Rev’d Jonathan Gale
Exodus 2: 1 – 10
Birth and Youth of Moses
Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. 2The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him for three months. 3When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. 4His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.
5 The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. 6When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. ‘This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,’ she said. 7Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?’ 8Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Yes.’ So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.’ So the woman took the child and nursed it. 10When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses,* ‘because’, she said, ‘I drew him out* of the water.’
Colossians 3: 12 – 17
12 As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord* has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ* dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.* 17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Luke 2: 33 – 35
33 And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. 34Then Simeon* blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed 35so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’
Why is it that possibly the most important job on earth is unpaid and also potentially the most painful?
Well, it shows us that money can’t buy everything; especially the most important things and that also the most precious things are often nurtured at great cost.
Jesus, of course, is our prime example of this. As the rescuer of humankind his is the most important job that ever was and ever will be. It was also costly. It cost him his life.
Mothers are always, human or not, the fiercest protectors of their children. Occasionally you will find a mother who will go to great lengths indeed to protect her children. There is a well-known story of a fire that swept across a farm. After things died down the farmer was walking through his destroyed barn and absent-mindedly kicked what he thought was an old hat, To his surprise 8 little chickens ran out from under it. When he had a closer look he noticed that what he thought was an old hat, was in fact a mother hen who had given her life to shelter her chickens.
One such protective woman was Jochebed, Moses’ mother.
Pharaoh, ruler of Egypt, had declared that all boys born to Hebrew slave women were to be thrown into the Nile River. Jochebed held on to her son for as long as she could, but when it became obvious that she would no longer be able to hide him, she made a little ark (a little basket) that she waterproofed so that it would float. She and her daughter Miriam hid upstream and when Pharaoh’s daughter came to bathe in the river, they pushed the little basket with the baby on board into the flow of the Nile River.
Predictably the princess saw the floating basket and when it was handed to her she took pity on the baby and decided to raise him as her son. Of course Moses’ sister Miriam was on hand to offer to find a Hebrew slave to feed the child.
The influence a mother has can be profound. In the case of Moses, this is particularly so. Jochebed is employed as a wet-nurse by the princess to bring up the little Moses. Moses drank, in his mother’s milk, as it were, a fierce motivation to rescue. Her desire and action taken to save his life somehow translated into the destiny of her son.
This motivation to rescue he inherited from both from his natural mother and his adopted mother who saved him by drawing him up from the waters of the Nile.
Is it any wonder that he went on to become God’s primary instrument in rescuing the Israelites from over 400 years of slavery in Egypt? Moses himself was rescued from the water and eighty years later he was rescuing the Israelites from the waters of the Red Sea. The ripple effect of the motivation to rescue is felt to this day in the salvation embodied in Christ.
We might think that the rescue of a slave’s child from the fate that awaited all male slaves born at the time was of no particular significance. Human lives were cheap. Moses demonstrated this a few years later when in a fit of temper he murdered an Egyptian slave master.
But from this act, from Jochebed’s bravery, apparently insignificant when measured against cosmic events, came a huge shift in history.
The act of a mother (and let us not forget, a would-be mother) produced the man who would lead to the Promised Land, not simply one tribe of many enslaved to a powerful nation, but the tribe God had selected to bring his light to the Gentiles, to be the vehicle for the salvation of all of humankind. A mother’s heart and desire to rescue can never be underestimated. From the weakness of a female slave came the rescue of a nation that was God’s instrument in rescuing humankind. Staggering, but completely understandable in the economy of God.
Moses had no idea that held within the cradle of Israel, a nation Scripture calls a recalcitrant and gainsaying people (Romans 10: 21), lay the Saviour of the world.
When leading the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan, Jesus himself was with them. Paul says to the church in Corinth – and this was the Sentence last week –
For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10: 4b)
The work of Moses was monitored by God himself who had invested so much in it. It revealed a pattern of rescue in:
- the blood of the Passover lamb,
- the escape through the Red Sea and
- the tangible presence of the pillar of cloud
Moses’ work also led to the central event of the Exodus (the escape from Egypt); and that was God making the Old Covenant (the Old Testament) or agreement with Israel at Mt Sinai. Here God confirmed Israel as His special people with a special task.
