A Simple Service For The Lord's Supper
Worship
He Took A Towel
Sermons And Services For Communion And Feetwashing
A: The Examination Service
Call To Worship
O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Praise ye the Lord. (Psalm 117 KJV)
Unison Prayer
Lord God, this day we are gathered to share fellowship, service, and suffering. Let us be true to you, kneeling as Jesus knelt, girding ourselves with a towel, washing each other's feet, and coming to your table. We thank you for this invitation, and pray that we might widen the circle so many others will come to know you as servant and Lord, as gentle savior and master. As we come to this special place and hour, we bless the darkness which called all indoors to share your passover from the slavery of sin to the glory of salvation, and ask for the courage to follow you to that holy hill, and beyond to the empty tomb. These things we pray in your Son's name. Amen.
Hymn: "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross"
Scripture: John 13:1-17; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Sermon: "Broken For You"
There's a temptation to say that everyone saw the movie Titanic, which set box office records in 1997 and 1998. Of course that's not true. Millions of people saw it all around the world, but that's not everyone.
I don't want to ruin the movie for those who may not have seen it yet, and still might during a revival or on videotape. But I think I'm safe in this regard. Everyone knows the basic story. The unsinkable ship sank. Many of those on board drowned or froze to death. Others survived.
Despite the fact we know what happened there's still drama in the movie. Audiences sat transfixed, waiting to see what was going to happen. Going all the way back to Greek tragedies there's a theatrical device called "dramatic irony," which means that the fact you know the ending of the story, and the characters on stage do not, adds a measure of horror, tension, or pity to the viewing of the play or movie. The very fact we know the boat will sink adds a weight of irony to everything said or done by the characters.
Towards the end of the movie Titanic one of the characters, who has spent his whole life studying the disaster, makes an astonishing admission. Even though he has explored the doomed craft on the bottom of the ocean, created computer simulations of the disaster, and analyzed mountains of data, even though he knew more than anyone else about what happened to Titanic, this character admits that until he heard a survivor's personal story, he'd never really understood what happened! He never really got it! The human tragedy and triumph had completely passed him by in his search for whatever treasures the hull of the ship might hold.
Once he'd put himself into the shoes of those who had endured the calamity, the story of the Titanic was rescued from the realms of legend. It ceased to be history and became passion.
That's something of what happens to us when we gather together for the Lord's Supper. The events of Passion Week may be very familiar to most Christians. We know that Jesus entered Jerusalem in triumph, that he was challenged by religious authorities, that even while he amazed and delighted the crowds one of his own was betraying him.
We know that in the Upper Room, among his own, with the betrayer in their midst, Jesus took a towel, bent his knee, and washed the feet of his disciples. We know that they shared a meal in memory of God's saving acts. We know that Jesus broke bread and shared a cup with these disciples. And that at the end of it all he told them to do all these things in his memory.
But do we get it? Do we put ourselves in the story? Does it cease to be history and become passion for us as well?
When we obey Jesus and do these things in memory of him, we take our place in the drama of his death and resurrection. Suddenly the question asked by the hymn, "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" becomes no longer a rhetorical question. It becomes a real question. Were you there?
Now we are there. We are here. We are here to wash each other's feet. We are here to share the Love Feast, the Agape Meal. We are here to break the bread and drink the cup.
Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment, to love one another. And then he showed them what that love meant. Love in the Hebrew language was more of a verb than a noun. It was grounded in concrete action, not protestations of emotion. Even so, it was hard for the disciples to understand what Jesus meant by love.
So he showed them. Had he told them love is like washing each other's feet, they might have thought this was meant symbolically. But Jesus took a towel and performed a task reserved for slaves.
Feetwashing was an essential act in the ancient world. People might bathe before they went to a friend's house for a dinner, but their feet got dirty on the way though the rest of their body might remain clean. So a good host provided water so people could wash their own feet. A rich host might provide slaves to wash the feet for them.
That was hospitality.
