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!
6:15 PM – Welcome, Logistics and Explanation of the Evening
Welcoming Litany…
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
Gathering
The Peace of Christ be with you
And Also With you
Candle Lighting
There once was a man who said and did such amazing things,
that people followed him wherever he went.
They were curious about who he was,
and why their hearts felt different when they were near him.
One day, when they asked him, he said:
“I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life.”
So tonight, as we gather at this table,
we light this candle—the light of Christ before us—
a sign that He is present here among us,
and that His light remains with us, now and always.
Gathering Prayer
The Lord be with you!
And also with you.
Let us pray…
Opening Song – All Are Welcome
Let us build a house where love can dwell
and all can safely live,
a place where saints and children tell
how hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hopes and dreams and visions,
rock of faith and vault of grace;
here the love of Christ shall end divisions:
All are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where love is found
in water, wine and wheat:
a banquet hall on holy ground
where peace and justice meet.
Here the love of God, through Jesus,
is revealed in time and space;
as we share in Christ the feast that frees us:
All are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.
Sharing of the Bread
The greatest promise we have of God’s mercy and forgiveness is found in this meal. Here God feeds us with the presence of Jesus Christ.
Know that EVERYONE is welcome at this table.
In the night in which Jesus was betrayed, he gathered together with his friends for dinner. And on that night, he took the bread, broke it, and gave it to his friends 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.”
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Bread is passed to your neighbor, saying: “The body of Christ given for you.”
Communion Song – Let Us Break Bread Together
Let us break bread together on our knees;
let us break bread together on our knees.
When I fall on my knees,
with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy on me.
Post-Bread Blessing
Be strengthened this night by the presence of Christ made known to you in the bread and in one another. Amen.
We’ll spend the first part of our meal in conversation hearing about our week. You are invited to share stories from your highs and lows from the week as well as where you saw Jesus at work in our world.
The Word
The Lord be with you
and also with you
Prayer
Let us Pray
Gracious God,
By your tender compassion, your word became flesh
and dwelt among us that the world might know your love.
Be present with us now. Turn our hearts in trust toward you
and in love toward you and in love toward one another.
Through Jesus Christ now and forever.
Amen
Reading – Luke
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him. Jesus went into the Pharisee’s house and sat at the table. 37 A sinful woman in the town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house. So she brought an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 She stood at Jesus’ feet, crying, and began to wash his feet with her tears. She dried his feet with her hair, kissed them many times and rubbed them with the perfume. 39 The Pharisee who asked Jesus to come to his house saw this. He thought to himself, “If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that the woman who is touching him is a sinner!”
44 Then Jesus turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave me no water for my feet. But she washed my feet with her tears and dried my feet with her hair. 45 You did not kiss me, but she has been kissing my feet since I came in! 46 You did not rub my head with oil, but she rubbed my feet with perfume. 47 I tell you that her many sins are forgiven. This is clear because she showed great love. But the person who has only a little to be forgiven will feel only a little love.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
A time for reflection
To you all hearts are open
Give us Lord a new heart
Lord’s Prayer
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us, remembering that In this prayer God sees and hears all that our hearts need and long for.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.
Sharing the Cup
When the dinner had ended that night, Jesus took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to all 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.”
Wine/Juice is passed to your neighbor, saying: “The blood of Christ shed for you.”
Communion Song
Let us drink wine together on our knees;
let us drink wine together on our knees.
When I fall on my knees,
with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy on me.
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.
7:00 PM – Prayer around the Cross
A Reading from CS Lewis
To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken.
If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one,
not even an animal.
Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries;
avoid all entanglements.
Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness.
But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change.
It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.
The Four Loves
A time for reflection.
To you all hearts are open
Give us Lord a new heart
Prayer
God of Mercy you know us better than we know ourselves, and you still love us.
Forgive us, make our hearts new, and give us the strength we need through your Spirit to live in a way that points others to you.
Invitation to the Cross
Jesus in his suffering and death,
reveals the very heart of God,
a heart of pure unspeakable love,
a heart that risks everything for the sake of love,
a heart open to the suffering of others
and broken by the cruelty of others,
a heart alive with love that death could not hold
Come, to the cross,
the heart of God.
Bring your own heart as it is–
hardened or cold,
broken or empty
fearful or unfaithful,
for God welcomes it
and breaths into it the Spirit of Christ’s Love.
Come, to the Cross,
The heart of God.
You are invited to light a candle as you release your worries and hand them back to God. Join in song as you desire as a way to focus you prayers and make space for the prayers of others.
Songs at the Cross
Ubi Caritas
Ubi caritas et amor,
ubi caritas, Deus ibi est.
Text: Latin antiphon, 9th cent.; Taizé Community; tr. With One Voice Text © 1979 Les Presses de Taizé, GIA Publications, Inc., agent. 7404 S. Mason Ave., Chicago, IL 60638. www.giamusic.com. 800.442.3358. All rights reserved. Used by permission. English text © 1995 Augsburg Fortress.
In Silence We Wait
In silence we wait,
in darkness you come to us;
bring us your light.
Text: Susan Masters, b. 1957 © 2009 Augsburg Fortress
Lord, Listen To Your Children Praying
Lord, listen to your children praying,
Lord, send your Spirit in this place;
Lord, listen to your children praying,
send us love, send us pow’r, send us grace.
Text: Ken Medema, b. 1943
Text © 1973 Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, IL 60188. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Concluding Prayer
Let us pray.
Compassionate God,
in Christ’s gentle and suffering love
you have shown us the way of abundant life.
May our hearts know the joy and freedom
for which you have created us, now and forever
Amen.
Closing Song – God Be With You Till We Meet Again
God be with you till we meet again;
by good counsels guide, uphold you,
with a shepherd’s care enfold you;
God be with you till we meet again.
Refrain
Till we meet, (till we meet,)
till we meet, (till we meet again,)
till we meet at Jesus’ feet; (till we meet,)
till we meet, (till we meet,)
till we meet, (till we meet again.)
God be with you till we meet again.
7:45 – Blessing and Sending
The God of righteousness,
who gives justice to the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry,
who sets the prisoners free,
bless you now and forever.
Amen.
Go in peace. Serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God. And Weee Will!
Liturgy adapted from Holden Prayer Around the Cross: A Heart of Flesh