March 20, 6:00 pm, Maundy Thursday Potluck and Communion Service

Lessons: Exodus 12.1-4, 11-14; 1 Corinthians 11.23-26; John 13.1-17, 31b-35

Sermon Title: Something Old, Something New

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  1. What is old has passed away.

    1. It passed away for the Hebrews as they ate the Passover meal and waited for the word to leave Egypt.

    2. It passed away for the disciples as they moved through the cycle of the days that followed this night.

    3. It passed away for the early followers of Christ as they watched changing circumstances erode their position and they became outcasts.

  2. What is old is always passing away.

    1. It passes away for us in so many different ways.

      1. Did you know that there is a part of your body that changes 1,000 times in your lifetime?

        1. Every single day we lose thousands of skin cells.

        2. Every 4 weeks we have a new skin on our bodies.

      2. Change and renewal are all around us.

    2. The old is giving way to the new.

  3. This night serves as a means of informing and reminding us of changing times and discovering the source of our strength and future.

    1. Maundy Thursday (1)

      1. Each time we partake of the Lord's Supper we remind ourselves that the elements are symbolic of what Christ has done for us.

      2. There is scientific research that emphasizes this symbolism.

        1. Dr. Leroy Creasy of Cornell University identified a chemical in grapes that the Journal of Applied Cardiology says reduces the risk of heart disease.

        2. The chemical is "Res-vera-trol" that lowers cholesterol in humans and is found in Concord grape juice.

    2. We drink a substance that helps cleanse the physical heart of life-threatening impurities,

  4. We can be reminded in a new way that it is the blood of Christ that cleanses our spiritual hearts of sin's deadly effects.

    1. What is new becomes old.

    2. There are ways in which the old is always new.

    3. The Lord's Supper is always new and renewing

    4. We partake and learn.

    5. We invest in Christ and find strength.

    6. We cling to Christ and are enabled to trust and find hope

    7. We let go of the immediate so that we may grasp the permanent.

    8. We usher in a new future which will never pass away.

  5. This is the thought in the hymn: Abide With Me by H. F. Lyte

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide:
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou, Who changest not, abide with me.

I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have not weight and tears no bitterness;
Where is death's sting? Where, Grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy Cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies,
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

1. The Saturday Evening Post, September/October 1992, p. 14.

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