Holy Thursday

You will want to have items on hand to celebrate Holy Communion.

Welcome

In the quietness of our own homes, we stop tonight, O God, to remember how it was that Jesus and the twelve came into a home to be together privately in order to celebrate the Passover. They made preparations. They came with expectations. They separated in order to pay attention to spiritual realities and to honor how You worked in a mighty way in history. But they had no idea how it was that You were about to work in an even mightier way.

Tonight, as we make our preparations and come with expectations and honor You, we humbly welcome You into the reality of circumstances we cannot change and needs we cannot meet and emotions we cannot predict. Help us to open our eyes, Holy Spirit, to see that You are still the mighty God who works in ways we cannot know. You are always good, always loving, and in all ways, best.

Tonight, we celebrate the night Jesus shared his last supper with his disciples. We mourn as we remember the sorrow of that night and all that was ahead for Jesus. We sorrow for our world right now. You are with us in our sorrow and grief.

Blessed be Your name. Welcome, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Song

Abide With Me

Readings

Luke 22: 1-27

John 13: 1-20

Thoughts

Shirley Paz, Director of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care

Individual Prayer

Please use this time to pray as you wish. You may want to confess, pray for forgiveness, hear God’s assurance, pray for the needs of others, ask for yourself, praise and thank God, and allow time for God to speak to you.

Reading

(together or with one reader)

He was always the guest.

In the homes of Peter and Jarius, Martha and Mary,

he was always the guest.

At the meal tables of the wealthy, where he pled the cause of the poor,

he was always the guest.

Upsetting polite company, befriending isolated people, welcoming the stranger,

he was always the guest.

But here, at this table,

he is the host.

Those who wish to serve him must first be served by him.

Those who want to follow him must first be fed by him.

Those who wish to wash his feet must first let him make them clean.

For this is the table where God intends us to be nourished;

this is the time when Christ can make us new.

This is where he meets us in order to infuse us with his Spirit

for the sake of the world.

So come, you who hunger and thirst for a deeper faith,

for the manifestation of God's grace in this world, and for true healing.

Jesus Christ now invites you to his table.

Invitation and Instructions to Communion

Pastor Chris Ziegler, Lead Pastor

Celebration of the Lord’s Supper

Song

Behold the Lamb

Benediction

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds, in the knowledge of the love of God, and of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord; and may the protection and blessing of God be upon you. Amen