God with us - Christmas Communion

John 1:1-5
The Word Became Flesh
Chapter 1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Invitation
Here we kneel at the manger
and marvel at a God who chose
to send love into the world
as a vulnerable baby
A God who comes to us still
in bread and wine
A God who invites us
to feast on love today.

Narrative
The baby in the manger
fled the stable, took to the road,
grew up and turned up in the temple
He gathered friends around him
and the night before he died
he shared supper with them
He took bread, blessed it and broke it
and shared it with them, saying:
This is my body, broken for you
He also took the cup
explaining the new relationship
that was possible with God
And said:
Do this in memory of me.
And so, this Christmas morning
we celebrate the love in the manger
by celebrating love in bread and wine.
And we give thanks;

Prayer of Thanksgiving
The angels are resting now, O God,
having brought good news for all the world
News of joy and peace
And so we take up the song
praising you with all the hosts of heaven
We praise you for being born among us
taking on flesh
touching earth with the warmth of your love
We praise you for walking alongside us
showing us a better way
hanging out with all those
ignored or put down by others
loving, healing, making whole.
We praise you for seeing the journey through
from the cradle to the cross - all for love.
Christ, who became a refugee,
we pray for all those today
forced to flee their homes
separated from their loved ones.
Christ who knew oppression
we pray, today, for all those
weighed down by life
those denied justice
those judged harshly by others.
Christ who knew isolation and abandonment
we pray for all those betrayed by friends
and family and let down by systems
that should protect.
May we who have knelt at your crib today
stand up, speak out and act
to bring justice for all your children.
May we who worship God with us
share hope, joy and peace
in the world.
God born for us in bread and wine
as we share with you
and with the company of heaven
may we be rooted in love
committed to serving you
by serving our neighbour
So send your Spirit
upon these gifts of bread and wine
May they remind us of your sacrifice
and inspire us to keep hope alive
for Peace on earth.
Christmas God
who, in love, came in flesh
be present for us
in bread and wine today
and plant your love in our hearts
so that we can give wings
to your love for the world.
Amen

Fraction
Here is God with us
the baby who grew
and gave his life for us
The body of Christ - broken for you
The blood of Christ poured out for you
Share in this feast to celebrate
God with us.

Prayer after communion
Filled with the food of the incarnation
we leave the comfort of home and hearth
to travel with the Christ Child
into all the dark and despairing places
of our community
taking light and hope
into all the sad and troubled places
of our world
taking joy and peace
Catching up with God made flesh
who goes before us.



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Advent themes

Isaiah 2:2-5
In days to come
the mountain of the Lord ’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
Many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord!

Invitation
Come to this table
To meet the God of hope
Come to this table
To meet the God of peace
Come to this table
To meet the God of love
Come to this table
To meet the God of joy
The Advent God meets us here
Welcoming us into the light.

Narrative
The night before he died
Jesus gathered his friends around the table
and gave them this memorial
by which to remember him.
He took bread, blessed it, broke it and shared.
He took wine and spoke of the new relationship
made possible with God.
He shared with all, even those he knew would betray him and let him down.
And he bids us do likewise now.
Today as we prepare to celebrate again Christ's coming into the world
we recognise God present already
in these gifts of bread and wine.
And, knowing ourselves included in this feast
we pause to offer our thanks
Let us pray.

Great prayer of Thanksgiving
God how often have we betrayed you?
How often have we let you down?
And yet here you are for us, made new in bread and wine
holding out for us
the promise of new beginnings.
You invite us to walk in light
and to travel the path of peace.
As we share in your feast
we bring with us all those who live in darkness,
and those whose lives are blighted
by war and violence.
As we share in your feast
we bring those who live without hope,
those for whom love has become painful
and those whose joy has been snuffed out.
As we share in your feast
we bring those who have no bread
no warm place to share with friends.
As we share in your feast
we bring those left out in the cold,
shunned and overlooked.
You were born among us
to show us a new way to live
embracing all in your love
surrounding all with your light.
Advent God as we know ourselves
swept up in your hope and your promise
may we find new ways to live in peace.
Bless this bread that we break
and this cup that we share.
As we encounter your Spirit here
may we be led in paths
of peace and light
worshipping you, one God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen

Fraction
At supper with his friends
Jesus held out the promise of peace
in bread broken and shared.
The body of Christ broken for us.

As he passed the cup
he offered love that knows no bounds.
The blood of Christ shed for us.

Here is Advent hope offered for our nourishment
that we might serve one another
and walk the paths of peace and love.


