Gathering at the table

We come with thirst – for meaning, for justice, for peace.
We come to the table of living water.

In wilderness and weariness, God meets us and provides.
Give us what we need – and teach us to share.

This is Christ’s table.
Not a reward for the unthirsty,
but water for the parched.
Not a prize for the certain,
but grace for those who come as they are.

We come with questions and need.
We come for mercy, for courage, for love that makes us new.

The Peace

Peace is what happens when love meets us in truth.
The peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.

(Share peace in ways that honour boundaries – words, a nod, a wave, a hand on heart.)

The Great Thanksgiving

The Spirit is here.
The Spirit is with us.

Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the God of love.

Let us give thanks to the Holy One.
It is right to give thanks and praise.

It is right, and a faithful thing,
to give you thanks, God of mercy and provision.
When your people thirsted in the wilderness, you did not mock their need.
You brought water from the rock.
You met complaint with care.
You gave what was necessary for life.

You call us to listen, not harden our hearts –
to remember what you have done,
to trust your presence,
to worship with honesty.

You pour your love into our hearts by your Spirit.
You make peace where fear has been loud.
You do not wait for us to be tidy before you draw near.

In Jesus, you crossed boundaries for love.
At a well in the heat of day, he asked for water.
He honoured the person in front of him.
He spoke truth without cruelty.
He offered living water –
life that rises within,
hope that cannot be shut down,
grace that changes the story.

And so, with angels and ancestors,
with all who long for a world where no one is left thirsty,
with all who have tasted mercy and begun again,
we sing the song of heaven:

Holy, holy, holy One,
breath of all that lives, fire of all that loves,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the One who comes to heal and to set free.
Hosanna in the highest.

Thanksgiving and story

Blessed are you, Holy One.
You speak truth with tenderness –
not to shame,
but to free.

Jesus met a woman at the well.
He did not avoid her.
He did not reduce her to rumours.
He did not treat her as a problem to solve.
He spoke with her as a person –
with dignity, honesty, and respect.

He named thirst – the visible thirst for water,
and the deeper thirst for life that is whole.
He offered a gift she did not have to earn.
He revealed himself not as a gatekeeper,
but as the One who brings life.

And the good news spread –
not through polished speeches,
but through a story told with courage:
come and see.

Words of Institution

On the night before he gave himself for us,
Jesus took bread;
he gave thanks, broke it, and said:
“Take, eat. This is my body, given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.”

When the meal was ended,
he took the cup;
he gave thanks, and said:
“Drink from this, all of you.
This is my blood of the new covenant,
poured out for you and for many,
for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this, as often as you drink it,
in remembrance of me.”

Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.

Prayer of the Spirit

Pour out your Spirit on us gathered here,
and on these gifts of bread and cup.
Make them for us the body and blood of Christ,
that we may be for the world the body of Christ:
open in welcome,
truthful in love,
steady in mercy,
brave in justice.

Where people are thirsty, make us attentive.
Where systems withhold what people need, make us courageous.
Where shame has silenced voices, make us listeners.
Where boundaries have been used to exclude, make us bridge-builders.

Give us living water –
love poured into our hearts,
hope rising within us,
peace that holds in the heat of day.
Send us to share what we have received –
to offer kindness,
to practise justice,
to make room at the well.

Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all honour and glory are yours,
God of promise and presence,
now and always.
Amen.

The Prayer Jesus taught

As Jesus taught us, we pray:
(Use your community’s preferred wording/version.)

Breaking the bread

We break this bread
to share in the body of Christ.
Though we are many, we are one body,
because we all share in one bread.

The gifts of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.

Sharing the bread and cup

(Words such as these may be used during the distribution.)

Living water – for you.
Grace for the journey.

(If people receive a blessing instead of the elements: “May Christ be close to you; may love hold you.”)

Prayer after Communion

God of living water,
we thank you for meeting us at this table.
You have fed us with grace,
and poured love into our hearts.

When we are thirsty, teach us to ask.
When we have water, teach us to share.

Send us out into this week as people of welcome –
to listen deeply,
to speak truth with kindness,
to seek justice,
to carry peace.
God of mercy,
now and forever. Amen.

Sending

Go in peace – not because all thirst is satisfied,
but because love does not let go.
We will come and see. We will share what we have received. We will make room.