Liturgy w/communion for September 4, 2016 (Pentecost 16/Trinity 15/Proper 18/Ordinary 23 - C)

Texts: Jeremiah 18:1-11; Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18; Philemon 1-21; Luke 14:25-33

Call to Worship
We gather in the presence of God:
who knows us when we wake up
and when we go to sleep,
and in all the moments in between.
We gather in the house of God:
who has created a family for us,
here as well as in Aleppo,
in Brussels, and in Nashville.
We gather to be the people of God:
who appeals to us to follow
in love, in faith, in service.

Prayer of the Day
Eternal God our Potter:
you come to us
     before we come to you.

You send your Heart,
Jesus Christ, to us
     before our hearts
     are turned to you.

You send your Spirit to us,
     when our spirits
          wander far from you.

You set a Table for us,
     when our souls are hungry,
          when our hearts are empty.

God in Community, Holy in One,
hear us as we pray
as Jesus has taught us, saying,
(The Lord's Prayer)

Call to Reconciliation
Our sins are not to be hidden from God.  Rather, we bring them into the Light and lay them on the Table, trusting in the One who shaped us for goodness and will transform our brokenness into wholeness.  Please join me as we pray, saying,

Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
     Searching God, we are so attached to our possessions, we have trouble sharing them.  We are so connected to our pleasures that we cannot feel the pain of those around us.  We are so stuck on ourselves, we cannot sense our souls slipping away into the shadows.
     Most merciful God: loosen us from the grip of the world, so we may feel your healing touch. Sever us from our sin, so your Spirit might bind us to you. Reshape us, redeem us, renew us, so we may take up our crosses and follow our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
The God who calls us is the God who created us; the God who formed us is the God who forgives us. This is the Good News - we are God's new creation.
In the name of Jesus Christ, we are reshaped, renewed, forgiven. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/Offering
Some bear crosses hollowed out by hunger, some carry crosses called injustice.  Sometimes our abundance is a cross which we struggle to bear.  But as we learn to follow you, as we seek to be as generous as you, we discover that we can gift others with hope, with grace, and with peace.  Receive our offerings this day, so they might bless your children in every way imaginable.  This we pray in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
The Potter of life be with you.
And also with you.
People of God, lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the One who reshapes them into grace.
People of God, give thanks to the Lord our God.
We praise the One who has shaped us for love and service.

With joy we praise you,
Creating God.
You stooped down and took the clay
lying on earth's floor,
shaping us in your image.
But we wondered
what it would be like
to follow our own paths
     and detached ourselves from your side.
We counted the cost
of being your children,
     and found it to be too much for us.
We pondered your words
     and found them useless for our lives.
But you did not take your hands from us,
but continue to recreate us,
to reshape us, to redeem us.

Giver of breath, shaper of words,
all the living find voice to praise you,
as we celebrate with the people
of every time and place,
singing to your glory:

Holy, holy, holy are you, God who shapes us
     with hands of grace and hope.
Your wonder works of creation praise your name.
Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the One who comes,
     appealing to us on the basis of love.
Hosanna in the highest!
Holy are you, Redeeming God,
and blessed is Jesus Christ,
our Lord and Savior.
Traveling with us,
     he points out the paths
          we are to walk.
When he could command
us to do whatever he wants,
     he appeals to us
          to follow his example.
Whatever wrong we have done,
whatever good we have failed to do,
Christ charges them to his account,
     that we might be counted
          as your beloved children.

So, as we come to the Table of grace and hope,
we remember that mystery we call faith:

Christ died, having counted the cost.
Christ was raised, the foundation of resurrection being set in place.
Christ will come, refreshing our hearts for all eternity.

Spirit of the Living God,
renew us with this bread and this cup
which have been set aside for sacred us,
even as you refresh our hearts.
Fill us with all the goodness of the kingdom,
that we may do good for Christ
as we serve others:
     in the ways in which we treat our families;
     in our willingness to draw
          the outcast to our side;
     in our efforts to be your healing hands
          to the sick and grieving.

Then, here at the Table and beyond;
here in this moment, and through eternity:
remind us that we are always with you,
God of all places and times,
Christ of those who suffer,
Spirit of justice and hope:
God in Community, Holy in One.  Amen.

Sending
It is God who has formed us as a community of faith.
Now, we will go to find and serve our sisters and brothers.
It is Jesus who has knit us together as partners in grace.
Now, we will go to bear the burdens of those around us.
It is the Spirit who gives us the words we need.
Now, we will go to speak for justice and hope for all.

