Virtual Worship for Maundy Thursday

The Presbyterian Church, Coshocton, Ohio

Pastor Karen Crawford

Mark Wagner, Pianist

April 9, 2020                                                                                       7 p.m.

Prelude           What Wondrous Love Is This / Jesus, Lover of My Soul 

Listen to Mark’s prelude here:

  Greeting                                                                        

Listen for my greeting, call to worship and opening prayer and join me in the prayer of confession:

Greeting                                                                                        

Call to Worship

On this day
Christ the Lamb of God
gave himself into the hands of those who would slay him.

On this day
Christ gathered with his disciples in the upper room.

On this day
Christ our God gave us this holy feast,
that we who eat this bread
and drink this cup
may here proclaim his holy sacrifice
and be partakers of his resurrection,
and at the last day may reign with him in heaven.

Opening Prayer

Prayer of Confession

Eternal God, whose covenant with us is never broken, we confess that we fail to fulfill your will. In Jesus Christ you serve us freely, but we refuse your love and withhold ourselves from others. We do not love you fully or love one another as you command. In your mercy, forgive and cleanse us. Lead us once again to your table and unite us to Christ, who is the bread of life and the vine from which we grow in grace. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

Hymn (stanzas 1 and 2)     An Upper Room Did Our Lord Prepare

Listen to Mark’s piano accompaniment for the hymn:

1. An upper room did our Lord prepare for those he loved until the end; and his disciples still gather there to celebrate their risen friend.
2. A lasting gift Jesus gave his own: to share his bread, his loving cup. Whatever burdens may bow us down, he by his cross shall lift us up.

Listen to the prayer for illumination and scripture here:

Prayer for Illumination

Reading: John 13: 1-17  

Now 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. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father 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.

Meditation    “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?        Pastor Karen

Here is my meditation:

 

Listen to the reading of John 13:31-35:

Reading: John 13: 31-35

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.”

Musical Meditation:  O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus     Mark Wagner, Piano

Listen to O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus:

Join me for virtual communion:

Invitation to the Table

This table is open to all who confess Jesus as Lord and Savior and seek to follow Him.  Come to this sacred table not because you must, but because you may.   Come not because you are fulfilled, but because in your emptiness you stand in need of God’s mercy and assurance.  Come not to express your opinion, but to see God’s presence and to pray for the grace of God’s Spirit. Come to this table then, sisters and brothers.  Come just as you are and partake.  It is spread for you and me, that we might again recognize that God has come to us, shared our common lot, and invited us to join the people of God’s new age.

Great Thanksgiving & Lord’s Prayer

Gracious God, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these your gifts of bread and wine, that the bread we break and the cup we bless may be the communion of the body and blood of Christ. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, that we may be one with all who share this feast, united in ministry in every place. As this bread is Christ’s body for us, send us out to be the body of Christ in the world.

Remember your church. . . .Unite it in the truth of your Word and empower it in ministry to the world.

Remember our family and friends. . . . Bless them and watch over them; be gracious to them and give them peace.

Remember the sick and the suffering, the aged and the dying. . . . Encourage them and give them hope.

In union with your church in heaven and on earth, we pray, O God, that you will fulfill your eternal purpose in us and in all the world.

Keep us faithful in your service until Christ comes in final victory, and we shall feast with all your saints in the joy of your eternal realm.

Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ, we pray these words:

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven; Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.  

Breaking the Bread

The Lord Jesus, on the night of his arrest, took bread, and after giving thanks to God, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take, eat. This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

Break a piece or loaf of bread in half

Pouring the Cup

In the same way he took the cup, saying: This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it,
do this in remembrance of me.

Pour the juice into a cup

Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the saving death of the risen Lord, until he comes.

A moment of silent preparation

Distribution of the Elements

The body of Christ, the bread of heaven.

Eat the bread

The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.

Drink the cup

Prayer After Communion

God of grace, we give you thanks for the feast of redemption we have shared in the body and blood of our Savior. As you have nourished us with love, let our lives proclaim your great love for the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The light is extinguished. Service ends in silence.