An Ordo for the Eucharist on Saint Faith's Day (4 October 2015)

Today the Parish of Saint Faith's celebrates its patronal festival.  Although the propers are those of Saint Faith's, the shape of the liturgy is our ordo for Michaelmas, the four Sundays in October of this year.

THE FEAST OF SAINT FAITH

4 October 2015

The Gathering of the Community

The Opening Hymn

‘Blessed Feasts of Blessed Martyrs’  Common Praise #284

The Introductory Responses

We praise you, O God,

we acclaim you as Lord.

To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,

the cherubim and seraphim, sing in endless praise.

The glorious company of the apostles praise you.

The white-robed army of martyrs praise you. 

The Hymn of Praise

‘Glory to God’  Common Praise #702

The Collect of the Day

Let us pray.

Almighty God,

who gave your servant Faith courage

to confess Jesus Christ

and to die for this faith,

may we always be ready 

to give a reason for the hope that is in us,

and to suffer gladly for his sake;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy spirit,

one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

The Proclamation of the Word

The First Reading

A reading from the prophet Isaiah (44.1-8).

But now hear, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen!  Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you in the womb and will help you:  Do not fear, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen.  For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring.  They shall spring up like a green tamarisk, like willows by flowing streams.  This one will say, “I am the Lord’s,” another will be called by the name of Jacob, yet another will write on the hand, “The Lord’s,” and adopt the name of Israel.  Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:  I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.  Who is like me? Let them proclaim it, let them declare and set it forth before me.  Who has announced from of old the things to come?  Let them tell us what is yet to be.  Do not fear, or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it?  You are my witnesses!  Is there any god besides me?  There is no other rock; I know not one.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.

Thanks be to God.

The Psalm

Psalm 87 with the refrain from Songs for the Holy One

Refrain (sung twice):  Glorious things are sung for you, O Holy One.

¹ On the holy mountain *

stands the city God has founded; 

² the Lord loves the gates of Zion

more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

Refrain:  Glorious things are sung for you, O Holy One.

³ Glorious things are spoken of you, *

O city of our God.

⁴ I count Egypt and Babylon among those who know me; *

behold Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia:  in Zion were they born.

Refrain:  Glorious things are sung for you, O Holy One.

⁵ Of Zion it shall be said, ”Everyone was born in there, *

and the Most High shall sustain it.”

⁶ The Lord will record as the peoples are enrolled, *

“These also were born there.”

⁷ The singers and the dancers will say, *

“All my fresh springs are in you.”

Refrain:  Glorious things are sung for you, O Holy One.

The Second Reading

A reading from the first letter of Peter (2.4-10).

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

For it stands in scripture:  “See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”  To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,  “The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner,” and  “A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall.”  They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.

Thanks be to God.

The Gradual Hymn

‘Alleluia’  Common Praise #714 (sung twice)

The Gospel

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John (17.6-19).

Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[Jesus said,] “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world.  They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.  Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.  I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours.  All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.  And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.  Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.  While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me.  I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled.  But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.  I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.  I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.  They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.  Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.  As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.” 

The gospel of Christ.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

The Sermon

The Apostles’ Creed

Let us affirm the faith of our baptism.

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.  Amen. 

The Prayers of the Community

Intercessions, Thanksgivings and Petitions

Confession and Absolution

Let us pray to God for the forgiveness of our sins.

Have mercy upon us, most merciful God;

in your compassion, forgive us our sins,

known and unknown,

things done and left undone;

and so uphold us by your Spirit

that we may live and serve you in newness of life,

to the honour and glory of your name;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

May the God of love and power

forgive you and free you from your sins,

heal and strengthen you by the Holy Spirit,

and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

The Exchange of the Peace

The peace of the Lord be with you all.

And also with you.

The Holy Communion

Offertory Hymn

‘All Things Are Thine’  Common Praise #304

Prayer over the Gifts

Let us pray.

God of faithfulness,

your servant Faith praise you in her death.

Receive all we offer you this day,

and give us the strength of will

to proclaim your righteousness and love.

We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord.  Amen.

The Thanksgiving at the Table

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

We give you thanks and praise, almighty God,

through your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer.

