Holy Thursday
6:30pm
Prelude
Greeting and Welcome
Lighting of the Candles
Processional
Hymn of Invocation – Lord, Whose Love through Humble Service (LSB 848)
Lord, whose love through humble service
Bore the weight of human need,
Who upon the cross, forsaken,
Offered mercy’s perfect deed,
We, Your servants, bring the worship
Not of voice alone, but heart,
Consecrating to Your purpose
Ev’ry gift that You impart.
Still Your children wander homeless;
Still the hungry cry for bread;
Still the captives long for freedom;
Still in grief we mourn our dead.
As, O Lord, Your deep compassion
Healed the sick and freed the soul,
Use the love Your Spirit kindles
Still to save and make us whole.
As we worship, grant us vision,
Till Your love’s revealing light
In its height and depth and greatness,
Dawns upon our quickened sight,
Making known the needs and burdens
Your compassion bids us bear,
Stirring us to tireless striving,
Your abundant life to share.
Called by worship to Your service,
Forth in Your dear name we go,
To the child, the youth, the aged,
Love in living deeds to show;
Hope and health, goodwill and comfort,
Counsel, aid, and peace we give,
That Your servants, Lord, in freedom
May Your mercy know and live.
+ Preparation +
Invocation
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Opening Sentences
P: I will go to the altar of God,
C: to God my exceeding joy.
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord,
C: who made heaven and earth.
Confession and Absolution
P: I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord,
C: for with the Lord is plenteous redemption and the forgiveness of all our sins.
P: Let us then confess our sins unto our gracious Lord.
C: Almighty God, Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, maker of all things, judge of all people, we admit and confess our sinfulness. We have turned away from one another in our thinking, speaking, and doing. We have done the evil You forbid and have not done the good You demand. We do repent and are truly sorry for these our sins. Have mercy on us, kind Father, because of the obedience of our brother, Jesus Christ, Your Son. Forgive us all that is past and with the power of the Holy Spirit, move us to serve You faithfully. Set our feet upon the new path of life, and build Your kingdom here through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
P: God has promised forgiveness of sins to those who repent and turn to Him. In His stead and by His command, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
P: God keep you in His grace by the Holy Spirit, lead you to greater faith and obedience, and bring you to live with Him forever, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
C: Amen.
+ Word +
Prayer of the Day
P: O Lord, in this wondrous Sacrament You have left us a remembrance of Your passion. Grant that we may so receive the sacred mystery of Your body and blood that the fruits of Your redemption may continually be manifest in us; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
First Reading – Jeremiah 31:31-34
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Psalm – Psalm 116:12-19
P: What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits to me?
C: I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord,
P: I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people.
C: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.
P: O Lord, I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds.
C: I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord.
P: I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people,
C: in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!
Epistle – Hebrews 10:15–25
And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Holy Gospel – Luke 22:7-20
P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the twenty-second chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ.
Hymn of the Day – Lord Jesus, Think on Me (LSB 610)
Lord Jesus, think on me
And purge away my sin;
From worldly passions set me free
And make me pure within.
Lord Jesus, think on me,
By anxious thoughts oppressed;
Let me Your loving servant be
And taste Your promised rest.
Lord Jesus, think on me
Amid the battle’s strife;
In all my pain and misery,
O be my health and life!
Lord Jesus, think on me
Nor let me go astray;
Through darkness and perplexity
Point out Your chosen way.
Lord Jesus, think on me
That, when this life is past,
I may the eternal brightness see
And share Your joy at last.
Sermon
Apostles' Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life + everlasting. Amen.
Prayer of the Church
P: Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs. For the faithful proclamation of Christ’s saving name, that God’s people may be strengthened in the true faith and His kingdom extended, let us pray to the Lord:
C: Lord, have mercy.
P: For the Holy Christian Church throughout the world and for all who confess the name of Christ, that God would guard and defend us from the temptations of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, let us pray to the Lord:
C: Lord, have mercy.
P: For this congregation, its mission and its people; for the ability to meet the needs that arise as we do the work God has given us to do; and for the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, let us pray to the Lord:
C: Lord, have mercy.
P: For all who partake this day of Christ’s holy body and blood, that in their eating and drinking they may receive the benefits of forgiveness of sins and the renewal of life and have a foretaste of the feast to come, let us pray to the Lord:
C: Lord, have mercy.
P: For all of us gathered here in worship, that the blessings of this service be shown forth in our lives as we live in peaceable service to one another and in the world, let us pray to the Lord:
C: Lord, have mercy and grant us Your peace. Amen.
Offertory
Offering
+ Sacrament +
The Words of Our Lord
P: Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said: “Take, eat; this is My + body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.”
In the same way also He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying: “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My + blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
Proclamation of Christ
P: As often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
C: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
P: O Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, in giving us Your body and blood to eat and to drink, You lead us to remember and confess Your holy cross and passion, Your blessed death, Your rest in the tomb, Your resurrection from the dead, Your ascension into heaven, and Your coming for the final judgment. So remember us in Your kingdom and teach us to pray:
Lord’s Prayer
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 trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Pax Domini
P: The peace of the Lord be with you always.
C: And also with you.
Distribution
Distribution Hymn – Jesus, Greatest at the Table (LSB 446)
Jesus, greatest at the table,
The almighty Son of Man,
Laid aside His outer clothing,
Poured some water in a pan;
As the Twelve lay, hushed in silence,
He the servant’s task began.
Marvel how their Lord and teacher
Gently taught them not to vie
As He humbly knelt before them,
Dusty feet to wash and dry,
By His tender touch expressing
True compassion from on high.
Jesus took the role of servant
When upon that gruesome span,
For all human sin He suffered
As a vile and loathsome man;
On the cross poured out like water
To fulfill the Father’s plan.
Can we fathom such deep mercy?
Do we see what God has done?
Who can grasp this great reversal:
Love that gives His only Son?
Christ, the sinless for the sinners,
For the many dies the One.
Jesus gave to His disciples
A commandment that was new:
“Show My love to one another,
Do as I have done for you;
All the world will know you love Me
As you love each other too.”
The Stripping of the Altar – Psalm 22
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.
Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.
From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.
All Leave in Silence
+ + +
+ WORSHIP LEADERS +
Preacher – Seminarian Ryan Barnett
Celebrant/Liturgist – Pastor Scott
Pianist/Organist – Jim Thielker
Communion – Derek Don
Sound/Video – Ken Clark
