leadinginworship

Road to Emmaus Call to Worship

For where two or three are gathered in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.                  Matthew 18:20 KJV

We need your presence on the long road, Lord.
The road between fear and hope,
the road between the place where all is lost
and the place of resurrection.
Like the disciples walking the road to Emmaus,
we are in need of your company!
Jesus, stand among us, in your risen power,
let this time of worship, be a hallowed hour.

 

Emmaus Road Poem

Two travelers trudging
the long road from Jerusalem.
Their sorry faces are bent,
reliving the sad event
that sent them scurrying.
What next? they wonder.

 The stranger comes alongside,
and he is told the sad tale,
but far from sympathizing
he starts scolding them;
too slow of heart,
too slow on the uptake,
not enough faith.

They did not know him;
but their hearts burned.
What quality was in that man
that sparked interest
rather than resentment;
hope rather than anger?

Only at the dinner table
is the unseen traveler
on every road revealed;
Jesus stands among us.

Suddenly fortified,
the travelers take to the road
fueled with good news,
for all generations:,
We have seen the Lord!
We have seen the Lord!

Emmaus Offering Prayer

Like the disciples at Emmaus,
we offer what we have.
They offered their company,
their table, their bread.
We invite you to be with us
as we offer you our love,
our devotion, these gifts.
May our eyes be opened
to your holy presence, now and always.
Amen.

Thanksgiving Responsive Communion Service

Leader:  light print            People:  dark print

We come to this table with thankful hearts.
Why do we give thanks at this table?
We give thanks because God has invited us here!
All God’s children are invited to the Lord’s supper.
We come humbly to the table,
knowing that we have not earned our way here,
but are invited, guests at this feast of love. 

Why do we eat at this table?
We eat at this table to remember
that on the night before Jesus died, he ate with his friends.
Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it,
he broke it and gave it to them saying,
“Take, eat.  This is my body given for you.
Each time you do this, remember me.”

Let's pray:  God of grace,
give us repentant hearts, forgiving hearts, clean hearts.
With thanksgiving we come to your table.
Send your Spirit upon us so that we know
that all who eat and drink in this room and around the world
are one body, one holy people,
giving thanks to you in an endless song of praise.
Thanks be to you Lord Jesus Christ,
who gave your life freely for our salvation.

[the bread is broken and distributed and eaten]

We take the cup with thankful hearts.
Why do we take the cup at this table?
We drink because that same night Jesus also took a cup,
and after giving thanks,
passed it to his friends saying,  "Drink this cup.
This cup, poured out for you, is the promise of God.
Whenever you drink it, remember me.”
Thanks  be to you Lord Jesus Christ,
who  gave your life freely for our salvation.

Our presence at this communion table is a sign.
Here  we remember the gift that is Jesus;
the gift of his  birth, his life and his death on the cross.
At this table we celebrate Christ’s resurrection.
We remember that we are waiting in hope to see Jesus again.

[the cup is distributed, we  drink together]

Let us pray together:
Thank you for inviting us to this banquet!
Help us to remember the gift we have received
and to live as brothers and sisters,
members of one family.
All praise to you Lord Jesus Christ!

"Come to the table" Communion Service

Come to the table of Jesus our Redeemer!
Jesus invites you here to be part of the people of God.
Come to the table humbly,
not because you have earned a place here,
but because you need mercy and help.
Come because you love God, and want to love God more.
Come because Jesus first loved us, and gave himself for us.
Come because you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Come because you want to experience the mystery of God’s grace.

On the night he was handed over,
Jesus had a meal with  his friends.
He took a loaf of bread
and after giving thanks to God,
he broke it and gave it to his disciples.
He said, “Take, eat;
this is my body which is given foryou.
Do this in remembrance of me.”

After supper Jesus took the cup of wine;
and after giving thanks,
gave it to them and said,
“Drink this, all of you;
this is my blood of the new covenant
which is shed for you and for many
for the forgiveness of sins.
Whenever you drink it,
remember me.

