Do It

Good Morning and Welcome to Worship! Worship is often the first place that new people come into contact with this growing community of faith. And so, if you are joining us for the first time, I say to you what is said every Sunday: You are welcome here. Here is a place where all are welcome. For such is the love of God for God’s Very Good Creation.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise God, all creatures here below; praise God above, ye Heav'nly host: praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kindom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kindom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

Let us bring our prayers of intercession to God this day. Let us pray — beloved one, you have called us to your embrace and our hearts overflow with your goodness. Your power endures forever, and you love restoration and loving kindness. Let the fragrance of your love and the grace on your lips anoint us now as we pray for the church, your creation, and all those in need.

Holy God, unshackle your church from the bondage to human tradition, that we may follow you freely and serve others with a pure heart.

Loving God, prune your new creation to bud, blossom, and bring forth fruit as we care for the land and love one another.

Guiding presence, extend your way of compassionate justice in our nations and neighborhoods as we unite with people of good will to do right by those in need. Source of Love, cause us to care for the abandoned, the bereaved, the weak, and the weary; and let us embrace the distressed, the diseased, the devalued, and the denied.

Guiding Light, make us quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger and let us preserve your perfect low of love. Amen.

Loving God, by the power of your Spirit, open our hearts and minds to receive your Word that we not forget the wonders you have done, nor neglect to make them known to our children, nor fail to tell them to the world. Amen.

¹⁷Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. ¹⁸In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. ¹⁹You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. ²¹Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. ²²But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. ²³For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; ²⁴for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. ²⁵But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing. ²⁶If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

How can we know the difference between human tradition and the commandments of God? How can we know that we serve God from the heart?

Here at Community Church, we celebrate “Open Communion.” Anyone who wishes to commune may come to God’s Table. You do not have to be sinless; God forgives you. You do not have to be perfect; God encourages you to grow. You need not belong to any church; God invites all people to this meal. It is enough to love and follow God with all your heart. This is what God asks us to do. Come to God’s Table in faith this day. Go from this place to live, and never be the same again. Let us commune as siblings in Christ.

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth. Before the mountains were brought forth, or you had formed the earth, from everlasting to everlasting, you alone are God. You created light out of darkness and brought forth life on the earth. You formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life. When we turned away, and our love failed, your love remained steadfast. You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God, and spoke to us through your prophets. And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ, in whom you have revealed yourself, our light and our salvation. In his baptism and in table fellowship he took his place with us. Your Spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to announce that the time had come when you would save your people. By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection you gave birth to this, your Church, you delivered us from our slavery to empire, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.

On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith:

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and fruit of the vine. Make them be for us a profound sign of hope in the midst of human darkness, that we may be transformed into the resurrected body of Christ at work in the world.

By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet. Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty God, now and forever. Amen.

Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

The bread which we have eaten is a sharing in the bread of Christ. The cup over which we give thanks is the sharing in the cup of Christ.

Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Source of lights. Filled with God’s generosity, let us offer our gifts with gladness. Amen.

Loving God, receive these gifts from the work of your church. With these gifts we dedicate ourselves to live in the truth of your word, and follow your commandments with sincere hearts; through Jesus the Christ. Amen.

The blessing of God be with you, the love of Jesus fill you, and the power of the Holy Spirit sustain you, now and forevermore. Amen.