He is your living Word through whom you have created all things.

By the power of the Holy Spirit he took flesh of the Virgin Mary

and shared our human nature.

He lived and died as one of us, to reconcile us to you,

the God and Father of all.

In fulfillment of your will he stretched out his hands in suffering,

to bring release to those who place their hope in you,

and so he won for you a holy people.

He chose to bear our griefs and sorrows,

and to give us his life on the cross,

that he might shatter the chains of evil and death,

and banish the darkness of sin and despair.

By his resurrection he brings us into the light of your presence.

Now with all creation we raise our voices

to proclaim the glory of your name.

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might.

Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest. 

Holy and gracious God, accept our praise,

through your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ;

who on the night he was handed over to suffering and death,

took bread and gave you thanks, saying, “Take, and eat:

this is my body which is broken for you.”

In the same way he took the cup,

saying, “This is my blood which is shed for you.

When you do this, you do it in memory of me.”

Remembering, therefore, his death and resurrection,

we offer you this bread and this cup,

giving thanks that you have made us worthy

to stand in your presence and serve you.

We ask you to send your Holy Spirit

upon the offering of your holy Church.

Gather into one all who share in these sacred mysteries,

filling them with the Holy Spirit and confirming their faith in the truth,

that together we may praise you and give you glory

through your Servant, Jesus Christ.

All glory and honour are yours, Father and Son,

with the Holy Spirit in the holy Church, now and for ever.  Amen. 

The Lord’s Prayer

As our Saviour taught us, let us pray,

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial,

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours, 

now and for ever.  Amen. 

The Breaking of the Bread

Creator of all,

you gave us golden fields of wheat,

whose many grains we have gathered

and made into this one bread.

So may your Church be gathered

from the ends of the earth

into your reign of justice and peace. 

The gifts of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

The Communion of the Community

The Communion Hymn

‘How Blessed Is This Place’  Common Praise #301 (sung to #96)

The Sending Forth of the Community

Prayer after Communion

Let us pray.

God of courage,

we give thanks for this holy food,

and we praise you for your martyr Father,

who ran with perseverance

the race that we set before her,

and won the victor’s wreath that does not fade;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Glory to God, 

whose power, working in us, 

can do infinitely more 

than we can ask or imagine.  

Glory to God from generation to generation, 

in the Church and in Christ Jesus, 

for ever and ever.  Amen.

Closing Hymn

‘Ye Holy Angels Bright’  Common Praise #323

Dismissal

With all the company of saints,

let us go forth in praise to love and serve the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Whose Side Are We On? Reflections on Mark 9.38-50

Saint Faith’s Anglican Church

Vancouver BC

27 September 2015

         From time to time as we travel through the lectionary, a reading will come that reminds us of some of the basic expectations of following Jesus of Nazareth.  Today’s reading from the Gospel according to Mark is one such reading.  Because it is really a collection of various sayings of Jesus, I want to remind you of its context. 

         Over the course of the last several weeks Jesus has been on the road to Jerusalem where, as we all know, he will be arrested, tried and executed by the Roman authorities with the collusion of some of the Temple leadership.  As he travels this road, Jesus has taken pains to use this time to instruct his followers, both the Twelve, the apostles, and the many others who follow him, the disciples.  What he has to say is not always easy to accept, but it is what Jesus means when he tells the apostles and disciples to carry the cross.  In today’s reading we hear four teachings crucial to being a disciple.

         The first teaching is counter-intuitive in today’s politicized climate where the mere mention of a possible coalition government can be used against one or another political leader.  It also runs counter to the way some media sources and others portray the world:  there are ‘good’ guys and ‘bad’ guys or there are ‘liberals’ and ‘conservatives’ or there are ‘progressives’ and there are ‘regressives’.  What Jesus says in the gospel today overthrows that kind of thinking:  not being a card-carrying follower of Jesus is not an adequate reason to consider another person as working against God’s purposes as revealed in Jesus of Nazareth. [i]

         Just think about this for a moment.  What Jesus is saying is this:  Look at what a person is doing.  If what he or she is doing is what I am doing, then that person is ‘one of us’.  Those of us who have chosen to follow the way of Jesus know what is expected of us, but the ‘anonymous’ Christian, the ‘unintentional’ Christian can be an even more effective agent than one Christian who quote the Scriptures copiously but who fails to live the good news of God in Christ. [ii]

