Our Ministry, Worship: "Let Us Pray" - AFC 1997
Luke 24:28-35; 22:19; Matt. 9:10-13; Luke 7:36-50; John 13:1-22; 21:9-14
Be aware, and by grace you will be thankful.
Common prayer expresses and nurtures the church's life
We learn a lot about our heritage and our identity by the stories shared around the dinner table, the bucket of popcorn, the campfire, the table of our Lord.
Noticing now, and remembering from before, yields thankful hearts.
When we are too busy aiming to make something happen, we can miss the
grace-full sweep of what has been and still is happening in spite of us.
Thanksgiving is, in large part, a matter of noticing. If we do not see "the
beauty of the earth," our hymns will not raise to God much "grateful
praise."
If we don't remember what stuff in life that God has brought us through or what life could be like without his grace, it is quite natural for us to be empty of thankfulness.
Standing full in our own present between the promise and the glory, we remember
our Lord in the breaking of bread, and remembering, offer our thanks and
our lives.
Remember, and be thankful (together).
Up with Your Hearts!
Eternal God, holy and mighty,
it is truly right and our greatest joy
to give you thanks and praise, and to worship you in
every place where your glory abides.
You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your
hands.
They shall perish , but you shall endure.
You are always the same
and your years will never end.
You made us in your image
and called us to be your people,
but we turned from you,
leaving sin and death to reign.
Still you loved us and sought us.
In Christ your grace defeated death and opened the way to eternal life.
You are holy, O God of majesty,
and blessed is Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.
You sent your only-begotten, in whom your fullness dwells,
to be for us the way, the truth, and the life.
Revealing your love,
Jesus taught those who would hear him,
healed those who believed in him,
received all you sought him
and lifted the burden of their sin.
We glorify you for your great power and
love at work in Christ.
By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection,
you gave birth to you church,
delivered us from slavery to sin and death,
and made us a new people by water and the Spirit.
We give you thanks that the Lord Jesus,
on the night before he died,
took bread,
and after giving thanks to you,
he broke it, and gave it to his disciples,
saying:
Take, eat.
This is my body, given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.
In the same way he took the cup, saying:
This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood,
shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.
Gracious God,
pour out your Holy Spirit upon us
and upon these your gifts of bread and wine,
that the bread we break
and the cup we bless
may be the communion of the body and blood of Christ.
By your Spirit unite us with the living Christ
and with all who are baptized in his name,
that we may be one in ministry in every place.
As this bread is Christ's body for us,
send us out to be the body of Christ in the world.
Remembering your gracious acts in Jesus Christ,
we take from your creation this bread and this wine
and joyfully celebrate his dying and rising,
as we await the day of his coming.
With thanksgiving, we offer our very selves to you
to be a living and holy sacrifice,
dedicated to your service.
Book of Common Worship (PCUSA)