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April 6, 2023
Pastor Frick’s Welcome
Maundy Thursday Gospel – John 13:1-15, 34
It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
When You Woke That Thursday Morning – CW 416
1 When you woke that Thursday morning,
Savior, teacher, faithful friend,
thoughts of self and safety scorning,
knowing how the day would end;
Lamb of God, foretold for ages,
now at last the hour had come
when but One could pay sin’s wages:
you assumed their dreadful sum.
2 Never so alone and lonely,
longing with tormented heart
to be with your dear ones only
for a quiet hour apart:
sinless Lamb and fallen creature,
one last paschal meal to eat,
one last lesson as their teacher,
washing your disciples’ feet.
3 What was there that you could give them
that would never be outspent,
what great gift that would outlive them,
what last will and testament?
“Show me and the world you love me,
know me as the Lamb of God:
do this in remembrance of me,
eat this body, drink this blood.”
4 One in faith, in love united,
all one body, you the head,
when we meet, by you invited,
you are with us, as you said.
One with you and one another
in a unity sublime,
see in us your sister, brother,
one in ev’ry place and time.
5 One day all the Church will capture
that bright vision glorious,
and your saints will know the rapture
that your heart desired for us,
when the longed-for peace and union
of the greatest and the least
meet in joyous, blest communion
in your never-ending feast.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, you give us your true body and blood as a remembrance of your suffering and death on a cross. Grant us so firmly to believe your words and promise that we may always partake of this sacrament to our eternal good; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Reading – Exodus 24:1-11
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, but Moses alone is to approach the Lord; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.”
When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said.
He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”
Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.
Junior Choir – This Broken Bread – Not Bread Alone
Reading – 1 Corinthians 11:23-28
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.
Draw Near and Take the Body of the Lord – CW 661
1 Draw near and take the body of your Lord,
and drink the holy blood for you outpoured.
Saved by his body and his holy blood,
with souls refreshed we give our thanks to God.
2 Christ our Redeemer, God’s eternal Son,
has by his cross and blood the vict’ry won.
He gave his life for greatest and for least,
himself the off’ring and himself the priest.
3 Let us approach with faithful hearts sincere
and take the pledges of salvation here.
Christ, who in this life all the saints defends,
gives all believers life that never ends.
4 With heav’nly bread he makes the hungry whole,
gives living waters to the thirsting soul.
Lord of the nations, to whom all must bow,
in this great feast of love be with us now.
Sermon – John 13:1-15, 34
Understand What the LORD Has Done for You
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you are the Lamb of God, pictured in the ancient Passover feast, now giving your own body and pouring out your own blood in Holy Communion. Just as the Passover lambs assured the Israelites of God’s promise to deliver them from death,
strengthen our belief that the bread is your real body and the wine is your real blood, given to us for our forgiveness, life, and salvation.
Prepare us to receive this sacrament remembering your death and repenting of our sins.
Unite us by our oneness of faith throughout this congregation and our synod, and love us to the end that we may love others as you have loved us.
We rejoice in our fellow believers who have been instructed in your Word and confirmed in the Lutheran faith, who are now ready to receive Holy Communion.
Equip them with every spiritual blessing for doing your will.
We pray for those absent from the sacrament because of their own neglect.
Call them in your mercy to return and renew their faith.
Keep in your care those unable to receive the sacrament often because they are homebound, hospitalized, imprisoned, serving in the military, or otherwise separated from the fellowship of believers. Encourage them so that they do not lose hope.
Be gracious to us all and nourish us with this feast, that we remain faithful unto death, and become partakers of the wedding feast of the Lamb. Amen.
Offering
Confession of Sins and Absolution
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.
According to our Lord’s own words, the bread we break is a participation in the body of Christ and the cup we drink is a participation in the blood of Christ. Christ’s body and blood are truly present in with and under the bread and wine. Our Savior has given us his body to heal us from all our sins as 1 Peter 2:24 states,
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
Christ poured out his blood to purify us from every sin and have forgiveness just as the Scriptures attest to.
The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,
in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.
Therefore, in the Lord’s Supper we receive the forgiveness of sins.
Trusting in our Savior’s sacrifice of his body and shedding of his blood for our forgiveness, we confess our sins to the Lord,
Almighty God, merciful Father,
I confess to you that I have not loved you with all my heart.
I have not honored and shown respect to your most holy name
in what I have said and done.
I have pursued my ways instead of your ways despising your word.
I have been disobedient and proud
against those you have placed in authority over me.
I have not respected your gift of life
in how I have treated my own body and the life of others.
I have dishonored your gift of love and marriage.
I have not loved my brothers and sisters as myself
and taken their words and actions in the kindest possible way.
I have failed to do what is right and good.
