Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday

**Please note this service is based on the format of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada. Unless otherwise indicated, all prayers come from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW). Hymns and other prayers have been sourced to give appropriate credit.

**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.

**This is for personal use at home as the church is unable to gather in our houses of worship but together we can worship in our own homes.

Introduction to the Day

With nightfall our Lenten observance comes to an end, and we gather with Christians around the world to celebrate the Three Days of Jesus’ death and resurrection. At the heart of the Maundy Jesus’ commandment to love one another. As Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, we are called to follow his example as we humbly care for one another, especially the poor and the unloved. At the Lord’s table we remember Jesus’ sacrifice of his life, even as we are called to offer ourselves in love for the life of the world.

Gathering Song – O Blessed Spring (ELW #447)

            Listen Here

In the name of the Father,

and of the ☩ Son,

and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Confession and Forgiveness

Friends in Christ, in this Lenten season we have heard our Lord’s call to struggle against sin, death, and the devil – all that keeps us from loving God and each other. This is the struggle to which we were called at baptism.

Within the community of the church, God never wearies of forgiving sin and giving the peace of reconciliation. On this night, let us confess our sin against God and our neighbor, and enter the celebration of the great Three Days reconciled with God and with one another.

Silence for reflection

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.

Readings

A reading from the Book of Exodus 12:1-14

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the Passover of the Lord. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19

            Listen Here

A reading from the First Letter from Paul to the Corinthians 11:23-26

            For 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, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In 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.” For 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.

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John 13: 1-17, 31b-35

Glory to you, O Lord.

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to God. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that God had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then 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. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus 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.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

After 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? You call me Teacher and Lord – and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little 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.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By 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

Preacher: Pastor John Dut

Let us pray, may the word of love shower us in Jesus name, Amen.

Tonight, Maundy Thursday, is one of the most dramatic nights of the Church’s year; the last supper, the foot washing, the stripping of the altar. Nothing about tonight or the rest of this Holy Week makes sense. So don’t look for clarifications or answers. I will not offer you any.

The only thing I have to offer this night is an invitation.

Don’t justify away this night is going; its caring, its weakness, its grief, its darkness. Most of us do that all the time and it gets us nowhere.

That’s what Peter is trying to do. “You will never wash my feet,” he tells Jesus. He doesn’t understand how or why Jesus could or would wash his feet. That makes no sense.

You do not know what I am doing,” Jesus tells Peter, “but later you will understand.” To give ourselves to this night is to give ourselves to Jesus. If we try to think our way through this night we will miss taking our share with Jesus.

Tonight let’s take our share with Jesus, that why we came here tonight to participate in this Zoom Service? To take our share.

This means we show up to this last supper in our home which tells a lots about our church today. After COVID 19, the pandemic that change think and the way we doing things.

We bring with us all the last suppers at which we have eaten; the endings, the losses, and the tears.

We carry them deep within our hearts. We are our guests at those tables? Picture our faces. Recall our names. What are the conversations? Hear our voices. Listen to our words. What are we feeling? Do not turn us away. Let the emotions touch your heart and run through your gut.

Tonight we eat and drink in remembrance. We let ourselves be fed with a food that will remain even after the table has been cleared.

Taking our share means that we come to the washbowl. We naked our feet to one another and to the water of Jesus‟ love. Strange and familiar feet, young and old feet, healthy and hurting feet, pretty and attractive feet, ugly and deformed feet, feet that have kicked and hurt another, and feet that have been stepped on and hurt by another.

Jesus received and washed them all. Will you risk being that vulnerable and intimate? What does that bring up for you? Fear, embarrassment, shame? Hope, forgiveness, healing?

Tonight we love one another just as he has loved us. We let ourselves be washed in a love that will remain even after the water has dried.

Finally, taking our share means that we be present to the darkness and the stripping of the altar. We acknowledge and recount the times and ways in which the altar of our life was stripped naked.

