Lord's Day Dinner

Download printable prayer sheet & explanation HERE.

 

The Lord’s Day Dinner for Families

(usually celebrated at sundown on Saturday during Dinner, but can be done at any meal on Sunday)

P: Parent ; A: Assistant; G: Group

Opening Ceremony: The Lighting of the Candle

The Assistant usually presides over the Lighting of the Candle.

PARENT: In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
ASSISTANT: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and Word was God.

(G:) All things were made through him and without him nothing was made that has been made. 
(A:) In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
(G:) The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5)

ASSISTANT:

Heavenly Father, in honor of your Son, Light of the World and Author of Life, we are about to kindle the light for the Lord’s Day. On this day, you raised your Son Jesus from the dead and began the new creation. May our celebration of his resurrection this day be filled with your peace and heavenly blessing. Be gracious to us and cause your Holy Spirit to dwell more richly among us. Father of Mercy, continue your loving kindness toward us. Make us worthy to walk in the way of your Son, loyal to your teaching and unwavering in love and service. Keep far from us all anxiety, darkness, and gloom; and grant that peace, light, and joy ever abide among us.

GROUP: For in you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

The Assistant lights the candle and recites the following blessing:

ASSISTANT: Blessed are you, Lord our God, who created light on the first day and raised your Son, the Light of the World, to begin the new creation. Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who gives us joy as we kindle the light for the Lord’s Day.
GROUP: Amen.

The Blessing of the Meal and the Setting-Aside of the Day

Opening Proclamation

The following blessing is a proclamation to introduce the meal and is also a moment to explain the Lord’s Day celebration to the younger members of the family.

PARENT: This is the Lord’s Day!

(G:) Let us welcome it in joy and peace.

ASSISTANT (or Youngest Child): What are we celebrating today? 

PARENT:

Today we take a break from the normal things we do, so we can remember that Jesus died and rose from the dead so that we can live with Him forever in heaven. Jesus is alive! We begin this meal together to show that today is special and different from the other days of the week. This day is the most important day because we celebrate that Jesus rose from the dead for us. The other things we do - school, work, and play - are important, but the MOST important thing for us to know is that we were made to be with God forever in heaven. In heaven, we will praise God forever with all His angels and saints. We will be perfectly happy because we’ll be doing what God made us for and we will be with Him. Today, we have a little taste of that. This is a special day to praise God so we don’t forget that He made us to be with Him forever in heaven.

GROUP: The Lord himself is with us to refresh and strengthen us.
(P:) Let us welcome God among us and give him glory.
(G:) Let us love one another in Christ.
(P:) May the Holy Spirit be with us to deepen our devotion to the Lord, and to increase our zeal for the way of life he has given us.

******* A song or a time of praise may be inserted here. *******

Blessing of the Wine

The parent pours a cup of wine (or grape juice) and recites the following blessing with the cup raised:

PARENT: Let us praise God with this symbol of joy and thank him for the blessing of the past week—for health, strength, and wisdom; for our life together in Lamb of God; for the discipline of our trials and temptations; for the happiness that has come to us out of our work. Let us thank him this day especially for the victory over sin that he won for us upon the cross and for this season in which we turn our eyes to him with renewed fervor, hungering and thirsting for holiness. Lord our God, we have fasted this week that we might seek your face.

(G): And now we eat and drink with joy as we celebrate your salvation.
(P): Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has created the fruit of the vine.
(G): Amen.
(P): Blessed are you, Lord our God, for the true rest you have given us in your Son Jesus and for this day, when we celebrate his redeeming work. We celebrate this day with gladness and consecrate it to the celebration of his resurrection and of the new creation founded in him. Look with love upon us, your servants, and show us your glory. Blessed are you, Lord our God, who favors your people in the days set aside in your honor.
(G): Amen.

The parent drinks from the cup and passes it to the others present. If it is not prudent to share from the same cup, the wine (grape juice) can then be poured into individual cups as it is passed from one person to the next. As each receives the cup, each person may share something they are thankful for in the previous week.

Blessing the Bread. The parent takes bread and recites the following blessing:
(P): The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due Season.
(G): You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
(P): Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. 
(G): Amen.

The parent distributes the bread to the others present and begins the meal.

A Brief Explanation

“Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Neh 8:9-10)

WHAT IS A LORD’S DAY DINNER?

The Lord's Day dinner is an opening meal at the beginning of the Lord’s day (Sunday) modeled after the Jewish opening meal of their Sabbath day. The Sabbath day went from sundown to sundown, so the Lord's Day Dinner is celebrated Saturday night. It consists of prayers acknowledging that this is a day to honor and worship the Lord.

Just as Easter is the yearly celebration of Jesus’ resurrection that won for us our salvation, Sunday is the weekly celebration of Christ’s resurrection. The Lord's Day Dinner does not take the place of mass, just as the Jewish Sabbath opening meal did not replace them going to the temple.

It is a means for making the whole day a feast day, providing a way to open the Lord’s Day at home, just as Jesus would have done as a Jew. It’s a way of sanctifying and setting apart the entire day for the purpose of honoring God.

We are created for the Sabbath rest of heaven where we will worship God for all eternity. The Lord’s Day should remind us of what we are created for, which is why it’s a day of worship, setting aside our own pursuits to slow down and focus on God.

Because it is modeled after the Jewish meal blessing prayers, the Lord’s Day prayers may sound weird to us, or may sound like parts of the mass. The Jewish formula of praying, “Blessed are You, God, for the gift of...” is a way of praying in thanksgiving for whatever it is we are blessing God for, and asking God to bless it.

Therefore, the blessing of bread and wine is the blessing of the meal, a prayer of thanksgiving for the food God provided. No need to pray a normal meal blessing - you are already doing it in the prayers!

Since it is a celebration, there are simple things that we can do to make it more of a feast: serving especially good food & drink, singing joyful Christian songs that are fitting for the Lord’s Day, making the room/table look nicer (using nicer plates, cleaning, decorating), dressing up a little, lighting a candle, using the Lord’s Day prayers, staying longer in conversation at table, and doing something fun together as a family afterwards (playing board games, for example).