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.


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