A Service of Holy Communion for Harvest Thanksgiving

ADORATION

We worship you in your wisdom, O Lord our Creator.  You are the maker
of all that is, has been, and will be.  You are the source of all that
exists, seen and unseen.  And you have created us and placed us in this
world to enjoy fellowship with each other and with you.
    We are your people, the work of your creative will and word.

We worship you in your love, O Lord our Redeemer.  You have provided so
much for us to enjoy.  Your generosity knows no bounds.  When we had
slighted your gifts and turned our backs on you, even then you gave
your only Son to be our Saviour.
    We are your people, bought by your sacrifice and won by your love.

We worship you in your nearness, O Lord our Strength.  You pour out
your presence into human hearts, communicating your holiness and power,
your patience and compassion.  You release true thankfulness and
genuine worship from our hearts.
    We are your people, marked with the promised Holy Spirit, guarantee
    of our heavenly inheritance and stamp of your Lordship.

In this harvest thanksgiving, our Creator, Redeemer and Strength:
    Receive the worship and adoration of your people.  Amen.


CONFESSION

When we squander your bounty as if it were ours to do with as we like,
    Father, forgive us.
When we waste the left-overs as if they were not part of your
provision,
    Father, forgive us.
When we hide your generosity in our hearts and give it no outlet in
your world,
    Father, forgive us.
When we are repelled by the need of others and feel it as a sin against
us and not part of our sin against you,
    Father, forgive us.

For the sake of Jesus Christ who died for us:
    Grant us true repentance, the assurance of forgiveness and the
    strength to amend our ways, to the glory of your liberating name.
    Amen.


THE THANKSGIVING

As we rejoice in his gifts.
    The Lord is here.
As we meet in his name.
    The Lord is here.
As we come in our need.
    The Lord is here.

Bountiful Lord, we meet in this place, surrounded by evidence of your
generosity and give thanks for your gifts.

For the produce of the earth which sustains our earthly life.
    We thank you.
For the cross, the bread, the cup, symbols of your grace in Christ.
    We thank you.
For each soul here with our own stories of how your love has reached
us.
    We thank you.

We thank you, Lord, that you have made yourself known in creation and
through your people.  When we had fallen into sin, you reached down to
us with your conquering love.  You were not ashamed to meet us face to
face, to associate with sinful humanity, or to take our griefs upon
yourself.

We thank you that our Lord Jesus, the same night that he was to be
handed over to captivity, torture and death, shared a meal with his
friends.  In that meal he declared the full extent of his love.  He
shared the deep feelings of his heart.  He took upon himself the task
of a slave and washed their feet.  When he took bread, gave thanks,
broke it and gave it to them, he invited them to be sharers in the gift
of his body.  When he took the cup, gave thanks and gave it to them, he
invited them to be sharers in his blood which was shed for them and for
us.

Being in very nature God,
    He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 
But made himself nothing,
    taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
and became obedient to death -
    even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

We recall that it was at a harvest celebration, the day of Pentecost,
that you poured out the Holy Spirit, to make us your people.  The
Spirit assures us that the body of Christ was given for us and that his
blood was shed for us.

Through that same Spirit we cry to you the giver of every good gift on
the fruitful earth:
    Abba, Father.
Through that same Spirit we cry for peace and justice:
    Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth.
Through that same Spirit we cry for wrong to be ended:
    Come, Lord Jesus.

Thus we raise to you our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, in which
we bless these gifts and dedicate them to heavenly use.  With all
creation we bless your holy name:
    Blessing and honour, glory and power be to you for ever and Ever.
    Amen.


THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD

The bread we break is a sharing in the body of Christ.
    Though we are many, we are one body because we all share in the one
    loaf.

This is the cup of blessing.
    As we share it, we share in the blood of Christ shed for us.


BREAD AND WINE ARE SHARED


PRAYER

Let us pray.

    We thank you Lord that loaves and fish fed a multitude with an
    abundance to spare.  May we, strengthened by this feast, be filled
    to overflowing with resurrection life, rejoice in your goodness and
    draw others to the bread of life.  Amen.


BLESSING AND DISMISSAL

The blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you all.
    Amen.

Go in peace, in the name of Christ, for freely you have received.
    Freely we will give.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.