Prayer
God as we have responded to your invitation today
and been nourished by your love
we join that stream of pilgrims
who through the years
have found their way
to your house.
We thank you for all the saints
who join us in this feast.
Teach us now how to live in peace
and practice love
until all find their way to your house.
May the hope of this season bring joy
to all your children through Christ the light of the world.
Amen

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U2charist

U2charist

(A communion celebrated using original readings and the lyrics of U2 songs)

Song: I still haven’t found what I’m looking for

Reading: Matthew 9,10 (The Message)

35-38Then Jesus made a circuit of all the towns and villages. He taught in their meeting places, reported kingdom news, and healed their diseased bodies, healed their bruised and hurt lives. When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd. "What a huge harvest!" he said to his disciples. "How few workers! On your knees and pray for harvest hands!"

1-4 The prayer was no sooner prayed than it was answered. Jesus called twelve of his followers and sent them into the ripe fields. He gave them power to kick out the evil spirits and to tenderly care for the bruised and hurt lives.

 5-8Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge:

   "Don't begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don't try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously.

Reading: We think we know

We think we know about mission.

We are the church.

That’s our speciality.

So we will look for those obvious needs

and those glaring wants

and go and pitch in.

when we have the time

when the setting is right.

We have lots to offer.

Maybe not much time.

Maybe not too many folk

But we are the church

And that has to count for something.

So we will go where we can be seen

We will go where we can be safe

We will go wherever we see a need.

And, if folk are less than enthusiastic

If they don’t seem to want our help

That’s their problem, not ours.

We are called to serve

We are called to mission

So we will serve and we will miss.

Miss God.

Because God is actually somewhere else.

Working in the places we don’t see

Or never thought of.

God is down all those blind alleys

that we would never venture.

Dismantling barriers

Engrossed with real mission.

Too absorbed to notice our feeble attempts

in the wrong places

but if we asked.

If we sought God out before we plunged in

If we tracked God down

We would discover that there’s plenty

for us to be involved in

just not in the places we thought.

Maybe not even in the ways we imagined.

It IS mission.

But not as we know it.

And maybe next time we assume

That we know where and when and how

Instead we will keek round the corners

And down those bind alleyways

And listen for God’s laughter

Listen for God’s great sobs

As wounds are bound

And hurts are tended

And broken and bruised lives

Are loved back to health.

And barriers are smashed

Then we might know

That mission belongs to God.

And then we might be grateful

That God shows us where and when and how

And invites us to join in

To take part in the work of God

breaking down barriers

in our world.

Song: One

Thanksgiving prayer: Song: Gloria

Sharing communion:   Song: Grace

Reading: Grief behind locked doors

After Jesus set up his memorial in the Last Supper, he was betrayed and crucified. 

The disciples were bereft, with no hope of anything else and went and hid behind locked doors.

When sorrow is too deep for tears

When its more of an ache deep inside

When its something that catches in the windpipe and refuses to go any further, 

allowing neither release nor relief

When there's a burning behind the eyes, 

that makes the cheekbones hurt and temples throb

That's grief.

Grief promulgated by disappointment and the searing pain of hurt - 

the kind one only experiences in the betrayal of friends, in the dissolution of trust.

Its a grief that cannot be integrated as other griefs might, 

accepted as a part of the cost of life and of love. 

Its edges are far too jagged to be buffed down and held close. 

Its not natural as loss is natural.

The element of betrayal just doesn't allow a coming to terms.

The disciples knew this grief.

The grief of losing something that held such promise and brought such pain.

This searing grief seemed insurmountable.

No way through.

A brick wall behind which they cowered in despair.

How quickly that wall came crashing down – when the risen Lord appeared beside them 

and breathed into their grief.

Showed them a way forward - out of their locked room, 

over their brick wall into a whole new enterprise.

Death  - another barrier smashed.

Praying for just a whiff of that same Spirit in the grief that is ours.

Song: In the name of love

Reading: He saw me

He saw me

he looked into my eyes and saw me

Not the things I’d done

Not all that others said about me

He saw me

His eyes

looked deep into my soul

saw the need

saw the beauty

and loved me

Song: Walk on

Blessing 

Always sufficient

1 Kings 17:8-24
The Widow of Zarephath
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel:The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.” She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
Elijah Revives the Widow’s Son
After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. She then said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!” But he said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. He cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?” Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” So the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”


Invitation
This is Gods table of discovery to which all are invited
So come prepared -
Prepared to be surprised
Prepared to be shaken and stirred
Prepared to be turned upside down
As God gives you a new perspective
As the love of God
Symbolised in this sacrifice
Challenges all you hold fast
And encourages you to look again
And see God present
In ways you never imagined
Prepare to meet God here
As though for the very first time.
In bread and in wine.

