Introduction to Communion Sunday

 

We have the great joy of hearing Pippa Phillips preach again! I hope her words are as encouraging to you as they were to me. Before you continue with the service, please rummage through your fridge and cupboards for some bread and juice. Today we meet Jesus at the table and accept his generous offer of love, forgiveness, and commissioning to be his disciples. It doesn’t matter if the bread is pita, tortilla, pancake, or rye. The same with the juice; it doesn’t matter if it is coffee, tea, water, or milk. Jesus uses these simple elements to reign and rule in our lives. We may not be able to commune together in our sanctuary, but through the Spirit, we all enter into this meal together as one Church. Let us worship with joy, vitality, and hope!

 

Call to Worship (Adapted from Katherine Hawker)

(inspired by John 13:34-35; 1 John 4:7)

 

Jesus offers a new-old commandment,
that we should love each other.

 

With the incredible power
and the unfathomable depth
of God’s love for us
we can
we must
love one another.

 

And it is in this
our love for one another
that the world will know
whom and what we worship.

 

Come, children of God,
let us love one another.

 

Scripture Reading – Deuteronomy 6:5

 

 

Song – All Creatures of Our God and King

 

Prayer of Confession

(based on John 13:34-35)

 

God’s love for the world has been revealed in Jesus Christ, who certainly loved us to the uttermost; Jesus – Savior and Lord – who at his last meal with his disciples gave them – and us – that new commandment: “…love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

 

Merciful God,
we confess that so often our discipleship has been weak …
when we have failed to serve as Jesus served;
forgive us.

 

When we have failed to love one another as Jesus loves us;
forgive us.

 

When we have been happy to proclaim our devotion to Jesus with
our lips and then denied him by our actions;
forgive us.

 

Merciful God, empower us by your Spirit to be steady and true
to you in every time of trial; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

 

Assurance of Forgiveness

(based on John 12:47; 13:1)

 

Jesus said: “I came not to judge the world, but to save the world”
and “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end”

 

The good news therefore is this: In Jesus Christ, we are loved and we are forgiven.
Thanks be to God!

 

Scripture Reading – John 13:34-35 (NRSV)

 

 

Sermon/Meditation – Pippa Phillips

 

 

Questions for Reflection

 

1. Have you always thought  this commandment to “love one another” was the same as the Royal Commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself?” Did you have some reasons that are not mentioned in the sermon? If so, what are they?

 

2. What are some specific strategies we could use to love other Christians without forming an exclusive “holy huddle,” shutting out unbelievers?

 

3. Have you ever been “burned” in a relationship with another Christian? How did you respond? Did you find a way to “love through” that experience rather than retreating to safe, but unloving behavior? What are some other strategies that could be used in this kind of situation?

 

4.What are some changes you might make in your own personal life or that we might make as a church to open yourself/ourselves to loving Christians who are different from you/us?

 

5. Name some groups or types of Christians you personally find hard to love. What’s your strategy for reaching out to begin to love them?

 

Communion

 

 

It is our tradition to take communion on the first Sunday of each month. We celebrate a great mystery when we participate in this meal. Christ shows up. In simple elements, we remember Christ’s actions, and therefore participate in his redemptive love, his commissioning, and get a foretaste of the banquet that is to come. Scripture gives us the image of highways and byways and bushes being searched to invite all of humanity to the table – the great banquet.

 

Our Lord Jesus Christ, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, “Take, eat; this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

 

“In the same way also he took the cup after supper, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, “Drink of it all of you; this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you and for many, for the remission of sins. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

 

As you take this meal in your home, know that you are not alone. Christ is with you. If you do not have a family member with you to utter, “Christ’s body for you” or “Christ’s blood for you”, know that Jesus is right there with you offering himself to you.

 

Taste and see just how good the LORD our God is!

 

Song – They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love (For King and Country)

 

Benediction

 

The savior of the world loved the disciples with his very being. He washed their feet. He served them their first communion even though they didn’t understand the gravity of the situation. He promised his disciples the Holy Spirit. Jesus does the same for us. May the might of the Holy Spirit empower each of us to love one another as Jesus loves us. Amen.