11 August, 2017

Communion services

NOTE: All of the following communion services need to have some form of invitation to communion.

Christmas Day

This service was written by Doedtie Hoekstra, one of our liturgists. It is a blend of biblical story, ANZPB and other liturgy.

At this Christmas time we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

We also know that He is the risen Lord and is with us now.

That’s why as God’s people we say:

Christ is risen, He is risen indeed.

We give thanks for all that God has done for us through Jesus his Son.

It is good to say thank you.

Before Jesus died, He had a meal with his disciples.

This is what the Bible says about that evening.

During the meal Jesus took some bread in his hands.

He blessed the bread and broke it.

Then He gave it to his disciples and said:
Take this and eat it. This is my body.

Jesus picked up a cup of wine and gave thanks to God.

He then gave it to his disciples and said:
Take this and drink it.

This is my blood, and with it God makes his agreement with you.

We know that Jesus gave his life to put us right with God.

Jesus gave his life for us and is risen from the dead.

He invites us to this table to celebrate
and remember all that he has done for us.

As the disciples recognised Jesus amongst them when bread was broken,
so we now remember Jesus’ presence with us.

Silence is kept (The bread is broken)

The bread we break is a sharing in the body of Christ.

We who are many are one body,
for we all share the one bread.

His blood was shed for our forgiveness.

Christ is risen from the dead.

THE INVITATION

Come you who wander, winding your way through life.

Come you who are found, living in the light.

Come all of you, who have heard the rumour of a promise,
for it is gathered here, broken, shared, poured, offered and waiting.

Every promise leads to this place of promise:
it is the place of ongoing covenant,
a place of renewal and there is a space waiting here for you.

Everyone is welcome to receive Communion..
If you prefer not to receive the bread and wine,
come forward and we will offer you a personal blessing.

Bread and wine;
the gifts of God for the people of God.

May we who share these gifts be found in Christ,
and Christ in us.

Communion is shared

Prayer after communion

Blessed be God who calls us together.

Praise to God who makes us one people.

Blessed be God who has forgiven our sin.

Praise to God who gives hope and freedom.

Blessed be God whose Word is proclaimed.

Praise to God who is revealed as love.

Blessed be God who alone has called us.

Therefore we offer all that we are
and all that we shall become.

Accept, O God, our sacrifice of praise.

Amen. Accept our thanks for all you have done.
Our hands were empty, and you filled them.

Contemporary English Version

The communion service is based on the scriptures using the CEV version of the Bible, It has been kept as simple as possible. The consecration prayers are from ANZPB.

On that night before he died Jesus took a towel and some water
and washed his disciple’s feet.

In those days the roadways were dusty and it
was a mark of respect to have a servant wash
the guest’s feet, so in doing this for his friends,
Jesus was acting as a servant.

On that night, Jesus took some bread in his hands
and gave thanks for it.

Bless the bread

He broke the bread and handed it to his disciples.

Then he said, “This is my body, which is given for you.
Eat this as a way of remembering me!”

After the meal he took a cup of wine in his hands.

Then he said, “This is my blood.
It is poured out for you,
and with it God makes his new agreement,
so that all people will have their sins forgiven.”

Bless the wine

Together we pray:

Holy Spirit be with us,
feed us with your life,
fire us with your love,
confront us with your justice,
and make us one in the body of Christ
with all who share your gifts of love.

As the disciples recognised Jesus amongst them when bread was broken,
so we now remember Jesus’ presence with us.

Silence is kept

The bread is broken

The bread we break is a sharing in the body of Christ.

We who are many are one body,
for we all share the one bread.

The cup of blessing for which we give thanks
is a sharing in the blood of Christ.

Invitation

Bread and wine;
the gifts of God for the people of God.

May we who share these gifts be found in Christ
and Christ in us.

Family communion with explanation

The communion service institution/introduction is based on a Presbyterian Children’s service, and was heavily adapted to be used at our Church Family Camp. We think it does a good job at explaining what happens in communion. After the institution, we re-use the CEV service. The consecration prayers are from ANZPB. We use this regularly in our main service and hope it helps those who don’t come from an Anglican background understand something of what and why we do things.

Invitation to the Lord’s Table

This is called the Lord’s Supper.
It is also called Communion.

In a moment I will offer you a piece of bread,
you may take that bread and eat it.

We do this because Jesus asked us to remember him,
As we eat it, we remember that Jesus is with us and that we are not alone.

We remember God’s presence with us through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Then we will give you a sip of a cup of grape juice or wine.
This grape juice is a reminder that Jesus died to forgive and free us to be with God.

Great Thanksgiving

As we take this bread and this cup,
we give thanks to God.