         Creating coalitions of believers and non-believers, Christians and non-Christians, to work to bring about the common good of our communities is what we are about.  Saint Faith’s, for example, is a partner in the Westside Seniors Hub, an initiative based at Kitsilano Neighbourhood House, that brings together religious and non-religious organizations who are committed to serve the seniors of our neighbourhoods.  Our Community Pastoral Resource Centre, through the work of our Deacon, Christine Wilson, links people with particular needs with the agencies and programmes that will serve them, regardless of the faith orientation of those agencies and programmes.

         Jesus’ second teaching also challenges some commonly-held expectations.  You may remember the advertisement for a particular credit card that said, “Membership has its privileges.”  Well, in today’s gospel, Jesus says, “Membership has its obligations, and these include offering hospitality to others freely and with a low threshold as far as who is welcomed.” [iii]  One of the on-going debates about housing those with addictions is whether such housing should be made available only after a person has been sober or clean for a period of time.  Some cities have chosen to make housing available without such expectations.  They believe that the best way for someone to overcome an addiction is to be housed first and then, in safer surroundings, they can take the first steps to sobriety and a more stable life.

         We who have chosen the Christian path open the doors of our buildings to any and to all who would come in.  We welcome preschools and recitals, Twelve Step groups and Toastmasters, quilters and mourners.  We offer a roof to shelter those who want to come together, whether for mutual support or for mutual joy.

         When Jesus places a child in his lap, he offers us a third teaching:  those who are new to our community of faith are to be treated with special care and consideration. [iv]  I remember vividly how differently I was treated by two priests when I was younger.  In the first case I was in university and was serving as an acolyte for the first time.  I made several errors and, after the liturgy was over, the priest said to me, “Please tell the Chaplain that the next time I come, I want a competent acolyte.”  He turned his back and left.

         In the second case I was asked, while in seminary, to serve as the acolyte for a retired priest who was very traditional and still said ‘his’ mass every day.  Arrangements were made for him to use one of the smaller chapels at the seminary and I was deputized to be his acolyte and to be there at 6.00 a.m.  I was not a happy camper, but I went.  The retired priest celebrated the eucharist beautifully and meaningfully.  After the gospel he turned to me and asked, “What did you hear God say to you in the readings this morning?”  I was surprised, but I managed something coherent.  He then offered a brief reflection.  I cannot remember exactly what he said, but it built on my thoughts and it carried me spiritually for the rest of the week.

         Which of these two men, do you think, placed a stumbling block in the way of a young person seeking to follow God?  Which one, do you think, offered me a taste of the kingdom?

         All of today’s gospel can be brought together in one word:  integrity. [v]  God has placed you and me in this time and in this place to season our neighbourhood with the good news.  We are the right amount of salt that can make this place in this time a place of peace, a place of compassion and a place where everyone can become more fully alive.  But for that to happen we must put the words we pray into action.  This is not world-shattering news, I know, but it bears repeating every once and a while.  Our lives must proclaim just a little bit louder and a little bit clearer the generosity of God, the wide embrace of God and the welcome of God.  Why?  Because there are religious voices, many within our own community of faith, who proclaim a miserly God, a narrow God, an exclusive God who bears no resemblance to the God we know and the God made known to us in Jesus of Nazareth.

         So, my friends, welcome back to the school of the gospel.  We’ve just heard the refresher.  Now we set down to the hard work of training our hearts, minds and souls to be who we are:  disciples of Christ and agents of the kingdom.

---

[i] Craddock, Preaching Through the Christian Year:  Year B (1993), 426.

[ii] ‘Anonymous Christian’ is a concept of Karl Rahner, the Jesuit theologian.

[iii] Craddock, Preaching Through the Christian Year:  Year B (1993), 427.

[iv] Craddock, Preaching Through the Christian Year:  Year B (1993), 427.

[v] Craddock, Preaching Through the Christian Year:  Year B (1993), 427.

