Celebrations - Communion

INVITATION TO THE LORD’S TABLE

Friends, this is the joyful feast of the people of God! They will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God. According to Luke, when our risen Lord was at table with his disciples, he took the bread, and blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him. This is the Lord’s table. Our Savior invites those who trust him to share the feast which he has prepared.

GREAT 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. It is truly right and our greatest joy to give you thanks and praise, eternal God, our creator. You have given us life and second birth in your Spirit. Once we were no people, but now we are your people. You claimed Israel as your chosen nation and raised up the church as a witness to the resurrection, breathing into it your life and power. From worlds apart, you gathered us together. When we go astray, you welcome us home. Always, your love has been steadfast. Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with the choirs of heaven and with all the faithful of every time and place who forever sing to the glory of your name: 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. You are holy, O God of majesty, and blessed is Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. In love with you and in compassion for all, Jesus healed and taught, challenged and comforted, welcomed and saved. He formed a community, promising to be with his disciples wherever two or three were gathered, and sending them on his mission of hope and healing in the world. Jesus trusted his life to you, and went freely to his death, so the world might be set free from suffering and sin. You raised him from death and raise us also to live a new life with him. In the power of the Holy Spirit, you send us out to make disciples as he commanded. Remembering all your mighty and merciful acts, we take this bread and this wine from the gifts you have given us and celebrate with joy the redemption won for us in Jesus Christ. Accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving as a living and holy offering of ourselves, that our lives may proclaim the One crucified and risen. Great is the mystery of faith. Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. Gracious God, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these your gifts of bread and wine, that the bread we break and the cup we bless may be the communion of the body and blood of Christ. By your Spirit unite us with the living Christ and with all who are baptized in his name, that we may be one in ministry in every place. As this bread is Christ’s body for us, send us out to be the body of Christ in the world. It is appropriate to offer intercessions for the church and the world, including prayers for the presbytery, its leaders, pastors, and congregations, and its mission and ministry. It is also appropriate to give thanks for the life and witness of those who have died. O God, today you have called us together to be the church. Unite us now at your table, and in one loaf and a common cup, make us one in Christ Jesus. Let your Spirit empower the life we share and ignite our witness in the world. With all who have gone before us, keep us faithful to the gospel teachings and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Give us strength to serve you until the promised day of the resurrection, when with the redeemed of all the ages we will feast with you at your table in glory. Through Christ, all glory and honor are yours, almighty God, with the Holy Spirit in the holy church, now and forever. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

As Christ our Savior taught us, we are bold to pray: 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.

BREAKING OF THE BREAD

The Lord Jesus, on the night of his arrest, took bread, and after giving thanks to God, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take, eat. This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he took the cup, saying: This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me. Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the saving death of the risen Lord, until he comes.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

Gracious God, may we who have received this sacrament live in the unity of your Holy Spirit, that we may show forth your gifts to all the world. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. (Adapted from the Book of Occasional Services, 217-226)