Welcome to our table
Welcome to Community Dinner, where we build spiritual community with friends and family around a shared meal and care for our neighbors by living a life of welcome.
The “As we gather” and “As we go” prayers can be read by one person or everyone together. If together, one person can read the regular type and the group can read the italics in blue together. When you see a video, tap play and the file will open. To return to the guide, just tap the “x” in the top right corner.
As we gather…
We gather around this shared meal and these conversations
daring to hope that you are with us and for us.
We bring all that we are, our own stories, struggles and joys
to know more of your love for us and share it with each other.
May you bless the ones who prepared, packaged and organized this meal.
May their gift open the space for us to hear you welcoming us to the table. Amen.
Now take a few minutes during the greeting song “Drift Away” by Dobie Gray to greet and welcome someone!
Dinner and Conversation
Today we taste the goodness of a meal together and connect our lives with God and one another. As you eat, answer this question:
- What is your superpower?
Centering song
Listen to “Come to the Table” by Zach Williams to center your thoughts and emotions for tonight’s story.
Storytelling
Todays story is from Luke 18:9-17. Two short stories about how we come to God.
He told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people: “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: ‘Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.’
“Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, ‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’”
Jesus commented, “This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face, but if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”
People brought babies to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. “Let these children alone. Don’t get between them and me. These children are the kingdom’s pride and joy. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.”
Can you see a connection between these two short stories? Is there a thread they share in common?
Conversation
Where do you see yourself in the story? Which part a character resonates with you?
What does it mean to be made right with God?
What does it mean to come to God with the simplicity of a child?
Reflection
Pray together
Soul cakes are most likely the precursor to trick-or-treating, with are roots in a Celtic holiday that then became part of a church practice for All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. In medieval England and Ireland, children and the poor would go around on All Hallows’ Eve, which we now call Halloween, and knock on doors. When the owner of the home opened their door, they would say prayers for the household and for the loved ones lost in that house. They would also say prayers for the Saints since that was a practice in their Christian tradition. After the prayers, The homeowner would give the visitors soul cakes in exchange for their prayers.
It’s helpful to know that some of Halloween‘s origins are rooted in acknowledging how the seasons help us mark new birth, growth and the cycle of life and death. It’s not a coincidence that these prayers were said in a season when summer has ended and winter is coming.
This week for our prayers together and for each other, reflect on people you have lost who you miss and who made an imprint on your life and say a prayer. You can also think about seasons that have ended or opportunities lost and offer a prayer for those “deaths” also.
If you’d like to learn more about soul cakes or make some of your own this week, we’ve included a few links.
Lord, hear our prayer.
As we go…
God, when we find ourselves in a moment of prayer
Help us to simply come to you.
When we feel our comparison hard wiring taking us toward an unloving place
Help us to choose love for our neighbor and humility for our own humanity. Amen.
Credits:
Created with images by Riedelmeier - "river rocks stack" • Couleur - "leaves autumn water" • 12659751 - "waterfall longexposure volcanic" • nicconway - "food meal vegetable" • Jon Anders Wiken - "listen think speak text engraved in wooden signpost outdoors in nature during sunset and pink skies." • ArturLuczka - "bench rest park" • Pok_Rie - "sunrise jetty lake" • Natallia - "Raking fall leaves with rake in the yard. spring clean in garden back yard. Autumn season. Seasonal work. Lawn Care in Winter" • 강춘성 - "road pavement woman"