Prayer for Holy Week

Here’s a prayer for the start of Holy Week from lutheranjulia.  It was posted on RevGalBlogPals.

Prayer at the Start of Holy Week

Holy God,

you have fed us all

out of your own generous and gracious hands.

From them, we have received welcome,

nourishment, hope, and consolation.

May these things grow in us,

alongside the gift of faith,

so that we may plant their seeds

in the world around us.

Through the Holy Spirit,

guide us in the week [days] ahead

to re-member our place

in your great and on-going story

of resurrection, redemption, and restoration

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

~ written by lutheranjulia, and posted on RevGalBlogPals. http://revgalblogpals.org/2016/03/18/friday-prayer-something-is-coming/

Call to Worship: Deuteronomy 30: 15-20

Here’s a call to worship or invitation to the Table inspired by Deuteronomy 30:15-20.  It was written by Joanna Harader, and posted on Spacious Faith.

Call to Worship

(inspired by Deuteronomy 30:15-20)

God has set before us life and death.
We long to choose life.
God has set before us blessings and curses.
We long to choose blessings.
So we gather this morning around the table–Christ’s table.
We gather to drink the cup of blessing; to eat the bread of life.
Let us share the meal together. Let us feast on the Word.
Let us worship God with joy!

~ written by Joanna Harader, and posted on Spacious Faith. http://spaciousfaith.com/tag/deuteronomy-30/

A Prayer for Good Friday: Now We Know

Here’s a prayer of thanksgiving for Good Friday (or even Easter Sunday). It was written by Christine Jerrett and posted on her blog (see link below).

Prayer for Good Friday

Now we know:

all is grace

all is gift.

You give us all good things:

life and love;

daily bread and water that quenches our thirst;

friends and faith.

Most of all, in your Son, Jesus,

you meet us with a love that will never let us go;

you utter words of mercy and forgiveness

that override the hurts,

and heal our brokenness;

you offer new beginnings

where we had expected only dead ends.

We give you thanks and praise

for the mystery of your suffering love

that gives us life.

We give you thanks and praise

that you know our weakness

and hear our prayers.

We give you thanks and praise

that all our dying and living

is held in your good keeping.

Now we know:

all is grace

all is gift.

We give you thanks and praise.

~ posted on Christine Jerrett. https://christinejerrett.wordpress.com/

Invitation to the Table: Holy Week

Here is an invitation to the Table on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday (depending on your practice). It was written by Ann Siddall and posted on the Stillpoint Spirituality Centre website.

Invitation to the Table

This was just a cup filled with wine

(gesture towards the cup)

this was just ordinary bread, baked for guests

(gesture towards the bread)

until Jesus took them

took and drank from the cup,

even though it was his cup of pain,

filled with the agony of the world;

took and broke the bread –

even though his body

was too young to be broken.

This (gesture towards self),

and these (gesture to the community)

would be ordinary lives

unless the bread, unless the wine,

is poured into them:

and the mystery of grace takes place.

Come, not because you fully understand,

but because you need to reach out

and receive the life that is offered to you.

~ written by Ann Siddall, and posted on the Stillpoint Spirituality Centre and Faith Community website. http://stillpointsa.org.au/prayer/prayers-and-liturgies/

Passion Week Prayer: Surely Not I?

Here’s a prayer of confession and commitment for Palm/Passion Sunday or Maundy Thursday. It was inspired by Jesus’ comment to his disciples at the Last Supper and their response: “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” … “Surely, not I?” (Mark 14:18-19). It was written by Steve Garnaas-Holmes and posted on Unfolding Light.

Prayer: Surely Not I?

(inspired by Mark 14:18-19)

Surely.

I would never betray you, never deny you.

Surely?

Beloved,

give me the faith to doubt

my righteousness.

Give me the assurance to question,

to examine myself honestly,

to ask.

Give me the confidence to wonder

how I might betray your perfect love,

to see.

Give me grace to confess

how my promises are broken, my heart

broken.

Give me the peace to be troubled

by my smugness,

and repent.

Open my eyes to see that you see,

you know, and knowing, you keep right on

eating with me.

~ written by Steve Garnaas-Holmes and posted on Unfolding Light.https://www.unfoldinglight.net/ 

Pastor's Prayer for World Communion Sunday

Here’s a pastor’s prayer for World Communion Sunday from Leonard Sweet’s Preach the Story website.

