TMUC’s first communion service of 2021

As per our practice during the pandemic, we will be holding a communion service on ZOOM.

Some of our community will not be able to join us on ZOOM so we have produced this resource for you to follow at home. If you are following at home, or if you are joining on ZOOM, we will be one community, beginning the service at 10:00 Sunday, January 24.

Here is the ZOOM link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7538449219

Phone: 1-204-272-7920
Meeting ID: 753 844 9219
We look forward to seeing you,
Jeff and Carol

WHAT WILL I NEED? 

At this time of COVID-19, what is important is how you approach this service of communion, not the elements you bring with you. If you are able and it is safe to do so, plan ahead so you have bread and juice prepared and ready. If you are not able or if it is not safe for you, please gather something you feel is appropriate to use – a cracker and water are perfectly acceptable to God. These are symbols and are intended to bring comfort and hope to you and to offer respect to God.

As we prepare to eat and drink these elements that are part of God’s creation, let us remember who we are as beloved children of God.  Let us remember that we are part of God’s creation.

And, let’s look at some images.

Is there one of these images that stands out for you?  Is there one that connects with you and your own sense of connection to creation, or to the experiences of your week?

Let’s read what the book of Genesis says of the goodness of God’s creation:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…
…God saw all that God had made, and it was very good. 
                                                                   -Genesis 1:1, 31

It was good.  In the midst of all that surrounds us, we are reminded of goodness.  We are reminded of grace.  And we are reminded that the breaking of bread and the lifting of a cup are signs for us that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.

And so we remember all the times that we have gathered to break bread and share a cup.  In our homes, far apart from one another, we are still united in love and in this act of remembering.

COMMUNION PRAYER
God, we gather today at many tables,
knowing that you are present at each table.
We gather joyfully, prayer-fully and hopefully.
We gather at the invitation of the resurrected Christ
who welcomes all who hunger and thirst for grace and peace and righteousness.

God, You created the world.
At the heart of all creation is Your heart our Creator.
You have birthed stars, planets, galaxies and universes,
light and shadow
and a wondrous array of life.

We are thankful for this amazing, diverse, precious world that is our home.
All the times and seasons of life are held in Your grace.

We are thankful for the ways you have nurture our humanity and remind us that we are Your children.

You have inspired people, young and old, to be bearers of courageous love.
You have called us to acts of confession, forgiveness and reconciliation.

As we come to this table, we remember how Jesus embodied Your love.
He suffered and died because he refused to participate in the death-dealing violence of the world; but death could not and cannot overcome Your creative love. We are now a people of resurrection faith.

Jesus taught those who listened, healed those who trusted and welcomed all who sought him.
He enacted peace in the midst of violence, love in the face of hate.
He offered new life to all who suffered.

We thank you, God, for the incredible gift of Jesus, the Word made flesh.
As companions of Jesus, the Christ, we gather at this table.

We remember how Jesus shared a meal with his friends.
He blessed the bread, broke it and shared it saying, “This is my body, broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

He blessed the cup and said, “This is my life, poured out for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

God, bless this bread and cup, that in the blessing, breaking and sharing, Christ might be born again in our lives.
AMEN

SHARING OF THE ELEMENTS
 
PRAYER

Thank you, O gracious God, for this feast of life.
We are fed by your love;
we are strengthened by your life
we are filled with hope and healing.
Enable us to live your love,
to feed as we have been fed,
to forgive as we have been forgiven,
and always to love as we have been loved.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.

BLESSING

Be in the peace of Christ, the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, this day and always.
Amen.