Narrative:
The same night he was betrayed, our Lord, gathered with his friends around a table showed us how to feast abundantly:
He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and shared it.
And told us to do the same.
Then he took the cup, that speaks of the abundant love of God
and is now, for us, a memorial of Christ.
So we have here the bread and the cup, symbols of abundance
through which God reminds us of grace and by which we remember Christ's sacrifice for all.
Through these may God lead us out of scarcity and into abundance.
God is sufficient
Christ is sufficient
God is abundantly sufficient.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving

God we thank you
for your knowledge and your insight
For the way you look at the plight of human beings
and see, not only how we got ourselves into the predicaments with which we struggle, but how we can get ourselves out.
God of the past, the present and the future,
We thank you that you do not keep your wisdom to yourself
But share with us ways to Wholeness and paths to peace.
Your call to repentance is not made harshly or in judgment
but in love and acceptance
You call us to see with your eyes of love
so that we can discern your will for your people
and the part you want us to play
in bringing justice
for all Gods children
Align us O God
with your purpose
And keep on awakening in us
new discoveries
of your amazing grace
And even - and especially- when it seems
That the world is tilting out of our control
grant us calmness to know
that you've got it covered
and that all it takes to set things right
is our willingness to graft faithfully
for your kingdom.
As we share this feast
that you make sacred
may our communion with you and all the saints
bring us into communion with all our brothers and sisters
until we can do no other
than work for each others good.
So send your Spirit on these gifts of bread and wine
that as we feast on them
we may embark on a new pathway
on the journey to repentance
To you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be glory now and forever.
Amen

Fraction:
Jesus took, blessed, broke and shared
Christ comes to us in abundance.

Jesus also poured out his love upon us.
We share to remember him


Here is God coming to you in love and abundance
We share these gifts to celebrate God's love.

(After all have been fed)

Prayer
God your gifts are given extravagantly and freely
Nourished by them may we go to live in freedom, sharing extravagant love.
We praise you for the abundance of communion that you create as we gather here to serve and be served.
And for the reminder that the great communion of saints
joins us in this feast.
So may we be shaken and stirred to go and live out your good news
until all are loved and all are fed
until we see your kingdom come
Father, Son and exuberant Spirit
Amen.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Resurrection!

Luke 24:1-12
The Resurrection of Jesus
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.


Invitation
Fresh from the tomb
Jesus greets you in love
With wounds just beginning to form scabs
Jesus stretches out his arms and beckons
Signalling that all are welcome at his table
So come with trepidation as Mary did
Or running as Peter did
And meet the risen Christ
Holding out bread and wine
for you.

Narrative
Fresh in our minds is the story of how Jesus, the night he was betrayed, gathered around the table with his disciples to share the Passover meal.
He took bread, blessed it and then broke it, sharing with his friends and said: This is my body broken for you. Do this to remember me.
In the same way he took the cup and said: This cup is the new relationship with God made possible because of my death. Do this to remember me.
And so we take this bread and wine today, Ordinary things that Christ will make special.
And we give thanks to God for these gifts.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
Risen Christ
you meet us here in bread and wine
You listen to our stories
of journeys we have shared
and the folk we have met on the way
You draw out our laughter
and dry our tears
and you walk with us along the way
And still, after all you have done,
you offer more
- yourself
broken, bruised, battered,
but risen and made new.
We don't know how
but we know why -
Out of infinite love
you keep on giving more
until we are ready
to pick up the pace with you.
Your infinite love is matched
by infinite patience
as you slow your stride
or wait awhile
to let us catch up.
So thank you
for bringing resurrection
into our everyday.
We pray, Risen Lord
for those children
you squat beside,
those you lie down with
because they are so broken by life
that they cannot stand up.
We pray for places in our world
that are as dark and foreboding
as Calvary.
Risen Christ
you came to change the world.
To bring healing
To bring hope.
To bring peace.
And you entrust us with that mission.
So help us, with a resurrection spring in our step
to find out where and how
you want us to serve
and get on with the mission
that you make possible
because you are alive in us.
Send your Spirit on these gifts
of bread and wine,
symbols of your body broken
and your blood shed for us.
As we share in this feast
may we know communion
with you, Risen Lord,
with each other
and with the world
that you call us to serve.