But nowhere in the ancient world do we find an example where the master washed the feet of the disciples, where the greater washed the feet of the lesser, where the host washed the feet of the guests.
Until Jesus.
That's why Peter was so confused. While the other disciples sat in stunned silence, he gave voice to what he was thinking. Peter thought Jesus had the hospitality thing backwards and he tried to set Jesus straight.
But Jesus wasn't demonstrating hospitality. He was living service.
In our world, where longer life has led to the necessity of care givers, where sufferers ravaged by disease present us with the challenge of broken people who need a healing touch, where the cult of rugged individualism has made us a people who will serve others but refuse ourselves to be served, what better way to take up the cross of Jesus, but to bend the knee humbly and wash the feet of a brother or sister?
Following that, we share a meal. There is no other act which draws so many people together to make them one as a meal. Family reunions, company picnics, food at the ballpark, Sunday afternoon dinners, the nervous first meeting of two future friends or companions over an impromptu lunch, the list is endless. Like the feeding of five thousand, God desires to bring us all together to one endless and ever satisfying banquet.
That's the Agape Meal. That's the Love Feast. This was the foundation of the early church, which met daily to eat together. Rich and poor, Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free, drawn to one table. There was no other meal like this in the ancient world. There is no other meal like it now. All the artificial barriers are no more. We've begun to live the resurrection now.
And finally we will break the bread and drink the cup as Christians have done for 2,000 years. Christians don't always agree on what communion should look like, whether it is the partaking of a simple wafer, or the sharing of Feetwashing, Love Feast, and Bread and Cup. The fact is, we don't know how communion works. We just know it does. Something tremendous is happening among us.
How ironic that the ordinance Jesus meant to unite us should divide Christians; that we should set up barriers at the table and say, "You may come, but you may not."
Let's see if tonight we finally get it. Let's see if the sacrifice of Jesus, his death and resurrection, leaves the realm of legend for us, and becomes real experience. Let us see if Christ is alive in our lives and we live again the marvelous night in the upper room.
Ahead of us lies the cross. Indeed, some here this evening may be carrying their cross even now. But for all of us awaits also the glory of the resurrection.
Take up a towel, and take up your cross. Earlier in his life Jesus had told his mother, Mary, that his hour had not yet come. Now his hour has arrived to depart from this world and go to the Father. And while we wait for his return Jesus clearly commanded us to do as he did. As said earlier, we don't know exactly how it works, but we know this act brings us closer to God. It doesn't make us better than other people, but it demonstrates our obedience.
That counts for something.
Amen.
Hymn: "Were You There?"
B. The Service Of Feetwashing
(Participants proceed to the feetwashing venue, carrying a hymnal and their bulletin with them. The Feetwashing often takes place in a separate room from the Examination Service and the room used for the Love Feast and Bread and Cup. Women sometimes meet in separate rooms from men, because of the problems of removing hosiery. If all are assembled in one room, usually men sit around one set of tables and women around another set of tables. The leader should describe how, after the following Litany, someone near the head of each table will tie an apron around his/her waist while the others at the table will take off their shoes and socks. The first person then kneels at the feet of the second person and places his/her feet in a basin, laving them with water, then drying them off with the apron. The first person then washes his/her hands in a basin and dries them with the towel. The second person now washes the feet of the third, and so on down the table until the last person washes the feet of the first. Songs are sung throughout the service. Any person may suggest a hymn. A leader may call out which stanzas will be sung.)
Opening Litany
One: Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him ...
All: "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"
One: Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand."
All: Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet."
One: Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me."
Prayer of Ambrose
Come then, Lord Jesus ... Pour water into the basin, wash not only our feet but also the head and not only the body, but also the footsteps of the soul. I wish to put off all filth of our frailty. Wash the steps of my mind that I may not sin again. Wash the heel of my soul, that I may be able to efface the curse, that I feel not the serpent's bite on the foot of my soul, but as Thou Thyself has bidden those who follow Thee, may tread on serpents and scorpions with uninjured foot (Ambrose, Of the Holy Spirit, 1.13, Nicene and Post-Nicene Father, X, p. 95).
