Instructed Liturgy

For use after the children leave worship after the children's sermon and before the adults' sermon; in this congregation, Communion is celebrated every week during the second half of worship. Liturgical resources are from the PCUSA Book of Common Worship and Feasting on the Word.

• There are two parts to our worship service: The Liturgy of the Word and The Liturgy of the Table.
• We just finished the Liturgy of the Word and will soon begin the Liturgy of the Table
• Does anyone know why we call them this?
• Liturgy means, “Work of the people”—we’re not just watching, we’re participating!
• In the first part, we share, discuss, and celebrate the Word of God; in the second part, we gather at the Table for Communion
• It might help our understanding if we think about the worship service as a family meal
• When you get together at Thanksgiving or birthdays, do you just eat right away and then leave?
• No! You spend time together; you’re celebrating something! It’s a special meal!
• That’s what worship is like for us: we come together to celebrate God, so before we sit down to eat our special meal, we talk about God and the things that God has done for us.
• Let’s walk through what we’ve already done:
• Hymns: to help get us in the right frame of mind and also sometimes to help transition between parts of the service
• What was the first thing that the Pastor did?
• Called us to Worship
• Saying, “Remember why we’re here. Let’s celebrate!”
• Then the “Celebrant” (Remember, our family meal is a celebration!) says a prayer
• Asking God to help us prepare our hearts and minds for worship
• After another hymn we pray again!
• This prayer is called a “Collect”
• This is where we “collect” all our thoughts together so that we can listen really well to what God is going to tell us—usually talks about the worship theme
• Then what? Scripture—OT, Psalm, NT, Gospel
• Why do we read scripture? What’s special about it?
• Many churches use what’s called a lectionary—a list of assigned readings—to make sure we don’t keep reading the same stuff every week
• Why is it important to remember the past? Like talking about family stories around the dinner table!
• Sometimes there is one reading, sometimes there are four readings, but the last one is ALWAYS the Gospel
• What’s special about the Gospels?
• After reading Scripture, someone (usually a priest or pastor) gives a sermon
• What’s the point of the sermon?
• Is scripture always easy to understand? Sermon helps to clarify what the priest thinks God is trying to tell us through the Bible. There’s a lot of confusing stuff in there, so sometimes the pastor has a lot to say!
• That’s where we left, but who knows what comes next?
• Recite the Nicene Creed—Let's read it together and see if we can figure out why we do that
• [Recite the Nicene Creed together]
• We’re responding to what we’ve learned by saying, “Yes, we’re on board with this—we believe!”
• It was written over 1500 years ago and many different Christians use it, so it connects us to the many people who have come before us
• Then we all join in to pray together—the deacon usually leads, but we don’t just listen; we participate!
• Remember, prayer is talking to God—sometimes asking for things
• I’ll say, “Let us pray for…” and then you can call out specific people or groups that you want to pray for from that category
• All Christians everywhere
• Our country
• Our planet
• Our community
• People who are hurting or in trouble
• People who have died
• Then we say “The peace of the Lord be always with you”
• And everyone responds, “…and also with you.”
• What happens during the sharing of the peace? 
• We’re sharing our happiness with each other and showing that we aren’t just a bunch of individual people, we’re a family because of God. If we're mad at anyone, we make up with them before we share our meal together
• Go ahead and share the peace right now!
• Everything up until now has been preparing ourselves for the meal!
• Now we prepare the meal itself by setting the table
• There are special dishes and cloths that we use because of how important communion is
• Like if your family has special dishes for when company comes over
• As I set the table, who can tell us why we celebrate communion, and why we do it in this way? (Because Jesus told us to; because this is how Jesus did it, etc.)
• Once the table is ready, the pastor reminds again us why we’re here
• Do you know the responses?
• "The Lord be with you."
• And also with you.
• "Lift up your hearts."
• We lift them to the Lord.
• "Let us give thanks to the Lord our God."
• It is right to give our thanks and praise.
• Then, the pastor talks a lot
• Do you remember what was important about the liturgy of the Word? Learning about God, remembering
• Now we are remembering a very specific thing that God has done
• The words are usually pretty fancy, but see if you can follow and recognize the different Bible Stories that I talk about:

"It is right, it is good, and it is joyful to give thanks to you, God of mystery and miracle.

"When there was only darkness, you made light. When we cried out to you from captivity, you claimed us as your own. When we forgot our love for you, you did not forget us, sending your prophets to turn us around and renewing your promises: with a bow in the sky, the parting of the sea, your own Son.

"And so we praise you, tuning our voices to the angels’ songs, joining all those who sing on earth and in heaven:"

• When we hear all this awesome stuff God has done, we all want to join in and praise God. Repeat after me:

Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

• Then the pastor says thank you for all this cool stuff that God has done for us, and especially for this meal that lets us experience God:

"Thank you for Jesus—for his teaching and healing, his challenging and feeding, his living and dying and rising, that we might be raised with him, and all the world made new.

"We thank you that on the night before he died he took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and shared it with his friends, saying, take, eat—my body broken for you.

"Thank you for the way he took the cup, the new covenant sealed in his blood, shed for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you eat and drink, he said, do it in remembrance of me.

"With thanksgiving we take this bread and wine, gifts of the good earth, offering ourselves as a living sacrifice dedicated to your service.

"Great is the mystery of faith:"

• Then, all together, we declare why we’re celebrating; repeat after me:

Christ has died,
Christ is risen,
Christ will come again.

• Then we ask for God to come be with us and make this meal special—not just a meal that feeds our bodies, but one that feeds our spirits and connects us to all Christians everywhere who are also sharing this meal—and also to help us be strong enough to do God’s work in the world:

"Gracious God, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these your gifts of bread and wine, that the bread we break and the cup we bless may be the communion of the body and blood of Christ.

"By your Spirit make us one with Christ, that we may be one with all who share this feast, united in ministry in every place. As this bread is Christ’s body for us, send us out to be the body of Christ in the world.

"In union with your church in heaven and on earth, we pray, O God, that you will fulfill your eternal purpose in us and in all the world.

"Keep us faithful in your service until Christ comes in final victory, and we shall feast with all your saints in the joy of your eternal realm.

"Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor are yours almighty Father,

"Now and Forever. Amen."

• Now we pray the Lord’s Prayer together, which is a special prayer that Jesus taught us and that all Christians know because it’s in the Bible.
• Our Father, who art in heaven…
• Then the pastor breaks the bread, just like Jesus did, so that it’s ready to be eaten.
• And then, the meal is ready, so the pastor invites everyone to the table, saying:

"The gifts of God for the people of God."

• When you eat the bread and drink the wine, the person serving you will say, “The body of Christ; the bread of heaven,” and “The blood of Christ; cup of salvation.” During the Last Supper, Jesus told his disciples that the bread and wine were his body and blood. Different Christians have different ideas about what this means exactly—some believe that the bread and wine actually become Christ’s body and blood, some believe that it’s a symbol, and others believe that it’s something in between—but all agree that when he said that, Jesus was telling us that he would actually be with us whenever we share Communion.
• Now you can come forward to share this meal.
• [After Communion] What do you do when someone has given you something or done something for you?
• We end our communion meal by saying thank you to God with a special prayer for feeding us in this special way [Prayer]
• Then we’re ready to go out into the world, so the pastor says a blessing, which is a reminder that God loves us and is always with us, and the pastor or deacon gives us instructions about how we should act once we leave:

"Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who blessed the children, the love of God who made each child in God’s own image, and the communion of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus called the Advocate, be with you and every child of God this day and ever more.

"Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Thanks be to God!"