Are we not glad that a mother’s act of bravery rescued this man so that he could carry out this vastly significant work of rescuing the people of God?
So at least one mother is history, by her act of rescuing, produced the great rescuer of Israel which brought to light the rescuer of all, Jesus the Messiah.
Have you thought, though, at the price paid by Jochebed. She had her son stolen from her and absorbed into a strange culture. How her heart must have broken.
At the age of 40 Moses flees into the desert, only to emerge at the age of 80 making demands of Pharaoh. Jochebed, like many a mother, lived a life of self-sacrifice precisely because she had produced a son who gave his life, not to the numbing slavery that would have kept him at home, but to God’s cause. Moses was hardly ever at home, at least the home of his parents.
The same fate of suffering is reflected in Mary, of whom Simeon said, and a sword will pierce your own soul too. (Luke 2: 35b). Mary had a rough time. In Mark 3: 21 we read, When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” Did Mary think this too? Who knows? Either way there were times when she must have wondered.
And how horrifying to see your first-born child taken from you by violent people and crucified before your very eyes!
So mothers pass on their character to their children and they feel the pain of their children. Now this should perhaps have been mentioned first, but mothers bear their children too.
They take into their inmost parts that which generates that most amazing of miracles of nature – a child. And if pregnancy is not enough, mothers continue to internalise the lives of their children. In Mary’s case we read In Luke 251b that when Jesus was a child and already evidencing signs that he was no ordinary boy, His mother treasured all these things in her heart. There is a sense in which mothers always carry their children.
Mothers are the ultimate pastors; their care never flags, their concern never dies.
Now here’s the thing: when God gives us a good example, we are not simply to admire it, as an object, over there, as it were. Some things are to be embraced just as Jesus did the rebellious people of Jerusalem when he cried, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! (Luke 13: 34)
I believe God would love us to embrace the ways of a mother, for God in his essence is both mother and father.
Now we can’t get pregnant with Jesus; or can we? Our epistle in Colossians 3 says 16Let the word of Christ* dwell in you richly
Let us take in everything we can about Christ. Let us give birth to things that are like Christ. Let the word of Christ dwell in us richly!
The Christian life is not easy, but it is far more preferable than a life of half-hearted faith or no faith at all. The Christian life will see you making sacrifices, sacrifices that hurt. It will see you developing a concern for God that will, at times, pierce your heart.
When Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna and a martyr of the church, was told to curse Christ, he replied, “Eighty-six years have I have served him, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?”
That is the spirit of motherhood; faithful adherence to the cause of the Son of God, no matter what. May you and I be found faithful and brave.
Amen
Sermon or Talk
Hi Jonathan,
I don’t know if this is helpful.
Each of these reflections is based on the Bible readings for Mothering Sunday (Exodus 2.1-10; Col 3:12-17; Luke 2:33-35 ).
Who cares?
- In desperate times mothers may fear for their children’s safety. Moses’s mother clearly feared for the life of her new baby and ingenious means were used to procure his survival. There were three women involved in rescuing him: first, his mother who used her intelligence and skill to hide the baby and who was rewarded with the care of him at least until his weaning (maybe at around five years old); secondly, the Egyptian princess who had compassion on the child that she found; and thirdly, his sister who stood at a distance to watch and who came forward bravely with her proposal. Now, as always, children need care from different people. Biological parents are very important, but others need to take on their roles and responsibilities as well to bring up a child successfully. All need commending in this task.
- The story has an obvious application for people who care for children who are not their own – those who have adopted or fostered (like the princess) or who have taken on the care of their grandchildren or nephews and nieces. This could be widened to think about childminders, nursery workers, and school staff. In many cases it is the employed carer who takes the child through their early experiences of learning to walk and talk and witnesses their first words. A close bond is formed between them and the child. Their contribution is very valuable. The love, patience and appropriate discipline experienced in their care forms an important part of the child’s upbringing.
