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Great Prayer of Thanksgiving

communion: on Psalm 91

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O God Most High, we give you thanks
today and every day for your unfailing goodness and love.
You are always coming to the rescue of your faithful ones,
and you promise to guard us in all our ways.
We praise you for the gift of this sacrament,
which is a sign of your promise to watch over us forever.
As we come to this table, we lift up before you
those who need your special protection today.
Grant your healing, your protection, your peace, and your hope
to all who are in need.
Give your special care and guidance to this nation,
and grant peace to all the earth,
in the name of the Prince of Peace,
who prays with us as we say together:

The Lord’s Prayer

 

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

Great Thanksgiving: The Source

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May God’s presence be with you!
And also with you!
People of God, lift up your hearts to the Holy One.
We lift them up to the One Who Lives.
With prayer and celebration, with lives lived in love, let us praise God in reverent silence and shouts of joy!

We will praise God, waking and sleeping, singing and laughing, in thought and deed. Thanks be to God!

Holy and Beloved God, the Source of Life, we offer you our thanks and praise! Your presence is felt within us all, like the warmth of the fire on a chilly spring morning – and your holy presence wraps around us, so that we can see you in all things. There are times when our vision falters – and then, you send your Prophets, who help us see you more clearly. There are times when we feel abandoned and alone – and then, you send your Word to hold us close to you, so that we can hear your heartbeat, and be comforted.

Together with those who are offering their eternal thanks and praise, with those who shout with joy, and those who love you in their innermost being, we sing our praises to you:

Holy, Holy, Holy are you, Source of All. You fill all of creation and time with your glory. Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is the One who walks in your Way. Hosanna in the highest!

You offer us your Word, your Way, your Truth, your Life, beloved God. Your Love continues to be revealed in the person of Christ, who teaches us to pray to you, to love each other, and to teach, heal, and make disciples wherever you lead us. Christ lives in your Shalom, and calls us to live in peace and understanding.

As we remember the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we speak the mystery of faith:

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

Pour out your Holy Spirit on all gathered here, in body or in spirit. And pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup, that we too would be filled with your wisdom and discernment, your grace and love, your transforming light and your eternal life. By your Spirit, make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in your image in the world. When we gather at this table, may it be a taste of the banquet of Heaven to come, when Jesus returns in celebration and glory. Blessed are you, beloved God – beloved Christ – beloved Spirit – together the One Source of all that is and that shall ever be. Amen.

Submitted by Rev. Lucus Levy Keppel, Ancho + Corona Presbyterian Churches, New Mexico

Communion: Word made flesh

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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.

Good and gracious God,
we thank you for your presence among us,
that you would bring us the eternal Word made flesh,
that you would call us your beloved children,
that you would send your light into the darkness.
To you we ascribe all thanks and praise,
for you alone are our hope and our salvation.
Through the power of your speech,
you brought all creation into order;
all things have come into being through you;
not one single thing is exempt from your creation.

With all creation, with people in every time and place,
we join the everlasting 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, on that holy night,
Mary and Joseph could find no place to stay,
so they found a manger and made their bed with the animals of the stable.
Through these marginalized people seeking refuge,
you made your presence known to the world.

We remember how the shepherds and the wisemen gathered
to worship the child who would redeem all of creation.
Their gifts were brought to pay homage to the true King.
We give you thanks for the gifts of this Table,
which are given to us to proclaim your holy and majestic name.

We remember how this child grew up,
growing in wisdom and in years,
embodying your goodness in word and deed,
healing people, comforting people, loving stranger and friend.

We remember how he gathered his friends on the night he was betrayed,
how he took the bread, blessed 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 the cup of 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, watch, and wonder with the wisemen and the shepherds,
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 goodness in this season of Christmas.
May this meal of remembrance transform us into your servants,
going out into the world to proclaim your resurrection
and to welcome all to partake in your reign of peace, love, and harmony.
As we prepare to live as your disciples,
hear us as we pray as 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

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