World Communion Sunday: Pastor’s Prayer

Wondrous God of infinite love and boundless compassion

Mark our hearts with the seal of your handiwork

Create within us the joy of being in your presence.

Stitch into our souls the desire to serve,

the power to heal,

and the capacity to love deeply and genuinely.

Mold us into reservoirs of hope,

that we might pour out your bountiful blessings

upon all of your people.

May this time we partake of the body and blood of Jesus

unite us in the community of saints who know your love

and proclaim your Son with fervor and grace

to a broken and hurting world.

May your healing hands be the salve

for ending hurt and violence in this world,

even as we prepare for the next.

In the holy Name of Jesus. Amen. 

~ written by Leonard Sweet, posted on Preach the Story. https://preachthestory.com/

Invitation to the Table: Stronger than Death

Here is an invitation to the table from the Third Space website.

Invitation to the Table

We remember the time when Jesus faced
difficult decisions and destructive forces:
Facing his winter – the days and nights of his searching,
– in facing failure – in facing death

When we too experience the winter of our lives
may we find the courage to let go
and trust in your guiding, warming light.

And we remember
Jesus has shown us that life is stronger than death.

And as we share the bread and wine together
we remember the words and the actions of that ancient meal…
Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it,
and gave it to his friends.

He poured a cup of wine, offered thanks for it,
and shared it also with his friends.

Ancient symbols.

Common acts.

~ posted on Third Space. http://third-space.org.uk/

Invitation: if nothing else

It takes faith to wait without hope,
to trust that although there is no sense to this
we must do it anyway.

At the limits of our capacity to make sense of the world
at the edges of our grace, energy and love
lie this:

bread and wine.

Take and eat.

If nothing else, it will keep you alive.

~ written by Cheryl Lawrie, and posted on [hold this space].  http://holdthisspace.org.au/

An Invitation at the Table

Here is a simple prayer at the Table from the Third Space website.

Prayer at the Table

Receive this bread;

feed on it with thanks;

it is the gift of God to sustain and nurture;

it is Jesus incarnated and given for us.

Give thanks.

Drink this wine with thanks;

it is the gift of God to bring us joy;

it was a hard won battle;

it is Jesus poured out for our redemption.

Give thanks.

~ posted on the Third Space website. http://third-space.org.uk/blog

Invitation: Bread and Wine of Remembrance

Here is an invitation to the Lord’s Table from Richard Bott. It was posted on the Liturgy Alive website.

The Bread and Wine of Remembrance

When the time was right,

God sent Jesus to be among us.

Born into this life,

seeing Your grace revealed in all things,

he laughed with those who laughed,

and mourned with those who mourned.

Through Your love, he healed the sick,

he welcomed the outcast,

he challenged those in power,

and the structures that kept them there.

And he called us back to Your love.

In the power of the Holy Spirit,

the Christ laughs and cries,

heals and welcomes,

challenges and loves,

again and again and again.

We have been told that,

on the night before he was taken

to be tortured to death on a cross,

Jesus sat with his disciples,

and ate with them, in a meal of remembrance.

Jesus took a loaf of bread,

asked Your blessing upon it, broke it,

and gave it to his disciples saying:

“Take this – all of you – and eat it.

This is me. My Body. Given for you.

Each time you eat it, remember me.”

Close to the meal’s end,

he took a cup filled with wine,

asked Your blessing upon it,

and gave it to his disciples saying:

Take this – all of you – and drink it.

This is me. This is my promise in my life’s blood -

poured out for you and for the world.”

Each time you drink it, remember me.

So we, his disciples,

eat bread and drink wine – and remember.

~ from Richard Bott’s “Communion Liturgy for Advent.” Posted on the Liturgy Alive website. http://www.bibleclaret.org/liturgy/CycleA/june05/26_hugh.htm

Prayer at the Table

Here’s an approach to the prayer at the Table on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, or any other time. It comes from Jonny Baker.

He writes: “Maundy Thursday is a day particularly to remember Jesus’ meals with friends and to share bread and wine at the table. We chatted about the various meals and tables Jesus had and was round. I invited people to complete a sentence that began 'this is a table...' and that then became a prayer of thanks as we read them out and shared bread and wine to remember.”