(c) 2016 Thom M. Shuman

Liturgy w/communion for August 28, 2016 (Pentecost 15/Trinity 14/Proper 17/Ordinary 22 - C)

Texts: Jeremiah 2:4-13; Psalm 81:1, 10-16; Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16; Luke 14:1, 7-14

Call to Worship
We come to worship our God,
to listen to the One who calls us here.
We come trusting God to lead us in the coming days,
as surely as were our grandparents in the faith.
We come to worship our God,
to shout with joy to the God of all people.
We come to the Creator of all things,
to be bathed in the waters of life.
We come to the Feast of God's faithful,
to be fed by the One who never forsakes us.
We come to worship our God,
to sing aloud to the One who saves us.

Prayer of the Day
Yesterday, God of our days,
when our hunger for hope
had so weakened us
we could barely speak,
     you fed us with
     the Bread of life,
          spread with the sweet honey
          of your grace.

Today, Host to the poor,
when we look for you
in the powerful and the rich,
among the superstar and celebrity,
     we will find you
     seated with the children,
          your knees squeezed painfully
          under the table,
entertaining them
with your stories.

Tomorrow, Spirit of Service,
when we will be scrambling
for the seats of honor,
     you will be in the kitchen
          cooking dinner for the prisoners;
     making up the guest room
          for the immigrants;
     singing lullabies of love
          to the lost children
               of our world.

God in Community, Holy in One:
yesterday, today, tomorrow, always,
we will pray as Jesus has taught us, saying,
(The Lord's Prayer)

Call to Reconciliation
Despite all the ways we speak of sin - failures, mistakes, intended acts, Scripture tells us that we are stubborn-hearted, wanting only our way. But if we pause to listen to God, if we open our mouths (and our hearts) to confess our sin, God will fill our emptiness with forgiveness and hope. Let us pray together, as we say,

Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
     We are always uncomfortable, Watching God, when you notice how we want to sit in the seats of honor. We can be so proper, so good, so well-off, that it is easy to imagine we are superior to the poor. We are so busy completing our 'To Do' list each day, that we forget to do good when we have the chance.
     Forgive us, Welcoming God. Fill our emptiness with your grace and humility that we would spend our lives alongside Jesus, our Lord and Savior, throwing a party for the poor, the damaged, the prisoner, the lost, the oppressed.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
This is the good news: after what God has done for us, what can anyone or any thing do to us? We are new people, graced by our loving God.
Forgiven, embraced, welcomed by our God, we will offer open hearts and serving hands to everyone we meet. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/Offering
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, we are offered opportunities to reach out to those who are in need of hope, healing, and friendship.  This is why you pour out your blessings upon us, trusting that we will share from our abundance to bless others, even as we have been blessed.  Receive the gifts we offer, multiply them, and use them in the work of grace and justice.  In Jesus' name, we pray.  Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
People of God, lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the God who welcomes us at this Table.
Let us sing aloud to God.
We will offer glad songs of thanksgiving to the One who delivers us.

We would sing aloud
our songs of joy to you,
Master of the Universe.
Out of the emptiness of chaos,
you brought forth creation,
     plentiful with all we need,
     graced with gifts beyond imagination.
Offered the place of honor
in your good Garden,
     we filled our souls with worthless lies,
          moving out of glory's neighborhood
          into the junkyard of the world.
Prophets brought your word of judgment,
and your gracious invitation to come home,
but we would not listen
to the advice they offered to us.
Then you sent Jesus,
who humbled himself
that we might be exalted.

Therefore, we come to your Table singing,
our voices joining with those
in every time and in every place,
lifting our glad songs to you:

Holy, holy, holy are you, God our strength!
All creation shouts for you to you.
Hosanna in the highest!

We welcome the One who shows hospitality to strangers.
Hosanna in the highest!

Holy are you, Mothering God,
and blessed is Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Life.
Glorified as your True Child,
     he came to show hospitality
          to all the strangers of the world.
Deserving of the seat of honor,
     he humbled himself
          to serve the guests.
Refusing to let us be left
in the ruthless hands
of sin and death,
     he entered that prison
     we call the grace
          to set us free to live with you.

As we remember his life and death,
as we come to the Table of the resurrection,
we speak of that mystery we call faith:

Dying, you took the seat of dishonor;
Rising, you humbled yourself to be exalted;
Coming again, you will honor us in the presence on the One
     who invites all to sit at the Table of grace.