Feetwashing
Closing Litany
One: After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord -- and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
All: "For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them."
Closing Prayer Of Thanksgiving
We thank you, Lord, that you have allowed us to approach this closely to the burning bush, to sit again with the Master as he gave this example to his disciples. We praise you for the privilege of knowing Jesus Christ as Risen Lord and Loving Servant. Help us to remember that the way to lead is to serve, the way to adore is on bended knee, the way to praise is by following your holy example. These things we pray in the name of the Servant King. Amen.
(Instruct congregation to move to the venue for the Agape Meal.)
C. The Love Feast (Agape Meal)
Gathering For The Meal
(After hands have been washed the following hymn is sung. It is followed with this litany from the Didache, a first century church manual. It contains the oldest litany for the Lord's Supper.)
Hymn: "Let Us Break Bread Together"
(Here instructions should be given for the meal. Let the leader mention that it is shared in the Lord's honor, that all should eat of the bounty which is here presented, and that conversation should be carried out between members on whatever topic is on their mind, as the Spirit leads.)
Litany
Leader: And regarding the thanksgiving, give thanks in this way. Regarding first the cup -- We give thanks to you, our Father, for the holy vine of your servant David, which you revealed fully in Jesus your servant.
All: Glory to you forever.
Leader: And regarding the broken bread -- We give thanks to you, our Father, for the life and the knowledge which you have made known to us through your servant Jesus.
All: Glory to you forever.
Leader: For as this bread was once scattered over the mountains but was brought together into one loaf, so too gather your fellowship from the four corners of the world into your kingdom.
All: For yours are the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever.
The Meal
(Some churches eat in silence. Others engage in conversation. Some use candles for illumination. Others use regular light. The Didache then gives these instructions: After the meal give thanks with these words.)
Words Of Thanks
Leader: Holy Father, we give thanks to you for your holy name, which you have planted in our hearts, and for the knowledge and faith and eternal life you have made known through Jesus your servant.
All: Glory to you forever.
Leader: All powerful ruler, who made everything with your name in mind, you gave people food and drink to make them glad so they could thank you for it. And to us you have given spiritual food and drink, and eternal life, through your servant Jesus. We thank you most of all for being all powerful.
All: Glory to you forever.
Leader: Remember your church, Lord, and preserve it from evil, perfecting it in your love, and gathering it from the four winds, in holiness, into your kingdom which you have prepared for it.
All: For yours is the power and the glory forever.
Leader: Let your grace come; let this world pass away.
All: Hosanna to the son of David.
Leader: If anyone is holy, let him approach. If anyone is not, let him repent. Maranatha -- Come soon, Lord -- Amen.
D. The Celebration Of The Bread And Cup
Read: 1 Corinthians 11:23-24
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."
(Participants in pairs take hold of a piece of a communion bread and break the bread together as all say in unison):
"The bread which we break is the communion of the body of Christ."
(All partake of as much of the bread as they choose. A prayer may follow.)
Prayer
Dear Lord, we gather together to partake of this life-giving bread, broken in your name in memory of your body which was broken for our salvation. Let it be the means by which the body of Christ in our day is drawn closer together, across congregational and denominational lines, as we seek to give one witness to the saving grace which is meant for all humanity. These things we pray in memory of your Son and our savior's sacrifice. Amen.
Read: 1 Corinthians 11:25-26
In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
(Participants each take a communion cup and say in unison):
"The cup which we bless is the communion of the blood of Christ."
(All partake of the cup. A prayer may follow.)
Prayer
Heavenly Father and King, we are your servants, who are nevertheless called together to share in this cup of your love. When we consider the blood of the Son who died for our sins, we marvel that you considered us worthy of this great sacrifice. You are the source of all blessing and life. This cup is offered in memory of the blessing we have received through one life lived perfectly. May we be perfected by you as well as we do this in his memory. Amen.
