gracious invitation.
Therefore, we lift our voices to you day and night,
with those gathered around your throne
and with those who struggle to be faithful today,
singing your praise and our thanksgiving:
P: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of goodness and mercy.
Ggreen pastures and summer nights are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the One who lays down his life for your children.
Hosanna in the highest.
Holy are you, Shepherd of all people,
and blessed is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior,
one with you in every respect.
For your name’s sake,
he left the green pastures
to climb the garbage heap of Golgotha;
he waded out of the living waters
to be drenched with the abuse of the world;
he wandered the streets of the kingdom
covered with the dust of sin and death
to lead us into the kingdom of joy.
As we seek to follow the Good Shepherd
into all the places he would lead us,
we celebrate that mystery we call faith:
P: The Good Shepherd walked through the darkest valley;
the Good Shepherd prepares a Table for us;
the Good Shepherd abides in us.
Pour out your Holy Spirit
upon these gifts of the bread and the cup
you have prepared for your Table.
As the bread which is broken
makes us whole,
and the cup overflows with your grace,
so pour us out for others:
so we may offer shelter
to those who have no home;
so we may comfort those
whose hearts are broken by the world;
so we may share food
with all who ache from hunger;
so we may guide the thirsty
to the pools of life we have found.
And when our journey is ended,
when we are at home in the soft, green pastures,
resting by the still waters, we will find that Feast
of grace, mercy, and hope you prepare for us,
and we will join with our companions
from every time and place, singing joy to you:
God in Community, Holy in One. Amen.
Submitted by Rev. Thom Shuman, author of Lectionary Liturgies.
On the lonely paths through life,
you are smoothing the way for us.
In the barren soil where we till our souls,
you are nurturing us with love.
Wherever we are, we find you,
Crafter of Creation.
When we go to fill the emptiness
of a hungry world,
you are handing us the bags of food.
When we see children struggling
to get past the potholes of poverty,
you are waiting with the gifts
we can use to smooth their way.
Wherever we are, we find you,
Shepherd of God’s little ones.
At the corner where anger
intersects with judgment,
you are handing out bottles
filled from peace’s spring.
At every opportunity we have
to share goodness and mercy,
we find our pockets stuffed
with simple acts of kindness.
Wherever we are, we find you,
Shepherd’s Spirit.
Wherever we are, we find you,
God in Community, Holy in One,
even as we pray as Jesus has taught us, saying,
Our Father . . .
Submitted by Rev. Thom Shuman, author of Lectionary Liturgies.
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