Unite us in faith,
encourage us with hope,
inspire us to love,
that we may serve as your faithful disciples. Amen.

On that night, Jesus took some bread in his hands
and gave thanks for it.

Bless the bread

He broke the bread and handed it to his disciples.

Then he said, “This is my body, which is given for you.
Eat this as a way of remembering me!”

After the meal he took a cup of wine in his hands.
Then he said, “This is my blood. It is poured out for you,
and with it God makes his new agreement,
so that all people will have their sins forgiven.

Bless the wine

Together we pray:

Holy Spirit be with us,
feed us with your life,
fire us with your love,
confront us with your justice,
and make us one in the body of Christ
with all who share your gifts of love.

As the disciples recognised Jesus amongst them when bread was broken,
so we now remember Jesus’ presence with us.

Silence is kept

The bread is broken

Christ’s body was broken for us on the cross.

Christ is the bread of life.

His blood was shed for our forgiveness.

Christ is risen from the dead.

Communion is shared

This bread is the body of Christ given for you.
This grape juice is Christ’s forgiveness poured out for you.

Invitation

Come, for all things are now ready.

Come to the table with all your family
and share with all in need:
The gift of healing for those in pain,
the gift of forgiveness for those in sin,
the gift of assurance for those in doubt,
and the gift of hope for those in tears.

May we who share these gifts,
share Christ with one another and all our family.

The Message

This uses scriptures from The Message translation of the Bible.

When Jesus finished teaching, he told his disciples,
“You know that Passover comes in two days.
That’s when the Son of Man will be betrayed
and handed over for crucifixion.”

At that very moment,
the party of high priests and religious leaders
was meeting in the chambers of the Chief Priest named Caiaphas,
conspiring to seize Jesus by stealth and kill him.

They agreed that it should not be done during Passover Week.
“We don’t want a riot on our hands,” they said.

On the first of the Days of Unleavened Bread,
the disciples came to Jesus and said,
“Where do you want us to prepare your Passover meal?”

He said, “Enter the city. Go up to a certain man and say,
‘The Teacher says, My time is near.

My disciples and I plan to celebrate the Passover meal at your house.'”

They left, found everything just as Jesus had told them,
and they prepared the Passover meal.

When it was time, he sat down,
and all the apostles with him, and said,
“You’ve no idea how much I have looked forward
to eating this Passover meal with you
before I enter my time of suffering.

It’s the last one I’ll eat
until we all eat it together in the Kingdom of God.”

During the meal, Jesus took and blessed the bread,
broke it, and gave it to his disciples,
saying:
Take, eat. This is my body.

Bless the bread

Eat it in my memory

He did the same with the cup after supper.

Taking the cup and thanking God, he gave it to them:
Drink this, all of you.

Bless the wine

This is my blood,
God’s new covenant poured out for many people
for the forgiveness of sins.

Then said, “Take this and pass it among you.

Together we pray:

Holy Spirit be with us,
feed us with your life,
fire us with your love,
confront us with your justice,
and make us one in the body of Christ
with all who share your gifts of love.

As the disciples recognised Jesus amongst them when bread was broken,
so we now remember Jesus’ presence with us.

Silence is kept

The bread is broken

Christ’s body was broken for us on the cross.

Christ is the bread of life.

His blood was shed for our forgiveness.

Christ is risen from the dead.

Invitation

Come God’s people,
come to receive Christ’s heavenly food.

Everyone is welcome to receive Holy Communion. If you prefer not to receive the bread and wine, you may come forward and leave your hands at your side and we will offer you a personal blessing.

Communion is shared

This bread is the body of Christ given for you.
This grape juice is Christ’s forgiveness poured out for you.

Short

Very occasionally pressure comes on to remove communion from a service “to keep the service short/brief.” My response is to shorten the institution words. The important thing is to make sure the communion table is ready and there is no fuss around preparing the elements.

On that night, Jesus took some bread in his hands
and gave thanks for it.

Bless the bread

He broke the bread and handed it to his disciples.
Then he said, “This is my body, which is given for you.
Eat this as a way of remembering me!”

Break the bread

Christ’s body was broken for us on the cross.

Christ is the bread of life.

After the meal he took a cup of wine in his hands.

Then he said, “This is my blood.

Lift the cup

It is poured out for you,
and with it God makes his new agreement,
so that all people will have their sins forgiven.”

Christ’s blood was shed for our forgiveness.

Christ is risen from the dead.

The Invitation

Come God’s people,
come to receive Christ’s heavenly food.

Everyone is welcome to receive Holy Communion. If you prefer not to receive the bread and wine, you may come forward and leave your hands at your side and we will offer you a personal blessing.

Communion is shared