Prayer at the Table

This is a table of new expectations

This is a table where everyone can come to receive

This is a table for those who haven't met Jesus before

This is a table with the Lord of the harvest and catch

This is a table where the host is often in the dependent position

This is a table where we are reconciled

This is a table where there is safety and acceptance

This is a table which welcomes, invites, provides, unites

This is a table where uncomfortable things happen

This is a table that was the natural place to be

This is a table that was the place to meet people

This is a table where strength is restored

This is a table, this is our community

~ written by Johnny Baker, and posted on jonnybaker. http://jonnybaker.blogs.com/jonnybaker/2013/10/your-grace-is-enough.html

Invitation to the Table

Here is an invitation to the Table from Ann Siddall. It was posted on the Stillpoint Spirituality Centre website.

Invitation to the Table

(based on 1 Corinthians 11)

This is for you,

but it may change you

from one who is anxiously concerned

about their own redemption

into one who knows

that Christ’s body is the earth

and all who walk upon it,

are one in Him

into knowing that

we are not redeemed

by our being good

but by our being connected

into knowing that

daring to eat

at the table of Jesus Christ

has unimaginable consequences.

So come,

come to be made whole,

and to participate in the work

of making us one with Him and each other.

~ written by Ann Siddall, and posted on the website of the Stillpoint Spirituality Centre.  http://www.stillpointsa.org.au/

Epiphany Communion

Here’s an invitation to the Table and prayer from Rev. Elsa Peters. It was posted on LiturgyLink.

Invitation to the Table

at Epiphany

We have come asking for the child –
Wondering where that love might be born,
Seeking that joy that might satisfy our thirst,
Wandering through the darkness of so many mistakes.

We have come to this place where
wise-people and shepherds and young women met.

We have come to this place called Bethlehem –
to this place where our hearts rise like yeast;
to this place where we meet our newborn hope;
to this place where we taste our deepest joy.

In Bethlehem, where we assumed the worst,
imagining that no good can come,
we somehow missed its name.

Bethlehem: Lehem meaning bread.
Bethel meaning house.

There is something here that will satisfy our hunger.
No matter how long we have wandered,
here our hearts arise.

Our light has come.

In this bread and in this cup,
We celebrate something we can’t quite understand.
Because God has made a house at this table.
Because God satisfies our hunger in the most unlikely places.
Because God comes to be with us.
Now and always.

It is with this expectation that we come to the table
to taste and see that God is here.

Prayer at the Table

Holy Spirit, come into this bread and this cup.
Transform these ordinary objects
As you change our hearts
To shape and form your world
With the joy you promise.
Pour your grace upon us,
so we overflow with your love.
Help us to remember how
An newborn baby might grow
Into a little child that would one day
Turn to his hope-filled friends
In an upper room…

~ written by Rev. Elsa Peters, the United Churches of Olympia, WA. Posted on LiturgyLink. http://www.liturgylink.net/

Advent Communion: Welcome to the Table

Here is an opening at the Table for an Advent celebration of the Lord’s Supper. It was written by Roddy Hamilton, and posted on Mucky Paws.

Advent Communion

Here is bread
Good News for the world
with a headline that says:
let all who are hungry for justice
come and eat

Here is wine
Good News for all who long
with a headline that says:
let all who thirst for righteousness
come and drink

Here is the table
Good News for all who are lost
with a headline that says:
all who are weary
come and gather here

Here is community
Good News for all whom the world ignores
with a headline that says:
behold I make all things new
come and be renewed

Here is Jesus
Good News for all who wait
with a headline that says:
I have come that all may have life
come and live life fully

~ written by Roddy Hamilton, and posted on Mucky Paws. http://www.nkchurch.org.uk/index.php/mucky-paws

Good Friday Litany: Dying to find Life

Here’s a responsive litany for Good Friday from Christine Sine’s Godspace website.

Litany for Good Friday

Jesus you took bread and broke it,

You shared it with your friends.

As you were broken to feed us with the bread of life.

Jesus you took wine and poured it out,

Grapes crushed and drained of life.

As you were crushed and drained of your life blood.

Jesus you prayed fervently in agony of spirit,

That God’s cup of suffering might pass away.

Your sweat fell like drops of blood yet you endured the pain.

You hung upon a tree and were crucified for us,

But looked in compassion on your murderers.

Look too in compassion

on we who caused your suffering and your death.

Jesus you died for us and fell as a seed into the ground,

Knowing that your death would produce a plentiful harvest of new life.

May we too be willing to die to ourselves

that others may find true and eternal life. 

~ written by Christine Sine, and posted on Godspace. http://godspace-msa.com/