- Parenting takes on many diverse forms today. There are fathers who stay at home while the mother works. There are grandparents who become parents again to their children’s children because of difficult circumstances or because the parents must work. There are many who have taken on their new partner’s children because of marriage breakdown and a second relationship.
- We somehow often have the tendency to think God is to be found in the standard; in the simple and straightforward; in the best examples of life. The happy, accomplished and reasonably affluent Dad, Mum and their children seems the ideal and therefore the most blessed. The families broken by divorce; the families beset by difficulties – mental illness, drug addiction, chronic poor health and so on – do not appear so blessed. They may elicit sympathy, but sometimes feel an inequality with others whom they deem to be ‘more successful’. The Bible urges us often to turn our assumptions on their heads. God chooses the weak, the oppressed, the disadvantaged and not only cares for them but raises them to positions of strength and power. God looks with love, and – dare we say – respect, at the person who struggles with all kinds of difficulties and who often cares for children in those circumstances.
Rescue
- Moses is a great hero of the Old Testament. It was he who rescued the people of Israel from enslavement and oppression in Egypt and led them out towards the Promised Land. But his life starts with he himself needing to be rescued. His life was in danger through the ethnic cleansing policy of the Egyptians who felt themselves threatened by the growing population of the Hebrew underclass. At this most crucial and pivotal point in the Israelites’ history, the great leader Moses depended on the sharp-witted and decisive actions of three people who rescued him from imminent danger.
- How are people rescued today? The fire service, air ambulances, coastguards and lifeboat men are often involved in dramatic rescues where someone is stuck and/or injured and need to be brought to safety. Sometimes it starts with a person who takes a moment to look more carefully, to listen for a voice calling out in trouble, who takes action quickly to initiate a rescue.
- In our ordinary lives dramatic rescues are not needed very often. But the theme is an important one for us – particularly as parents and children.
- When Katy was about six her parents took her to Takapuna beach for a day out. The weather, which had not started out very promisingly, turned ugly in the afternoon. On the beach front the wind and rain suddenly lashed out with startling ferocity. The family started making for shelter. They took refuge under a tree and Katy clung on to the trunk as the wind threatened to tear her away. Her parents had struggled on, but Katy could not move. She called out and her father turned and came back to hold on to her. The memory of that, and many other tiny ‘rescues’ formed a powerful image for Katy – her father cared about her and would battle through the storm for her. The little things we do for our children count.
- How often have we prayed for a ‘rescue’? There are many circumstances that cause us to cry for help. How does our faith help? First, the Psalms are full of such prayers to give voice to our cries. We are not alone – people throughout the ages have called to God in their suffering. And Bible stories, such as the Moses birth story tell us plainly that our difficulties are not a sign that we are out of step with God. God is with us in our problems. Secondly, when a rescue comes it may bring pain as well as relief. Moses’s life was spared and he went on to become a great leader, but his mother had to relinquish him to the princess who adopted him. Thirdly, there are larger purposes than our own individual lives. We are precious to God, each one, but God wants to use us for something greater that he is planning.
- The greatest rescue plan for all of us is God rescuing us from ‘the dominion of darkness’ and bringing us to ‘the kingdom of the Son he loves’ (Colossians 1.13-14).
Thanksgiving: We give thanks for the hospital chaplains, especially at North Shore Hospital
Mothering Sunday
Focus Exodus 2.1-10
A few quotes that could go in Day One
The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.Rajineesh
The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness. Honore de Balzac
Call your mother. Tell her you love her. Remember you]re the only person who knows what her heart sounds like from the inside. Rachel Wolchin
God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers. Jewish Proverb
Sanctuary Decoration
In a central place arrange some tall reeds (Penny and Ralph have papyrus). In front of the reeds place a “Moses” basket containing a soft baby blanket.
Display items connected with rescues – toy helicopter, fire engine, police car, life boat, a rope, fire extinguisher, life-buoy etc. Place a large cross in the middle.
