Maundy Thursday Order of Worship

Maundy Thursday
Color: Purple (symbolizing Penitence)
The United Methodist Church of Chugiak
Pastor: Rev. Steve Lambert
7:00 pm Drive-In Service
April 1, 2021

 Please tune your radio to 107.9 FM to hear the service broadcast.

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship
Leader: We are Jesus’ disciples, following him even as he moves toward the cross.
People: Even as he wraps a towel around his waist.
Even as he kneels to wash the filth from the feet of his friends.
Leader: We are Jesus’ disciples, longing to be faithful even as the night grows dark.
People: Even as betrayers loom.  Even as the powers that oppose the way of Christ press in around us.
Leader: We are Jesus’ disciples, struggling to love others even as Jesus loved us.
People: We are Jesus’ disciples, gathered here to worship God:
Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer.

Opening Prayer
Holy God, source and sovereign, you put all power and authority into the hands of Christ—
Christ, who washes our feet in humble service.
Teach us to love one another as Christ has loved us, so that everyone will know that we are his disciples; through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray.

Leader: Listen for the word of God.
People: Our hearts and minds are open.

Old Testament Lesson    Exodus 12:1-4, 11-14

Epistle Lesson    I Corinthians 11:23-26

Gospel Lesson    John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Leader:  The Word of God for the People of God.
People: Thanks be to God.

The Message          Rev. Steve Lambert

Confession of Sin
Leader: God’s love for the world has been revealed in Jesus Christ, who certainly loved us to the uttermost; Jesus—Savior and Lord—who at his last meal with his disciples gave them—and us—that new commandment: “…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.”

Merciful God,
we confess that so often our discipleship has been weak …
when we have failed to serve as Jesus served;
People: forgive us.
When we have failed to love one another as Jesus loves us;
People: forgive us.
When we have been happy to proclaim our devotion to Jesus with
our lips and then denied him by our actions;
People: forgive us.
Merciful God, empower us by your Spirit to be steady and true
to you in every time of trial; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

(May we each make our own silent confession before our Lord.)

Assurance of Forgiveness
Leader: Jesus said: “I came not to judge the world, but to save the world” and “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end”
The good news therefore is this: In Jesus Christ, we are loved and we are forgiven.
People: Thanks be to God!

Great Thanksgiving Prayer
Leader: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them to the Lord.
Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give him thanks and praise.
Leader: Blessed are you, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe. . . . Therefore, with your people in all ages and the whole company of heaven, we join the song of unending praise, saying:

People: Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 
Hosanna in the highest.

Leader: Most holy and merciful God, time and again we turned aside from your way and abused your gifts, . . .
Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty God, now and for ever.
People: Amen.

The 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. Amen.

Breaking the Bread    

Receiving the Bread and Cup**
(you are welcome to join us on the concrete church entrance to receive the elements or we will gladly come to your vehicle)
**We also have a separate gluten-free bread and chalice available for those who cannot have gluten. Please ask the servers for “gluten-free”.

Prayer After Communion

Scripture Reading    Matthew 26:30-56

Benediction
Leader: Christ has given us a new commandment:
that we love one another, as Christ has loved us.
By this, everyone will know that we are Christ’s disciples,
if we share that love with the world.
And through this love, all things will be made new.
Go now, and do as Christ commands.
People: Amen.