Maundy Thursday Service at Woodlawn Christian Church

Tonight at Woodlawn Christian Church, we held our 'Maunday Thursday' worship service.  This year I chose to perform a Tenebrae style worship service.  We had a dramatic reading of Psalm 22, a prayer and some hymns, communion was served, and then we had eight readers dressed in dark robes who did readings and who one by one extinguished candles seven of which were black candles and last of all the Christ candle.  After the readings and a solo Mark 8:31 was read and the Christ candle was relighted.  After another reading the congregation exited the darkened sanctuary.

Tenebrae services have always been meaningful to me personal, and I thought the service that I crafted did a good job of being meaningful and moving.  A HUGE thank you to Jodi Frank and Brenda Korleski for all they did to make it all work.  Also, thank you to all the readers, elders and our soloist Terry Watters.  Terry did a magnificent job with the solo!

I think next year we'll do a living 'Last Supper' but that's a long way off and I may well change my mind.

I've attached the script for the service, if you're another Minister feel free to utilize anything you find to fit your needs.

Many blessings and please remember...

To be a blessing to someone today!

In His Love & Grace,

Roy

Fellowship of the Upper Room

Prelude

Entrance  Psalm 22 Jim Bruce
Psalm 22 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
    and by night, but find no rest.
3 Yet you are holy,
    enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our ancestors trusted;
    they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried, and were saved;
    in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm, and not human;
    scorned by others, and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock at me;
    they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;
8 “Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—
    let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”
9 Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
    you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
10 On you I was cast from my birth,
    and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
    for trouble is near
    and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls encircle me,
    strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me,
    like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
    it is melted within my breast;
15 my mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
    you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs are all around me;
    a company of evildoers encircles me.
My hands and feet have shriveled;
17 I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my clothes among themselves,
    and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O Lord, do not be far away!
    O my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
    my life from the power of the dog!
21     Save me from the mouth of the lion!
From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.
22 I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;
    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
    stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he did not despise or abhor
    the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,
    but heard when I cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
    my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
    May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember
    and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations
    shall worship before him.
28 For dominion belongs to the Lord,
    and he rules over the nations.
29 To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down;
    before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
    and I shall live for him.
30 Posterity will serve him;
    future generations will be told about the Lord,
31 and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
    saying that he has done it.

Call to Worship Pastor Roy Karlen
Let us hold fast to the faith we confess.
For we have a great high priest
who has gone into the very presence of God – Jesus, the Son of God.
Our high priest is not one
who cannot feel sympathy with our weaknesses.
On the contrary, we have a high priest
who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin.
Let us be brave, then,
and come forward to God's throne, where there is grace.
There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us
just when we need it.

Hymn    An Upper Room with Evening Lamps Ashine      No. 428, v. 1 & 3

Opening Prayer & The Lord's Prayer Kolton Hildreth
Eternal God of mercy, we gather in awesome wonder to behold your
loving gift of Jesus Christ, who, coming to bring the world to wholeness,
was broken by it.  Yet by his death, we live and know your unbreakable
love.  As we gather to remember Christ's gift of fellowship at the table,
and to recall our frail failings of devotion, pierce our hearts with a
conviction of our betrayals, reassure us of your abiding presence, and
transform us by the Spirit of Christ, who teaches us to pray, saying,

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 sins
As we forgive those who sin against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

Hymn   What Wonderous Love Is This                 No. 200 All

New Testament Reading  John 13: 1-15 Pastor Roy Karlen
John 13:1-15  New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
1 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 them to the end. 2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then 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. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 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.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

12 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? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

The Community Shares the Lord's Supper

Communion Meditation Pastor Roy Karlen
May this sacrament, Lord Jesus Christ,
bring life to us and pardon for our sins,
to us for whom you suffered your passion.
For our sake you drank gall
to kill in us the bitterness that is the Enemy's.
For our sake you drank sour wine
to strengthen what is weak in us.
For our sake you were spat upon
to bathe us in the dew of immortality.
You were struck with a frail reed
to strengthen what is frail in us
and give us life for all eternity.
You were crowned with thorns
to crown those who believe in you
with that evergreen garland, your charity.
You were wrapped in a shroud
to clothe us in your all-enfolding strength.
You were laid in a new grave
to give us new grace in ages likewise new.