An Ordo for the Eucharist on Pentecost 18 (RCL Proper 26B, 27 September 2015)

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

27 September 2015

The Gathering of the Community

Gathering Music

Greeting

Blessed be the Holy Trinity, one God,

who forgives all our sin,

whose mercy endures forever.

Blessed be God forever. [i]

Collect for Purity

Almighty God,

to you all hearts are open,

all desires known,

and from you no secrets are hidden.

Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts

by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,

that we may perfectly love you,

and worthily magnify your holy name;

through Christ our Lord.  Amen. [ii]

Hymn of Praise

‘Praise to the Lord, the Almighty’  Common Praise #384 vv. 1, 2, 4, 6

Collect of the Day

Let us pray.

O God,

our guide and help in strange lands:

strengthen us by the faith and courage of Esther,

so that we may confront the oppressor

with the justice and unity of your reign,

freeing the oppressed

and proclaiming your glorious liberty;

in the name of Christ, our freedom.  Amen. [iii]

The Proclamation of the Word of God

The First Reading

A reading from Esther (7.1-6, 9-10; 9.20-22).

            ^7.1 So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther.  ² On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther?  It shall be granted you.  And what is your request?  Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.”  ³ Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have won your favour, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me — that is my petition — and the lives of my people — that is my request.  ⁴ For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated.  If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king.”  ⁵ Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has presumed to do this?”  ⁶ Esther said, “A foe and enemy, this wicked Haman!”  Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.

⁹ Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Look, the very gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.”  And the king said, “Hang him on that.”  ¹⁰ So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai.  Then the anger of the king abated.

^9.20 Mordecai recorded these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, ²¹ enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year, ²² as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.

Thanks be to God.

The Psalm of the Day

Psalm 124 with a refrain from Songs for the Holy One

Refrain (sung twice):  Our help is in the name of the Holy One.

¹ If the Lord had not been on our side, *

            let Israel now say;

² if the Lord had not been on our side, *

            when enemies rose up against us;

³ then would they have swallowed us up alive *

            in their fierce anger toward us;

⁴ then would the waters have overwhelmed us *

            and the torrent gone over us;

⁵ then would the raging waters *

            have gone right over us.

Refrain:  Our help is in the name of the Holy One.

⁶ Blessed be the Lord *

            who has not given us over to be a prey for their teeth.

⁷ We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler; *

            the snare is broken, and we have escaped.

⁸ Our help is in the name of the Lord, *

            the maker of heaven and earth.

Refrain:  Our help is in the name of the Holy One.

The Second Reading

A reading from the Letter of James (5.13-20).

            ^5.13 Are any among you suffering?  They should pray.  Are any cheerful?  They should sing songs of praise.  ¹⁴ Are any among you sick?  They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.  ¹⁵ The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.  ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.  The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.  ¹⁷ Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.  ¹⁸ Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.

            ¹⁹ My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another^{, 20} you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.

Thanks be to God.

Hymn before the Gospel

Alleluia.  Alleluia.  Alleluia.

Your word, O Lord, is truth; sanctify us in the truth.

Alleluia.  Alleluia.  Alleluia. [iv]

The Gospel

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark (38-50).

Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

            ^9.38 John said to [Jesus], “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”  ³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.  ⁴⁰ Whoever is not against us is for us.  ⁴¹ For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

            ⁴² “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.  ⁴³ If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.  ⁴⁵ And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.  ⁴⁷ And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸ where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

            ⁴⁹ “For everyone will be salted with fire.  ⁵⁰ Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

The Gospel of Christ.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

The Sermon

An Affirmation of Faith

Let us declare our faith in God.

We believe in God the Father,

from whom every family

in heaven and on earth is named.

We believe in God the Son,

who lives in our hearts through faith,

and fills us with his love.

We believe in God the Holy Spirit,

who strengthens us

with power from on high.

We believe in one God;

the holy and undivided Trinity.  Amen. [v]

The Prayers of the Community

Intercessions, Thanksgivings and Petitions

The Exchange of the Peace

May the peace of the Lord be always with you.

And also with you.

The Holy Communion

Offertory Hymn

‘We Lay Our Broken World’  Common Praise #613 (sung to #496)

The Prayer over the Gifts

Let us pray.

Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things.

