Maundy Thursday: The Upper Room
April 14, 2022
The Rev. Joshua Heimbuck, Pastor
WELCOME
A warm welcome to all who worship here this day, especially to our guests and visitors. May this hour of worship make us eager to share in the proclamation of the Good News of God’s love in Christ as we enter another week of witness and service in his Name. Guests and visitors, if you have not already done so please honor us by signing our Guest Book in the entrance hall of the church as you leave. If you have no church home of your own, we invite you to make Grace Lutheran Church the center of your worship, learning, fellowship, and service. Need more information? Pastor Josh would be happy to answer any questions you might have. Come to worship with us again and often!
PRE-SERVICE MUSIC
CHIMES
WELCOME
Places of the Passion
A Series of Services for Holy Week
Maundy Thursday: The Upper Room
Order of Service
And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us. Mark 14:15
PRELUDE At the Table — by Brian Gibson
423 Jesus, Refuge of the Weary
Invocation
P The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
C Amen.
Opening Sentences
P Let us ever walk with Jesus.
C To see the depths of his love.
P To behold the gift of his forgiveness.
C To gaze upon the heights of his grace.
P To marvel at the magnitude of his mercy.
C We travel to the Upper Room.
P To watch as Christ delivers the Gospel.
C In his true body and blood.
P Faithful Lord, with me abide.
C I shall follow where you guide!
Confession and Absolution
P King David prays, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
C My heart, O God, is often anything but broken and contrite.
P Instead, it is covered in calluses.
C Because I hold grudges.
P Keep score,
C Refuse repentance.
P And turn away from humility and kindness.
C Lord, soften my spirit.
P Because a hard heart is like a wrecking ball.
C It mangles marriages.
P Condemns children.
C And finishes off families and friends. Lord, have mercy! Christ, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
(Please silently reflect on the fact that though our sin is great, Christ’s love is greater.)
P Hear the good news! Jesus walked to places of rejection, suffering, torment and death—for you. Jesus was determined to go to Gethsemane, Gabbatha and Golgotha—for you. That’s why Jesus forgives you completely and loves you eternally. Faithful Lord, with me abide!
C I shall follow where you guide!
WORD
Prayer of the Day
C 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.
Amen.
Old Testament Reading Exodus 12:1–14
1The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2“This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. 4And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.
7“Then 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. 8They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. 12For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
14“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.”
P This is the Word of the Lord.
C Thanks be to God.
Epistle 1 Corinthians 5:6–8
6Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
P This is the Word of the Lord.
C Thanks be to God.
SPECIAL MUSIC Take the Bread and Wine — by Faye Lopez
Holy Gospel Matthew 26:17–29
P The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the twenty-sixth chapter.
C Glory to You, O Lord.
17Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 18He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” 19And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.
20When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. 21And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” 23He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. 24The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 25Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”
26Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
P This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C Praise to You, O Christ.
570 Just as I Am, without One Plea
Sermon
Apostles’ Creed
C 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
Offering
Offering Prayer
C We give thee but thine own, whatever the gift may be; All that we have is Thine alone, A trust, O Lord from thee. Amen.
SACRAMENT
Preface
P The Lord be with you.
C And also with you.
P Lift up your hearts.
C We lift them to the Lord.
P Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
C It is right to give Him thanks and praise.
Lord’s Prayer
C 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.
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.”
Pax Domini
P The peace of the Lord be with you always.
C Amen.
Distribution Hymns
619 Thy Body, Given for Me, O Savior
Prayer of Thanksgiving
C Let us pray.
Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe. You have poured out upon us Your never-ending love by giving Your Son, Jesus Christ, into death for us. Nourish Your Church through the Sacrament of His body and blood. Strengthen us so that we may continue to proclaim Him who gives life to the world; for He lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
685 Let Us Ever Walk with Jesus
STRIPPING OF THE ALTAR
The Altar represents Christ. The removal of the vessels and the altar linens is symbolic of the real humiliation of Christ Jesus. We are preparing our sanctuary and chancel for our Good Friday vigil.
Special Music In Gethsemane — by John Turner and Lenten Prayer — by Edward Broughton
The congregation departs in silence.
Creative Worship for the Lutheran Parish, Series C, Quarter 2. Copyright © 2021 Concordia Publishing House.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Acknowledgments
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2022 Concordia Publishing House.