The light fades and shadows invade: fear, grief, absence, isolation, despair, plus pandemic - Coronavirus. The darkness testifies to just how real life is.

Tonight we cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” We let this stripping hollow out a place in us large enough to hold “the Holy One, enthroned upon the praises of Israel.” (Ps. 22:1, 3)

My invitation to you tonight! No explanations and no commentary. This is all I have, for you and for me. But I trust and believe it is a way to the Cross. The mystery of tonight is enough to explain for our journey. So, what do we say? Will we show up? Come? Be present? Will you come, tonight, and take your share with Jesus?

Amen

Hymn of the Day – Will You Let Me Be Your Servant (ELW #659)

            Listen Here

Foot Washing

Prayers of Intercession

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

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.

Please take time to offer your own intercessions or to pray in silence.

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.

Peace

The peace of Christ be with you always.

And also with you.

**Although not physically at our church buildings to share our offering together I would encourage you to set your offering of money aside so that it can be dropped off or placed in the church once services resume, to mail your offering to the church, or to make donations online. Please remember ministry is still taking place.

Offering Prayer

Let us pray.

God of glory, receive these gifts and the offering of our lives. As Jesus was lifted up from the earth, draw us to your heart in the midst of this world, that all creation may be brought from bondage to freedom, from darkness to light, and from death to life; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

Holy Communion

Remembering the reading from Corinthians 11:23-26

            For 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, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In 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.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Prayer After Communion

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus, in a wonderful sacrament you strengthen us with the saving power of your suffering, death, and resurrection. May this sacrament of your body and blood so work in us that the fruits of your redemption will show forth in the way we live, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

Stripping of the Altar

Psalm 22

          Listen Here

Silence.

Hosanna. Soson Dei. God Help Us.

Palm Sunday

**Please note this service is based on the format of the Anglican Church of Canada. Unless otherwise indicated, all prayers come from the Book of Alternative Services (BAS) and the hymns from the Book of Common Praise (BCP). Other hymns and prayers have been sourced to give appropriate credit.

**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.

**This is for personal use at home as the church is unable to gather in our houses of worship but together we can worship in our own homes.

Introduction

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

Dear friends in Christ,

during Lent we have been preparing

for the celebration of our Lord’s paschal mystery.

On this day our Lord Jesus Christ

entered the holy city of Jerusalem in triumph.

The people welcomed him with palms and shouts of praise,

but the path before him led to self-giving, suffering, and death.

Today we greet him as our King,

although we know his crown is thorns and his throne a cross.

We follow him this week from the glory of the palms

to the glory of the resurrection

by way of the dark road of suffering and death.

United with him in his suffering on the cross,

may we share his resurrection and new life.

 

Let us pray.

Assist us mercifully with your help,

Lord God of our salvation,

that we may enter with joy

into the celebration of those mighty acts

whereby you give us life and immortality;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Opening Hymn – Ride On King Jesus

            Listen Here

Gathering

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,

and the love of God,

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,

be with you all.

And also with you.

 

Collect for Purity

            Listen Here

Trisaigion

            Listen Here

Collect of the Day

Let us pray.

Almighty and everliving God, in tender love for all our human race you sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ to take our flesh and suffer death upon a cruel cross. May we follow the example of his great humility, and share in the glory of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Readings

A reading from the Book of Isaiah 50:4-9a

The Lord God has given me

    the tongue of a teacher,

that I may know how to sustain

    the weary with a word.

Morning by morning he wakens—

    wakens my ear

    to listen as those who are taught.

The Lord God has opened my ear,

    and I was not rebellious,

    I did not turn backward.

I gave my back to those who struck me,

    and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;

I did not hide my face

    from insult and spitting.

 

The Lord God helps me;

    therefore I have not been disgraced;

therefore I have set my face like flint,

    and I know that I shall not be put to shame;

    he who vindicates me is near.

Who will contend with me?

    Let us stand up together.

Who are my adversaries?