From back before first Hymn
Dear Lord, if we could compress all suns into one candlelight,
all oceans into one drop of water,
all flowers into one rose,
all great literature into one book,
all beautiful music into one song,
all sunsets into one blaze of glory,
all love into a single glance,
it would be a true mother’s heart.
Call to worship
God, creator and parent of all
we come to worship you.
God, you nourished and rescued your people
we come to worship you.
God, you care for us like a mother
we come to worship you.
God, you give strength and love to all who care for children
we come to worship you.
God, you support us in good times and hard times
we come to worship you.
Help us to listen to the story of your saving love
to share in your love,
and to be carriers of that love to all your people.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son.
Amen.
Talk The children come up to the front for their talk.
Refer to the OT reading and stress that it was because Moses’ mother, Jochebed, loved Moses so much that she made a plan to keep him safe at a time when baby boys were in danger.
Ask the children to wonder how Jochebed felt when she said goodbye to her baby and placed him in the river.
Then wonder how she felt when she heard Moses had been found and was safe.
Finally, how might she have felt when Moses was given to her by the princess to care for him while he was young?
Jochebed’s special love for Moses meant that he was protected from harm and cared for well.
Our mums and those who care for us need a special kind of love.
It is a love which is gentle to care for us and strong to keep us safe.
The Bible talks a lot about love. It says that God loves us in a way which is soft to comfort and tough to protect.
Kids Church
Some ideas to help develop thinking around today’s Bible passages.
Who cares?
- Reflect on the things that mothers and carers do for children. Why do they do this? You could write examples on a flipchart
- Think of examples of mothers in the Bible: for example, the mother of Moses, the mother of Samuel (Hannah), the mother of the disciples James and John (Salome) and the mother of Jesus.
Rescue
- Tell a simple story of a child being swept out to sea in a little boat and being rescued by a helicopter. Cut out shapes from card for the boat, the child and the helicopter. Invite a volunteer to hold up the helicopter and let down a string from a hole. Another volunteer ties the string to the cardboard figure and the helicopter then ‘winches’ it aboard by pulling up the string.
- Talk about why people sometimes need to be rescued – different kinds of dangers. Explain that Moses was in danger while he was still a baby and so his mother hid him, and an Egyptian princess became his unlikely rescuer. Although it was a difficult situation, God used the problems to ensure that Moses was in the right place at the right time to be able to rescue the Israelites when he grew up.
A prayer of approach
Amazing and infinite God we bow before you.
You are beyond our understanding
and your power is so much more than anything we have ever seen.
We are astounded by your creation; it is too big for us.
The stars the size of our universe; millions of light years away.
The wonders of our own planet:
the vast oceans, the terrifying volcanoes,
the mountains and the wildernesses, the power of the hurricane,
and the flooding waves, the lava stream,
the lightning and the earthquake.
And yet these are yours – you formed them, you have control over them.
O Lord! We tremble at your feet.
We acknowledge you as our God, our Maker.
We can hardly dare to believe that you have revealed yourself as Father.
You are to us as a parent and you love us.
We praise you.
Amen.
Sermon or Talk
Each of these alternative reflections is based on two of the Bible readings for Mothering Sunday (Exodus 2.1-10).
Who cares?
- In desperate times mothers may fear for their children’s safety. Moses’s mother clearly feared for the life of her new baby and ingenious means were used to procure his survival. There were three women involved in rescuing him: first, his mother who used her intelligence and skill to hide the baby and who was rewarded with the care of him at least until his weaning (maybe at around five years old); secondly, the Egyptian princess who had compassion on the child that she found; and thirdly, his sister who stood at a distance to watch and who came forward bravely with her proposal. Now, as always, children need care from different people. Biological parents are very important, but others need to take on their roles and responsibilities as well to bring up a child successfully. All need commending in this task.
