GATHERING
REFLECTION
Remember, God, that we are the plants in your fields, so connected to the earth that you know what would happen if you did not rain upon us. And if your light ceased to lift us from the ground and craft our bodies; how might we draw near you like the sun? Remember, God, to love us in a way our souls can taste and rejoice in.
– St. Teresa of Avila, in Love Poems from God, by Daniel Ladinsky, p.284
LIGHTING THE ALTAR CANDLE
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
People: Christ is risen, indeed!
Leader: The Holy One sends us rain and sunshine,
lifting us beyond our suffering,
crafting eternal life in Christ.
People: The Spirit sends us wind and moonlight,
connecting us to the earth,
filling our bodies and souls with joy.
Leader: Christ has died, Christ is risen,
Christ is here among us now.
All: Christ is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
OPENING PRAYER
HYMN
SILENCE
PRAYERS
CONFESSION
Leader: Christ is risen! Alleluia!
People: Our alleluias are thin and faint
for we are grief stricken
for ourselves, our nation, and our world.
Leader: The Holy One sends all that we need
– rain, sunshine, wind, and moonlight –
to lift us up beyond our grief and suffering.
People: We need to be nurtured and loved
in ways that our souls can taste
so we can rejoice once again.
Leader: The Holy One remembers
and knows our suffering
and is here with us even now.
All: Forgive us, Holy One,
when we cannot move beyond our suffering
and are blind to the ways
in which you transform
suffering and death into new life.
INDIVIDUAL PRAYERS OF CONFESSION
ASSURANCE
Leader: Christ has died,
Christ is risen,
Christ is here among us now
assuring us that we are forgiven.
All: Alleluia! Christ is risen indeed!
THANKSGIVING AND PRAISE
INTERCESSION AND PETITION
COMMITMENT
All: O Holy One, we come today
to claim our relationship with you.
We pray for the commitment to grow together,
sharing the gifts you give us with others
here and in the wider world.
Forgive us for the hurt we have inflicted
and help us forgive those who have hurt us.
Give us strength and discipline
to nurture our relationship with you;
to care for every part of your creation;
to foster justice and be in solidarity with those in need;
to work to end all war, and violence, and discord;
and to respond joyfully when you call,
freely giving our selves as you have shown the way.
We open our hearts to you and your creation
in the name of Jesus, who is the Christ. Amen.
HYMN
THE WORD
SCRIPTURE
SERMON
SILENT REFLECTION
OFFERING
COMMUNION
PREPARATION
Leader 1: This is the table of the heavenly feast,
the joyful celebration of the people of God.
Leader 2: We gather now as one body, joined around the table.
Here we celebrate God’s presence among us,
united in Christ’s spirit, broken and whole all at once.
All: Nourished and hungry, loved and loving,
sinner and forgiven, we make one circle
of knowing, believing, rejoicing, being,
as God lights and rests among us.
GREAT THANKSGIVING
Leader 1: Holy One, we thank you
for your extravagant love,
which embraces all of your Creation,
cycling from sprout to flower,
then back to seed again.
People: We give thanks for Jesus,
who in his life, death, and resurrection
reveals the delicious mystery
of your forgiving love.
Leader 2: We give thanks for the Holy Spirit
calling us beyond suffering
to loving relationship
with you and all creation.
All: We give thanks for your Holy Church,
Christ’s body here on earth,
where we mark the path
of love beyond suffering.
BLESSING THE ELEMENTS
Leader 1: Christ invites everyone to eat the bread of life,
to drink the cup of the new covenant.
Leader 2: Jesus said, I am the bread of life.
You who come to me shall never hunger;
you who believe in me shall never thirst.
Leader 1: On the night he gave himself up, Jesus took bread,
and after giving thanks to God, broke it and said,
This is my body,
broken for the healing of the world.
Whenever you eat it, do so remembering me.
Leader 2: After supper, Jesus took the cup and said,
This is the cup of the new covenant,
poured out for you and for all.
Whenever you drink it, do so remembering me.
All: O Holy One, send down your Spirit
that these gifts of grain and grape,
and work of human hands
may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Unite us with Christ forever
and bring us with the whole creation
to your eternal realm.
SHARE THE ELEMENTS
Leader 1: The body of Christ, broken for all of us.
Feed on Christ in your hearts with thanksgiving.
Leader 2: The cup of the new covenant,
poured out for the healing of the world.
Drink deeply of it.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING AND DEDICATION
All: God of abundance and mercy,
we give joyful thanks
for your eternal love and healing presence
in our celebration of bread and cup.
Bless this Body of Christ
that we may attend faithfully to our call to be your servants,
with each other and throughout the world. Amen.
SHARED REFLECTIONS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
HYMN
BENEDICTION
Leader: As the light of God lifts us from the ground
and draws us toward the sun,
let us go out to lift others, too.
And may we all,
as beings connected with earth and rain,
sunshine and moonlight,
be filled with joy, peace, and love,
this day and always.
People: Alleluia! Amen.