ORDER OF WORSHIPWEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 2018

Table and lectern placed on the east side of the chapel. One candle in the middle of the table. Wooden cross with crown placed on the left side. 5-6 rows of chair half circle facing the altar. Palm leaves left on the floor from the entrance. Won’t be using powerpoint, but simple bulletin will be prepared.

GATHERING

Welcome and Announcements [Becca] Community announcements Announce next week’s service Communion elements are gluten free and grape juice Introduce Sarah Travis

Joe goes up to the lectern

Territorial Acknowledgement [Joe]As we come together today, let us take a moment to acknowledge this sacred land on which Emmanuel College and the University of Toronto stands.This has been a site of human activity for many thousands of years.This land is the territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations,the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. Today, the meeting place of Toronto is still the home to manyIndigenous people from across Turtle Island. We are grateful for the opportunity to live and work on this territory. Let us always seeks to be mindful of broken covenants and the need to strive to make right with all our relations.

A candle is lit by Joe.

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Morgan goes up to the lectern

Opening Prayer [Morgan]

Gracious God of grief and suffering, Be with us in these hoursas we gather in the shadow of the cross of Christand hear again the story of death and the sounds of burial. This is not where we would choose to be, O God, brought face to face with this symbol of deathand instrument of torture. Have mercy on us.We have sometimes sought to avoid such times;we have ignored the cross or denied our own pain; and we have turned our backs on the suffering of others. Strengthen us to be here today, that we may know that you are here with us. You know the ways of the world, O God: you have been there; you are here;you have loved and cried and lived and died. Be with us now, comfort us, forgive us and free us.

Amen

Morgan comes down from the lectern

Opening Hymn: VU 136 “Oh Come and Mourn With Me A While”

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WORDMark 15:33 - 16:8

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.” And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.

Were you there when he bowed his head and died?

And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.

When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for some time. When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus saw where the body was laid.

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Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.

Were you there when he burst the bonds of death?

As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Silence is kept for a minute

Sermon: Between Death and Resurrection [Sarah Travis]

Silence is kept for two minutes

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Anthem: How Shallow Former Shadows SeemTo be sung by a quartet as an offering.

How shallow former shadows seem beside this great reverseas darkness swallows up the Light of all the universe:creation shivers at the shock, the Temple rends its veil,a pallid stillness stifles time, and nature's motions fail.

This is no midday fantasy, no flight of fevered brain.With vengeance awful, grim, and real, chaos is come again:the hands that formed us from the soil are nailed upon the cross;the Word that gave us life and breath expires in utter loss.

Yet deep within this darkness lives a Love so fierce and freethat arcs all voids and--risk supreme!-- embraces agony.Its perfect testament is etched in iron, blood, and wood;with awe we glimpse its true import and dare to call it good.

Words: Carl P. Daw, Jr. Music: Thomas Tallis

Carmen goes up to the lecternPrayers of the People: [Carmen]Christ of the cross,You know and share our suffering.

Silence 10 secs

You are with us, God.You are with all those who are victims of disease,You are with the victims of violence and the abuse of others,You are with the victims of our ignorance, foolishness or sin.Help us and restore us.

Silence 20 secs

You are with us, God. You are with all those who inflict pain on others and on our world,through our selfishness and greed,through our brokenness and anger,through our rigidity and need to be right.Help us and restore us.

Silence 20 secs5

You are with us, God.You are with us when we live in fear. This world we call home is threatened.We live in fear for our safety and survival,Our sense of community and togetherness as people is broken.Help us and restore us.And listen now, as we name our places of fear, pain, and suffering.

Personal prayers may be offered here. 1 minute

Christ of the Cross,See our need for Your grace,Hear our prayer for Your mercy,And come to us again, to help and restore,because we cannot heal ourselves.Amen.

TABLE

Invitation & Peace: [Bill]In the name of the One who said “I am the bread of life”

and was broken by the world;

in the name of the One who said “I am the true vine,” and who bled with all those who suffer;

in the name of the One who reached out to embrace all those whom the world counts as last and least, and said:

“A new commandment I give to you: “Love one another, as I have loved, you”—

in the name of Jesus Christ, who is today and always, both our Host and our Guest, I invite you to this, his table.

May the Peace of Christ be with you all. [And also with you.]Presentation Hymn: VU 143 “My Song Is Love Unknown”

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Joe and Carmen will bring up elements to the table during the presentation hymn.

The Great Thanksgiving God be with you.

And also with you. Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to God. Let us give thanks to God.

It is good to give God thanks and praise.

Holy God of Wisdom and Passion, eternally offensive to our wisdom,and compassionate toward our weakness,

we give you thanks and praise that you emptied yourself of power and entered our worldly struggles,taking upon your very self our unprotected flesh.

You opened wide your arms for us, becoming scandal for our sake,that you might sanctify even the graveto be a bed of hope for your people.

Therefore, with all those who are abandoned or betrayed by neighbours or friends, religions or governments;

all those who are made refugees in their own land,or whose bodies are violated or in pain;

and with all those who have died alonewithout dignity, comfort or hope;

today, we lift them up in the company of all the saintswhose wounds bear witness to your passion and your promise, calling us to live the praise we proclaim:

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Santo, santo, santo. Mi corazón te adora! [VU 951]Mi corazón te sabe decir: Santo eres Dios!Holy, holy, holy. My heart, my heart adores you! My heart knows how to say to you: You are holy God!

You are holy, O God, and blessed is our brother Jesus,

who, before his suffering, earnestly desired to eat with his companions the Passover of liberation;

who, on the night that he was betrayed, took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said:

“This is my body, broken for you.Do this to remember me.”

In the same way, after supper, he passed the cup, saying:

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.Do this, whenever you drink it, to remember me.”

Holy God of Mercy and Mystery, as we eat this bread and partake of this cup,

fill us with such longing for your realm, that we may rise togetherto turn our worship into witness,that our lives may proclaim the mystery of faith:

Christ has died, is risen, will come again to meet us, [VU 951]and walks with us the way of love. Holy Kindom, come!

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Come then, life-giving Spirit of our God, brood over these bodily things.

Make us one with Christ in his self-giving,that through us, he may:

bind up the broken-hearted, comfort the mourners, open the eyes of all those who cannot or will not see, and set free all those who are oppressed in any way.

In this hope, and as your people, we praise you, and pray:

Holy, holy, holy! Amen, we pray, with longing. [VU 951]Let all creation cry Amen! Holy Kindom, come!

Lord’s Prayer Even in the shadow of the cross, we are bold to pray in whatever language gives voice to our longing, in the spirit of Jesus:  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 gloryforever and ever. Amen.

music begins immediatelyCommunion Song: “Stay with Us” [see next page]

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Prayer after Communion: VU 150 “A Prayer for Holy Week”in unisonGod of passionate and vulnerable love, whose body, broken on the cross

rebukes us still: Save us, hold us, and forgive us, that you as victor and victim

might lead us from death to life,through Jesus, the Crucified. Amen.

GOING FORTH

Hymn: VU 137 “The Love that Clothed Itself in Light”

Blessing and Sending Forth: [Sarah]

PostludeWere you There When They Crucified My Lord?

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