    Let them confront me.

It is the Lord God who helps me;

    who will declare me guilty?

All of them will wear out like a garment;

    the moth will eat them up.

 

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Psalm 31:9-16

            Listen Here 

A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians 2:5-11

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,

    did not regard equality with God

    as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

    taking the form of a slave,

    being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

    he humbled himself

    and became obedient to the point of death—

    even death on a cross.

 

Therefore God also highly exalted him

    and gave him the name

    that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus

    every knee should bend,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess

    that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father.

 

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

 

Gradual Hymn – O Sacred Head, Surrounded (BCP #198)

            Listen Here

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark 11:1-11

Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

“Hosanna!

    Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

    Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!

Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

The Gospel of Christ.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Sermon

May only truth be spoken and truth heard. Amen. 

For the last two years, I have preached on the absurdity of the people waving their palms and cheering as Jesus entered into Jerusalem and then, a mere five days later, calling for his crucifixion and death. It is easy to get excited and angry about how people flowed quickly from praising their Messiah to demanding Pontius Pilot hang him up next to the other criminals. 

The actions of the crowd still irk me, but this year I thought I would reflect on something else – the word “Hosanna”. I want to talk about this word today because during my research this week, I came across a common thread regarding the word “Hosanna” that I had never thought about before. 

When you hear the word “hosanna”, where does your mind go? How does it make you feel? 

I always heard “hosanna” as a cry of celebration. As in, “Hurray! Jesus is here!” The crowd is celebrating the arrival of a celebrity. 

But, it seems, that is not the case. 

Scholars' best guess is that "Hosanna" is a contraction of two Hebrew terms: yaw-shah, meaning “to save” or “deliver”, and naw, meaning “to beseech” or “pray”. In Greek, it translates to soson dei, meaning “save us”. In casual conversation, you could think of it like “God help us”. 

Now go back and picture Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. At face value it would seem that the Jerusalem fan parade is glorifying God’s name but they are not really. They are crying out for help, to be saved. 

The people cheered. They tossed branches from the nearby trees to the ground, and they called out, "Hosanna."  They looked upon this prophet - rumored to be the Messiah - and they cried out to him, "Save us." 

“God, help us!” 

These are the cries the crowd makes as Jesus triumphantly enters Jerusalem. 

Isn’t that the most basic of all our prayers? “God, help us! God, save us!” 

Over the last decade or two, Palm Sunday worship seems to be pushed aside. Not that we don’t bring palms to church each year, wave them during the procession, and have them blessed so that they can be made into crosses, and subsequently into ashes the following year, but often today’s scripture lessons would lean more towards the Passion than the palms. 

It is thought that as fewer people attended daily Holy Week services, especially Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, it became important to ensure that congregations, at the very least, heard the story of Jesus’ journey to his death on the cross before hearing of his resurrection on Easter Sunday. 

Therefore, Palm and Passion stories got merged into a single liturgical Sunday. 

I understanding that reasoning. If we move directly from a Palm Sunday procession to an Easter parade, we will have missed the story and experience of the passion. 

However, as insufferable and horrific that the events at the end of Holy Week are, we need to slow ourselves down and let the story play out throughout the week. We shouldn’t rush through the Passion just to get to the celebration. 

We need to experience each as it happened, not try to squish it all into a single Sunday morning. 

And so our journey starts today with that primal prayer – God save us. 

The crowd was asking to be saved from the Romans. They wanted deliverance from an occupying army. They wanted to be saved by the Messiah that they had been promised. 

Now, we’re not under the thumb of a Roman army, but I’m sure I can’t be the only one whose prayer includes some form of “God save us, God save me?” 

It is a complicated thing to ask, "What does God save us from?" 

When we wave our palms and boldly cry out, "Hosanna," do we dare imagine what we really want God to save us from? 

Anger, depression, death? 

The endless stream of violence? 

Loneliness? 

Fear? 

