[0:00] Today Thank you.
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[3:57] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Send your spirit with us tonight to guide us.
[4:09] Amen. Will you join me now in singing the hymn, Go to Dark Gethsemane. Go to Dark Gethsemane, Ye that build the tempter's power.
[4:21] Go to Dark Gethsemane, Ye that build the tempter's power. For the dreamers of the tempter's power.
[5:01] Jana, Oh, Who's National there, Jesus, God, There adoring at his feet Mark the miracle of time That in sacrifice complete It is finished, hear him cry For Jesus Christ to die Where they hasten to the tomb
[6:03] Where they lay his breathless clay That is all the two and two Who has taken him away Christ is risen, he meets our eyes Savior, teach us to the rise Our first scripture reading is from the Gospel of John, chapter 12, verses 1 through 17.
[6:36] Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor.
[6:48] Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume. She poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair.
[7:02] And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected. Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?
[7:15] It was worth a year's wages. He did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
[7:27] Leave her alone, Jesus replied. It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.
[7:39] Meanwhile, a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well.
[7:52] For on account of him, many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him. The next day, the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.
[8:03] They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel! Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it.
[8:17] As it is written, Do not be afraid, daughter Zion. See, your King is coming, seated on a donkey's colt. At first, the disciples did not understand all this.
[8:29] Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him. Now the crowd that was with him, when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to spread the word.
[8:45] This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. When I think of how he came so far from glory Came to dwell among the lowly such as I To suffer shame and such disgrace On Mount Cali take my place Then I ask myself this question Who am I?
[9:45] Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Would bleed and die for? Who am I?
[9:58] That he would pray Not my will thy Lord Remember my God The answer I may never know Why He ever loved me so That to an old rugged cross He'd go For who am I?
[10:28] When I'm reminded of His words I'll leave you never If you'll be true I'll give to you life forever Oh, I wonder what I could have done To deserve God's only Son To fight my battles until they're won For who am I?
[11:10] Who am I that the King would bleed and die for? Who am I that He would pray Not my will thy Lord The answer I may never know Why He ever loved me so That to an old rugged cross He'd go For who am I?
[11:53] That to an old rugged cross He'd go For who am I?
[12:04] For who am I? For who am I? For who am I? The second scripture reading is from the Gospel of Luke Chapter 22 verses 13 through 23 They left and found things just as Jesus had told them So they prepared the Passover When the hour came Jesus and His apostles reclined at the table And He said to them I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer For I tell you I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God After taking the cup He gave thanks and said Take this and divide it among you For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes And He took bread Gave thanks and broke it And gave it to them saying This is my body given for you Do this in remembrance of me In the same way after the supper He took the cup saying This cup is a new covenant in my blood
[13:06] Which is poured out for you But the hand of him who is going to betray me Is with mine on the table The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed But woe to that man who betrays him They began to question among themselves Which of them it might be who would do this This is the word of the Lord Thanks be to God Tonight begins the holiest of the year It's the holiest time of the year On this night so many years ago Jesus celebrated His Passover with His friends In preparation for a true rescue Promised by God centuries ago This rescue was planned immediately after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden 1 John 4 9 says this This is how God shows His love among us He sent His one and only Son into the world
[14:10] That we might live through Him Jesus was born to be our hope And for all God's grace and forgiveness to come to pass We approach this time of year in our church As disciples of Jesus Where we hold Holy Week In our hearts knowing of God's love Maundy Thursday A day we soberly Along with deep reverence Remember the Last Supper Washing of the disciples' feet In our Lord's walk to Gethsemane The Last Supper Jesus had one opportunity to be with His disciples The ones He loved And the ones that were the closest to Him Christ spending that evening Trying to prepare the disciples for what was going to happen The coming events During this intimate time
[15:14] He was trying to console His disciples But sometimes I like to think that Jesus was trying to be consoled Himself You see when you're going through difficult times You're going through tough times in your life You call your friends You have them come over And you seek their guidance There was something that happened to me Just a few months ago During a difficult time And it carries you through A dinner A dinner I had with my family Christmas dinner The day after Christmas I was prepared to go for surgery For uterine cancer So that Christmas dinner meant a lot to me It meant so much to me to have my family with me It meant so much to me to be with this church Christmas Eve To be able to fellowship with you
[16:16] And to be able for you to pray for me And just to be with you But during Christmas Day When it was intimate with my family I needed their love and support I needed their comfort I needed their prayer I was scared I was weak in my own strength And having my friends and my family At Christmas dinner Was something that I soaked every word that they said Of encouragement to me Every hug And then we got together and we prayed That's what the Last Supper was for Christ Being intimate with His family Christ knowing that He was to fulfill God's rescue And He said to them I have eagerly desired To eat this Passover with you before I suffer For I tell you, I will not eat it again Until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God Eagerly desired means to express intensity
[17:18] Because there will be a moment in God's plan That will be fulfilled And we will be rescued from our sin Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ Maude Thursday Maude Thursday Maude Thursday Maude Thursday We are charged to In remembrance of our Lord Take the breath of our Lord We are charged to from our sin through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[17:48] Maudie Thursday, we are charged to, in remembrance of our Lord, take the bread, drink the cup, do this in remembrance of me. He washed his disciples' feet, all in remembrance of him.
