All Age Communion Oct 18

Grace

So my friends

 welcome to the table
welcome to your place here
because everyone has a place
There is no top table
no children’s table
just one table
for everyone to gather round
because all are equally important

Some understand more than others
but none of us fully understand
some of us have been here before
but none of us belong more than anything else
some of us have done this before
but none of us knows what will happen today

when we share

but all of us
are invited
and all of us
are loved
and all of us
are welcome

Come
we gather
let us pray

Lord Jesus
thank you for the bread
and the story it tells
for the wine
and the picture it offers
May we break the bread
and share the story
pour the wine
and love the world
Thank you for the food of heaven
on this earthly table
and for the community
the family
the kingdom
we become part of
today

The Final Story

The disciples and Jesus were gathered in the upper room
and they had already told the oldest story they had
of their ancestors in Egypt as slaves
and Moses and the passover angel
freed the Hebrews from slavery
and led them into the wilderness and freedom
It was the most important story they had

Except Jesus moved the story on
taking the same bread they used
unleavened
to remind them of all they had to eat
on the night they escaped Egypt
and said
I will be with you only a short time longer
this bread is a symbol of my body
broken for you
whenever you eat of it again
remember me

And the bitter wine
that reminded them of their escape a thousand years before
Jesus lifted
and said
this cup
is the sign of the new covenant
a new promise from god
sealed in my blood
drink of it all of you
and remember me

They passed the bread and wine around the disciples
and as they did then
we do so now

Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world
have mercy on us
Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world
grant us your peace

As we share the bread and wine

we sing the stories of Jesus
which we continue to break open this morning

The gifts of God for the people of God.

Jesus in the Temple

Luke 2:41-52

[An All-Age Communion Service]

Bread Breaking & Story Telling
(798 The Peace of the earth)

We had baked bread with the title of a bread stories in each . As we broke the bread and a slip of paper with a title of a story written on it was revealed we retold the story.

Zacchaeus
Such a wee man… who climbed a tree… to see Jesus… He thought that would be the high point of the day… but the highpoint was actually him climbing down the tree to ground level again… and finding himself inviting Jesus for tea…

No one knows what was said at the table between Zacchaeus and Jesus… but it was enough to change Zacchaeus… and instead of being a tax collector that skimmed off a profit for himself from the tax he collected… he decided to give it away…

Things change when you sit down and eat with Jesus
(The peace of the earth)

Mana
O they were hungry… hungry like they had never been before… There were thousands of Hebrews who escaped Egypt with the Prince of Egypt… Moses… “Freedom” they thought… a land of milk and honey… but they ended up in a wilderness… where there was nothing to eat… and O they were hungry…

But in the morning… every morning… across the ground… manna fell… like wafers of bread… good enough to eat… and they did… every one of them… every morning
(The peace of the earth)

5000
There was no way they could feed them all… It was lunch time… and there was a crowd of five thousand and more… Who had enough to feed that many people?…

One wee boy thought he did… and offered his five loaves and two fish to Jesus… who loved him for it… blessed his picnic… and started to share it… and the miracle happened… Everyone caught on… and there was enough for all… more than enough…

It is amazing what happens when the sharing begins…
(The peace of the earth)

The Widow of Zarephath
It was in the middle of a famine… and the widow had enough oil and four to make more loaf of bread… Generosity being her middle name she made the last loaf… and shared it with the strange prophet Elijah… who had wandered into town…

She and her son had had they last meal… and lay down… but in the morning… they woke to find… in the oil jar there was just enough oil still… and in the sack, enough flour for one more loaf…

And she made one more loaf… and lay down once more… they would now starve… or so they thought… but the next morning… once more… there was just enough oil.. .and just enough flour… and so it continued every day till the famine was over… just enough… just enough to share… just enough hope… just enough blessing to see them through…
(The peace of the earth)

Dedication

Loving God
we offer ourselves
we offer our gifts
our dreams
our hopes

we offer our talents
our skills
our generosity

we offer our questions
our wonder
our doubts

we offer our vision
our energy
our enthusiasm

we offer our prayers
for the world
and for each other

we offer our longings for places of conflict
and people with hunger
and those without homes

we offer all we are
and hope to be
and we offer it all
in the name of love

So be it
Amen