WELCOME, LOGISTICS AND EXPLANATION OF THE EVENING
Welcome to Dinner Church and Prayers around the Cross at Treehouse!
We are thrilled you are here. If it is new to you, not to worry! We will guide you through everything.
Things to know about your time with Treehouse…
You are welcome here and we are blessed by your presence!
Come and go as you need.
Restrooms are all-Gender and located in the hall to the right.
Communion: bread is gluten-free, wine (red) & white grape juice (clear) are available.
WELCOME TO THE TABLE
L: Alleluia! Christ is risen.
All: Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!
L: As we gather at this dinner table, we welcome one another to the community we share.
L: We celebrate that each person is of sacred worth.
All: We honor the divine image in every human life.
L: We embrace all people, affirming the gifts of race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and faith.
All: We affirm and welcome all people.
L: We are committed to working for racial equality and equality for all.
All: We commit ourselves to justice and equality.
L: No matter where you are on your journey, and regardless of who you are or who you love,
All: You are welcome here.
Opening Song – All New Welcome
1 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.
2 Let us build a house where prophets speak,
and words are strong and true,
where all God’s children dare to seek
to dream God’s reign anew.
Here the cross shall stand as witness
and as symbol of God’s grace;
here as one we claim the faith of Jesus:
All are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.
3 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.
THANKSGIVING FOR BAPTISM
L: Alleluia! Christ is risen.
All: Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God, the fountain of living water, the rock who gave us birth, our light and our salvation.
All: Amen.
L: Joined to Christ in the waters of baptism, we are clothed with God’s mercy and forgiveness. Let us give thanks for the gift of baptism.
We give you thanks, O God, for in the beginning you created us in your image and placed us in a well-watered garden. In the desert, you promised pools of water for the parched, and you gave us water from the rock. When we did not know the way, you sent the Good Shepherd to lead us to still waters. At the cross, you washed us from Jesus’ wounded side, and on this day, you shower us again with the water of life. We praise you for your salvation through water, for the water in this font, and for all water everywhere. Bathe us in your forgiveness, grace, and love. Satisfy all who thirst, and give us the life only you can give.To you be given honor and praise through Jesus Christ, our living water, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and forever.
All: Amen.
Word John 20:19–31
19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Reflection
It’s striking that on the very first Easter evening, the disciples are not celebrating—they’re hiding. The tomb is empty. Mary has seen the Lord. The news is already out. And still… the doors are locked. Fear has not yet caught up to the resurrection. Where God’s promises, Christ’s victory, the assurance of forgiveness—and yet something still feels anxious, uncertain, closed off. And that’s exactly where Jesus shows up. Not after the fear is gone. Not once everything is figured out. But right there, in the middle of it. “Peace be with you.”
This is not just a greeting. It is a gift. It is the peace of the risen Christ—the kind of peace that has already passed through death and come out the other side. A peace that does not depend on circumstances, but on the living presence of Jesus. So wherever you find yourself today— whatever doors feel closed, whatever fears linger—hear this: Christ stands among you. And he is still saying, “Peace be with you.”
Prayer:
Risen Christ, you meet us in the places we feel closed off and afraid. Speak your peace into our hearts, and loosen what I am holding onto. Help me to live in your forgiveness and share your peace with others.
All: Amen.
Communion
L: In this meal is found the greatest promise we have of God’s mercy and forgiveness. Here God feeds us with the presence of Jesus Christ.
In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:
“Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”
Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying:
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.”
L: Now Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit we pray now the prayer Jesus taught us.
All: 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.
All are welcome to Come to the table of new life. Receive the risen Lord.
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.
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-Communion Blessing
Be strengthened this night by the presence of Christ made known to you in the bread and in one another.
Amen.
L: Let us Pray,
God of our salvation, We thank You for this holy meal that restores us, reconciles us to You, and strengthens us for the journey. Through the body and blood of Christ, make us one in Him and send us into the world as witnesses to Your redeeming love. Through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
All: Amen.
Song – Go, My Children, with My Blessing
1 “Go, my children, with my blessing, never alone.
Waking, sleeping, I am with you, you are my own.
In my love’s baptismal river
I have made you mine forever.
Go, my children, with my blessing, you are my own.
2 “Go, my children, sins forgiven, at peace and pure.
Here you learned how much I love you, what I can cure.
Here you heard my dear Son’s story,
here you touched him, saw his glory.
Go, my children, sins forgiven, at peace and pure.
3 “Go, my children, fed and nourished, closer to me.
Grow in love and love by serving, joyful and free.
Here my Spirit’s power filled you,
here his tender comfort stilled you.
Go, my children, fed and nourished, joyful and free.
4 “I the Lord will bless and keep you, and give you peace.
I the Lord will smile upon you, and give you peace.
I the Lord will be your Father,
Savior, Comforter and Brother.
Go, my children, I will keep you, and give you peace.”
Text: Jaroslav J. Vajda, b. 1919
© 1983 Jaroslav J. Vajda
L: Go In Peace, Praise and Serve the Lord Alleluia!
All: Thanks be to God and Weeee Will! Alleluia!