Greatest Among You, Yongsung Kim Maundy Thursday

April 1, 2021 | 7 pm

St. John’s Lutheran Church | Salisbury, NC

Maundy Thursday ______

ith nightfall and the beginning of this liturgy, our Lenten observance comes to its W culmination. We gather with Christians around the world in celebrating the Three Days of Jesus’ death and resurrection (Triduum). Our remembering is more than a retracing of the last days of Jesus’ life. Rather, through word, sacrament, and ritual, we participate in the saving power of Jesus’ Passover from death to life. As the Three Days begin, we are invited to glory in the cross of Christ — our salvation, our life, our resurrection. Worship during the three days is considered a single service, beginning on Maundy Thursday and ending on Easter Sunday.

Tonight we gather around the Lord’s table to remember God’s great sacrifice of love. We share the holy meal, becoming what we eat and drink: the body of Christ, offering ourselves in love for the life of the world.

At the conclusion of the liturgy, the altar and chancel furnishings are removed, preparing the worship space for Good Friday. Through this stark ritual we recall that Jesus was abandoned by his followers, stripped of his dignity, and left to face the cross alone. We leave in silence, ready to continue the celebration of the Three Days on Good Friday.

+ Holy Week at St. John’s +

Good Friday, worship at 12:15 (Chapel) and 7 pm (Sanctuary and online). A service of darkness (The Tenebrae), focused on the twelve last words of Christ. The altar is draped in black as we consider Jesus’ great sacrifice, his gift of grace. At the conclusion of worship The Light of Christ is removed from the worship space.

Easter Sunday, worship at 8:30 (Sanctuary), 9:27 (Faith Center) and 11 am (Sanctuary and online). Easter worship is festive, joyous, and filled with energy as The Light of Christ returns, and we give thanks for new life, sins forgiven, new beginnings, and Christ’s triumph over the grave!

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Gathering Honoring the solemn nature of the night, we gather in silence.

Prelude

Confession and Forgiveness

Please stand

We gather in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Within the community of the church, God never wearies of forgiving sin, offering us his peace and reconciliation. With God’s promise of forgiveness in our hearts, let us confess our sins so that we might enter into the Easter celebration reconciled with God and one another.

Silence is kept for reflection, and prayers of confession.

Gracious God, Have mercy on us. We confess that we have turned from you and given ourselves into the power of sin. We are truly sorry and humbly repent. In your com passion forgive us our sins, known and unknown, things we have done and things we have failed to do. Turn us again to you, and uphold us by your Spirit, so that we may live and serve you in newness of life through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

God, who is rich in mercy, loved us even when we were dead in sin and made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Almighty God strengthen you with power through the Holy Spirit, that Christ may live in your hearts through faith. Amen.

Hymn 358 Great God, Your Love Has Called Us

Great God, your love has called us here as we, by love, for love were made. Your living likeness still we bear, though marred, dishonored, disobeyed. We come, with all our heart and mind your call to hear, your love to find.

4 We come with self-inflicted pains of broken trust and chosen wrong, half-free, half-bound by inner chains, by social forces swept along, by powers and systems close confined yet seeking hope for humankind.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. And also with you.

Let us pray. Holy God, source of all love, on the night of his betrayal, Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment: to love one another as he had loved them. By your Holy Spirit, write this commandment in our hearts; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Please be seated

Word God speaks to us in scripture reading, preaching and song

Reading Exodus 12:1-4,11-14 The institution of the Passover

1The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: 2This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. 3Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. 4If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. 11This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the LORD. 12For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; 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 live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

Word of God. Word of Life. Thanks be to God!

Musical Response 5 The Holy Gospel John 13:1-17,31b-35 Jesus washes the disciples’ feet

1Now 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 them to the end. 2The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" 7Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." 8Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." 9Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" 10Jesus 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." 11For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean."

12After 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? 13You call me Teacher and Lord — and you are right, for that is what I am. 14So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 31When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' 34I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

The Gospel of the Lord. Thanks be to God!

Sermon Pastor Laura Henrik

Hymn 803 When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

When I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride. 6 Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast save in the death of Christ, my God; all the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood.

See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Prayers of Intercession Each petition ends: “Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.”

Please be seated

The Preparation of the Lord’s Table

Meal In the Lord’s Supper, God feeds us with his Word and Presence

Offertory Hymn When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Let us pray. Merciful God, it would have been enough for you to give us the fruit of the earth by which we live. But in this meal, by your promise, you also give us yourself. Use what we have gathered here in feeding the hungry world with your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Great Thanksgiving (spoken) The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts! We lift them to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise.