Send your Holy Spirit
upon the Bread and the Cup,
simple gifts from creation
which grace us with your life,
and upon those who gather
around your Table.
Fed with the finest wheat,
     may we go forth to fill the lives
     of all whose emptiness
          imprisons them.
Having tasted the cup of joy,
     may we bring the sweet honey of hope
          to those parched by despair.
Welcomed without question
at your Table of grace,
     may we open our hearts
     to throw a party for all
          who have been forsaken by the world.

And when we gather around the Wedding Feast in glory,
with all the poor, the broken, the prisoners, the oppressed -
we will open our mouths to receive your joy,
and sing aloud to you
our praise for all eternity:
God in Community, Holy in One. Amen.

Sending
Having listened to God's words, we are sent to serve others.
Today and tomorrow, we will follow where God leads.
Having joined in songs of praise and hope, we will carry these gifts into the world.
Today and tomorrow, we will serve beside Jesus.
Having been filled with the Spirit of justice, we will go to be with all who struggle.
Today and tomorrow, we will bring justice and peace to those around us.

(c) 2016 Thom M. Shuman

Liturgy w/communion for August 28, 2016 (Pentecost 15/Trinity 14/Propere 17/Ordinary 22 - C)

Texts: Jeremiah 2:4-13; Psalm 81:1, 10-16; Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16; Luke 14:1, 7-14

Call to Worship
We come to worship our God,
to listen to the One who calls us here.
We come trusting God to lead us in the coming days,
as surely as were our grandparents in the faith.
We come to worship our God,
to shout with joy to the God of all people.
We come to the Creator of all things,
to be bathed in the waters of life.
We come to the Feast of God's faithful,
to be fed by the One who never forsakes us.
We come to worship our God,
to sing aloud to the One who saves us.

Prayer of the Day
Yesterday, God of our days,
when our hunger for hope
had so weakened us
we could barely speak,
     you fed us with
     the Bread of life,
          spread with the sweet honey
          of your grace.

Today, Host to the poor,
when we look for you
in the powerful and the rich,
among the superstar and celebrity,
     we will find you
     seated with the children,
          your knees squeezed painfully
          under the table,
entertaining them
with your stories.

Tomorrow, Spirit of Service,
when we will be scrambling
for the seats of honor,
     you will be in the kitchen
          cooking dinner for the prisoners;
     making up the guest room
          for the immigrants;
     singing lullabies of love
          to the lost children
               of our world.

God in Community, Holy in One:
yesterday, today, tomorrow, always,
we will pray as Jesus has taught us, saying,
(The Lord's Prayer)

Call to Reconciliation
Despite all the ways we speak of sin - failures, mistakes, intended acts, Scripture tells us that we are stubborn-hearted, wanting only our way. But if we pause to listen to God, if we open our mouths (and our hearts) to confess our sin, God will fill our emptiness with forgiveness and hope. Let us pray together, as we say,

Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
     We are always uncomfortable, Watching God, when you notice how we want to sit in the seats of honor. We can be so proper, so good, so well-off, that it is easy to imagine we are superior to the poor. We are so busy completing our 'To Do' list each day, that we forget to do good when we have the chance.
     Forgive us, Welcoming God. Fill our emptiness with your grace and humility that we would spend our lives alongside Jesus, our Lord and Savior, throwing a party for the poor, the damaged, the prisoner, the lost, the oppressed.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
This is the good news: after what God has done for us, what can anyone or any thing do to us? We are new people, graced by our loving God.
Forgiven, embraced, welcomed by our God, we will offer open hearts and serving hands to everyone we meet. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/Offering
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, we are offered opportunities to reach out to those who are in need of hope, healing, and friendship.  This is why you pour out your blessings upon us, trusting that we will share from our abundance to bless others, even as we have been blessed.  Receive the gifts we offer, multiply them, and use them in the work of grace and justice.  In Jesus' name, we pray.  Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
People of God, lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the God who welcomes us at this Table.
Let us sing aloud to God.
We will offer glad songs of thanksgiving to the One who delivers us.

We would sing aloud
our songs of joy to you,
Master of the Universe.
Out of the emptiness of chaos,
you brought forth creation,
     plentiful with all we need,
     graced with gifts beyond imagination.
Offered the place of honor
in your good Garden,
     we filled our souls with worthless lies,
          moving out of glory's neighborhood
          into the junkyard of the world.
Prophets brought your word of judgment,
and your gracious invitation to come home,
but we would not listen
to the advice they offered to us.
Then you sent Jesus,
who humbled himself
that we might be exalted.