- The story has an obvious application for people who care for children who are not their own – those who have adopted or fostered (like the princess) or who have taken on the care of their grandchildren or nephews and nieces. This could be widened to think about childminders, nursery workers, and school staff. In many cases it is the employed carer who takes the child through their early experiences of learning to walk and talk and witnesses their first words. A close bond is formed between them and the child. Their contribution is very valuable. The love, patience and appropriate discipline experienced in their care forms an important part of the child’s upbringing.
- Parenting takes on many diverse forms today. There are fathers who stay at home while the mother works. There are grandparents who become parents again to their children’s children because of difficult circumstances or because the parents must work. There are many who have taken on their new partner’s children because of marriage breakdown and a second relationship.
- We somehow often have the tendency to think God is to be found in the standard; in the simple and straightforward; in the best examples of life. The happy, accomplished and reasonably affluent Dad, Mum and their children seems the ideal and therefore the most blessed. The families broken by divorce; the families beset by difficulties – mental illness, drug addiction, chronic poor health and so on – do not appear so blessed. They may elicit sympathy, but sometimes feel an inequality with others whom they deem to be ‘more successful’. The Bible urges us often to turn our assumptions on their heads. God chooses the weak, the oppressed, the disadvantaged and not only cares for them but raises them to positions of strength and power. God looks with love, and – dare we say – respect, at the person who struggles with all kinds of difficulties and who often cares for children in those circumstances.
Rescue
- Moses is a great hero of the Old Testament. It was he who rescued the people of Israel from enslavement and oppression in Egypt and led them out towards the Promised Land. But his life starts with he himself needing to be rescued. His life was in danger through the ethnic cleansing policy of the Egyptians who felt themselves threatened by the growing population of the Hebrew underclass. At this most crucial and pivotal point in the Israelites’ history, the great leader Moses depended on the sharp-witted and decisive actions of three people who rescued him from imminent danger.
- How are people rescued today? The fire service, air ambulances, coastguards and lifeboat men are often involved in dramatic rescues where someone is stuck and/or injured and need to be brought to safety. Sometimes it starts with a person who takes a moment to look more carefully, to listen for a voice calling out in trouble, who takes action quickly to initiate a rescue.
- In our ordinary lives dramatic rescues are not needed very often. But the theme is an important one for us – particularly as parents and children. When Katy was about six her parents took her to the beach for a day out. The weather, which had not started out very promisingly, turned ugly in the afternoon. On the beach front the wind and rain suddenly lashed out with startling ferocity. The family started making for shelter. They took refuge under a tree and Katy clung on to the trunk as the wind threatened to tear her away. Her parents had struggled on, but Katy could not move. She called out and her father turned and came back to hold on to her. The memory of that, and many other tiny ‘rescues’ formed a powerful image for Katy – her father cared about her and would battle through the storm for her. The little things we do for our children count.
- How often have we prayed for a ‘rescue’? There are many circumstances that cause us to cry for help. How does our faith help? First, the Psalms are full of such prayers to give voice to our cries. We are not alone – people throughout the ages have called to God in their suffering. And Bible stories, such as the Moses birth story tell us plainly that our difficulties are not a sign that we are out of step with God. God is with us in our problems. Secondly, when a rescue comes it may bring pain as well as relief. Moses’s life was spared and he went on to become a great leader, but his mother had to relinquish him to the princess who adopted him. Thirdly, there are larger purposes than our own individual lives. We are precious to God, each one, but God wants to use us for something greater that he is planning.
- The greatest rescue plan for all of us is God rescuing us from ‘the dominion of darkness’ and bringing us to ‘the kingdom of the Son he loves’ (Colossians 1.13-14).
- Intercessions
- “Let us pray” – Nelson pp98-99 with some editing
- A ‘thank you’ prayer for all ages
Lord Jesus,
thank you for everyone who looks after children,
especially Mums on this special Mothering Sunday.
Thank you, for our families –
for dads and brothers and sisters,
for grandmas and granddads and uncles and aunties,
for foster carers and step parents.
Thank you for special friends and neighbours, childminders,
childcare workers and school staff who all share in caring for children.