Benediction
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you.
And give you peace. Amen.
Call To Worship
O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Praise ye the Lord. (Psalm 117 KJV)
Unison Prayer
Lord God, this day we are gathered to share fellowship, service, and suffering. Let us be true to you, kneeling as Jesus knelt, girding ourselves with a towel, washing each other's feet, and coming to your table. We thank you for this invitation, and pray that we might widen the circle so many others will come to know you as servant and Lord, as gentle savior and master. As we come to this special place and hour, we bless the darkness which called all indoors to share your passover from the slavery of sin to the glory of salvation, and ask for the courage to follow you to that holy hill, and beyond to the empty tomb. These things we pray in your Son's name. Amen.
Hymn: "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross"
Scripture: John 13:1-17; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Sermon: "Broken For You"
There's a temptation to say that everyone saw the movie Titanic, which set box office records in 1997 and 1998. Of course that's not true. Millions of people saw it all around the world, but that's not everyone.
I don't want to ruin the movie for those who may not have seen it yet, and still might during a revival or on videotape. But I think I'm safe in this regard. Everyone knows the basic story. The unsinkable ship sank. Many of those on board drowned or froze to death. Others survived.
Despite the fact we know what happened there's still drama in the movie. Audiences sat transfixed, waiting to see what was going to happen. Going all the way back to Greek tragedies there's a theatrical device called "dramatic irony," which means that the fact you know the ending of the story, and the characters on stage do not, adds a measure of horror, tension, or pity to the viewing of the play or movie. The very fact we know the boat will sink adds a weight of irony to everything said or done by the characters.
Towards the end of the movie Titanic one of the characters, who has spent his whole life studying the disaster, makes an astonishing admission. Even though he has explored the doomed craft on the bottom of the ocean, created computer simulations of the disaster, and analyzed mountains of data, even though he knew more than anyone else about what happened to Titanic, this character admits that until he heard a survivor's personal story, he'd never really understood what happened! He never really got it! The human tragedy and triumph had completely passed him by in his search for whatever treasures the hull of the ship might hold.
Once he'd put himself into the shoes of those who had endured the calamity, the story of the Titanic was rescued from the realms of legend. It ceased to be history and became passion.
That's something of what happens to us when we gather together for the Lord's Supper. The events of Passion Week may be very familiar to most Christians. We know that Jesus entered Jerusalem in triumph, that he was challenged by religious authorities, that even while he amazed and delighted the crowds one of his own was betraying him.
We know that in the Upper Room, among his own, with the betrayer in their midst, Jesus took a towel, bent his knee, and washed the feet of his disciples. We know that they shared a meal in memory of God's saving acts. We know that Jesus broke bread and shared a cup with these disciples. And that at the end of it all he told them to do all these things in his memory.
But do we get it? Do we put ourselves in the story? Does it cease to be history and become passion for us as well?
When we obey Jesus and do these things in memory of him, we take our place in the drama of his death and resurrection. Suddenly the question asked by the hymn, "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" becomes no longer a rhetorical question. It becomes a real question. Were you there?
Now we are there. We are here. We are here to wash each other's feet. We are here to share the Love Feast, the Agape Meal. We are here to break the bread and drink the cup.
Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment, to love one another. And then he showed them what that love meant. Love in the Hebrew language was more of a verb than a noun. It was grounded in concrete action, not protestations of emotion. Even so, it was hard for the disciples to understand what Jesus meant by love.
So he showed them. Had he told them love is like washing each other's feet, they might have thought this was meant symbolically. But Jesus took a towel and performed a task reserved for slaves.
Feetwashing was an essential act in the ancient world. People might bathe before they went to a friend's house for a dinner, but their feet got dirty on the way though the rest of their body might remain clean. So a good host provided water so people could wash their own feet. A rich host might provide slaves to wash the feet for them.
That was hospitality.
But nowhere in the ancient world do we find an example where the master washed the feet of the disciples, where the greater washed the feet of the lesser, where the host washed the feet of the guests.
