To long-time Lutherans, Christians from every tradition, and people new to the faith.
We welcome you
To all who have no church home, want to follow Christ, have doubts or do not believe.
We welcome you
To people of every age and size, color and culture, gender identity, sexual orientation, and marital status, ability, disability, and challenge.
We welcome you
To believers, non-believers, questioners, and questioning believers.
This is a place where you are welcome to: celebrate and struggle, rejoice and recover.
AMEN
We acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the traditional territory of the Sana and Tonkawa peoples. It is also important to acknowledge that we are here today due to the exclusion and erasure of many indigenous people from their native land, including the land on which we stand today. We honor with gratitude the land itself and its original people.
Treehouse Dinner Church
Welcome to Dinner Church at Treehouse! We are thrilled you are here. Tonight’s worship mirrors a form of worship known by the earliest Christians. If it is new to you, not to worry! We will guide you through everything. Take a moment in prayer to settle yourself and recognize the presence of God already at your table. Then relax and enjoy this night!
Welcome and Explanation of the Night
The Lord be with you!
And also with you.
Let us pray…
Opening Song –
Sharing of the Bread
On the night before Jesus was to die, he gathered together with his friends for dinner. And on that night, he took the bread, broke it, and gave it to them saying, “Take and eat, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
And so tonight, we do the same. We take bread, broken for us, and share it with one another with those sacred words, “The body of Christ given for you.”
Communion Song –
Post-Bread Blessing
Be strengthened this night by the presence of Christ made known to you in the bread and in one another. Amen.
Invitation to Meal
Reading – Luke 13:31-35
At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”
Question
What is this image of Jesus as a mother hen?
Prayers
Sharing the Cup
When supper had ended that night, Jesus took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this as often as you drink in remembrance of me.”
And so tonight, we take the cup of wine, and we drink together, “The blood of Christ shed for you.”
Communion Song
Post-Wine Blessing
Now that you have tasted the goodness of God in bread and wine, let us be the body of Christ, blessed and broken for the whole world. Amen.
Closing Song –
Blessing and Sending
Whatever wilderness the Spirit has brought you to:
walk in boldness, as a beloved child of God
walk in peace, under the shelter of the Most High
walk in faith, knowing Christ walks with you. Amen.