March 28, 2024 – 12 Noon

Maundy Thursday
12:00pm † March 28, 2024

The Golden Hour

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

183 W. Main Street

Westborough, MA 01581

508-366-7095

www.goodshepherdcares.org

WELCOME ALL!

Whether this is your first time with us or your one thousand and first, we are glad that the Spirit has drawn you here today! Visitors are invited to sign the Guest Book near the front doors of the church and take home a welcome brochure to learn more about us.

PRELUDE O Welt, ich muss dich lassen G. Winston Cassler

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross Robert A. Hobby

Yeon Soh, Organist

CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS

Friends in Christ, in this Lenten season we have heard our Lord’s call to struggle against sin, death, and the devil—all that keeps us from loving God and each other. This is the struggle to which we were called at baptism.

Within the community of the church, God never wearies of forgiving sin and giving the peace of reconciliation. On this night let us confess our sin against God and our neighbor, and enter the celebration of the great Three Days reconciled with God and with one another.

Most merciful God, we confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways to the glory of your holy name. Amen.

The assembly is seated. People may come forward and kneel for the laying on of hands.

The minister, laying both hands on each person’s head, addresses each in turn.

In obedience to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins. Amen.

MUSIC AT THE ABSOLUTION O God, You Forgive A. K. Organ
sung repeatedly

In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for his sake God forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Peace

The peace of Christ be with you always. And also with you.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Let us pray. Eternal God, in the sharing of a meal your Son established a new covenant for all people, and in the washing of feet he showed us the dignity of service. Grant that by the power of your Holy Spirit these signs of our life in faith may speak again to our hearts, feed our spirits, and refresh our bodies, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION A New Commandment

 

 

GOSPEL John 13:1–17, 31b–35

NARRATOR: The Holy Gospel according to St John

CONGREGATION: Glory to you O Lord

NARRATOR: 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. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And 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,

CONGREGATION: Lord, are you going to wash my feet?

NARRATOR: Jesus answered,

JESUS: You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.

NARRATOR: Peter said to him,

CONGREGATION: You will never wash my feet.

NARRATOR: Jesus answered,

JESUS: Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.

NARRATOR: Simon Peter said to him,

CONGREGATION: Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!

NARRATOR: Jesus said to him,

JESUS: “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.”

We move now into the foot/hand washing. When everyone has finished, continue with the Gospel.

HYMNS AT WASHING OF THE FEET

Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us with Your Love

NARRATOR: After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them,

JESUS: Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord — and you are right, for that is what I am. So 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. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 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.

NARRATOR: The Gospel of the Lord.

CONGREGATION: Praise to you O Christ.

REFLECTION Pastor Jeff

HYMN We, like Peter, Christ, Protest

DIALOGUE

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

PREFACE

It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God, through our Savior Jesus Christ; whose suffering and death gave salvation to all. You gather your people around the tree of the cross, transforming death into life. And so, with all the choirs of angels, with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven, we praise your name and join in their unending hymn:

SANCTUS

SECOND READING First Corinthians 11:23-26

NARRATOR: A reading from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth: For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said,

PASTOR: This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

NARRATOR: In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying,

PASTOR: This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.

NARRATOR: For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

NARRATOR: Word of God, Word of Life.

CONGREGATION: Thanks be to God.

LORD’S PRAYER

Let us pray as Jesus taught us, each in the words or language of our choice.

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 trespasses,

as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.

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INVITATION TO COMMUNION

Friends, this is the body and blood of Christ given for all.
Behold who you are.
Become what you receive.

COMMUNION

At this table, Christ is both host and meal, and offers himself to all who hunger and thirst for his presence.

We believe that he is truly present in this sacrament.

Come to the front, where bread is placed in your hand (you can request a gluten-free wafer), and where you receive wine by taking a cup from the tray (the cups in the center contain white grape juice).

If you do not wish to commune, you are welcome to come forward and receive a blessing.

If you need to receive communion in your seat, simply notify an usher.

No one is too young to receive this sacrament, though some families wish to give their children some instruction before they take their first communion. If a young child accompanies you, please indicate to the pastor whether they should receive bread or a blessing.

AGNUS DEI

COMMUNION HYMNS

O Lord, We Praise You ELW 499

 

Ubi caritas et amor ELW 642

Table Blessing

The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen you and keep you in God’s grace. Amen.

PRAYER

Let us pray. Lord Jesus, you strengthen us with the saving power of your suffering, death, and resurrection. May this sacrament of your body and blood so work in us that the fruits of your love will show forth in the way we live, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

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STRIPPING OF THE ALTAR
Silence is kept for reflection

(This action is symbolic of Jesus’ humiliation at the hands of the soldiers. During the reading of Psalm 22, everything will be removed from the altar, the lights will be dimmed, and the candles extinguished.
We leave without benediction, and in silence.)

READING OF PSALM 22

Voice 1

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
²O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.

Voice 2

³Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵To you they cried, and were saved;
in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.

Voice 1

⁶But I am a worm, and not human;
scorned by others, and despised by the people.
⁷All 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!”

Voice 2

⁹Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
¹⁰On you I was cast from my birth,
and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
¹¹Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.

Voice 1

¹²Many bulls encircle me,
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
¹³they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.

Voice 2

¹⁴I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
¹⁵my mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.

Voice 1
¹⁶For dogs are all around me;
a company of evildoers encircles me.
My hands and feet have shriveled;
¹⁷I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;
¹⁸they divide my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.

Voice 2

¹⁹But you, O LORD, do not be far away!
O my help, come quickly to my aid!
²⁰Deliver my soul from the sword,
my life from the power of the dog!
²¹Save me from the mouth of the lion!
From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.

Voice 1
²²I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
²³You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
²⁴For 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.

Voice 2
²⁵From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
²⁶The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the LORD.
May your hearts live forever!

Voices 1 and 2 together

²⁷All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the LORD;
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before him.
²⁸For dominion belongs to the LORD,
and he rules over the nations.
²⁹To 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.
³⁰Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the LORD,
³¹and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying that he has done it.

We leave without benediction, and in silence.

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Worship Support

Narrator – Aruna A

Jesus – Stan C

Psalm 22 Kris S & Becky N

Usher Tom O & Larry B

Altar Care Altar Guild

Livestream Operator Bill Whalen

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