Gathering at the table

A voice calls: go. A promise follows: blessing.
We come to the table of the One who keeps faith with us.

We do not know the whole road, but we are not alone.
Bless us for the journey – and give us trust enough for today.

This is Christ’s table.
Not a reward for the confident,
but bread for the uncertain.
Not a prize for the perfect,
but grace for those who come as they are.

We come with questions and longing.
We come for courage, for mercy, for life renewed.

The Peace

The One who watches over us neither slumbers nor sleeps.
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 promise and life.
You called Abram to leave what was familiar,
and you gave a blessing that widened into a people,
a promise that reached further than one life could see.

You are the One who keeps us –
in leaving and arriving,
in fear and courage,
in nights when we cannot sleep
and days when the road feels long.
You lift our eyes to the hills,
and you remind us that help is not a fantasy – it is your faithful presence.

You teach us that faith is not something we earn.
It is received.
It is trusted.
It is held by grace – not by performance.

In Jesus, you speak love without limits.
You do not come to condemn the world,
but to heal it.
You do not demand perfect understanding,
but invite us into deeper life – life from above, life shaped by Spirit.

And so, with angels and ancestors,
with all who have stepped into the unknown with hope,
with all who are learning to trust 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 meet us in questions –
in the midnight conversations of the soul,
in the places where certainty runs out.

Nicodemus came searching.
Jesus did not mock him.
Jesus spoke of Spirit and new beginnings –
not as a demand,
but as a gift,
a birth from above that no one can manufacture.

You promised Abram a future built on grace.
Not a prize for achievement,
but a gift for trust.
Not a narrow blessing hoarded,
but a wide blessing shared.

In Jesus, you show us love that gives life –
a love that enters the world as it is,
and refuses to give up on it.
A love that bears our pain,
and opens the way into hope.

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:
held by grace,
steady in hope,
brave in trust,
generous in love.

Where fear grips us, loosen it with mercy.
Where our faith feels small, hold it with kindness.
Where the road is unknown, give light for the next step.
Where the world is wounded, make us healers.

Birth your life in us again –
not by pressure,
but by Spirit.
Shape us into people who bless –
with welcome,
with justice,
with truth spoken gently,
with love that gives life.

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.)

Blessing for you.
Life 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 promise and life,
we thank you for meeting us at this table.
You have fed us with grace,
and steadied us with hope.

When we cannot see far ahead, give us trust for today.
When we are tempted to earn love, remind us it is a gift.

Send us out into this week as people of blessing –
to welcome the stranger,
to seek justice,
to speak hope,
to carry your love into the world.
God of faithfulness,
now and forever. Amen.

Sending

Go in peace – not because the road is certain,
but because love goes with you.
We will trust the promise. We will bless the world. We will make room.