Invitation to the Table
Come to this table,
not because the tomb was filled with certainty,
but because it was empty.
Come, not because we fully understand resurrection,
but because we remember the One
who broke bread with friends,
even as the world broke him.
Come, not to escape the world,
but to receive strength to live within it—
as resurrection people
in a Good Friday world.
Come to this table,
you who are perplexed,
you who remember,
you who bear witness,
you who long for life
in the midst of death.
This is not our table.
This is Christ’s table.
And all who hunger for his presence
are welcome here.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
God of the living,
we give you thanks for Jesus Christ,
who shared our human life,
who walked the dusty roads,
ate with outcasts,
touched the unclean,
and loved with a love that cost him everything.
In him,
you turned the world upside down.
In him,
you showed us that death does not get the final word.
In him,
you drew near to us
and taught us to remember.
And so,
on this Easter morning,
we give thanks not only for the empty tomb,
but for the broken bread
that still feeds us.
For the cup poured out,
that still quenches the thirst of justice.
For the community gathered,
that still bears witness
to the presence of the risen Christ.
With all your saints,
and all your creation,
we lift our voices in praise:
All:
Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed.
Alleluia!
Words of Institution
On the night he was betrayed,
Jesus took bread,
gave thanks,
broke it,
and gave it to his friends, saying:
“This is my body, broken for you.
Do this to remember me.”
And after supper he took the cup,
saying:
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood,
poured out for you and for many
for the forgiveness of sins.
As often as you drink it,
do so in remembrance of me.”
So, as we break bread and share the cup,
we proclaim not just his death,
but his rising.
We proclaim not only his absence,
but his presence.
We proclaim not a return to the old,
but the beginning of something new.
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
Prayer of Consecration
Send your Holy Spirit, O God,
upon us and upon these gifts of bread and wine.
That they may be for us
the body and blood of Christ.
And that we—your people—
may be the body of Christ in the world:
Disrupted and resurrected,
broken and shared,
poured out and alive.
Amen.
As we break bread and drink wine together,
all are invited to share with us in this food that comes as a gift from God.
If, however, you would rather not take communion this morning,
please just let the elements pass you by.
Please eat the bread as soon as it has been served to you,
but retain the cup of wine until all have been served,
so that we can all drink together.
The Sharing of Bread and Cup
The bread we break
is a sharing in the body of Christ.
Though we are many,
we are one body,
for we all share in one bread.
<Bread is distributed and eaten>
<The cup is raised for blessing>
This cup we bless
is a sharing in the life of Christ.
<Wine is distributed>
May this wine nourish us
to live resurrection.
Drink, for all is now ready.
<Wine is drunk>
Prayer After Communion
God of the empty tomb,
we thank you for feeding us
with the bread of presence
and the cup of promise.
Send us out
to be witnesses of resurrection:
to challenge what is dead,
to speak what is silenced,
to remember what is true,
to live as your body in the world.
In the name of the Risen Christ,
Amen.
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