WELCOME
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: This is a night to remember.
People: We remember the Passover that Jesus shared with His disciples.
Leader: We remember His new covenant of love, the new covenant of the bread and the cup.
People: We remember His night alone in the garden in prayer.
Leader: We remember the betrayal, His arrest, the humiliation and trial, His suffering, and the denial of His friend.
People: Let us remember this night as we gather at the table to share the bread and the cup with our Savior, commemorating the supper with the disciples that, in an upper room, our Lord prepared.
HYMN An Upper Room Did Our Lord Prepare Ken Heischman
An upper room did our Lord prepare For those He loved until the end:
And His disciples still gather there To celebrate their Risen Friend.
A lasting gift Jesus gave His own: To share His bread, His loving cup.
Whatever burdens may bow us down, He by His Cross shall lift us up.
And after Supper He washed their feet For service, too, is sacrament.
In Christ our joy shall be made complete: Sent out to serve, as He was sent.
No end there is! We depart in peace, He loves beyond the uttermost:
In every room in our Father’s house Christ will be there as Lord and Host.
PRAYERS OF CONFESSION
Gracious God, although You never abandon us, we confess that we have often turned away
from You.
Although You have bound Yourself to us, we do not always bind ourselves to You.
Although You never leave us or forsake us, we often desert You and fail to love
others as You have loved us.
Have mercy upon us, Lord.
Forgive our refusal to follow You faithfully,
and transform us by the power of Your healing love.
Through Your grace, renew us and sustain us,
and shine Your life-giving light into our darkness,
for we ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
(Silent)
ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS (adapted from Romans 5:10-11)
Leader: If while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.
People: We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received our reconciliation.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel:
People: Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!
HYMN Jesus, Remember Me Ken Heischman
Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.
Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.
(Repeat 4 times)
SCRIPTURE Mark 14:17-31
When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places
and were eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating
with me.” They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, “Surely, not I?”
He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me.
For 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.”
While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave
it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks
he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of
the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of
the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said
to them, “You will all become deserters; for it is written,
‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered.’
But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him, “Even
though all become deserters, I will not.” Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this day, this
very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” But he said
vehemently, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And all of them said the
same.
MEDITATION “After We Leave the Table”
ANTHEM Lord, I Want to Be a Christian Fiona Coughlin
Lord, I want to be a Christian in-a my heart, in-a my heart,
Lord, I want to be a Christian in-a my heart.
In-a my heart, in-a my heart,
Lord, I want to be a Christian in-a my heart.
Lord, I want to be more loving in-a my heart, in-a my heart,
Lord, I want to be more loving in-a my heart,
In-a my heart, in-a my heart,
Lord, I want to be more loving in-a my heart.
Lord, I want to be more holy in-a my heart, in-a my heart,
Lord, I want to be more holy in-a my heart.
In-a my heart, in-a my heart,
Lord, I want to be more holy in-a my heart.
Lord, I want to be like Jesus in-a my heart, in-a my heart,
Lord, I want to be like Jesus in-a my heart.
In-a my heart, in-a my heart,
Lord, I want to be like Jesus in-a my heart
SACRAMENT OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
Invitation to the Table
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Communion of the People
Prayer after Communion
EXTINGUISHING THE CANDLES
As Jesus walked upon the earth, He shined
God’s light, and He demonstrated such love
and grace that people were drawn to Him.
And as John’s gospel reveals for us, anyone
who is drawn to Jesus, anyone who comes
to the One who is the Light of the world,
Jesus will never drive away. (See John 6:37)
Jesus will not forsake us or leave us alone.
In the same way, Jesus, as the Good Shepherd,
cares so much for all His sheep that He not only
knows them, but He also gives them eternal life.
And because Jesus loves all the sheep, no one
is able to snatch us from His hand.
(See John 10:28)
Jesus will be with us, and He will not leave us
alone. And, through the parables that Jesus told,
which were so full of wisdom, and so full of lessons
for us, the disciples heard how God would not abandon
us, but instead Jesus taught that God seeks to bring all
that is lost – like lost sheep, or lost coins, or lost children –
God seeks to bring all that is lost back home in order to
welcome us with open arms. (See Luke 15:1-32) Because
we are embraced by the God of love, we are not alone.
ANTHEM – We Are Not Alone
Pepper Choplin, composer
First Congregational Church Choir
Bellevue, Washington
John 11:47-53 Cathy King
After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the chief priests and the Pharisees called
a meeting of the council, and they said, “What are we to do? This man is performing
many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans
will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! You do not
understand that it is better for you to have one man – one man – die for the people
than to have the whole nation destroyed.” So from that day on they planned to put
him to death, singling out this lone man to die.
Matthew 26:31-35 Susie Stevenor
And even though Jesus would not forsake us, we (and the disciples) would abandon Jesus,
for at the Last Supper, 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.’ But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” Peter said to him,
“Though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you.” Jesus said to him,
“Truly Itell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will denyme three times.” Peter
said to him, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And so said all the
disciples. . . . But when a large contingent came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of
Gethsemane, the disciples, all of them, deserted Jesus and fled. And even though
Jesus would not leave them alone, all of the disciples left Jesus alone.
Luke 22:54-62 Jim Strandberg
Then they seized Jesus and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But
Peter was following at a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the
courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. Then a servant-girl, seeing him in
the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it,
saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, “You also
are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” Then about an hour later still another
kept insisting, “Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.” But Peter said,
“Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” At that moment, while he was still
speaking, the cock crowed. 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.” And he went out and wept bitterly. . . . and Jesus was abandoned and left
alone.
Matthew 26:14-16 Joan Lannoch
Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said,
“What will you give me if I betray him to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver. And
from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him. . . . and even though
Jesus would not abandon Judas, Judas would abandon Jesus, and betray Him, and leave
Him alone.
Mark 15:15-20 – The Humiliation of the Cross
So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging
Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard
of thepalace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole
cohort. And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a
crown, they put it on him. And they began saluting him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They
struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. 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.
ANTHEM Were You There Ken Heischman
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Conclude in Silence
Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
– Isaiah 53:4-6