Holy Communion - Passion Sunday 9th March 2008 - MS Black Watch

God invites us on a journey,
to walk the road of faith with Christ.

We journey with confidence, for God is with us.
We give thanks for God's steadfast love.

Come, faithful people, and find that quiet centre
where God may enter in.

We gather as God's people,
hungry for holy presence,
ready for God's Word to us.

Let us worship God.

HYMN: To mock your reign, O dearest Lord,

God, you come to us
and we are slow to see;
you speak to us
and we are slow to hear;
you lead us on
and we are slow to follow;
you love us to death
and we are slow to respond.

God, make of our churches places to find you;
make of our congregations people who know you;
make of our worship a channel to praise you.
make of us, your people, a community to serve you.

Forgive us,
where we have sought to avoid such challenges:
where we have ignored the cross or denied our own pain,
or turned our backs on the sufferings of others.

Strengthen us
as we meet here today,
that we may be confident of your Spirit here with us.

God, we believe.
Help us where our faith falls short.
Amen

HYMN: Come and be surprised, all nations

Reading: St Mark 9: 30 - 37

Reflection

"A New Creed"

We are not alone,
we live in God's world.

We believe in God:
who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus,
the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and others
by the Spirit.

We trust in God.

We are called to be the Church:
to celebrate God's presence,
to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.

In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.

We are not alone.
Thanks be to God.
(From the United Church of Canada)

HYMN: Brother, sister, let me serve you

Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body,
for we all partake of the one bread.
In Christ, God breaks down the walls that make us strangers to ourselves,
and divide us from one another.

We are the body of Christ.

At this table we bear witness to our faith.
At this table, God brings wholeness out of brokenness,
and healing to our world.

So let us break bread together,
and commit ourselves in service as we worship God.

The Spirit of God be with you
And also with you.

Turn to God, the source of life
We lift our hearts in prayer.

Let us give thanks.
We offer joyful thanks to God.

Let us remember together that vision of God's reign
shown to us in Jesus at table:
he shared food with followers and friends,
with saints and sinners,
with crowds of thousands on the hillside,
and a few friends in an upper room.

On the night before he died, he had supper with his companions.
He took a loaf of bread, and after giving thanks,
he broke it, and gave it to them, saying:
"Take, eat.
Do this in remembrance of me."

Then later he took a cup, and after giving thanks,
he passed it among them, saying:
"Drink this.
Do this in remembrance of me."

Through this loaf and cup, Christ lives within us.
In word and deed, Christ lives among us.

And so, remembering your boundless love for us in Christ,
we offer you our praise and our lives.

Send your Holy Spirit on us and what we do,
that as we break bread and drink wine,
we may be united with Christ, he in us and we in him,
that we who are many may be one in him.

Make us strong in faith and love,
that we may become truly human,
as you created us to be.
We pray this in the name of Christ,
Amen

Blessed are those who make peace:
they shall be called sons and daughters of God.

We meet in the name of Christ and share his peace.

The peace of Christ be with you all -
and also with you.

So now, as Jesus taught his disciples, let us pray together -

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.
Lead us not into temptation,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever.
Amen

The bread that we break, and the cup for which we give thanks
are our sharing in the life of Christ.

The Sharing of bread and wine

Life-giving God, may we, who share Christ's body, live his risen life;
we, who drink his cup, bring new life to others;
we, whom the Spirit lights, give light to the world.

Keep us firm in the hope you have set before us,
so that we and all your children shall be free,
and all creation will live to praise your name.
Amen.

HYMN: Come, let us live by love

Now may the grace of God, deeper than our imagination,
the strength of Christ, stronger than our need;
and the communion of the Holy Spirit, richer than our togetherness;
guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows.
Amen.