Presider: May God be among us.
All: God’s Spirit is with us now.
Presider: Let us lift our hearts.
All: May the world be filled with joy.
Presider: Let us rejoice in God’s gift of Jesus.
All: We rejoice and give thanks.
Presider: Loving God, we give you thanks. In the beginning, you made the world with all the creatures of land and sea and air. You taught us stories that would help us to be steady and faithful – like the ground we walk on. You bless us with imagination, freedom and spirit – like the wind that sings through the trees. You call us to look up and see the moon, the stars and the sun so that we may recognize your beauty in creation.
You give us life and the knowledge of good and evil but sometimes we turn away from you and from each other and care more for ourselves. Sometimes we forget the Bible stories of courage and forget to walk lightly on the earth. Sometimes we forget how the waters of baptism give us hope and new life.
In Jesus, you gave us a person and a story that would help us to remember your love and how to be your people. And so we sing!
All: Gloria! Gloria in excelsis Deo! Gloria! Gloria! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Presider: Maker of all, blessed are you for sending us a true and faithful light, Jesus our brother and friend. On the night before he died, he gathered together with his friends. During supper, he took bread and wine and gave thanks to God. He shared the bread with his friends and said: “Take this and eat it in remembrance of me.” Then he took the cup of wine and blessed it. This cup reminds us that we are Jesus’ family, part of the eternal life of God’s promises given for everyone who needs him.
Blessed God, we do this in remembrance of Jesus’ life on earth, of the love he has for us all, and in faith that we too will share in his resurrection. With hope, we look for him in the world and pray to see his face in heaven. Send your Holy Spirit upon this bread and wine so that we may know that Jesus is here with us.
With all the creatures and with everything in your world, renew us in the power of your love so that peace and justice may be revealed.
All: Gloria! Gloria in excelsis Deo! Gloria! Gloria! Alleluia! Alleluia!
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