FROM PASTOR MIKE
I have a longing to be with my church family. I am sure you do as well. I believe, however, that as we meet in our separate homes and experience God’s presence, we will remember that we share a common story. It is His story that binds us together tonight. “Remember” is our theme this evening. In the bread and the cup, in the openness of a meal which welcomed even a traitor to the table, in the sheer faith of One Man who believed that God would take His offering and plant a seed which would change the world, we remember Jesus tonight. Welcome Him into your presence now, with this simple prayer:
“We welcome you, Lord Jesus, into our simple gathering in your name. May the words of our mouths, and the meditations of our hearts, be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Savior.”
RESPONSIVE READING
Leader:
This meal which Jesus shared with his disciples had been a tradition in the Jewish Faith from hundreds of years before his birth. So, tonight, we begin the way he and his disciples would have begun, the way Christians have started this evening for nearly 2,000 years as well.
Leader:
Why is this night different than all other nights?
Congregation: On this night Christ gathered with His disciples in the upper room.
Leader: On this night Christ took a towel and washed the Disciple’s feet, giving us an example that we should do to others as he has done to us.
Congregation: On this night Christ the Lamb of God gave Himself into the hands of those who would slay Him.
Leader & Congregation: On this night Christ our God gave us this holy feast,and the Great Commandment of Love,that we may live as He lived in this world,and be partakers of His Resurrection.
Leader: The Lord be with you.
Congregation: And also with you.
Leader: Why do we gather this evening?
Congregation: We want to see Jesus as Servant, Teacher and Savior. We want to see Him as he shows what love truly is.
Leader: Let us pray these words together:
Congregation and Leader: Oh God, who longs to see in Your children the image of Christ your Son, give us eyes to see Him clearly, ears to hear the truth of His teaching, and hearts of hospitality to ever welcome His coming to us. Through Christ, our Lord, we pray, Amen.
WE REMEMBER HIM AS OUR SHEPHERD
Please watch the Janna Potter or choir hymn version of the song “Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us” below.
READING
The LEADER reads the following Scripture Passage, or has someone read it, or, if all have the same version in front of them, it can be recited or read in unison.
Psalm 23
The Lord is my Shepherd,I shall not want
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures
He leadeth me besides the still waters
He restoreth my soul
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me, in the presence of mine enemies
Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over!
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord, forever.
WE REMEMBER HIM AS OUR SERVANT AND TEACHER
Explanatory Note: Two Scripture Readings – one from Psalm 116 (associated with this night from the Jewish Tradition) and from John 13 (the story of this night in the Christian tradition).
LEADER: This is The Word of the Lord from Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19
I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my supplications. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. What shall I return to the LORD for all his bounty to me?
CONGREGATION: I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.
LEADER: I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones. O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds.
CONGREGATION and LEADER: I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!
LEADER: This is the Word of the Lord from John 13:1-15, 34-35:
“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 then 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 in 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. 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.’”
LEADER: The Word of the Lord
CONGREGATION: Thanks Be To God!
SONG: Make Us One
This can be played from YouTube below, or sung as a family group, or individually.
Make us one, Make us one
Make us one undivided body
Make us one, Make us one.
For the sake of Your Name, Make us one.
Make us love, Make us love.
Make us love so the world will know we love you
Make us love, Make us love.
For the sake of Your Name, Make us love.
Make us pure, Make us Pure,
Make us pure, and righteous, make us holy.
Make us pure, Make us pure
For the sake of Your Name, Make us pure.
Make us one, Make us one
Make us one undivided body
Make us one, Make us one.
For the sake of Your Name, Make us one…
For the sake of Your Name, ‘til You come…
For the sake of Your Name, Make us one.
RESPONSIVE READING
LEADER: “Let us hear the Word of the Lord from I Corinthians 11:23-26. This is the Apostle Paul, writing to the Christians in Corinth about the practice of the Lord’s Supper.” For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
LEADER: “As we prepare to receive the Lord’s Supper, let us pray this prayer of confession and repentance, trusting our Lord’s grace and mercy.”
LEADER: Eternal God, whose covenant with us is never broken…
Congregation: We confess that we have often failed to live as Christ lives.
LEADER: Though you have bound yourself to us…
Congregation: We resist binding ourselves to You.
LEADER: In Jesus You serve us freely, but we often withhold ourselves from others.
Congregation: In Christ, you wash our feet; give us grace to take the servant’s place.
LEADER: In your mercy, forgive us and renew our hearts…
Congregation: That we may be Your people, true disciples, serving each other and the world.
WE REMEMBER HIM AS OUR REDEEMER
The Table of the Lord
Leader: On that night, with his disciples, Jesus took the common elements of their daily meal – Bread and Cup – and he re-defined them. His new teaching would continue for all the centuries even until this evening. The bread and cup has been his brokenness, what he faced and suffered so that we could be redeemed from the bondage of sin. The bread and cup also reminds us that he has opened the table to “whosever will come” – and that now we are one with the Lord, and with each other.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we receive this bread and cup as your gifts to us – your body broken, your blood spilled – so that we could belong to you and not to our past sins and failures. Your mercies are new every morning! We are set free, and so are our sisters and brothers gathered with us.
Leader: (Holds up the bread) “This bread is his body, broken and given for us. Let us receive, and be thankful.
[All present receive the bread and eat]
Leader: (Holds up the cup) “This cup represents his blood, given as he gave his life, so that we might have forgiveness and fellowship with God and with each other.
[All receive the cup]
SERVICE NOTE: After receiving the Lord’s Supper, there are two options for a closing song. One is a familiar chorus: God is my Redeemer – this works well as a closing song especially if there is more than one person to sing. The YouTube video is lengthy, so you may choose to do only 2 verses, and then move to the closing Benediction.
If only one person is present, or if the group would prefer to hear a song of inspiration, there is a link to a YouTube video of Stephen Curtis Chapman singing his well-loved song, My Redeemer is faithful and true. Either of these are good closing songs.
BENEDICTION
Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
(Jude 24, 25)