Therefore, we come to your Table singing,
our voices joining with those
in every time and in every place,
lifting our glad songs to you:

Holy, holy, holy are you, God our strength!
All creation shouts for you to you.
Hosanna in the highest!

We welcome the One who shows hospitality to strangers.
Hosanna in the highest!

Holy are you, Mothering God,
and blessed is Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Life.
Glorified as your True Child,
     he came to show hospitality
          to all the strangers of the world.
Deserving of the seat of honor,
     he humbled himself
          to serve the guests.
Refusing to let us be left
in the ruthless hands
of sin and death,
     he entered that prison
     we call the grace
          to set us free to live with you.

As we remember his life and death,
as we come to the Table of the resurrection,
we speak of that mystery we call faith:

Dying, you took the seat of dishonor;
Rising, you humbled yourself to be exalted;
Coming again, you will honor us in the presence on the One
     who invites all to sit at the Table of grace.

Send your Holy Spirit
upon the Bread and the Cup,
simple gifts from creation
which grace us with your life,
and upon those who gather
around your Table.
Fed with the finest wheat,
     may we go forth to fill the lives
     of all whose emptiness
          imprisons them.
Having tasted the cup of joy,
     may we bring the sweet honey of hope
          to those parched by despair.
Welcomed without question
at your Table of grace,
     may we open our hearts
     to throw a party for all
          who have been forsaken by the world.

And when we gather around the Wedding Feast in glory,
with all the poor, the broken, the prisoners, the oppressed -
we will open our mouths to receive your joy,
and sing aloud to you
our praise for all eternity:
God in Community, Holy in One. Amen.

Sending
Having listened to God's words, we are sent to serve others.
Today and tomorrow, we will follow where God leads.
Having joined in songs of praise and hope, we will carry these gifts into the world.
Today and tomorrow, we will serve beside Jesus.
Having been filled with the Spirit of justice, we will go to be with all who struggle.
Today and tomorrow, we will bring justice and peace to those around us.

(c) 2016 Thom M. Shuman

Liturgy w/communion for August 21, 2016 (Pentecost 14/Trinity 13/Proper 16/Ordinary 21 - C)

Texts: Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 71:1-6; Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:10-17

Call to Worship
Before we got up this morning
and decided to come to church,
God was waiting for us,
to welcome us with grace.
When we are unsure of what to do;
when we falter before the next step,
we come to listen to God's voice,
to learn from the One who teaches us
all we ever need to know.
When we are surrounded by cruelty and injustice;
when our fears cripple our souls,
God delivers us with steadfast love;
we are set free to be God's sons and daughters.

Prayer of the Day
Rock of Ages:
when we are afraid
and can only whisper our fear,
     yet once more,
          you bend over to listen to us.
When everyone acts as if
they can't remember our name,
     yet once more,
          you know us as your Beloved.
When we cannot seem to tell others
all that you have done for us,
     yet once more,
          you put the Word into our mouths.
And we tremble with praise.

Word of the Lord:
when others would weigh us down
with shame and guilt,
     yet once more,
          you set us free with your joy.
when we are bent over
by our doubts and questions,
     yet once more,
          you reach out to touch us
          with your hope and grace.
And we tremble with praise.

Refuge of Wisdom:
when we wander
from one crippling spirit to the next,
     yet once more,
          you lead us into hope.
When our fears
shake us to the core,
     yet once more,
          you touch us with your serenity.
When we cannot stand up
and see our way,
     yet once more,
          you take us by the hand
          to lead us home.
And we tremble with praise.

God in Community, Holy in One,
yet once more, we tremble with praise and joy
as we pray as Jesus has taught us,
(The Lord’s Prayer)

Call to Reconciliation
When we were children, we learned not to touch hot things so we would not be burned. If only avoiding sin was that easy! But sin seems so comfortable, so easy, and so harmless that we cannot stop ourselves from reaching out to touch it over and over again. Let us confess our sins to the One who chooses to forgive us and love us unconditionally, as we pray together, saying,

Unison Prayer of Confession
     Yet once more, we come to you with our prayers, Holy God. Our crippling spirits keep us from following you. Our grudges weigh us down until we cannot walk straight in your way.  Our anger becomes a fire which scorches our friends and loved ones. Our fears blind us to the goodness in those we believe to be different.
     Forgive us, God our Rock, and set us free from our wrong-doings and failures. From the day of our birth, we have known your love, grace, and hope. So may we offer you our joyful thanks, as

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, reaches out to touch us with your healing forgiveness, yet once more.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
God chooses not to turn a deaf ear to us, but to listen to our prayers. God chooses not to shame us, but to save us.
This is, indeed, good news for us! We are set free to drink deeply from the waters of life. Thanks be to God! Amen. 

