6:15 PM – Welcome, Logistics and Explanation of the Evening
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: 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: Each person is of sacred worth.
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.
Gathering
L: The Lord be with you!
All: And also with you.
L: Let us pray…
Opening Song – Come to Me, All Pilgrims Thirsty
Come to me, all pilgrims thirsty;
drink the water I will give.
If you knew what gift I offer,
you would come to me and live.
Jesus, ever flowing fountain,
give us water from your well.
In the gracious gift you offer
there is joy no tongue can tell.
Come to me, repentant sinners;
leave behind your guilt and shame.
Come and know divine compassion,
turn to me, I call your name.
Jesus, ever flowing fountain,
give us water from your well.
In the gracious gift you offer
there is joy no tongue can tell.
Text: Delores Dufner, OSB, b. 1939
Text © 1992, 1996 Sisters of St. Benedict, 104 Chapel Lane, St. Joseph, MN 56374
Sharing of the Bread
L: The Lord be with you.
All: And also with you.
L: Lift up your hearts.
All: We lift them to the Lord.
L: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
All: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
L: Holy God, we give you thanks for your goodness and love made known in all creation. You have been faithful through every generation, guiding your people through water and wilderness and bringing us new life in Jesus Christ. In him, you meet us at this table, sharing our hunger, our hope, and our humanity.
All: Amen
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.”
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 – Eat This Bread
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.
Text: African American spiritual
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.
6:45 Sharing the Cup
The Lord be with you
and also with you
Prayer
Let us Pray,
Gracious God, You call to all who are weary and burdened to come to You.
As one body, we come now—bringing our joys and our sorrows,
our faith and our doubts,our strength and our weariness.
As we receive this cup, we take Your yoke upon us and choose to learn from You.
Form us in Your gentleness and humility of heart.
Teach us to release what weighs us down
and to rest in the grace You freely give.
May this cup remind us of Your life poured out for the world and unite us as Your people.
Lift our burdens, renew our hope,
and send us out in Your peace.
For Your yoke is easy, and Your burden is light. Together, we receive Your rest.
All: Amen.
L: As we return to the meal that Jesus shared with his disciples on the night he was betrayed, we give thanks and praise to God for sending Jesus Christ
to dwell among us and to bear our sorrows.
Hearing His gracious invitation to all who are weary and burdened, let us come now to receive the cup of salvation together as one body.
L: 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.”
Lord’s Prayer
L: 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.
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.
And so tonight, we take the cup of wine, as our hearts burn with in us and we drink together, sharing those sacred words with one another, “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.
Text: African American spiritual
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 – The Word
Scripture Reading – Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Special Guest Wendi Gordon
Discussion
Blessing
L: Receive this Blessings
May the gentle and humble Christ,
who calls the weary to find rest
who walks with you and cradling your heart, bless you and keep you.
May your burdens be lifted, steps be guided in the way of Christ’s yoke,
that you may walk in peace, hope, and love.
In the name of the Creator, ☩ Son, and Holy Spirit—
Amen.
All: Amen.
Song – Just As I Am
Just as I am, without one plea,
but that thy blood was shed for me,
and that thou bidd’st me come to thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, and waiting not
to rid my soul of one dark blot,
to thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Text: Charlotte Elliott, 1789-1871; Text: Jaroslav J. Vajda, b. 1919 © 1983 Jaroslav J. Vajda
Sending
L: Go In Peace, Love ands Serve the Lord
All: Thanks be to God and Weeee Will.