Until Jesus.
That's why Peter was so confused. While the other disciples sat in stunned silence, he gave voice to what he was thinking. Peter thought Jesus had the hospitality thing backwards and he tried to set Jesus straight.
But Jesus wasn't demonstrating hospitality. He was living service.
In our world, where longer life has led to the necessity of care givers, where sufferers ravaged by disease present us with the challenge of broken people who need a healing touch, where the cult of rugged individualism has made us a people who will serve others but refuse ourselves to be served, what better way to take up the cross of Jesus, but to bend the knee humbly and wash the feet of a brother or sister?
Following that, we share a meal. There is no other act which draws so many people together to make them one as a meal. Family reunions, company picnics, food at the ballpark, Sunday afternoon dinners, the nervous first meeting of two future friends or companions over an impromptu lunch, the list is endless. Like the feeding of five thousand, God desires to bring us all together to one endless and ever satisfying banquet.
That's the Agape Meal. That's the Love Feast. This was the foundation of the early church, which met daily to eat together. Rich and poor, Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free, drawn to one table. There was no other meal like this in the ancient world. There is no other meal like it now. All the artificial barriers are no more. We've begun to live the resurrection now.
And finally we will break the bread and drink the cup as Christians have done for 2,000 years. Christians don't always agree on what communion should look like, whether it is the partaking of a simple wafer, or the sharing of Feetwashing, Love Feast, and Bread and Cup. The fact is, we don't know how communion works. We just know it does. Something tremendous is happening among us.
How ironic that the ordinance Jesus meant to unite us should divide Christians; that we should set up barriers at the table and say, "You may come, but you may not."
Let's see if tonight we finally get it. Let's see if the sacrifice of Jesus, his death and resurrection, leaves the realm of legend for us, and becomes real experience. Let us see if Christ is alive in our lives and we live again the marvelous night in the upper room.
Ahead of us lies the cross. Indeed, some here this evening may be carrying their cross even now. But for all of us awaits also the glory of the resurrection.
Take up a towel, and take up your cross. Earlier in his life Jesus had told his mother, Mary, that his hour had not yet come. Now his hour has arrived to depart from this world and go to the Father. And while we wait for his return Jesus clearly commanded us to do as he did. As said earlier, we don't know exactly how it works, but we know this act brings us closer to God. It doesn't make us better than other people, but it demonstrates our obedience.
That counts for something.
Amen.
Hymn: "Were You There?"
B. The Service Of Feetwashing
(Participants proceed to the feetwashing venue, carrying a hymnal and their bulletin with them. The Feetwashing often takes place in a separate room from the Examination Service and the room used for the Love Feast and Bread and Cup. Women sometimes meet in separate rooms from men, because of the problems of removing hosiery. If all are assembled in one room, usually men sit around one set of tables and women around another set of tables. The leader should describe how, after the following Litany, someone near the head of each table will tie an apron around his/her waist while the others at the table will take off their shoes and socks. The first person then kneels at the feet of the second person and places his/her feet in a basin, laving them with water, then drying them off with the apron. The first person then washes his/her hands in a basin and dries them with the towel. The second person now washes the feet of the third, and so on down the table until the last person washes the feet of the first. Songs are sung throughout the service. Any person may suggest a hymn. A leader may call out which stanzas will be sung.)
Opening Litany
One: Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him ...
All: "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"
One: Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand."
All: Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet."
One: Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me."
Prayer of Ambrose
Come then, Lord Jesus ... Pour water into the basin, wash not only our feet but also the head and not only the body, but also the footsteps of the soul. I wish to put off all filth of our frailty. Wash the steps of my mind that I may not sin again. Wash the heel of my soul, that I may be able to efface the curse, that I feel not the serpent's bite on the foot of my soul, but as Thou Thyself has bidden those who follow Thee, may tread on serpents and scorpions with uninjured foot (Ambrose, Of the Holy Spirit, 1.13, Nicene and Post-Nicene Father, X, p. 95).
