GATHERING
ENTRANCE
REFLECTION
Let me bathe in your words.
Let me soak up your silence.
Let me hear your voice.
Let me enter your quiet.
Let me tell out your stories.
Let me enclose them within me.
Let me be the spaces
between the phrases
where you make your home.
Jan L. Richardson, In Wisdom’s Path, p.96
CANDLE LIGHTING
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: We come longing to bathe in your words.
People: Let us hear your voice.
Leader: We come craving the solace of your silence.
People: Let us enter your quiet.
Leader: We come longing for your loving, healing presence.
All: Fill us with your Spirit.
Help us embody your love.
INVOCATION
HYMN
WORD FOR THE CHILDREN
SILENCE
PRAYERS
COMMON CONFESSION
Leader: Holy One, you call us to welcome
your love and presence in our lives
and mirror it back to the world.
People: We hold our breath, afraid to know others,
afraid to know even ourselves.
Leader: Love bids us take on
the pain of the world.
All: Jesus taught authentic love.
When we love, we ask “What’s in it for me?”
INDIVIDUAL PRAYERS OF CONFESSION
ASSURANCE
Leader: God loves us unreservedly,
forgiving our fears and failures,
offering us new opportunities
to live into love every moment.
All: Amen
PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING AND INTERCESSION
PRAYER OF 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
GREAT THANKSGIVING
Leader 1: Holy Loving God,
we thank you for your unfailing love
for all of your Creation.
People: We marvel at the rich diversity
of all that you have made,
variety that tells the story of your love of life.
Leader 2: We thank you for the way your Holy Spirit
fills our inner silence with mystery and wonder,
calling us to see more clearly how to open our hearts.
People: We thank you for the love of Jesus,
who invites us to share your love story
with everyone we meet.
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 of his arrest, 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.
SHARE THE ELEMENTS
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: The world outside our doors
resounds with stories,
just waiting to be told.
Tell out the untold stories
of God at home in the world.
The open spaces of your heart
will overflow with God’s love.
All: Amen
