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A Brief Order for the Celebration of the Lord's Supper

M = Minister
C = Congregation

M: Beloved in the Lord Jesus, the meal which we are about to celebrate is a feast of remembrance, communion, and hope.

C: We come to remember that Jesus was sent into the world to assume our flesh and blood, to become God with us, that we might be redeemed.

M: We come to have communion with this same Christ who has promised to be with us even to the end of the world.

C: We come in hope, believing that this bread and this cup are a pledge and a foretaste of a new heaven and a new earth, where we shall behold God.

M: Jesus said, I was hungry and you gave me food;

C: I was thirsty and you gave me drink.

M: Here is the bread of life given for us;

C: let all who hunger come and eat.

M: Here is the fruit of the vine, poured out for us;

C: let all who thirst come and drink.

M: The Lord be with you.

C: And also with you.

M: Lift up your hearts!

C: We lift them up to the Lord.

M: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

C: It is right to give our thanks and praise!

M: Holy and right it is to give you thanks and praise at all times and in all places,

O God our Creator. Source of all life and goodness,

You created heaven with all its hosts and the earth with all its plenty

and preserve us by your providence.

C: When we disobeyed,

you sent Jesus to deliver us from sin and death

and free us to joyful obedience.

M: With your whole church on earth and with all the company of heaven

we proclaim your glory.

The Sanctus may be used here, if desired.

Examples: Sing! A New Creation 250, 251, 252, 259]

M: Most righteous God, we remember in this meal the perfect sacrifice offered once on the cross by our Lord Jesus Christ for the sin of the whole world.

C: United with Christ in his suffering,

strengthened by the Holy Spirit,

trusting in the power of God to triumph over evil,

we wait in joyful hope for the fullness of God’s reign.

M: Send your Holy Spirit upon us, we pray,

that the bread which we break

and the cup which we bless

may be to us the communion of the body and blood of Christ.

Grant that, being joined together in him,

we may attain to the unity of the faith

and grow up in all things into Christ our Lord.

C: And as this grain has been gathered from many fields into one loaf,

and these grapes from many hills into one cup,

grant, O Lord, that your whole Church

may soon be gathered from the ends of the earth

into your kingdom.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

M: The Lord Jesus, the same night he was betrayed, took bread;

and when he had given thanks,

he broke it

(The minister shall break the bread.)

and gave it to them, saying, “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you:

do this in remembrance of me.”

(Lifting the cup, the minister shall say:)

After the same manner also, he took the cup when they had supped,

saying, “This cup is the new testament in my blood:

this do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

(In partaking of the bread it shall be said:)

The bread which we break is the communion of the body of Christ.

(In partaking of the cup it shall be said:)

The cup of blessing which we bless is the communion of the blood of Christ.

THANKSGIVING AFTER COMMUNION

Worship the Lord

The Liturgy of the Reformed Church in America

A treasury of prayers and primary resource for planning and leading worship in RCA congregations.