World Communion Sunday

People: Merciful God, we confess that we live distracted lives and fail to see your hand at work in your creation. Our ignorance and arrogance cause us to misuse what you have entrusted to our care.

Leader: 'One day tells its tale to another, and one night imparts knowledge to another... their sound has gone out into all lands, and their message to the ends of the world."

People: We confess that we have failed to listen to the good news of your love. Too often we care only for ourselves and those close to us, while forgetting to share your peace to the ends of the world.

Leader: "The law of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the innocent."

People: We confess that we have sinned against you and our neighbors, and your law clearly shows us our sinfulness. Revive our souls once again; show us anew your paths of love, peace and justice.

Leader: "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer."

People: We confess that too often our words, our thoughts and our deeds turn us away from you and from each other. Peace is lacking in our hearts and throughout our world. Loving God, we pray for your forgiving grace and peace in Jesus Christ. Guided by your Holy Spirit, may we be peacemakers in our daily living. (Silent Prayer for Personal Confession)

Declaration of Forgiveness (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)

Leader: Hear the good news: "If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!"

People: "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us a ministry of reconciliation."

Leader: I declare to you, in the name of Jesus Christ, that our sins are forgiven.

People: Let us live new lives of faith, obedience, joy, and peace!

Sharing of the Peace

Leader: Because we know God=s grace through Jesus Christ, we know God's peace. As a sign of that peace, let us share it with one another. The peace of Christ be with you.

People: And also with you.

Prayer of Dedication after the Offering

Gracious and loving God, you have given us so much, especially the gift of reconciliation through your Son Jesus Christ. You, the God of peace, have promised that you will always be with us. Now in gratitude, we bring our tithes and offerings to you. We ask your blessing on these gifts and on our lives so that your peace and justice may be furthered in your world. Amen.

Invitation to the Lord's Table (Book of Common Worship, page 68, Luke 13:29; 24:30, 31)

Leader: Friends, this is the joyful feast of the people of God!

People: They will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God.

Leader: According to Luke, when our risen Lord was at table with his disciples, he took the bread, and blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.

People: Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.

Leader This is the Lord's table.

People: Our Savior invites those who trust him to share the feast which he has prepared.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving

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.

Gracious and loving God, we thank you that in your love, you created for us a wonderful world. You made it a place of peace for the whole of your creation; you filled it with everything your people need. You made us in your image, to follow your way, and to live in right relationship with you and with each other. And from the beginning, you saved us! When your people were in slavery in Egypt, you led them to freedom and gave them a land of promise. In your love, you gave your law, your commandments, so that we might live in peace with you and with one another. O God, we thank you that in the times we turned away, you called us back to you. Your prophets proclaimed that justice should roll down like waters and righteousness like an everflowing stream. They lifted up a vision in which swords would be beaten into plowshares and the nations would learn war no more. Even when we gave up on your way of peace and justice, yours is a love that never gave up on us. And so you sent your greatest gift, the gift of your only Son Jesus Christ. On this World Communion Sunday, we gather to give thanks for the Prince of Peace and to share in his meal of reconciliation. We praise you, joining our voices with the faithful of every time and place, saying:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

O God, we thank you for the gift of Jesus Christ. At our Savior's birth, the angels sang a message of peace on earth. At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus proclaimed that he had come to bring good news to the poor, release to the outcast, and recovery of sight to the blind, and to let the oppressed go free. He taught that those who worked for your peace would be called your children. He prayed for unity among all who would follow him. He wept over people's failure to know the things that make for peace. He suffered and died for the sins of the world. Through the blood of Jesus' cross, you made peace with your whole creation. By our Lord's resurrection, you broke the powers of oppression, sin and death. Our risen Savior greeted his followers with the word of peace. We thank you that Christ reigns with you in glory and continues to bring your peace to our world and to our lives, and that one day he will come again and reconcile all things to himself. Remembering your wondrous acts in Jesus Christ, we take this bread and this cup from the gifts of your creation, and with sisters and brothers around your world, we joyfully celebrate Christ's presence and reconciling love.

Great is the mystery of faith:

Christ has died,

Christ is risen,

Christ will come again.

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. Give us your Spirit, that this meal may unite us with you, and with brothers and sisters in Christ around your world. Give us your Spirit, that we may experience anew your peace and go forth to share it.

Prayers of the People, and then:

O God, keep us faithful to you, even when the way is difficult. Help us to work for your peace, even as we await the day when your peace will come in all its fullness. Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor are yours, O God of peace, now and forever.