Prayer of Dedication/Offering

May we welcome your gifts with thanksgiving, Loving God.  May we share you gifts with grace, so others might be touched by your love, healed by your touch, fed and nourished by your compassionate as well as the fruit of your creation.  In Jesus’ name, we pray.  Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
People of God, lift up your hearts.
We lift them to our Rock and Refuge.
Daughters and sons of God, give thanks to the One who saves us.
We lift our thanks and joy to the God who is our hope.

With a simple Word,
Creator of the Universe,
you caused chaos to tremble with fear,
     as mountains stretched
          to touch the clouds,
     and rivers cascaded
          through barren deserts.
With a single Breath,
life was given to our ancestors,
     who stood up straight
          to walk through your Garden.
But the spirit of sin
     put out its hand and crippled us;
death enslaved us
     with its unjust and cruel grip.
You touched the lips of the prophets,
appointing them to call us home,
but we could not lift our heads to see,
we would not turn our hearts to listen.
Yet, you would not leave us hopeless,
but sent Jesus to set us free.

Therefore, we joining our voices
with the faithful of all time and all places,
singing our songs of joy to you:

Holy, holy, holy, God our hope, our trust.
All creation worships you with reverence and awe.
Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the One who comes

     as the mediator of the new covenant.
Hosanna in the highest!

Holy are you, God of the Ages,
and blessed is Jesus Christ, our Hope, our Trust.
Your Child from before time,
he became a son of Abraham,
     so we might all be a part of your family.
From the day he became human,
he taught us of your hopes for us,
     so we would not give in to despair.
Seeing us held in the unrelenting grasp of sin and death,
he put out his hand and rescued us.

As we remember his life, ministry,
death, and resurrection yet once more,
we will proclaim that mystery we call faith:

Christ died, to set us free from sin;
Christ was raised, so we might be set free from death;
Christ will come again, rejoicing at all the wonderful things
     God has done.

Pour out your Holy Spirit
upon the gifts of the Bread and the Cup,
and upon your daughters and sons
who come to this Table.
We come with knees knocking,
with hearts pounding,
taking shallow breaths,
trusting and believing that
     here, we will find healing,
     here, we will be touched by your grace,
     here, we will hear your Word of hope.
Then, fed by your love
and nourished by your dreams,
     we shall go to bring your peace
          to a warring world.
     We shall speak out on behalf
          of those whom society has rendered voiceless.
     We will not be afraid to stand up straight
     and look injustice and cruelty in the eye
          and proclaim, "Enough!"

And then, when we are gathered
with our sisters and brothers
from the beginning of creation,
we will sit at the Table of the Lamb,
joining hands and lifting our eternal praise to you,
God in Community, Holy in One. Amen.

 Sending

Having been welcomed with grace,
let us go out this day.
We will go to serve all of God’s children,
deciding to meet them where they are.
Having listened to God’s Word,
Let us go to share what we have learned.
We will go to stand with those who are uncertain about life,
to walk with those who have stumbled on their journey.
Having been set free by the Spirit
let us go to be sisters and brothers with all,
we will go to release those bound by cruelty and injustice,
to bring healing to those crippled by fears.

© 2016 Thom M. Shuman

Liturgy w/communion for August 14, 2016 (Pentecost 13/Trinity 12/Proper 15/Ordinary 20 - C)

Texts: Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19; Hebrews 11:29 – 12:2; Luke 12:49-56

Call to Worship
The One who commands the clouds
calls us to be poured out for others.
We can, by faith, be the waters of peace
which quench the fires of hatred.
The One who creates mercy and hope,
longs for a world of fair play and grace.
We can, by faith, let righteousness and
justice be our constant companions.
The One who is with us in every moment
composes a love-song for our hearts.
We can, by faith, teach this song
to everyone we meet.

Prayer of the Day
Gracious God,
in the debris and litter of the world,
you clear a place
where we can be planted:
     your justice
          which can bring hope
          to the oppressed;
     your righteousness
          which can receive
          even our enemies
               in peace.

Jesus Christ:
you break up
the stony ground
of our hearts,
     so grace might be planted.

