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Getting Ready for Holy Week - Thursday and Friday
Christ in the Passover - Thursday, April 1 - 7 PM
"On the night Jesus was betrayed, he took bread..."
I don't know about you, but the picture in my mind for the Last Supper is often silly and inaccurate. I picture Jesus and the apostles, hanging out, eating nothing but wafers of bread, and drinking out of little plastic cups. Well, not exactly, but I think a common misconception is that our act of eating bread and drinking wine (or juice) is what it looked like originally. Not so! Jesus and his disciples were observing a traditional Jewish Seder dinner to commemorate the Passover, when God delivered the people of Israel from Egyptian slavery. It was within this larger picture that Jesus instituted our current ordinance, but there is great meaning of thinking of communion within its proper original setting. Curtis Childs will be helping us focus on the traditional Jewish meanings of the unleavened bread, the cup, the lamb, and other elements of the Passover meal. Through this we hope to see a better picture of who Christ was, and what it means to celebrate this central practice of our faith. We will read from one of the traditional Passover Psalms, Psalm 116, which takes new meaning in light of Jesus' arrest and trial:
The cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came upon me;
I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.
Then I called on the name of the LORD :
"O LORD, save me!"
The LORD is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion. (v.3-5)
We will also take the Lord's Supper together, in preparation to remember Jesus' last hours before the cross.
SONGS:
This Is How We Know (Matt Redman, 2009) - We focus on the love of Jesus this evening, because this love is fully expressed in his actions this night. He makes himself a servant when he washes the feet of his disciples, and he gives the bread and wine, calling them His body and blood. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us (1 John 3:16)."
How Beautiful (Twila Paris, 1990) - This song meditates on the body of Christ. How wonderful and amazing that God himself offered up his life, his actual physical body, as a sacrifice. The song also admonishes us to act out the same Christ-love: "We offer this sacrifice, that we will live just as he died, willing to pay the price..."
May we come to the table expecting great things as we gather in His name to recall the death and love of Jesus our Savior.
In Him,
Patrick Bourckel
Pierced for our Iniquities - Good Friday, April 2 - 7 PM
On the day when we remember Christ's death on the cross, it is a different meeting than our usual services. We will ask that you enter and leave the service in silence. The music will be sung sparsely, without musical accompaniment. It is a somber service where we try to truly connect with the reality of what happened. Jesus was physically abused and tortured. Jesus bore pain that we could barely imagine. Jesus surrendered to horrible people who despised him and rejoiced in his afflictions. But above all, Jesus took the sins of us all onto himself, and "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21)" The agony and pain of physical death was miniscule in light of the spiritual pain and torture that occurred. The Son of God looked to his Father, with whom he had shared eternal love and equality, and saw God turn from him and pour out the wrath of judgement for sin upon him. Our worship on this night must reflect the sorrow and mourning we encounter when truly grasping the cost of our deliverance.
A unique element to this service will be the chance to act out the truths of Scripture. The prophet Isaiah writes: "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)" As the choir sings, we will give you an opportunity to focus on this reality, and to meditate on it. At the beginning of the service, you will be given a strip of red cloth to hold on to. Then, if you wish to participate, you will have a chance to bring that cloth forward to a wooden cross, and to lay it upon the cross. This symbolizes that sin has been taken from us, and laid on the Lord Jesus. You can stay a moment by the cross and pray, thinking of what He has done on our behalf, and how great his sacrificial love truly is. I hope and pray that this new experience will help you in your worship.
SONGS:
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross - We will sing all of our songs this night a cappella, meaning no instrumental accompaniment. This will help us to focus on the words and lifting our voices in praise together. A classic hymn written 300 years ago by Isaac Watts, we begin by focusing on the cross, and the "love so amazing, so divine" that we find here.
Jesus, Remember Me - A song from the Taize tradition of worship. This style of worship involves simple songs that are repeated many times, as a type of meditation. We meditate specifically on the words of the thief beside Jesus, and realize that we are all common criminals, no better than him. We ask that Jesus would remember us, and trust in his promise: "Today, you will be with me in Paradise(Luke 23:43)." As it is written, "If we have died with Christ, we will also live with him (Romans 6:8)."
Nothing but the Blood - Another classic hymn, we proclaim that all our hope, peace, and righteousness rest in the blood of Christ.
There is a Redeemer (1982, Melody Green-Sievright) - We pour out our gratitude for the salvation we find in the cross through this simple song. "Thank you, O my Father, for giving us Your son..."
I am Sure I Shall See - Another song from the Taize tradition. From Psalm 27:13-14, we end our service in hope, knowing that God has promised that "you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay (Psalm 16:10)." We prepare our hearts to hear again the good news that is coming on Sunday.
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Getting Ready for Sunday by
This is where you will find posts about what to expect this coming Sunday morning at Long Green.
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