Prayer after Communion
Risen Lord Jesus
As we travel on
nourished by the food
of your rising again
may we be conscious of you
journeying beside us,
wedged into every space we inhabit
butting into all our conversations
resting with us when we begin to weary
energising us to keep hope alive.
And wherever we are
may we show the risen Lord
alive in us
today and always.
Amen.


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Abundance

Isaiah 55
An Invitation to Abundant Life
Ho, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.
Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.


Communion Invitation
This is Gods table of discovery to which all are invited
So come prepared -
Prepared to be surprised
Prepared to be shaken and stirred
Prepared to be turned upside down
As God gives you a new perspective
As the love of God
Symbolised in this sacrifice
Challenges all you hold fast
And encourages you to look again
And see God present
In ways you never imagined
Prepare to meet God here
As though for the very first time.
In bread and in wine.


Narrative:
The same night he was betrayed, our Lord, gathered with his friends around a table showed us how to feast abundantly:
He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and shared it.
And told us to do the same.
Then he took the cup, that speaks of the abundant love of God
and is now, for us, a memorial of Christ.
So we have here the bread and the cup, symbols of abundance
through which God reminds us of grace and by which we remember Christ's sacrifice for all.
Through these may God lead us out of scarcity and into abundance.
God is sufficient
Christ is sufficient
God is abundantly sufficient.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
God we thank you
for your knowledge and your insight
For the way you look at the plight of human beings
and see, not only how we got ourselves into the predicaments with which we struggle, but how we can get ourselves out.
God of the past, the present and the future,
We thank you that you do not keep your wisdom to yourself
But share with us ways to Wholeness and paths to peace.
Your call to repentance is not made harshly or in judgment
but in love and acceptance
You call us to see with your eyes of love
so that we can discern your will for your people
and the part you want us to play
in bringing justice
for all Gods children
Align us O God
with your purpose
And keep on awakening in us
new discoveries
of your amazing grace
And even - and especially- when it seems
That the world is tilting out of our control
grant us calmness to know
that you've got it covered
and that all it takes to set things right
is our willingness to graft faithfully
for your kingdom.
As we share this feast
that you make sacred
may our communion with you and all the saints
bring us into communion with all our brothers and sisters
until we can do no other
than work for each others good.
So send your Spirit on these gifts of bread and wine
that as we feast on them
we may embark on a new pathway
on the journey to repentance
To you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be glory now and forever.
Amen

Fraction:
Jesus took, blessed, broke and shared
Christ comes to us in abundance.

Jesus also poured out his love upon us.
We share to remember him


Here is God coming to you in love and abundance
We share these gifts to celebrate God's love.

(After all have been fed)

Prayer
God your gifts are given extravagantly and freely
Nourished by them may we go to live in freedom, sharing extravagant love.
We praise you for the abundance of communion that you create as we gather here
to serve and be served.
And for the reminder that the great communion of saints joins us in this feast.
So may we be shaken and stirred to go and live out your good news
until all are loved and all are fed
until we see your kingdom come
Father, Son and exuberant Spirit
Amen.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Already Kindled

Luke 12:49-56
Jesus the Cause of Division
“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptised, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three
they will be divided:
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother- in- law against her daughter- in- law
and daughter- in- law against mother- in- law.”
Interpreting the Time
He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?


Invitation
Gather up the dry twigs
Crank up the heat
Jesus invites you to this table
A table where all is not sweetness and light
A table where there is division
A table that recognises the messiness of life
So come and feel right at home
Come and know that you don't have to pretend
Come and know that Jesus welcomes you
Just as you are.

Narrative
On the night he was betrayed, Jesus was at supper with his friends
He took bread, broke it and shared it with them, saying:
This is my body broken for you.
Do this in memory of me.
Then he passed round the cup, saying:
This is my blood shed for you.
Celebrate a new relationship with God made possible because of my death
We have this bread and this cup to share today, so let us give thanks

Great prayer of thanksgiving
In a world that knows all about fire we approach your word with caution
In a world that knows all about division we approach your word with care
For you call us to kindle the fire and dance with division
refusing to give up the fight until peace breaks out.
God in every corner of your world where your children suffer
You are there
Hunkering down with your loved ones
You are there in their tears, in their pain, in their desperation
You refuse to leave them to suffer alone
You refuse to be comforted while those you care for still struggle
So God may we be prepared to hunker down with you
To break into our security and contentment
To fire up our cold hearts
To know what is important
To see what makes a difference
To lift all your children up out of the gutter
and bring them back to the warmth
of your encircling love.
God grant us your perspective
Help us to value each other and life itself
Help us to rise above the pettiness of our everyday
To cut through the hurts that we experience
Bypassing those as we reach out to the light of your love
For you, God are bigger and powerful and more loving
and forgiving than we can ever imagine.
Before us we have symbols of your love.
Send your Spirit on this bread and this wine
that they may become for us your body and your blood
so that as we share them together
we may know strength, however divided we feel
and fire in our hearts for you.
In Jesus name.
Amen.