The Lord's Prayer [For this World Communion Sunday use the ecumenical version found on page 16 of The Presbyterian Hymnal]

The Words of Institution

Prayer after Communion

O God, through this bread and this cup, you have made us one with you and with each other. May the unity we find at this table be a gift that we carry out into your suffering, divided world. Help us to find strength in knowing that you, the God of peace, will always be with us. Amen.

Charge and Blessing

Leader: Go out from this table, from this place of peace, to serve a hurting world.

People: We go, knowing that the God of peace will be with us.

Leader: Go where there is disunity among Christians, and bring God's reconciliation.

People: We go, knowing that the God of peace will be with us.

Leader: Go where there is injustice and brokenness, to bring God's way of peace.

People: We go, knowing that the God of peace will be with us. Amen!

A New Hymn for World Communion Sunday

This hymn text with the music is available in a PDF format:

http://www.pcusa.org/peacemakingoffering/worshipresources.pdf

We Come to This Table

KREMSER 12.11.12.12 ("We Gather Together" The Presbyterian Hymnal No. 559)

We come to this table, O God, with thanksgiving.

We lift up our hearts, we remember, we pray.

We hear Jesus' welcome-- inviting, forgiving;

We know your Spirit's peace as we feast here today.

We dine at your table as sisters and brothers,

Diverse in our cultures, yet nourished as one.

The bread and the cup that we share here with others

Are gifts uniting all who are claimed by your Son.

We grieve for your world here; we cry, "How much longer?"

We pray for the cycles of violence to cease.

Yet here, in Christ broken, we're fed and made stronger

To labor in his name for a world filled with peace.

We rise from this table with new dedication

To feed the world's children, to free the oppressed,

To clear out the minefields, to care for creation;

We pray, O God of peace, that our work will be blest.

Tune: Nederlandtsch Gedenckclanck, 1626, Harm. Eduard Kremser, 1877. The hymn tune is in the public domain.

Please include the above copyright and contact information when sharing and copying this hymn. Permission for the hymn's free use is granted to churches that support the Peacemaking Program of the Presbyterian Church (USA) or the ecumenical work of Church World Service.

More Ideas for World Communion Sunday

Telephone "Minute for Mission" from International Peacemakers or Mission Workers

Several churches have found that having a live 'Minute for Mission" adds to their worship services. It can be fascinating to hear how Christians worship and serve in another part of the world. Contact an International Peacemaker or Mission Worker to arrange a time during the service that you can call them. Ideally, it would be good for your church to already have a relationship with this person who is serving in a different part of the world. Our national staff in Louisville can help you make connections. The PCUSA Peacemaking Programs Associate for Peacemaking Partnerships is Debby Vail. Her phone is 888-728-7228 ext. 5612 and email: DebbyV@ctr.pcusa.org PCUSA Worldwide Ministries' Administrative Assistant for Mission Connections is Anne Blair. His phone is 888-728-7228 ext. 5373 and email: Ablair@ctr.pcusa.org and the Associate for Mission Connections is Peter Kemmerle. His phone is 888-728-7228 ext. 5702 and email: PeterK@ctr.pcusa.org Before your service, figure out how to best use your church's sound system with a cell phone or speaker phone.

Ecumenical Connections

In January 2002, our Presbyterian Church (USA) joined the eight other denominations in the Consultation on Church Union (COCU) to start a new ecumenical relationship called "Churches Uniting in Christ" (see appendix D in our Book of Order). The Alexandrine Liturgy of St. Basil from the fourth century was suggested by COCU for ecumenical use and can be found in our Book of Common Worship, pp. 146-149. Consider using some of the liturgy and hymns from Churches Uniting in Christ's inaugural service in your congregation's World Communion Sunday service: http://www.eden.edu/cuic/cuic.htm Invite members from the other CUIC denominations to participate in your service and explore other ways you can together join in CUIC's work for church unity and racial justice.

2002 is the 20^th anniversary of the historic international ecumenical agreement of Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (BEM). Consider having an ecumenical discussion about this important document and the ethical implications: http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/bem1.html Baptism and Eucharist: Ecumenical Convergence in Celebration edited by Max Thurian (Geneva, WCC, 1983), offers a variety of communion resources, including BEM's "Lima Liturgy."

The following resource on the Ten Commandments can be printed as a handout to be given to children and adults.

Ten Commandments and Ten Fingers:

Notes for a Sermon for Children of All Ages

While many people agree that the Ten Commandments are important, few people can remember all ten of them. Here is a way that children as well as adults can learn the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17), using their ten fingers. The points made can be adapted to the age of the listeners-- from children to adults.

Start with your hands together in prayer. This reminds us that God heard the prayers of the Hebrew people when they were in slavery in Egypt and freed them (Exodus 3:7, 20:2). The commandments are a way for us to show our gratitude for God=s love in our lives and to further just and peaceful relationships in God's world.