Thank you that you love and care for us even before we are born
and that we can discover your love through the people around us. - A prayer for strength in difficulties
Lord,
when times are hard,
when we wait for a rescue but do not know how long we must wait,
sustain us with the knowledge of your love.
Remind us of the signs of your presence we have known in the past.
Assure us that you have not abandoned us
and give us your strength. - A prayer for parents (1)
We give you thanks, heavenly Father,
for the many ways in which you care for us.
Thank you for the many people who look after us.
We pray now for your blessing upon parents,
especially those known to us in this church and neighbourhood.
Help them to be wise, strong and patient.
Give them insight into their children’s needs.
Help them to be good examples of discipline, love and faith.
May their homes be places of laughter and fun
where children feel happy and safe. - A prayer for parents (2)
We thank you, Lord,
that you know about difficult circumstances in parenting
and that you can bring wonderful things out of confusion and chaos.
We pray now for all mothers facing problems at the moment
whether it be through health concerns, disability or anti-social behaviour.
In the quietness of our hearts
we think of those we know who struggle to be good parents in the face of problems … (silence)
Provide them with people they can confide in,
respite from stress and a deep knowledge of your peace. - Petitions for rescuers
Thank you, Lord for those who rescue people in trouble.
We remember them before you now.
We ask for your blessing on those who know you,
and for you to reveal yourself to those who do not know you yet. - For those who risk their lives to save others:
in the fire service, police force, armed services, ambulance, coastguard, and lifeboat services.
Lord, keep them in your care. - For those who give time and patience to people in deep despair:
in doctors’ surgeries, mental health services, counselling support teams, Social Services, the Samaritans, lifeline, kidsline and Youthline.
Lord, keep them in your care. - For those who give support to those who need a new start in life:
in foster care, drug and alcohol projects, prisons and remand homes, the probation service, night shelters and homeless projects.
Lord, keep them in your care. - For those working in developing countries with people on the brink of survival:
with street children, refugees, health care projects, feeding programmes, orphanages and work with those who have disabilities.
Lord, keep them in your care. - Lord, help us all to be rescuers:
to see those in trouble and to do what we can to help. - Alternative 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.
- It is indeed right, it is our duty and our joy, at all times and in all
- places to give you thanks and praise, holy Father, heavenly King, almighty and eternal God, through Jesus Christ our Lord
- And today we thank you for human love, that love shown by parents and especially by mothers, which continues to forgive regardless of weakness and failure. We thank you for your love which is stronger than death and embraces all which you have created
- Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we proclaim your great and glorious name,
- for ever praising you and 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.
- How wonderful the work of your hands, O Lord.
- As a mother tenderly gathers her children, you embraced a people as your own.
- When they turned away and rebelled
- your love remained steadfast. From them you raised up Jesus our Saviour, born of Mary, to be the living bread, in whom all our hungers are satisfied.
- He offered his life for sinners, and with a love stronger than death he opened wide his arms on the cross.
- On the night before he died, he came to supper with his friends
- and, taking bread, he gave you thanks. He broke it and gave it to them, saying:
- Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you;
- do this in remembrance of me.
- At the end of supper, taking the cup of wine, he gave you thanks,and said:
- Drink this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant,
- which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.
- Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.
- Lord, by your cross and resurrection
- you have set us free.
- You are the Saviour of the world
- Send down your Holy Spirit that these gifts of bread and wine may
- be for us the body and blood of Christ. Unite us with him for ever
- and bring us with the whole creation to your eternal kingdom.
- Priest: The bread we break is a sharing in the body of Christ.
- All: Though we are many, we are one body
- because we all share in one bread.
Music
All things bright and beautiful
Caring sharing (BBP)
For the beauty of the earth
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Great God, we praise your mighty love (HTC)
Happy are they, they that love God 473 (HTC
Happy the home that welcomes you (HTC)
He’s got the whole world in his hands
I come with joy, a child of God / to meet my Lord (HTC)
Lord of all hopefulness 101 )HTC)
Magnificat (Taize)
Now thank we all our God
Tell out, my soul (HTC)Bottom of Form