Feetwashing
Closing Litany
One: After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord -- and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
All: "For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them."
Closing Prayer Of Thanksgiving
We thank you, Lord, that you have allowed us to approach this closely to the burning bush, to sit again with the Master as he gave this example to his disciples. We praise you for the privilege of knowing Jesus Christ as Risen Lord and Loving Servant. Help us to remember that the way to lead is to serve, the way to adore is on bended knee, the way to praise is by following your holy example. These things we pray in the name of the Servant King. Amen.
(Instruct congregation to move to the venue for the Agape Meal.)
C. The Love Feast (Agape Meal)
Gathering For The Meal
(After hands have been washed the following hymn is sung. It is followed with this litany from the Didache, a first century church manual. It contains the oldest litany for the Lord's Supper.)
Hymn: "Let Us Break Bread Together"
(Here instructions should be given for the meal. Let the leader mention that it is shared in the Lord's honor, that all should eat of the bounty which is here presented, and that conversation should be carried out between members on whatever topic is on their mind, as the Spirit leads.)
Litany
Leader: And regarding the thanksgiving, give thanks in this way. Regarding first the cup -- We give thanks to you, our Father, for the holy vine of your servant David, which you revealed fully in Jesus your servant.
All: Glory to you forever.
Leader: And regarding the broken bread -- We give thanks to you, our Father, for the life and the knowledge which you have made known to us through your servant Jesus.
All: Glory to you forever.
Leader: For as this bread was once scattered over the mountains but was brought together into one loaf, so too gather your fellowship from the four corners of the world into your kingdom.
All: For yours are the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever.
The Meal
(Some churches eat in silence. Others engage in conversation. Some use candles for illumination. Others use regular light. The Didache then gives these instructions: After the meal give thanks with these words.)
Words Of Thanks
Leader: Holy Father, we give thanks to you for your holy name, which you have planted in our hearts, and for the knowledge and faith and eternal life you have made known through Jesus your servant.
All: Glory to you forever.
Leader: All powerful ruler, who made everything with your name in mind, you gave people food and drink to make them glad so they could thank you for it. And to us you have given spiritual food and drink, and eternal life, through your servant Jesus. We thank you most of all for being all powerful.
All: Glory to you forever.
Leader: Remember your church, Lord, and preserve it from evil, perfecting it in your love, and gathering it from the four winds, in holiness, into your kingdom which you have prepared for it.
All: For yours is the power and the glory forever.
Leader: Let your grace come; let this world pass away.
All: Hosanna to the son of David.
Leader: If anyone is holy, let him approach. If anyone is not, let him repent. Maranatha -- Come soon, Lord -- Amen.
D. The Celebration Of The Bread And Cup
Read: 1 Corinthians 11:23-24
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."
(Participants in pairs take hold of a piece of a communion bread and break the bread together as all say in unison):
"The bread which we break is the communion of the body of Christ."
(All partake of as much of the bread as they choose. A prayer may follow.)
Prayer
Dear Lord, we gather together to partake of this life-giving bread, broken in your name in memory of your body which was broken for our salvation. Let it be the means by which the body of Christ in our day is drawn closer together, across congregational and denominational lines, as we seek to give one witness to the saving grace which is meant for all humanity. These things we pray in memory of your Son and our savior's sacrifice. Amen.
Read: 1 Corinthians 11:25-26
In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
(Participants each take a communion cup and say in unison):
"The cup which we bless is the communion of the blood of Christ."
(All partake of the cup. A prayer may follow.)
Prayer
Heavenly Father and King, we are your servants, who are nevertheless called together to share in this cup of your love. When we consider the blood of the Son who died for our sins, we marvel that you considered us worthy of this great sacrifice. You are the source of all blessing and life. This cup is offered in memory of the blessing we have received through one life lived perfectly. May we be perfected by you as well as we do this in his memory. Amen.
Benediction
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you.
And give you peace. Amen.