When we cry out “Hosanna”, we are appealing to God from the most vulnerable places inside of us. We are asking God to make us whole again. 

Ah! And now we come back to the crowd who changed their mind by the end of the week. 

The people wanted salvation, which they defined as "freedom from the Romans." 

"Save us," they cried, but then Jesus did not set about saving them in a manner that they could recognize.  He did not take up a sword and send the Romans fleeing. 

Instead, he went and had supper with his friends; he went and prayed in a garden. 

It only took a few days for the crowds to switch from crying "Hosanna" to the shouts of "Crucify him" as they lost their patience waiting for what they expected to happen upon the arrival of the Messiah. 

We, the reader, are dismayed at this, but would we have acted any differently? If change we so desperately desired was not happening in the way we expected, would we not get angry? 

God answers our cries of "Hosanna" in ways so utterly unexpected. 

God comes. God incarnates. God marches on to death in order to bring us salvation. 

Is there any better way to commence Holy Week than with "Hosannas" on our lips? 

Is there any more faithful way to embark on this sacred journey than to ask God, out of the deep, honest places inside of us, to "Save us... please, save us"? 

As we head into the dark days of Holy Week, anticipating the gruesome events of Good Friday, let us not hide from those horrific events. 

Cry out “Hosanna” today and then experience deeply God saving us through Jesus through each day and each event of this journey. 

Hosanna. Soson dei. God help us. 

Apostle’s Creed

 

Prayers of the People

(by Joan Merton)

With confidence and trust let us pray to the Lord saying, “Lord, have mercy.”

For the one holy catholic and apostolic Church throughout the world, we pray to you Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For the mission of the Church, that in faithful witness it may preach the gospel to the ends of the earth, we pray to you, Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For those preparing for baptism and for their teachers and sponsors, we pray to you, Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For peace in the world that a spirit of respect and reconciliation may grow among nations and peoples, we pray to you, Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For the poor, the persecuted, the sick, and all who suffer; for refugees, prisoners, and all in danger; that they may be relieved and protected, we pray to you, Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For all whom we have injured or offended, we pray to you, Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For grace to amend our lives and to further the reign of God, we pray to you, Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

O God, who sent your son, Jesus, to establish your realm among us, we come bearing palms to commemorate our Lord’s entry into the holy city.

We recall, by Luke’s account, that before entering the city Jesus stopped on a hill overlooking it and wept because its people didn’t know those things that made for peace - peace they sought, but would not possess because pride and prejudice obscured their vision of your working in their midst.

We can’t help wondering, Lord, if Christ crested a hill overlooking our world this morning, what would he see in us?  Would there be tears in his eyes?  Tears of joy or tears of sorrow? 

We confess our unity with that first Palm Sunday crowd which sang praise and shouted adulation and then turned away.  Is our vision of things that make for peace obscured?  Is it because we seek peace by grasping rather than by receiving it - by strength rather than submission?

Teach us your ways.  Help us perceive your working among us.  Create in us faith and resolve that make us faithful.  Turn our hearts to those for whom Christ would weep and make us instruments of your peace. 

We ask your blessing for those who hurt or have need: especially this morning we pray for the lives lost senselessly in the United States this week and all those lost to Covid this week, please feel free to add your petitions either aloud or silently.  We ask your blessing for all who are discouraged and sense themselves to be alone.  We ask, too, that our ministries might make us truly present with the lonely and the sorrowing; that we might be such stewards of all you have given that physical needs around us might be met. 

Please take time to offer your own intercessions or to pray in silence.

We pray knowing that this prayer means we must be willing to encounter and be encountered by you.  Come to us, O God, in the person of Jesus and the power of the Spirit that we might know you anew; that knowing you anew we might be transformed; and that being transformed we might make Christ the Lord of our lives.

We pray it in his name.  Amen.

Confession and Absolution

Dear friends in Christ,

God is steadfast in love and infinite in mercy;

God welcomes sinners and invites them to the table.

