Theme for the Season of Lent
Through God’s steadfast love, we are made new
After the shining light of Epiphany, burning its blinding brightest in the Transfiguration, we are thrust upon the forty-day journey of Lent. This season of quiet reflection and reverence encourages us to rely upon God’s steadfast love, even in our darkest days.
In our darkness, God is light. In our weakness, God is strong. In our wavering, God is steadfast. Through this Lenten journey, we encounter God as we stumble and fall. God gently raises us up, a new creation in God’s image. Transformed and renewed, we are called to be God’s hands and feet: to bring God’s light to the darkness, to use God’s strength to carry the weak, and to rely on God’s steadfast love to guide our journey.
There are moments, especially during Lent, when we consider our brokenness and distance from God. Those are the moments when God draws near to us and makes us anew, created to proclaim God’s kingdom through love and service.
Scripture for April 14 – Maundy Thursday
Introduction
This evening our Lenten observance comes to an end, and we gather with Christians around the world to celebrate the Three Days of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Tonight we remember Christ’s last meal with his disciples, but the central focus is his commandment that we live out the promise embodied in this meal. As Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, so we are called to give and receive love in humble service to one another. Formed into a new body in Christ through this holy meal, we are transformed by the mercy we have received and carry it into the world. Departing worship in solemn silence, we anticipate the coming days.
Prayer of the Day
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.
Scripture for Thursday, April 14
Exodus 12:1-4 [5-10] 11-14
Reading Introduction: Israel remembered its deliverance from slavery in Egypt by celebrating the festival of Passover. This festival featured the Passover lamb, whose blood was used as a sign to protect God’s people from the threat of death. The early church described the Lord’s supper using imagery from the Passover, especially in portraying Jesus as the lamb who delivers God’s people from sin and death.
Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19
Reading Introduction: I will lift the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. (Ps. 116:13)
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Reading Introduction: In the bread and cup of the Lord’s supper, we experience intimate fellowship with Christ and with one another because it involves his body given for us and the new covenant in his blood. Faithful participation in this meal is a living proclamation of Christ’s death until he comes in the future.
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Reading Introduction: The story of the last supper in John’s gospel recalls a remarkable event not mentioned elsewhere: Jesus performs the duty of a slave, washing the feet of his disciples and urging them to do the same for one other.
Scripture for April 15, 2022 – Good Friday
Introduction
Life and death stand side by side as we enter into Good Friday. In John’s passion account, Jesus reveals the power and glory of God, even as he is put on trial and sentenced to death. Standing with the disciples at the foot of the cross, we pray for the whole world in the ancient bidding prayer, as Christ’s death offers life to all. We gather in solemn devotion, but always with the promise that the tree around which we assemble is indeed a tree of life. We depart silently, and we anticipate the culmination of the Three Days in the Easter Vigil.
Prayer of the Day
Almighty God, look with loving mercy on your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, to be given over to the hands of sinners, and to suffer death on the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Scripture for Friday, April 15
Isaiah 52:13 — 53:12
Reading Introduction: The fourth servant poem promises ultimate vindication for the servant, who made his life an offering for sin. The servant pours himself out to death and is numbered with the transgressors, images that the early church saw as important keys for understanding the death of Jesus.
Psalm 22
Reading Introduction: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Ps. 22:1)
Hebrews 10:16-25
Reading Introduction: In the death of Jesus, forgiveness of sins is accomplished and access to God is established. Hence, when we gather together for worship and when we love others, we experience anew the benefits of Jesus’ death.
John 18:1 — 19:42
Reading Introduction: On Good Friday, the story of Jesus’ passion—from his arrest to his burial—is read in its entirety from the Gospel of John.