Worship for April 2, 2026

Prelude: Jesus Walked this Lonesome Valley                                    Kayleen Yuda

Please rise if you are able

*Call to Worship

Leader:         When Jesus sat at table with his friends, they gathered to recall the mighty acts of God which won the freedom of their oppressed people.
People:        This evening we recall the mighty acts of God which won our freedom from the oppressions of sin and death.
Leader:         Our Savior did not lead an exodus, or make himself a general, or guide a nation to a Promised Land.
People: He gave his friends the bread and wine of Passover by which they might remember him, then walked into the shadows of betrayal and of death.
Leader:         This evening, let us fill our hearts with Christ, and join him at the table.
People:        This evening, let us fill our hearts with Christ, and join him in the shadows.

* Opening Hymn #345: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence (v. 1-3)

* Please join me in the Prayer of Confession

Giver of Life, from ancient time you call us to yourself.
In ways too numerous to mention, we fail to respond.
Forgive us, we pray.
Our limited understanding of culture
gets in the way of fellowship
with those different from ourselves.
Our limited vision of community
gets in the way of your call
to accept the cost and joy of discipleship,
to seek justice and peace for all.
Replace our arrogance, Merciful One,
with the humility and caring service Jesus modeled,
for truly we are not greater than our Teacher and Savior. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon                                                                         Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Please be seated

We Share the Word of God

Scripture: John 13:1-17, 31b-35
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, ‘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.’ Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’ Jesus said to him, ‘One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you^[c] are clean, though not all of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’

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

When he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘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.’

Reflection                                                                                           Rev. Eric Anderson

We Come to the Table of God

Anthem: Easter Carol Holy Cross Singers 
J. P. Thoma, flute
Kayleen Yuda, organ
 
Holy Communion                                                    Rev. Eric Anderson, Rev. Sitau Ofoia
                                                                                                                  

* Hymn #226: O Sacred Head Now Wounded (v. 1-2)

We Journey to the Shadows with God
Service of Tenebrae

Lighting of the Candles

The Shadow of Betrayal: Matthew 26:20-25                                     Stefan Tanouye

The Shadow of Desertion: Matthew 26:31-35                                    Nina Buchanan

Hymn #218: Ah, Holy Jesus (v. 1-2; please remain seated)

The Agony of the Soul: Luke 22:39-44                                               Peter Braun

The Unshared Vigil: Mark 14:32-41                                                   Faith Mishina

“Father the hour is come”: John 17:1-6                                              John Narruhn

“That they may all be one”: John 17:15-22                                        Lorraine Davis

Hymn #224: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (v. 1-2; please remain seated)

The Shadow of the Cross: Mark 15:16-20                                         Gloria Kobayashi

Hymn #229 Were You There? (v. 1-2; please remain seated)

The Word was God: John                                                                   Rev. Eric Anderson

The Darkness

Please join me in The Lord’s Prayer
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 debts, as we forgive our debtors. 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.

Depart in Silence

Permissions

Jesus Walked this Lonesome Valley
Trad. Appalachian tune
Arr. by Hugh Livingston, Jr.
© Lorenz Publishing Co.
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
Text from the Liturgy of St. James, 4^th cent.
Trans. Gerard Moultrie, 1864
Tune PICARDY 17^th cent. French carol
Public Domain

Easter Carol
Text 4^th cent. Ambrosian hymn
Trans. by John Mason Neale
Arr. by Richard Proulx
© 1997 GIA Publications
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
Text attrib. to Bernard of Clairvaux, 12^th cent.
Trans. James W. Alexander, 1830
Tune PASSION CHORALE by Hans Leo Hassler, 1601
Public Domain

Ah, Holy Jesus
Text by Johann Heermann, 1630
Trans. Robert Bridges, 1899
Tune HERZLIEBSTER JESU by Johann Cruger, 1640
Public Domain

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
Text by Isaac Watts, 1707
Tune HAMBURG by Lowell Mason, 1825
Public Domain

Were You There?
Text and Tune: African-American spiritual
Public Domain