Maundy Thursday Service
Maundy Thursday
Prelude
Hymns of Gathering
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"Day Is Dying in the West"
"Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"
"Let All the World in Every Corner Sing"
OR "As We Gather"
"Hosanna"
"I Love You, Lord"
Call to Worship: Psalm 100
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HS 45
HS 31
HS 30
NS 3
NS 14
NS 18
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*Hymn of Praise: "Great and Marvelous Are Thy Works"
OR "Holy, Holy, Holy Is the Lord"
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HS 48
HS 57 |
*Invocation
*Response
Responsive Reading
| Leader: |
O Lord, forgive us when we fail to respond to your call with faith.
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| People: |
Through your Spirit we stand in the assurance of your
acceptance.
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| Leader: |
Forgive us when we are shackled by our narrow understandings
of discipleship and our clouded sense of purpose.
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| People: |
Through your Spirit we are
drawn into the illumination of your empowering love.
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| Leader: |
Forgive us when we are frightened of the future or pull back
from the demand of your calling.
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| People: |
Through your Spirit we will trust you to lead us into new
opportunities.
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| Leader: |
Forgive us when we fail to sense your presence in our past,
to acknowledge your grace in the present movement, and to trust you for
our future.
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| People: |
Through your Spirit we offer ourselves in discipleship.
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All:
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We stand together as your disciples.
We seek renewed and renewing faith.
Touch us now with your Spirit, Lord.
Touch us now with your Spirit.
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—Adapted from Prayers and Readings for Worship, vol.
2,
Peter Judd, ed. (Herald House, 1996), 22.
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Hymn: "Lay Your Hands"
OR "Here We Have Come, Dear Lord, to Thee"
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NS 27
HS 109 |
Prayer of Confession and Repentance
Below are three scripture readings concerning the Passover and Lord’s
Supper. After each one is a short statement concerning the history and
significance of the scripture. Each reading could be shared by a different
person.
Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 6:4–9 NRSV
Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your
might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite
them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you
are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your
hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts
of your house and on your gates.
Statement
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These six verses may well be the most quoted portion in the
entire Bible. Known as the Shema, they are recited every morning and every
evening by orthodox Jews and have been for hundreds of years. They graphically
emphasize the importance of God’s laws to the Israelites.1
The Shema is a recognition of a covenant of God’s intervention on Israel’s
behalf against the Pharaoh of Egypt. The Shema starts with a confession that
there is one true God and that this God must be loved with all your heart,
soul and strength.2
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Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 6:20–22 NRSV
When your children ask you in time to come, "What is the meaning of
the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has
commanded you?" then you shall say to your children, "We were
Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a
mighty hand. The Lord displayed before our eyes great and awesome signs and
wonders against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his household."
Statement
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This reading explains why the Shema is important. It is a
reminder of the Passover when God passed over the houses of the Israelites,
when the firstborn of all the Egyptians were destroyed. It is a remembrance
for the children of Israel of their deliverance out of Egypt and slavery. The
Passover meal follows a fairly standard pattern in the Jewish household. In
response to a question from the youngest member of the family, the story of
the first Passover is recounted. |
Scripture Reading: Matthew 26:20 and 26–29, adapted
When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve.
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and
gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take, and eat; this is my body."
Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and offered it to them, saying,
"Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is
poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until
that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom."
Statement
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Jesus and his disciples met as a family to eat the Passover meal
together. Jesus thought of himself as the Passover lamb, offered up for the
deliverance of his people. The bread was his body which was to be given, and
the wine was his blood that would be spilled. The Passover was transformed
into the Lord’s Supper. At the Exodus, the nation of Israel was born. By
Christ’s sacrifice, the church was born, which would become a people drawn
from all nations. Until he comes again, we are to remember the significance of
what he has done for us.
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Hymn of Preparation: "O Holy Dove of God Descending"
OR "Eat This Bread"
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HS
285
NS 8 |
While this hymn is being sung, the bread and wine should be prepared.
Scripture Reading
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and brake it, and blessed it, and
gave to his disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is in remembrance of my body
which I give a ransom for you.
—Matthew 26:22 IV
Blessing and Serving of the Bread
Scripture Reading
And [Jesus] took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying,
Drink ye all of it. For this is in remembrance of my blood of the new
testament, which is shed for as many as shall believe on my name, for the
remission of their sins.
—Matthew 26:23–24
Blessing and Serving of the Wine
Offertory Statement and Prayer: John 3:16–17
Now it is our time to respond to the gift of God’s son. Jesus brought a
view of God that humanity had not seen before. We are called to respond to the
love of Jesus Christ with our abundance. We are the richest people in the
whole world, rich in material things and rich in the love Jesus Christ has
shared with us.
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*Closing Hymn: "Sent Forth by God’s Blessing"
OR "Christ Has Called Us to New Visions"
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HS 493
SP 38 |
*Benediction
*Sending Forth
We go forth, remembering what we have heard and said and done here in
worship.
We go recalling that we are loved, forgiven, and renewed.
With faith we go out to be the Community of Christ.
—Adapted from Prayers and Readings for Worship, vol.
1,
Judy Judd, ed. (Herald House, 1987), 128.
*Postlude
1 Quoted from the Student Bible New International
Version, 180.
2 Information taken from The New Oxford Annotated Bible, 254.
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