Fraction
Jesus took bread, he broke it and gave it to his disciples saying:
This is my body broken for you
Do this to remember me.
And then he took the cup, saying;
This cup signals a new relationship with God made possible because of my death
Drink this to remember me
Th gifts of God for the people of God.

Prayer
God we thank you for every fire you have kindled in our hearts
as we have shared this bread and drunk this cup.
May we revel in the division that comes when we can do no other than share your love
and live your gospel.
And may the food we have shared here in the company of all your saints, living and dead, strengthen us to serve you in the world.
Amen
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Table plans

Luke 14:1;7-14
On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely.
When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honour, he told them a parable. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honour, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Invitation
Come, honoured guest
Jesus invites you to this table
For each and all
Jesus saves a space
Meet Christ here
And prepare to be challenged, rebuked or cajoled
Prepare to be comforted, embraced and held high
The Christ who makes room for you
Knows your story
And makes room for you in love

Narrative
We gather around this table today
as Jesus did with his disciples in the Upper room
the night before he died.
Sharing fellowship with them,
knowing their stories,
He took bread, broke it and passed it among them saying:
This is my body broken for you
Do this to remember me.
He took the cup and shared it with them, saying:
A new relationship with God is possible because of my death
Drink this all of you to remember me.
And so we take bread and a cup today to remember him and to celebrate the new relationship that we have with God and with one another.
We share this sacrament in a place filled with stories, some shared, some held tight within.
Stories of our lives and of those who have shared in this space
in years gone by.
This sacrament unites us all, past, present and future, in the one who holds all our stories and invites us all to places of honour at the table.
So let us give thanks for the feast.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
God we thank you for inviting us to your table today
making space for each of us
treating us as honoured guests.
We thank you that you hold each of our stories gently
beaming at our joys
frowning at our concerns
full of compassion
and overflowing with love.
May we know your comfort stealing into the hurts that we carry
May we know your healing, soothing those pains that catch us unawares
And may we know your smile, lingering to light up all our dark corners.
Held so gently by you may we hold gently all whom you welcome to your table today.
God the way you make room for all is so at odds with the world in which we live.
Where we make distinctions-
Worthy or unworthy
Mighty or lowly
Valued or worthless
Prominent or invisible.
Forgive us for the distinctions we make and for the restrictions we place on your love and on your hospitality.
Help us to re- set the table, time and again until there truly is space for all.
We pray for our world in turmoil.
For Syria.
For all your children there whose sufferings become platforms from which Politicians can posture.
God of peace, when will we ever learn that violence will not bring resolution but only more suffering and death?
We pray too for all those places that have dropped out of the media spotlight because the circus has moved on.
For Egypt, for Iran and Iraq, for Zimbabwe and Afghanistan, for Haiti and Japan - and countless other places where your children continue to be affected by poverty, by war, by the ravages of nature, where loss is simply a fact of life in a world desensitised to suffering on such a scale.
God grant us perspective.
To know that we never have to compete for your love and acceptance.
And so we can afford to share your infinite love with those in our daily lives and with those we may never meet, all part of your family and so part of us too.
Renew our sense of connectedness and increase our resolve to widen our horizons globally and locally until all are truly welcome, until all are raised up and fed and until you are known in our sharing of bread.
Space making God may we make space for others.
Table setting God may we always be prepared to revise our table plans
Feast loving God may we feast with you and with all your saints in heaven and on earth.
So may we know your Spirit here, transforming this bread and wine and transforming us to serve you this day.
For the sake of your kingdom.
Amen.

Fraction
Among friends, gathered round a table,
Jesus took bread, he broke it and shared it saying:
This is my body broken for you
Eat this bread to remember me
He took the cup, saying:
This is my blood shed for you
Drink this cup to remember me.
We remember Christ as honoured guests invited to a feast.
Gods gifts for all.

Prayer
God as we have shared table fellowship with you and with each other, may we be careful of the honour you give us, not in a way that holds it close but in a way that opens up your gifts and spreads your love throughout the world.
As we have feasted in joy with your saints in heaven may we dine in sorrow with your children on earth until we come to share in your kingdom of peace and justice and love.
Amen.
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