7 Eucharistic Prayer. Within the prayer is chanted the ancient Hebrew acclamation spoken at Passover feasts since the days of Jesus:

This is the bread of affliction, the poor bread, which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry come and eat. Let all who are in want share the hope of the Passover. As we celebrate here, we join with our people everywhere.

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 and ever. Amen.

The gifts of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God!

Please be seated

Distribution of Holy Communion: You will be invited forward one row at a time. Please take an empty glass, into which the wine will be poured. Grape juice is available in pre-filled cups. All bread in our communion celebration is gluten-free. Following the ushers’ instructions, proceed down one of the side aisles, returning to your seat by the middle aisle. Welcome to the Lord’s Table!

Communion Hymns 154 Lamb of God

8 471 Let us Break Bread Together

Let us break bread together on our knees; let us break bread together on our knees.

Refrain When I fall on my knees, with my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me.

Let us drink wine together on our knees; let us drink wine together on our knees. Refrain

Let us praise God together on our knees; let us praise God together on our knees. Refrain

335 Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross

Jesus, keep me near the cross, there's a precious fountain; free to all, a healing stream flows from Calv'ry's mountain.

Refrain In the cross, in the cross be my glory ever; till my ransomed soul shall find rest beyond the river.

Near the cross I'll watch and wait, hoping, trusting ever, till I reach the golden strand just beyond the river. Refrain

The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen you and keep you in his grace. Amen.

Let us pray. Lord Jesus, in this sacrament, you have left us a memorial of your suffering and death. May your gift to us show forth in the way we live, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Please be seated

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Stripping of the Altar

The altar is stripped of its vestments and furnishings as a sign of the humiliation Christ endured on his journey to the cross.

“Then Pilate’s soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s palace, and the whole company gathered around him. They stripped him of his clothes … spat on him …made fun of him … then they led him out to crucify him.”

Mark 15:16-20

Because our worship during the Triduum is considered a single service, the benediction is omitted. The congregation leaves in silence one row at a time, returning on Good Friday for the Tenebrae (service of shadows/darkness).

+ We leave in silence during the tolling of the bell +

10 This Evening’s Worship Leaders

SONG LEADERS: Mitch Siegel, Carol Hair, Karen and Dennis Rogers, Corinne Mauldin, Carter Woolly, Rosemary Kinard, Gretchen Witt READER: Rosalind Hines COMMUNION ASSISTANTS: Gretchen Witt, Aleksandr Witt SOUND: Mike Agee VIDEO: Taylor Hutchins

Today’s service uses the fourth setting of the liturgy, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, and is reproduced by permission of Augsburg Fortress Liturgies annual license #26999.

11 St. John’s Lutheran Church 200 West Innes Street ● Salisbury, North Carolina 28144 ● 704.636.3431 stjohns-salisbury.org ● To contact a staff member: first [email protected]

Pastoral Ministry Senior Pastor…………………………………………………………………………………..……...... Rhodes Woolly Pastor for Youth and Discipleship……………..……………………………………..…….………………….. Laura Henrik Visitation………………….……………………………………………………………….……………….…...………..Wade Rouzer Worship and Music Ministry Minister of Worship and the Arts.……………………………...………………………………..Rob Durocher, deacon Associate Parish Musician ………………………………………………………………….….…………....Rosemary Kinard 9:27 Interim Worship Leader…………………………………………………..…………………………………..Davis Brown Production Manager…………………….…………………………………………………….………………....Taylor Hutchins Director of Music Emeritus………………………………………………………………..………..…...Karl Kinard, deacon Program Ministry Youth……………………...………………………………………………………………………..………………………. Laura Henrik Children……………………………………………………………………………………………………...….………...Stacey Shafer Adults…………………………………………………………………..………….…………………………………..…….Danny Hines Senior Adults …………...……………………………………………….………………………………………………..Diane Poole St. John’s Kindergarten (4 and 5 year olds) ……………………………………………….……………....Teresa Stoner CDC Interim Directors………………………………………………………………….Lonna Richardson and Kristy King Administrative Team Business Manager ………………………………………………………………………….………………..……..Ruth Ann Diehl Office Manager…………………………….…………………………………………………………………..……..Deborah Cross Accounting……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...Mark Bias Communications Specialist………………………..…………………………………………………..…………..Angel Owens Facilities Manager…………...……………………………………………………………………..……………………...Jon Koppe Maintenance...……………………..………………………………………………………………………..……...David Ellenburg

Let’s connect faith and life. Together.

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