The prison guard set a meal before Paul and Silas
food brings people together
no matter their status
no matter their faith
today, this meal
simple
bread and wine
is set before us
set and made by human hands
yet set before us
by Jesus himself
so come
come and share this holy feast
come
receive this sacrament in faith
Holy, Holy, Holy
Lord God Almighty
praise and honour are yours and your alone
only you are worthy of all we are
only you can set us free from those things which bind us
only you can fill us
fill us with your grace and power and love
with thankful and humble hearts we come today
we come to this table
longing to be fed and filled
fed and filled by this bread and wine
which through faith
and the power of the Holy Spirit might become for us
your body and blood
and in receiving it
we may
with saints across time and space
become the body and blood
of Jesus in the world
as we receive again
this sign of the covenant Jesus made
to remember him until he comes again
Amen
On the night Jesus was betrayed
after giving thanks he took bread,
broke it and said
“this is my body, broken for you.”
later, that same evening
he took the cup of wine and said
“this cup is the new covenant, sealed with my blood. Drink of it all of you.”
we drink this wine and eat this bread in faith
to remember Jesus
until he comes again
taste and see that God is good
We praise and honour you, Jesus
for all you have done for us
your death, your resurrection
your presence with us through the Spirit
you sustaining us in faith and in this meal
may we be set free from all which would bind us
to the ways of the world
that we may live as those who
do more than remember you in this meal
but live as those who remember you
every day of our lives
Amen