Invitation to the Meal
We come to this table,
again and again,
continuously.
Sometimes this meal is tedious,
a ritual we must get through
before we can eat our real lunch.
Still we come.
Because sometimes this meal becomes for us—
somehow, by some miracle—
the very presence of Christ in our midst.
The table is set, as it always is,
for you. You are welcome here.
The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving + The Lord’s Prayer
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.
From everlasting to everlasting, you are God.
You set the stage of our world,
placed stars and tides and microbes into motion,
set each blade of grass and each hair of our head into place.
Without fail, you are God.
The story has been told,
by generations of faithful:
how your people turned from you,
how they were lost in the world,
how they were enslaved in Egypt,
how you freed them,
how they wandered in the wilderness,
how you gave them a home,
how they wanted a king,
how you gave them prophets,
how they were exiled,
how you brought them home again.
Through trial and tumult,
crisis and chaos,
they told the story always.
Without fail, you are God.
In time you sent Jesus to walk among us,
who was your very presence with us,
teaching and healing and forgiving sins,
who showed us what true faithfulness is:
even faced with death, he proclaimed,
not my will but yours be done.
And while his light was extinguished
for three dark days,
he rose again, to show that everlasting to everlasting,
without fail, you are God.
Therefore we praise you,
joining our voices with choirs of angels,
and with that great multitude
no one can count,
from every nation,
from all tribes and peoples and languages
all the ordinary saints
who have finished their race
and sing forever to the glory of your name.
Spirit, move in us,
that our faith might burn brightly
for all the world to see.
We pray that we might be signals of your glory,
thankful and transformed,
so 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 together, and the cup we share together,
may remind us of that in ordinary things your love is found
in ordinary lives your grace is known
and in ordinary days we can find your presence.
Keep us breaking bread together
without ceasing
in joy and in faith
until you return to this world you love
this earth you made,
and this people you cherish.
Until that day, we lift our prayer to you,
using the words recited by all generations, 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.
The Words of Institution
On the night before Jesus died, when he knew he would not be with his disciples much longer, he gave them a sign to remember him by. First he took the bread from the table, the Lord and after giving thanks to you, 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 Jesus 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.
Sharing of the Bread and Cup
Closing Prayer
Lord, this communion is a little thing—
a piece of bread, a sip of juice, a monthly rhythm—
make it everything to us.
Our life is full of little things—
make them everything to us.
Because you are everything to us.
Our constant hope, our ceaseless peace,
our everlasting Lord. Amen.
Deep Well Worship 