1. "I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before me." Hold up one index finger for the number one. We worship one God.

2. "You shall not worship idols." Idols, false gods, are not only things like statues, but anything in which we place our ultimate trust and allegiance-- for example, money, possessions or weapons. Hold up two fingers. Should we worship more than one God? No, two is too many! One of them must be an idol, and we should not worship it!

3. "You shall not take the Lord's name in vain." Use three fingers to form the letter "W' which stands for "words." Watch your words! God wants us to use his name in loving, caring ways, as we pray and as we talk about him, not in swearing or in anger.

4. "Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy." Hold up four fingers, and fold your thumb under to let it rest. The thumb has the right idea. It's the Sabbath, and the thumb is following the commandment to take a day of rest. God does not want anyone to overwork or be stressed, so we need a day to rest, to be at peace, and to worship with others. God also gave us the Sabbath so that working people would not be taken advantage of by their employers (Deut. 5:14)

5. "Honor your father and your mother." Hold up all five fingers on one hand as if you are taking a pledge, to honor your parents. God wants there to be peace and love in all our family relationships.

6. "You shall not kill." Pretend the index finger on your second hand is a gun, shooting at the first five fingers. God's sixth commandment teaches us not to do anything that would hurt another person unfairly.

7. "You shall not commit adultery." Hold one hand out flat. The five fingers and hand become the floor of the church. Two fingers on the other hand are the man and woman to be married, standing in the church, making promises to each other. This seventh commandment calls for couples to keep the marriage promises they make.

8. "You shall not steal." Hold up four fingers on each hand, for the eighth commandment. If you stretch out your fingers slightly, these become the prison bars, which hold someone who was been arrested for stealing. Our Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Study Catechism says "God forbids all theft and robbery, including schemes, tricks or systems that unjustly take what belongs to someone else." (Question # 112)

9. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." Hold up all five fingers on one hand and four on the other. Fold your second thumb under and turn your hand around, so the thumb is hiding. It is secretly going around telling the other four fingers on that hand lies and rumors about the five fingers on the other hand. It is "bearing false witness," as it talks behind people=s backs, spreading gossip, criticizing others without talking directly to the people involved. Again, our Study Catechism teaches us "Negative stereotyping is a form of falsehood that invites actions of humiliation, abuse, and violence as forbidden by the commandment against murder." (Question # 115)

10. "Do not covet what belongs to your neighbor." Hold out your hands, palms up, and wiggle all ten fingers to show that they've got the "gimmies." Your fingers are saying, "Gimmie what belongs to my neighbor. I want all those things my neighbor has." This is not the way God wants us to live.

Together may we remember the Ten Commandments' teachings in the light of Jesus' teaching-- that the love of God and neighbor are the two greatest commandments (Mark 12:28-34). John Calvin encouraged Christians in his day to sing the Ten Commandments followed by "Lord, have mercy" after each commandment. End with your hands together in prayer, asking that, by God's grace, we may live out these teachings in our everyday lives and expressing thanks that the God of peace is with us all (Philippians 4:9).

This educational resource for remembering the Ten Commandments was adapted by Bruce & Carolyn Winfrey Gillette (co-pastors of First Presbyterian Church in Pitman, NJ) with permission from the March 26, 2000 issue of Homiletics; it was originally shared by David Sauer. Questions 89-119 in the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s proposed Study Catechism are on the Ten Commandments and their meaning for us today: http://www.pcusa.org/catech/studycat.htm A Christian Primer: The Prayer, the Creed, the Commandments by Albert Curry Winn (Westminster/John Knox Press, 1990) is an excellent resource for personal and small group study.

Links to Peacemaking Program and Peacemaking Offering

Peacemaking Program of the Presbyterian Church (USA):

http://www.pcusa.org/peacemaking

Peacemaking Offering http://www.pcusa.org/peacemakingoffering/

Writers of this World Communion Sunday Resource

These resources for World Communion Sunday 2002 resource were prepared by Bruce and Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, Co-Pastors of the First Presbyterian Church in Pitman, New Jersey, for the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program. Bruce has been a PCUSA representative on the Consultation on Church Union's Executive Committee and helped to develop the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program's original web site on the Middle East Crisis. The revised web site on Middle East can be found at http://www.pcusa.org/peacemaking/actnow/mideast.htm Carolyn is a hymn writer and author of Gifts of Love: New Hymns for Today's Worship (Geneva Press, 2000). A complete list of her 85+ hymns can be found at http://www.firstpresby.org/hymnlist.htm The Gillettes' email is Bruce.Gillette@Comcast.net

Please share this web page of worship resources with churches in your community and your online friends.

Hit Counter