[18:08] Then Jesus does the rest, and that's the most important part of Maudie Thursday. It's something that we share with Christ, but Jesus does the rest. He goes to Good Friday, and he takes the cross, and he's beaten, and he's tortured, and he's crucified on a cross.
[18:31] Yes. Easter Sunday, he rises from the dead. We all have that wonderful, wonderful experience to see that on Easter, but Maudie Thursday is a day that we as a church, together, in one accord, can just, in a solemn way, take the walk that Jesus did.
[18:59] The one thing I love about the Last Supper, and the one thing that I love about the story, is when Jesus says this, do it in remembrance of me, at his table, he had a friend who would deny him.
[19:12] He had someone that would betray him at the table with him. That's what's so wonderful about the table.
[19:23] He welcomes all. One of my favorite sayings from Pastor Tom is, hello, saints, hello, sinners. It's so beautiful to know that we are welcome at the table of grace.
[19:40] I love how that's all we have to do, is accept the salvation of Christ, and he did the rest. My husband and I love to support the firefighters.
[19:55] We love the first responders. We love our community. And every year we go to the Getzville Fire Hall. They have an open house. And during their open house, they have all kinds of special things that they show.
[20:11] They show demonstrations. They have firemen there with all their gear on. You can ride a fire truck. I highly recommend it. If you want to go to a fire hall for an open house, go for it.
[20:24] Take the kids. Well, right now you can't, but later on you can do it. But they have a demonstration that I especially like to watch. And I know you've seen it.
[20:36] You've seen it on the news. You've seen it all over. It's called the Jaws of Life. This tool helps extract someone from a trapped car. And with the technical, precise power, in the manner of minutes, someone can be freed from a vehicle and are saved.
[20:54] John 8, 33 through 36 says this. They answered him, We are Abraham's descendants.
[21:06] And we never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that? We shall be set free, Jesus replied. Verily, truly, I tell you.
[21:18] Everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family. But a son belongs to it forever.
[21:29] So if the son sets you free, you are free indeed. That's where I was. I was trapped.
[21:41] Trapped in my sin. Just like someone is trapped in a vehicle. And they need that Jaws of Life. Jesus, in his loving grace, he took what I was supposed to do, and he took it to the cross.
[21:57] The cross was the Jaws of Life that freed us from our sins. John 15, 13 through 20 says, Greater love has no one than this, to lay down his life for one's friend.
[22:16] You are my friends if I do what I command. I no longer call you servants, but a servant does not know his master's business.
[22:27] We do not have to wait for Holy Week to be reminded of the great victory that we have over our sin. If we are friends of Christ, we are sent out as Christ's ambassadors and disciples to carry out a mission and ministry among the people we come across.
[22:51] We are commissioned to love as he loved us. And it is just as we go about our tasks on Holy Week that we find that journey can get very hard going.
[23:08] It can be heavy. It can be painful. And it can be distressful. We are going through difficult times right now.
