Maundy Thursday 1st April 2021
The Promise of Love
Prepared by Rev. Joan Pell
Call to Worship
As the bread is broken among friends, as the Son of God prepares to be betrayed,
we remember his sacrificial love.
As the cup is poured on behalf of all, as our Lord and Savior promises salvation,
we come to remember and to pray.
Hymn: A New Commandment – StF 242 (Anonymous)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy7W8avIXIY
A new commandment I give unto you:
that you love one another as I have loved you.
By this the world shall know that you are my disciples,
if you have love one for another.
Scripture: John 13:34-35 and Mark 14:22-25
Reflection (Taken from A Season of Promise written by Mary Scifres and B. J. Beu)
Never underestimate the power of memory. Jews share the Passover meal each year to remember how the destroyer passed over the Israelite’s houses, sparing the lives of their first-born, when the Lord smote the land of Egypt on the eve of the Exodus. Shared remembrances bring strength and endurance during times of trial. Jesus knew his disciples needed such strength and endurance if they were to face the days ahead, so he gathered them to celebrate Passover and forever transformed the meaning of this holy festival for his followers. The bread he offers is his body, the bread of life. The cup he shares is his love poured out for you and for many, the cup of salvation. This remembrance of him is a remembrance of love, of strength for the journey. When you eat and drink in Jesus’s name, you are remembering the incarnate love that came down to save the world. Jesus’s commandment to love in today’s scripture flows inescapably from the self-giving of Love itself. Remember this love today and always. Never underestimate the power of memory.
Although we are not together in-person, we come together in spirit. Take some bread into your hands; give thanks and eat it as you taste the promise of grace and remember Christ’s love for you. Then take a cup and drink from it giving thanks as you do so for the cup of salvation that nourishes your spirit through the power of God’s Holy Spirit.
Prayer (Written by John Birch, faithandworship.com)
This is love.
That you spoke words of comfort, walked with the unclean and unloved, shared wisdom, bread and wine, brought healing into lives and challenged the status quo.
This is love.
That you spoke the word of God, walked a painful road to the Cross, shared living water, bread of life, brought Salvation to the world and died for the sake of all.
This is love.
It is a seed sown in the ground, which germinates, blossoms, and spreads its sweet perfume.
Blessing
Go into the world and love in the name of Jesus who loved you until the end.
And may God the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer be with us all, now and always. Amen.
Hymns reproduced under CCLI No. 9718
Circuit Churches please insert your CCLI No. here __________