GATHERING
ENTRANCE
REFLECTION
I often notice that there’s a real difference between saying I have enough and actually experiencing the truth of it. But I don’t want the beautiful sufficiency I’ve cultivated in any area of my life to simply be a declaration — I want to feel that enoughness way down in the depths of my body, my nervous system, my spirit, my every day life.
— Nicole Antoinette, Wild Letters blog, Jan. 13, 2025 (https://nicantoinette.substack.com/)
LIGHTING THE ALTAR CANDLE
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: The Holy One calls us to feast.
People: In Lent we remember that God is enough.
Leader: The Holy Spirit calls us to fast.
People: In Lent we remember that each of us is enough.
Leader: Christ calls us to pray.
All: We come to keep a holy Lent.
OPENING PRAYER
HYMN
SILENCE
PRAYERS
CONFESSION
Leader: Enough is a feast;
it’s truly festive only when all can eat.
People: But we’ve been shaped by a culture
where some come back for more and more
while others get little or nothing.
Leader: Enough is a glorious sunrise;
it urges us to fully awaken
to the gift of a new day.
People: But we’ve been shaped to live by the clock,
so we hurry past
the beauty and love all around us.
All: Enough is an ecosystem;
a community of relationships
where energy and care flow between its members
to the benefit of all.
Leader: But we’ve been shaped to believe
that humans are privileged
to take what the earth has not freely given.
People: Enough is a liberation;
calling us to break free from all
that chains down our hearts.
Leader: But we’ve been shaped to hold on tightly
to all we think is ours:
people, possessions, opinions, and identities–
moving us further away
from God and from each other.
INDIVIDUAL PRAYERS OF CONFESSION
ASSURANCE:
Leader: Enough is a prayer;
the Holy One brings us fully awake,
frees us from illusions,
and leads us in the ways of loving community.
All: Amen.
THANKSGIVING AND PRAISE
INTERCESSION AND PETITION
COMMITMENT
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 Creator, we give you thanks
for all that you have called
out of chaos into being:
light, water, land, living plants,
sun, moon, planets and stars,
birds, fish, and all living creatures,
all that you call very good.
People: Holy Word, you who walked among us,
we give you thanks
for your teaching and healing,
for giving us bread to eat
and fruit of the vine to drink,
enough to sustain us,
enough to share.
Leader 2: Holy Spirit, wind and fire, breath of life,
we give you thanks for your presence
in and through all the earth and cosmos,
animating each living being
and all creation.
All: Holy Three, Holy One,
we give you thanks
for the great cloud of witnesses,
your community everywhere
and in this particular place,
where love is given and received,
enough to sustain us,
enough to share.
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: May we find strength knowing that
God is sufficient unto this day.
May we be filled with joy
knowing that we are enough
just as we are.
May God’s love and peace
envelop and sustain us
as we keep a holy Lent.
All: Amen.