[23:21] In this world, there are workers in the hospital. There are people that are in the grocery stores. There are security guards. There are postal workers.
[23:32] There's first responders. Members of our military. They are all demonstrating the love of God right now. I am so thankful that God gives us the opportunity to be rescued from our sins.
[23:48] And I think of what they're doing out there to give their best to their community.
[24:02] They're telling us to wash our hands. We're washing our hands two, three times a minute, an hour. Jesus washed our feet.
[24:16] Our church today, we traditionally wash feet, and we're not able to do that today. Traditionally, there is our time, our Maundy Thursday service, that we represent the time that Jesus washed his disciples' feet.
[24:39] And it's very sad that we can't do that today. But what we can do is be an example. John 13, 15 through 17 says this, We cannot wash our feet today, but as a child of God.
[25:25] Tonight, we can honor Christ through our worship. Mary poured out her best perfume on our Lord's feet.
[25:36] And we can pour out our best worship at the feet of Jesus. So let's worship him this evening.
[25:48] Let's give our best worship, as if we were having our feet washed, as if we were laying at the feet of Jesus. He is the one person that rescued us, that took our sin.
[26:03] Holy Week, this time is a really solemn, sober experience for us. But we know the end of the story. We get Easter Sunday, and we know the resurrection is going to happen.
[26:18] So let's take a moment to worship at his feet. Falling on my knees in worship, giving all I am to seek your face.
[26:59] Lord, all I am is yours. My whole life I placed in your hands.
[27:15] God of mercy humbled, I bowed down In your presence at your throne.
[27:30] I called, you answered. And you came to my rescue, And I want to be where you are.
[27:50] I called, you answered. And you came to my rescue, And I want to be where you are.
[28:13] My whole life I placed in your hands.
[28:33] God of mercy humbled, I bowed down I bowed down And your presence at your throne.
[28:43] I called, you answered. I called, you answered. I called, you answered. And you came to my rescue, And I want to be where you are.
[28:56] And you came to my rescue, And I want to be where you are. I called, you answered. I called, you answered. And you came to my rescue, And I want to be where you are.
[29:10] I called, you answered. I called, you answered. And you came to my rescue, And I want to be where you are.
[29:21] I called, you answered. And you came to my rescue, And I want to be where you are. I lied. You came to my grave in suffering.
[29:36] And you traveled ** We lifted high in our love.
[30:02] We lifted high. You answered. And you came to my rescue.
[30:17] And I want to be where you are. Amazing grace.
[30:47] How sweet the sound. That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost.
[31:00] But now I'm found. Was blind. But now I see. T'was grace that taught my heart to fear.
[31:16] And grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear.
[31:27] The hour I first believed. My chains are gone. I've been set free.
[31:39] My God, my Savior. Has ransomed me. And like a flood. His mercy reigns.
[31:51] Unending love. Amazing grace. The Lord has promised God to me.
[32:13] His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion.
[32:25] As long as life endures. My chains are gone. My chains are gone. I've been set free.
[32:35] My chains are gone. I've been set free. My chains are gone. And like a flood. His mercy reigns.
[32:46] Unending love. Amazing grace. And like a flood. His mercy reigns. Unending love. The earth shall soon dissolve.
[32:57] Like a stone. I've been set free. For my Savior has ransomed me. And like a flood. His mercy reigns.
[33:08] Unending love. Amazing grace. The earth shall soon dissolve.
[33:23] Love like snow. The sun forbear to shine. But God who calls me here below.
[33:36] Will be forever mine. You are forever mine.
[33:47] You are forever mine.
[34:00] Let us close in a word of prayer. May the Holy God who is sovereign. And gives all power and authority.
[34:12] Into the hands of Christ. Who washes our feet in humble service. Teach us to love one another as Christ has loved us. So that everyone will know that we are his disciples.
[34:26] Through Jesus Christ our Lord. We pray together. Amen. Amen.
[34:52] Amen. Amen.
[35:22] Amen. Amen.
[35:52] Amen. Amen.
[36:22] Amen. Amen.
[36:52] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[37:04] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.