Be still
Maundy Thursday Communion
Welcome to our Maundy
Thursday Communion.
As we prepare to
share in communion please be still in this place and seek once again the
presence of God with us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus promises,
“Wherever two or three gather together in my name, there am I in the midst of
them.”
As we gather in his
name Jesus is present with us.
In this place, at
this time we are each called to be Jesus to one another. The service will proceed unannounced … please
join in reading all the words of Jesus and the other prayers that are in bold
print.
Now among those who
went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee , and
said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip
went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be
glorified. Very truly, I tell
you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a
single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and
those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and
where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will
honour.
‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I
say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have
come to this hour. Father, glorify your
name.’ Then
a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ The crowd standing there heard it and
said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ Jesus
answered, ‘This voice has come for your
sake, not for mine. Now is the
judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the
earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to indicate the kind
of death he was to die. ‘The light is with you for a little
longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake
you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in
the light, so that you may become children of light.’
Then
Jesus cried aloud: ‘Whoever believes in
me believes not in me but in him who sent me. And
whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I
have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should
not remain in the darkness. I do
not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to
judge the world, but to save the world.
5 Be
still
On the first day of
Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to
him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the
Passover?’ So he sent two of his
disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the
city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the
owner of the house, “The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat
the Passover with my disciples?” He
will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for
us there.’ So the disciples
set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and
they prepared the Passover meal.
The Table is Prepared
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.’
During supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had
given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to
God, got up from the table, took
off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 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. He came to Simon
Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ Peter said to him, ‘You will never
wash my feet.’ Jesus answered, ‘Unless I
wash you, you have no share with me.’ … After
he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table,
he said to them, … ‘If I, your Lord and
Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that
you also should do as I have done to you…. I give you a new commandment, that
you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one
another. By this everyone will
know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’
19 It is a thing most
wonderful
‘Do not let your
hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.
I am the way, and the
truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will
give you another Comforter, to be with you for ever. This is the Spirit of truth, I will not
leave you alone; I am coming to you. In
a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I
live, you also will live.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not
give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not
let them be afraid.
I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in
me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in
my love.
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