GATHERING
ENTRANCE
REFLECTION
Today’s Gospel challenges us to decide if we will judge Jesus as outrageously impossible to follow or if we will ask him to take us with him out onto the unruly sea of gospel living. Are we willing to take on the crazy mind of Christ?
Sr. Mary McGlone, CSJ, Give Us This Day, January 2018, p. 211
CANDLE LIGHTING
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: People of God, come together in the presence
of the One in whom we believe.
People: We come to the One who gives life to the dead,
the Spirit who calls all things into being.
Leader: All who are weary, weak, broken, lost–come!
People: Leaving behind our false selves,
we come to find our true life in you.
Leader: Come and embrace this foolish faith:
the realm of God is in our midst.
All: We come to Jesus, asking only for love
and grace to follow him on the way.
OPENING PRAYER
HYMN
WORD FOR THE CHILDREN
SONG AS THE CHILDREN LEAVE FOR CLASS
Jesus loves us as we grow,
meets us on the paths we go,
keeps us safe and keeps us free,
helps us learn who we should be.
Yes Jesus loves us,
Yes Jesus helps us,
Yes Jesus shows us,
the best way we can go.
SILENCE
PRAYERS
CONFESSION
Leader: Outrageously impossible, unknowable God
you came as Jesus to call us into a life of radical faith.
We hear Jesus saying,
“Come, fast in the desert with me.”
People: We discover that we prefer
regular meals and comfortable beds.
Leader: We hear Jesus saying,
“Deny yourself, carry your cross, and follow me,”
People: We would rather indulge our wants
and ignore the needs of others.
Leader: We hear Jesus saying,
“Repent, for the realm of God is near at hand.”
People: We refuse to allow you
to change our minds and hearts.
Leader: You challenge us to follow you
onto the unruly sea of gospel living.
All: Forgive us when we are unwilling to take on
the crazy mind of Christ.
ASSURANCE
Leader: The God who came to live among us
knows our fears and our weaknesses,
and forgives us with outrageously impossible love.
All: Amen.
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 Source of foolish faith,
by your covenant you have claimed us
as your beloved children.
We thank you for your foolish yet steadfast love
which endures beyond our comprehension.
People: We give thanks for Jesus, who by his life and death
continually shows us the way to navigate
this unruly sea of gospel living.
Leader 2: We give thanks for the Holy Spirit,
who teases, cajoles, nudges, and nurtures our faith
so that we might take on the crazy mind of Christ.
All: We give thanks for your Holy Church,
a fragile earthen vessel of grace,
through which we are continually saved.
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 bread and cup
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
If you do not wish to receive the elements today you are welcome to join the circle and allow them to pass, or remain in your seat. We serve grape juice in our cups. The crackers are gluten-free.
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: Go out into the world
and take up the work of Jesus:
find the lost, heal the broken,
feed the hungry, release the prisoner,
rebuild the nations,
bring peace among the people,
no matter how crazy that seems.
And on our way,
let us greet one another with signs of peace.
All: Amen.
