Grace Lutheran Church

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Maundy Thursday Service

Pam Smith

Thursday, April 1, 2021

Notes

Playlist

Maundy Thursday
April 1, 2021 - 7:00pm

INTRODUCTION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

+ GATHERING +

PRELUDE What Wondrous Love Is This ELW 666

What wondrous love is this,
O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this
that caused the Lord of bliss
to bear the dreadful curse
for my soul, for my soul,
to bear the dreadful curse for my soul?

When I was sinking down,
sinking down, sinking down,
when I was sinking down, sinking down,
when I was sinking down
beneath God's righteous frown,
Christ laid aside his crown
for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul.

To God and to the Lamb
I will sing, I will sing;
to God and to the Lamb I will sing;
to God and to the Lamb,
who is the great I AM,
while millions join the theme,
I will sing, I will sing,
while millions join the theme, I will sing.

And when from death I'm free,
I'll sing on, I'll sing on;
and when from death I'm free, I'll sing on;
and when from death I'm free,
I'll sing God's love for me,
and through eternity
I'll sing on, I'll sing on;
and through eternity I'll sing on.

CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
Most merciful God,
we confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name.
Amen.
In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for his sake God forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

GREETING
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you.

PRAYER OF THE DAY
Let us pray.
Holy God, source of all love, on the night of his betrayal, Jesus gave us a new commandment, to love one another as he loves us. Write this commandment in our hearts, and give us the will to serve others as he was the servant of all, your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

+ WORD +

Psalm: 116:1-2, 12-19

¹I love the LORD, because he has heard
my voice and my supplications.
²Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
¹²What shall I return to the LORD
for all his bounty to me?
¹³I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD,
¹⁴I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people.
¹⁵Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
¹⁶O LORD, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.
You have loosed my bonds.
¹⁷I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the LORD.
¹⁸I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people,
¹⁹in the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the LORD!

GOSPEL: John 13:1-17, 31b-35
The story of the last supper in John’s gospel recalls a remarkable event not mentioned elsewhere: Jesus performs the duty of a slave, washing the feet of his disciples and urging them to do the same for one another.

The holy gospel according to John.
Praise to you O Christ.

¹Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. ²The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper ³Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, ⁴got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. ⁵Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. ⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" ⁷Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." ⁸Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." ⁹Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" ¹⁰Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." ¹¹For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean."
¹²After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³You call me Teacher and Lord — and you are right, for that is what I am. ¹⁴So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. ¹⁵For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. ¹⁶Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. ¹⁷If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. ³¹When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³²If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' ³⁴I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.

SERMON

HYMN Love Consecrates the Humblest Act ELW 360

Love consecrates the humblest act
and haloes mercy's deeds;
it sheds a benediction sweet
and hallows human needs.

When in the shadow of the cross
Christ knelt and washed the feet
of his disciples, he gave us
a sign of love complete.

Love serves and willing stoops to serve;
what Christ in love so true
has freely done for one and all,
let us now gladly do!

PRAYER
United by the servant love of God in Christ, we pray this holy night for the needs of the world.

A brief silence.

You call your people to hand on what we receive from you. Form all the baptized into teachers of faith. From one generation to the next, give your church hunger for your promises in the sacraments and joy in receiving and sharing your word. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.

Your creation provides all that we need. Cleanse and protect the water you have given for washing and drinking, water on which all life depends. Sustain crops and herds that provide food; teach us how to live so that there is enough for all. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.

You redeemed your people from slavery. Preserve people throughout the world who flee violence and oppression. Establish just leadership in place of tyranny and peace in place of war. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.

Jesus loved his followers to the end. Grant assurance of that love to all who need it: those living with guilt, those struggling to forgive, those who are lonely or overlooked. Heal the sick and embrace the dying. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.

Jesus washed the feet of the one who betrayed him. Inspire this congregation’s ministries of service, that we love as Jesus loved us. Give us renewed courage to serve. Bless the ministry of deacons throughout the church. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.

Your glory shone in the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We thank you for generations of the faithful who have proclaimed our Lord’s death. Unite us with them in hope until he comes again. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.

Hear these and all our prayers, O God, in the name of the one who loves us to the end, Jesus Christ our Redeemer.
Amen.

+ MEAL+

Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
In the bread and cup of the Lord’s supper, we experience intimate fellowship with Christ and with one another because it involves his body given for us and the new covenant in his blood. Faithful participation in this meal is a living proclamation of Christ’s death until he comes in the future.

²³For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, ²⁴and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." ²⁵In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." ²⁶For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
Let us pray.
Holy Jesus, in union with your followers of all time and place, I long to offer you praise and thanksgiving, for creation and all the blessings of this life, for the redemption won for us by your life, death, and resurrection, for the means of grace and the hope of glory.

I believe that you are truly present in the Holy Sacrament, and, since I cannot at this time receive communion, I pray you to come into my heart. I unite myself with you and embrace you with all my heart, my soul and my mind. Let nothing separate me from you; let me serve you in this life until, by your grace, I come to your glorious kingdom and unending peace. Amen.

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me;
Blood of Christ, refresh me;
Water from the side of Christ, wash me;
Passion of Christ, strengthen me;
O good Jesus, hear me;

Within they wounds hide me;
Do not let me be separated from thee;
From the malicious enemy defend me;
In the hour of my death call me,
And bid me come to thee.
That with the Saints I may praise thee
Now and into eternity. Amen.

ANTHEM Lord I Come to Your Table sung by Mark & Naomi Thomsen

STRIPPING OF THE ALTAR

HYMN Psalm 22, My God, My God sung by Mark Thomsen

PSALM 88:13, 18

¹³But I, O LORD, cry out to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
¹⁸You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me;
my companions are in darkness.

HYMN Go to Dark Gethsemane (vs. 1-3) ELW 347

Go to dark Gethsemane,
all who feel the tempter's pow'r;
your Redeemer's conflict see.
Watch with him one bitter hour;
turn not from his griefs away;
learn from Jesus Christ to pray.

Follow to the judgment hall,
view the Lord of life arraigned;
oh, the wormwood and the gall!
Oh, the pangs his soul sustained!
Shun not suff'ring, shame, or loss;
learn from him to bear the cross.

Calv'ry's mournful mountain climb;
there, adoring at his feet,
mark that miracle of time,
God's own sacrifice complete.
"It is finished!" hear him cry;
learn from Jesus Christ to die.

Service continues on Good Friday.

What Wondrous Love Is This, Text: North American folk hymn, 19th cent., alt., Music: W. Walker, Southern Harmony, 1935; arr. Paul J. Christiansen, 1914-1997, alt. Arr. © 1955 Augsburg Publishing House, Reprinted and/or streamed with permission under OneLicense #A-722274. All rights reserved.

Love Consecrates the Humblest Act, Text: Silas B. McManus, 1845-1917, Music: attr. Lucius Capin, 1700-1842. Public domain.

Go To Dark Gethsemane,Text: James Montgomery, 1771-1854, Music: Richard Redhead, 1820-1901. Public domain.