For this I deserve your punishment both now and in eternity.
I am truly sorry for my sins, those which I remember
as well as those of which I am unaware.
I repent of them.
I beg for your mercy, O Lord.
Forgive us for the sake of Jesus Christ who suffered and died for us.
Cleanse me from my sins.
Release me from my guilt.
Grant me your Holy Spirit to amend my sinful life.
The almighty God has been merciful to us and has sent his Son to die for all. For his sake, God forgives our sins and calls us from darkness to his marvelous light. Therefore, as a called servant of Christ and by his authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Preface
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give him thanks and praise.
Proper Preface
It is truly good and right that we should at all times and in all places give you thanks, O Lord, holy Father, almighty and everlasting God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who brought the gift of salvation to all people by his death on the tree of the cross so that the devil, who overcame us by a tree, would in turn by a tree be overcome. Therefore, with all the saints on earth and hosts of heaven, we praise your holy name and join their glorious song:
Holy, Holy, Holy
Admonition to the Communicants
I admonish you in Christ that you look upon the Testament of Christ in true faith, above all having confident assurance in your hearts in the words by which Christ grants his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. That you remember and give thanks for his boundless love of which he gave proof when he redeemed us by his blood from God’s wrath, sin, death, and hell, and thereupon take to yourselves externally the bread and wine, that is, his body and blood, as your guarantee and pledge. In his name, therefore, and according to his command, let us proceed, by the use of his own words, to the use and administration of the Testament.
Words of Institution
Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night he was betrayed, took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Pax Domini
The peace of the Lord be with you always.
Amen.
Lamb of God
Distribution
I Come, O Savior, to Your Table – CW 670
1 I come, O Savior, to your table,
for weak and weary is my soul;
O Jesus, you alone are able
to satisfy and make me whole.
Lord, may your body and your blood
be for my soul the highest good.
2 O grant that I in manner worthy
may eat and drink and be restored,
and, dwelling on your boundless mercy,
look only unto you, O Lord.
Lord, may your body and your blood
be for my soul the highest good.
3 I should not be your sheep, dear Savior;
I stray in sin’s accursed terrain.
And yet you pardon my behavior;
my faithful Shepherd you remain.
Lord, may your body and your blood
be for my soul the highest good.
4 O let me loathe all sin forever
as death and poison to my soul,
that I through willful sinning never
may see your judgment take its toll!
Lord, may your body and your blood
be for my soul the highest good.
5 Your holy heart has one obsession,
one blessèd thing it burns to do –
to cleanse the sinner from transgression;
so I, a sinner, come to you.
Lord, may your body and your blood
be for my soul the highest good.
6 My soul is burdened; Lord, relieve me,
by all this weight of sin oppressed!
Though sinful, yet, in grace receive me
and feed me as your grateful guest.
Lord, may your body and your blood
be for my soul the highest good.
7 Within me, Lord, your vision traces
a heart of deep humility
that mourns its sin and yet embraces
the merit you have earned for me.
Lord, may your body and your blood
be for my soul the highest good.
8 By faith I call your holy table
the testament of your deep love,
for by your gift I now am able
to know the heart of God above.
Lord, may your body and your blood
be for my soul the highest good.
9 This meal with blessing is abounding:
to poor ones wealth, to weak ones pow’r,
to angels joy, to hell confounding,
and life for me in death’s dark hour.
Lord, may your body and your blood
be for my soul the highest good.
10 My heart has now become your dwelling,
O blessèd, holy Trinity.
With angels I, your praises telling,
shall live in joy eternally.
Lord, may your body and your blood
be for my soul the highest good.
Proclamation of Christ
Whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup,
we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Prayer
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.
Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and forever. Amen.
Blessing
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Amen.
O Lord, We Praise You – CW 673
1 O Lord, we praise you, bless you, and adore you,
in thanksgiving bow before you.
Here with your body and your blood you nourish
our weak souls that they may flourish.
O Lord, have mercy!
May your body, Lord, born of Mary,
that our sins and sorrows did carry,
and your blood for us plead
in all trial, fear, and need.
O Lord, have mercy!
2 Your holy body into death was given,
life to win for us in heaven.
No greater love than this to you could bind us;
may this feast of that remind us!
O Lord, have mercy!
Lord, your love and kindness did move you;
let your supper move us to love you.
All our debt you have paid;
peace with God once more is made.
O Lord, have mercy!
3 May God bestow on us his grace and favor
that we follow Christ our Savior
and live together here in love and union,
nor despise this blest communion.
O Lord, have mercy!
Let not your good Spirit forsake us;
grant that heav’nly-minded he make us.
Give your Church, Lord, to see
days of peace and unity.
O Lord, have mercy!