Communion Hymn:     Let Us Break Bread Together          No. 425  All

Prayers of Thanksgiving Ellen O'Loughlin & Clyde Westcott
Prayer #1: Heavenly Father, show forth among us the presence of your life-giving Word and Holy Spirit, to sanctify us and your whole church through this sacrament. Grant that all who share the body and blood of our Savior Jesus Christ may be one in him, and remain faithful in love and hope. And as this grain has been gathered from many fields into one loaf, and these grapes from many hills into one cup, grant, O Lord, that your whole church may soon be gathered from the ends of the earth into your kingdom.  Amen

Prayer #2: We do not presume to come to this your table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your great and manifold mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table. But you are the same Lord, whose nature it is to always have mercy. Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your Son Jesus Christ and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us. Amen.

Words of Institution Pastor Roy Karlen
On the night that he was betrayed, our Lord took the loaf... and after blessing it and giving thanks, he broke it, saying “This bread is my body broken for you, as often as you eat of it... do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same fashion after the meal he took the cup, saying “This cup is the new covenant poured out in my blood, as often as you drink of it... do this in remembrance of me.”
The Lord's body broken for you (holding up a piece of bread).
Your Lord's blood shed for you (picking up the chalice and dipping the bread into the wine)
The Lord's table is set, all come now and eat. (placing the chalice back on the table, holding the bread up and then eating it)

Sharing the Lord's Supper

Service of Tenebrae

Hymn: Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me No. 214  All
(after Hymn the Sanctuary Lights are turned off)

Shadow of Betrayal Matthew 26:20-25 Jeff Frank
Shadow of Desertion Matthew 26:31-35 Judy Stern
Shadow of Lethargy Mark 14:32-41 Vicky Keonin
Shadow of Violence Matthew 26:47-52 Spencer Moon

Interlude

Shadow of Denial Luke 22:54-62 Jodi Frank
Shadow of Cynicism John 18:33-38 Joan Schaffer
Shadow of Irresponsibility Matthew 27:20-26 Norma DeVries
Shadow of Mockery Mark 15:16-20 Leon Hendricks
(after each of the first seven readings a black candle is extinguished, after the last reading the Christ Candle is extinguished.)

The Extinguishing of the Christ Candle Leon Hendricks

Solo  Terry Watters - “Were You There” (No. 198 in Hymnal)

Prophecy of Resurrection Mark 8:31 Kolton Hildreth
Mark 8:31 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Relighting of the Christ Candle Kolton Hildreth

Prayer of Consecration Pastor Roy Karlen
Loving Creator, we thank you for the gift of Jesus Christ to be the Savior
of the world.  We thank you for the mystery of your love as revealed to us
in the cross.  We cannot understand all that the cross may mean, but we
feel your hand upon us and we would give ourselves afresh to you.  Love
so amazing, so divine, demands our lives, our souls, our all.  Take our lives,
use them in your ministry of reconciliation to a world deeply in need of love
and mercy and justice and righteousness.  Lord here we are as your disciples.
Send us out to do your work.  In Christ's name we pray.  Amen.

Please exit the Sanctuary in absolute silence.  We may gather in Fellowship Hall for fellowship and coffee.

Below are the Scripture readings listed above.

Reading #1 Shadow of Betrayal
Matthew 26:20-25 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
20 When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; 21 and while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”22 And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” 23 He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.” 25 Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” He replied, “You have said so.”

Reading #2 Shadow of Desertion
Matthew 26:31-35 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all become deserters because of me this night; for it is written,
‘I will strike the shepherd,
    and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
32 But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” 33 Peter said to him, “Though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 Peter said to him, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And so said all the disciples.

Reading #3 Shadow of Lethargy
Mark 14:32-41 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
32 They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. 34 And he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.” 35 And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 He said, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” 37 He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? 38 Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”39 And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to say to him. 41 He came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Reading #4 Shadow of Violence
Matthew 26:47-52 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
47 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him.” 49 At once he came up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. 50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you are here to do.” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. 51 Suddenly, one of those with Jesus put his hand on his sword, drew it, and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.

Reading #5 Shadow of Denial
Luke 22:54-62 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
54 Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. 55 When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. 56 Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man also was with him.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” 58 A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” 59 Then about an hour later still another kept insisting, “Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.

Reading #6 Shadow of Cynicism
John 18:33-38 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters[a] again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” 35 Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” 37 Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”
After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no case against him.

Reading #7 Shadow of Irresponsibility
Matthew 27:20-26 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. 21 The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” All of them said, “Let him be crucified!”23 Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”
24 So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.”25 Then the people as a whole answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” 26 So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

Reading #8 Shadow of Mockery
Mark 15:16-20 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
16 Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort.17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. 18 And they began saluting him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. 20 After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.