Let us pray:

God our Creator,
thank you for the gift of your son Jesus Christ,
whose love pursues us our whole life long.
Thank you Jesus, for giving your life to us in word and deed,
even unto death, even death on a cross.
Come Holy Spirit, feed us with your love
that we may be filled with power
to love God with all our hearts and souls and minds.  Amen.

Prayer of response (read by the people):

We have come to the Lord’s table,
we have eaten the bread of heaven.
God is the one who will transform us
so that we can see with Jesus’ eyes
hear with Jesus’ ears
speak with Jesus’ mouth;
so that we can be the body of Christ in the world,
proclaiming the good news of the kingdom.
Come Lord Jesus!
Amen.

*Words for this and the other communion services on this blog are not entirely my own.  Obviously some of it is scriptural, but I have adopted and adapted phrases from communion services from many different traditions.  

Mary on Easter Morning

We were weighed down, walking to the tomb.
We knew the way, for we had walked it two days before.
We had followed Joseph of Arimathea and his servant,
down the hill from Golgatha,
their arms straining with the dead weight of Jesus’ body.
We saw where they laid him, how they wrapped him in linen.
We saw their shoulders pushing that stone in place,
the sound of it grinding shut.
And though our eyes streamed tears
we marked the place,
for we knew we would come back.

And on the first day of the week,
we came, arms full of aromatic oil and spices;
cinnamon, cassia, myrrh.
All our resources pooled in a fragrant offering,
one last service for Jesus.
We walked the dark path,
the sky just beginning to lighten.

What we saw in the semi-darkness
was not the closed tomb we had expected,
but a gaping hole!
Alarmed, we looked inside,
seeing that Jesus’ body was gone.
Someone had been there before us.
How could this be?
Grave robbers?
Some final act of blasphemy against our Saviour?
Had Pilate changed his mind,
and was Jesus’ corpse now hanging somewhere for all to see?
I dropped all I was carrying and ran to find the disciples.
Peter and John came racing back,
entering the tomb:
Jesus was not there.
I stood with them, our hands on the giant stone,
confusion written on our faces.
They left, but I remained, gathering up all those spices,
my tears dropping on the ground,
would this suffering never end?

I turned and looked again in the tomb,
but this time, there was not darkness, but light!
Two angels sitting where Jesus’ body should be;
and they asked me why I was weeping!
Why was I weeping?
And then another man, the gardener,
suddenly there behind me,
also asking about my tears.
All I wanted was Jesus’ body,
so I could do what I came here for,
mourn properly, anoint him with these spices in my arms.
“Where is Jesus, tell me if you know!” I cried.
And then he said my name, and I suddenly recognized him.
Jesus!  Not dead, not cold, not lifeless, not gone forever!
Jesus, alive, before me, talking, looking in my eyes!
My heart about stopped as I reached out to hold him,
to see if he was real, touchable, Jesus in the flesh.
He talked of My God and Your God,
and suddenly it was real to me.
It was not God far away, not God not listening,
but God present, God doing impossible things,
God making morning miracles out of death’s darkness.
Jesus asked me to go and tell the others.
I threw the spices on the ground,
(no need of them now!)  and I started running,
my feet moving faster than they’ve ever moved.
beautiful with good news,
I have seen the Lord!
I have seen the Lord!

Joyful Easter offering prayer

God of great gifts:
This morning we give you praise,
we give you glory,
we give you thanks!
With resurrection humming in our hearts,
our minds are tuned to your song of peace!
We joyfully present these gifts to you,
a tangible chorus of thanksgiving,
a harmony of hope for your kingdom come!
Amen.

Easter benediction

My brothers and sisters!
May the joy of resurrection
and the hope of Easter
fill your hearts and minds this whole year.
Come Lord Jesus!

