Notes:
1. People to be seated around the round tables.
2. At each table there will be a bowl of water and a towel to be used during the time of self-examination.
3. At each table there will be a handout for each person with the verses of prayers from the New Testament that will be used during the prayer time at the tables.
4. We will begin with the lights up and then turn them down at the appropriate point in the service.
Indescribable [G]
Your Grace is Enough [A]
[People sit]
Pastor Dana:
This morning we will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper together. Jesus instituted this object lesson and He has passed it on down to us through the eyewitness accounts of those who were there that night in the upper room with Him and through the inspired words of Scripture.
The Lord’s Supper is so rich that we cannot possibly ever exhaust all that God has for us as we partake together in this observance. There are many facets to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. It is to be a reminder to us of what Jesus did for us in the past as He died on the cross and rose from the dead to pay the penalty for our sins and make it possible for us to have a relationship with God. It should also cause us to look forward with great expectancy to the day when Jesus will return to this earth to take His followers to be with Him for eternity.
But there is one other aspect of the Lord’s Supper that we often tend to overlook. It is also to be a time that furthers the relationships that we have among each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. And that is the aspect of the Lord’s Supper that we want to focus on this morning. One of the ways that we are going to do that is by praying for each other this morning. As we do that, we’re going to use the Scriptures as our guide. So it seems only appropriate to begin with this prayer that is recorded for us in Romans 15. Will you join me as we pray this prayer together?
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:5-6, 13 (NIV)
In Jesus’ name we pray,
Amen
[Turn down lights]
Pastor Pat:
It is very important that we enter into this time with our hearts properly prepared before God. Actually, that is something that we should do every time we enter into God’s presence. That is a principle that we find throughout Scripture, including this passage from the Psalms. Let’s read it out loud together:
Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
Psalm 24:3-6 (NIV)
Right now I want to encourage you to take a few minutes to meditate on those words and to prepare your hearts. Maybe there is some unconfessed sin in your life that you need to get right with God. Or perhaps you just need to clear your mind of any other thoughts that might distract you from entering into God’s presence this morning. Then in a moment, we’ll sing the song “You are My King” as an act of acknowledgement and thanks to God for His provision of forgiveness. You’ll notice that there is a bowl of water and a towel on your table. As we sing, I want to encourage you to pass the bowl of water and the towel around your table and allow each person to dip their fingers in the water and then wipe them dry as a symbol of coming before God with clean hands and a pure heart.
You Are My King [D]
Dana:
In just a moment, we will be distributing the bread and the cup to the tables. If you are a Christ-follower and have made the decision to commit your life to Jesus as your Savior and Lord, then we invite you to take those elements as they are passed and to eat and drink at the appropriate time in the service. You do not need to be a member of this church to do so. However, if you have never made that decision, we ask that you just pass the elements on by as they come to you and refrain from eating and drinking. It is our prayer that these symbolic elements will be a great testimony to you about the importance of committing your life to Jesus, but at the same time, the Bible is quite clear that the taking of these elements is to be reserved only for those who are Christ-followers.
As the elements are passed, we will be singing some songs that will help us to reflect on the bread and the cup. As you take the elements, please just keep them on your table for now and take some time to reflect on the body and the blood of Jesus.
Passing of the Bread and Cup
• Men will pass the elements as we sing the following songs. Pass the bread and then follow immediately with the cup once everyone has been served the bread.
Jesus, Messiah [Bb]
Are You Washed in the Blood (#376) [G]
There is Power in the Blood (#334) [G]
Pastor Pat:
One of the most important purposes of the Lord’s Supper is for us to develop deeper connections among those of us who are followers of Jesus. So for about the next eight minutes or so, we want to do that by praying for each other at your table. On your tables you will find a list of verses that contain some of Paul’s prayers for his fellow believers. We want you to use that as a guide as you pray for the other people at your table.
At each table, there is also someone who has been designated as the leader and who will begin the prayer time by using the first verse to pray for the rest of the people at the table. Then we encourage you to go around the table and use the other verses as a guide to pray for others at your table. We recognize that this is asking a lot of some of you who really aren’t comfortable praying in public, but I want to encourage you to stretch a little and give it a try. If you don’t feel you can do that, please at least take some time to pray silently for others at your table. Then once you’ve had a chance to pray for each other, you will take the bread and cup together at your table as you are guided by the leader.
• Instrumental music in background
• Handouts with the following verses will be on the tables as a guide for the prayer time.
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe…
Ephesians 1:17-19 (NIV)
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV)
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God.
Philippians 1:9-11 (NIV)
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
Colossians 1:9-12 (NIV)
With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:11, 12 (NIV)
Offering
Pastor Pat:
We’re going to close with a hymn and then Pastor Dana will conclude our time with a benediction from the book of Hebrews.
[Turn lights back on]
When We All Get to Heaven (#555) [G]
Pastor Dana:
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 13:20-21 (NIV)