Through your goodness you have blessed us with these gifts:

our selves, our time, and our possessions.

Use us, and what we have gathered,

in feeding the world with your love,

through the one who gave himself for us,

Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen. [vi]

The Thanksgiving at the Table

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is indeed right that we should praise you, gracious God,

for you created all things. 

You formed us in your own image: 

male and female you created us. 

When we turned away from you in sin,

you did not cease to care for us,

but opened a path of salvation for all people. 

You made a covenant with Israel,

and through your servants Abraham and Sarah

gave the promise of a blessing to all nations. 

Through Moses you led your people from bondage into freedom;

through the prophets you renewed your promise of salvation. 

Therefore, with them, and with all your saints

who have served you in every age,

we give thanks and raise our voices to proclaim the glory of your name.

Holy, holy, holy Lord,

God of power and might. 

Heaven and earth are full of your glory. 

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. [vii]

Holy God, source of life and goodness, all creation rightly gives you praise. 

In the fullness of time, you sent your Son Jesus Christ,

to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us,

to reconcile us to you, the God and Creator of all. 

He healed the sick and ate and drank with outcasts and sinners;

he opened the eyes of the blind

and proclaimed the good news of your kingdom

to the poor and to those in need. 

In all things he fulfilled your gracious will.

On the night he freely gave himself to death,

our Lord Jesus Christ took bread,

and when he had given thanks to you, he broke it,

and gave it to his disciples, and said,

“Take, eat:  this is my body which is given for you. 

Do this for the remembrance of me.”

After supper he took the cup of wine;

and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and said,

“Drink this, all of you:  this is my blood of the new covenant,

which is shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sins. 

Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.”

Gracious God, his perfect sacrifice destroys the power of sin and death;

by raising him to life you give us life for evermore. 

Therefore we proclaim our hope. 

Dying you destroyed our death. 

Rising you restored our life. 

Lord Jesus, come in glory.

Recalling his death, proclaiming his resurrection,

and looking for his coming again in glory,

we offer you, O Holy One of Israel, this bread and this cup. 

Send your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts,

so that all who eat and drink at this table

may be one body and one holy people,

a living sacrifice in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory is yours,

Creator of all things, seen and unseen,

now and for ever.  Amen. [viii]

The Lord’s Prayer

As our Saviour taught us, let us pray,

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial,

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours,

now and for ever.  Amen. [ix]

The Breaking of the Bread

“I am the bread of life,” says the Lord.

“Whoever comes to me will never be hungry;

whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

Taste and see that the Lord is good;

happy are they who trust in him! [x]

The gifts of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

Communion

Hymn after Communion

‘For All Your Blessings’  Common Praise #440 (sung to #445)

The Sending Forth of the Community

The Prayer after Communion

We give you thanks, almighty God,

that you have refreshed us

through the healing power of this gift of life.

In your mercy, strengthen us through this gift,

in faith toward you

and in fervent love toward one another;

for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. [xi]

Glory to God,

whose power, working in us,

can do infinitely more

than we can ask or imagine. 

Glory to God from generation to generation,

in the Church and in Christ Jesus,

for ever and ever.  Amen. [xii]

Closing Hymn

‘How Firm a Foundation’  Common Praise #527 (sung to #393)

The Dismissal

The Deacon sends the People forth with a Dismissal for the occasion.

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[i] Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), 94 alt.

[ii] The Book of Alternative Services (1985), 185.

[iii] Liturgy Task Force, ‘Trial Use Collects for Proper 23B to Proper 30B’ 2015), 3.

[iv] Common Praise #710 with Sentence for Proper 26B sung by the presider.

[v] Common Worship (2000), 148 alt.

[vi] Liturgy Task Force, ‘Trial Use Collects for Proper 23B to Proper 30B’ (2015),7.

[vii] Common Praise #732.

[viii] The Book of Alternative Services (1985), 193-195 alt.

[ix] The Book of Alternative Services (1985), p. 918

[x] The Book of Alternative Services (1985), 212.

[xi] Liturgy Task Force, ‘Trial Use Collects for Proper 23B to Proper 30B’ (2015),8.

[xii] The Book of Alternative Services (1985), 214.