You take us by the hand
to lead us through
the waters of baptism,
     so we can stand
     on the far shores on your kingdom.

Holy Spirit,
early every morning,
you are out ahead of us,
walking the paths of life,
     clearing away all the temptations
     which would cause us
          to stumble and fall.

God in Community, Holy in One,
hear us as we pray as Jesus our Brother
has taught us, saying,
(The Lord’s Prayer)

Call to Reconciliation
Being human, we never find it easy to ask for forgiveness. But as God's children, called to live in relationship with one another, we know we must speak of how we have hurt others, so we might be forgiven and restored to new life.  Please join me as we pray to God, saying,

Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
     What more can we say, Expectant God, that you don't know already? You long for justice for all people, but it is washed away by the flood of violence in our world. You hope that righteousness will walk with us, but you hear the clear cries of those we mistreat.  You ask us to speak up for those in need, but we shut our mouths and turn away.
     Forgive us, Righteous God. Have mercy when we do not bear the fruit we could. Even though we have not lived our faith to the fullest, may we receive the promises of hope and grace you have given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
Shhh, listen! Can you hear them?  The saints of heaven - those who have gone on before us - are cheering us on as we run towards the finish line of our faith.
Thanks be to God! The victory has already been won for us in Jesus Christ.  We are forgiven. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/Offering
As you share your blessings with us, Gracious God, you show great faith that we will use them wisely and offer them generously to others.  So, by faith, may our gifts bring healing to the broken, hope to the despairing, and laughter to those who mourn.  This we pray, in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
May God be with you.
And also with you.
People of God, lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the One whose heart is broken for us.
Offer your praises and joy to the God who is our Creator.
We sing our love-songs to the One who loves us and watches over us.

It is our greatest joy
to offer our thanks and praise to you,
God of all time.
At the dawn of creation,
you sang your love-song:
     covering mountains with cooling shade,
     directing the clouds to pour rain
          upon the cedar seedlings,
     filling your garden of grace
          with all the goodness we would need.
But longing for a view
of temptation's delights,
we chopped down the hedges
surrounding Eden and protecting us,
     and we were devoured
     by sin and death.
You sent the prophets
to tend and nurture us,
pruning us so we could bear
the fruit of justice and righteousness.
You took pity on us
as we weakened ourselves by our pride,
and placed your hand upon Jesus
sending him to be strong for us.

Therefore, we lift our thanksgiving to you,
joining our voices with the witnesses of every age,
echoing their glad songs of praise,
offering our hope to you:

Holy, holy, holy are you, Creator of the Vineyard.
By faith, all creation cries out for your salvation.
Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the One who comes to run with perseverance
     the race which is set before him.
Hosanna in the highest!

Holy are you, Shepherd of all people,
and blessed is Jesus Christ,
your sign of hope and grace.
Surrounded by all the faithful,
     he humbled himself,
          coming to set the pace for us
          in this race we call life.
Worthy of all glory and praise,
     he disregarded human acclaim,
          and died on the cross
          that we might be given life.
Picking up sin and death,
and tossing them aside,
     he cleared the way to you,
          that we might enter your kingdom.

As we remember his death and resurrection,
as we look for signs of his life in our time,
we receive that mystery of faith
which is promised to us:

Christ died, the perfecter of salvation;
Christ was risen, the pioneer of resurrection;
Christ will come again, for the sake of our joy.

Pour out your Holy Spirit
upon the gifts of the bread and cup,
and upon those who, by faith,
come to your Table.
As we receive these signs
of a grace we cannot see,
     may we be transformed
     into signs of peace and hope
          for our time.
As we taste the broken Bread,
     may we draw strength
          to serve a shattered world.
As we drink of the gift of grace,
      may we become robust
          in our giving to others.
As we open our hands to you,
     may we go to hand out justice
          to the lost, the little, the least.

Then, when we are no longer divided,
but all people are gathered
around the Feast of the Lamb,
we will never turn away from you,
but will sing our songs of love
to you through all eternity,
God in Community, Holy in One,
forever and ever. Amen.

Sending

In faith, we have worshiped the God of all grace and hope.
By faith, we will go to be poured out for all around us.
Through faith, we have come to follow the Servant of the poor.
With faith, we will go with our companions,
justice and righteousness, to serve the oppressed.
By faith, we learn the songs of the Spirit of love.
In faith, we will sing these songs with those
for whom the music has gone silent.

© 2016 Thom M. Shuman