Joyful Easter Call to Worship

Praise God from whom all blessings flow
praise God all creatures here below
for on this day of joy and gladness
Christ is risen from death and sadness!

Praise with hands and voices singing
praise with verse and chorus ringing
Christ the Lord is risen today
He is the Truth, the Life, the Way!

Good Friday Service: A Funeral for Jesus

NOTE:  In this service, we put ourselves into the shoes of Jesus’ family and closest friends as they mourned his death.  They did not have a funeral for Jesus, but they saw his body and knew that he died.  In our culture, we have a funeral for people who have died, when we perform that ritual, it is clear that someone has passed away.  Having a service that is funeral-like  on Good Friday can hammer home to us in a very deep, visceral way that Jesus really died.  Most people have been to many Good Friday services where it is explained that Jesus died for our sins.  That is an important message, but  not one that this service talks about.   This service doesn’t talk about that since we are putting ourselves into the shoes of the disciples and Jesus’ family; just after he died they were in a time of shock, of wondering and not understanding. 

For this service it’s important that the feel of a funeral be cultivated.

If you have a prelude at a funeral with special funeral-like music, do that now.

If there is a book to sign at a funeral, do that now.

If you use special bulletins at funerals, put the order of service in that type of bulletin.

If you have ushers giving out bulletins at a funeral, do that now.

If the minister walks solemnly into the service during a funeral with the congregation standing, do that now.

If you have special flowers on the sanctuary table for a funeral, do that now.

It’s important that songs sung in this service are “funeral-like” songs, not songs that explain the whole salvation story, since that is not a story that the disciples would have known on this day.

Try to find participants to do the tributes who can say their parts with conviction and emotion…not just reading.  Think of how people who do tributes at funerals present their stories, and try to do that yourself.

 Welcome & Opening Prayer    

 Dearly beloved, friends of Jesus,
we gather together in the sight of God,
filled with sorrow and grief.
Our friend Jesus has suffered and he has died,
and his earthly body has been laid to rest.
This is a tender time,
we have come to grieve and to comfort one another in our sorrow,
and to draw on God’s love and power.
We have come to remember all that Jesus said to us,
and to take comfort in the shelter of the almighty God.

A hungry call to worship

Let the hungry come to me, let the poor be fed
Let the thirsty come and drink, share my wine and bread
Though thou hast no money, come to me and eat!
Drink the cup I offer, feed on finest wheat!

(from Hymnal: A Worship Book, #464, Text Sr. Delores Dufner

We are hungry, Lord!
We come to church today with different types of hunger for you.
Some of us sit down at the table eagerly, because we are hungry.
Some of us have come because we know we should eat, even though we don`t feel like it.
Some of us are ravenous.
And some of us have lost our appetite, and we don`t even know why.
And yet you have drawn us to your welcoming table, one and all,
your arms open to embrace us just as we are.
As we settle in this morning, fill us with your presence
so that when we leave today, we can leave saying,
“That is exactly what I needed!”

Cheerful hearts offering prayer

Lord we give you today what is already yours.
You provide so much for us,
blessings pressed down,
shaken together,
running over.
Thank you for giving us the ability to give,
and cheerful hearts to do it.
Amen.

True allegiance offering prayer

Lord, the action of this offering
is a public sign of our allegiance to you:
we proclaim you Lord over our lives,
Lord over our families,
Lord over our finances.
Lord over our future.
We give you thanks for all you have given us,
and all we have the privilege to give.
Use these gifts for the work of your church, we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Joyful offering prayer

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to give,
which we do with joyful, grateful hearts.
We look at the needs of the world,
and our offerings are small.
May they be like yeast,
gifts that grow in your kingdom,
bringing a rich harvest of righteousness.
We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Thy kingdom come offering prayer

In this world:  kingdom living.
In our mouths:  kingdom praises.
In our hearts:  kingdom goals.
In our hands: kingdom gifts.
Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven!  Amen.