Let us confess our sins, confident in God’s forgiveness.

 

Most merciful God,

We confess that 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 neighbours as ourselves.

We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.

for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,

have mercy on us and forgive us,

that we may delight in your will,

and walk in your ways,

to the glory of your name. Amen.

 

Almighty God have mercy upon you,

pardon and deliver you from all your sins,

confirm and strengthen you in all goodness,

and keep you in eternal life;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

 

The Peace

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

And also with you.

 

Offertory Hymn – Go to Dark Gethsemane (Melody from #522) (BCP #190)

            Listen Here

Prayer over the Gifts

**Although not physically at our church buildings to share our offering together I would encourage you to set your offering of money aside so that it can be dropped off or placed in the church once services resume, to mail your offering to the church, or to make donations online. Please remember ministry is still taking place.

Let us pray.

Gracious God, the suffering and death of Jesus, your only son, makes us pleasing in your sight. Alone we can do nothing, but though sacrifice, may we receive your love and mercy. Amen.

This service was created for live worship on Zoom. For those worshiping on your own, you may either read the Eucharistic prayer, or skip ahead to the Lord's Prayer and then the Doxology.

Eucharistic Prayer 2

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.

We give you thanks and praise, almighty God,

through your beloved Son, Jesus Christ,

our Saviour and Redeemer.

He is your living Word

through whom you have created all things.

 

By the power of the Holy Spirit

he took flesh of the Virgin Mary

and shared our human nature.

He lived and died as one of us,

to reconcile us to you,

the God and Father of all.

 

In fulfilment of your will

he stretched out his hands in suffering,

to bring release to those who place their hope in you;

and so he won for you a holy people.

 

He chose to bear our griefs and sorrows,

and to give up his life on the cross,

that he might shatter the chains of evil and death,

and banish the darkness of sin and despair.

By his resurrection he brings us into the light of your presence.

 

Now with all creation we raise our voices

to proclaim the glory of your name.

            Listen Here 

Holy and gracious God,

accept our praise,

through your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ;

who on the night he was handed over

to suffering and death,

took bread and gave you thanks,

saying, “Take, and eat:

this is my body which is broken for you.”

 

In the same way he took the cup,

saying, “This is my blood which is shed for you.

When you do this, you do it in memory of me.”

 

Remembering, therefore, his death and resurrection,

we offer you this bread and this cup,

giving thanks that you have made us worthy

to stand in your presence and serve you.

 

We ask you to send your Holy Spirit

upon the offering of your holy Church.

Gather into one

all who share in these sacred mysteries,

filling them with the Holy Spirit

and confirming their faith in the truth,

that together we may praise you

and give you glory

through your Servant, Jesus Christ.

 

All glory and honour are yours,

Father and Son,

with the Holy Spirit

in the holy Church,

now and for ever.

Amen.

And now, as our Saviour Christ has taught us,

we are bold to pray,

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial,

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours,

now and for ever. Amen.

 

Breaking of the Bread

We break this bread,

Communion in Christ’s body once broken.

Let your Church be the wheat

which bears its fruit in dying.

If we have died with him,

we shall live with him;

if we hold firm,

We shall reign with him.

 

Communion

These are the gifts of God for the People of God.

Thanks be to God.

 

Prayer After Communion

Let us pray.

God our help and strength, you have satisfied our hunger with this Eucharistic food. Strengthen our faith, that through the death and resurrection of your Son, we may be led to salvation, for his is Lord now and for ever. Amen.

 

Doxology

Glory to God,

whose power, working in us,

can do infinitely more

than we can ask or imagine.

Glory to God from generation to generation,

in the Churh and in Christ Jesus,

forever and ever.

Amen.

 

Blessing

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord: and the blessing of the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sanctifier be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

Sending Song – All Glory, Laud, and Honour (BCP #181)

            Listen Here

Dismissal

Go forth into the world,

Rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Thanks be to God.