And here are some links to the Hymns listed in our service, found on YouTube: ​

Christians and Others 
(Poem by Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

All go to God in their distress,
Seek help and pray for bread and happiness,
Deliverance from pain, guilt, and death.
All do, Christians and others.

All go to God in His distress,
Find Him poor, reviled without shelter or bread,
Watch Him tormented by sin, weakness, and death.
Christians stand by God in His agony.

God goes to all in their distress,
Satisfies body and soul with His bread,
Dies, crucified for all, Christians and others
And both alike forgiving.

Scripture Readings: Exodus 12:1–14 | Psalm 116:1–2, 12–19 | 1 Corinthians 11:23–26 | John 13:1–17, 31b–35

“…Do this in remembrance of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24).

On this sacred night, we remember and in a real sense re-live the story of the ‘Last Supper’: the turning point in the dramatic story of Holy Week… the last precious moments that Jesus our Lord spends with His closest disciples before His betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion. 

Tonight, we remember the powerful and precious gifts that our Lord has given, not only to those who personally shared in that time in the upper room, but to all who would follow Him.

We remember His new and great commandment: that we are to love one another, just as He has first loved us. 

We remember the shocking way He demonstrated this love… by humbly washing their feet, and commanding us to do the same.

We remember how He invited His disciples to experience a very familiar celebration and story in a whole new way… 
Telling us to take and eat… to receive bread and wine as His own blessed body and blood of the new covenant… and so find ourselves taking part in the Living God’s greatest act of saving love.

That night, Jesus our Lord and His disciples celebrated the Passover… a sacred meal remembering the new beginning God created for His people Israel, many centuries before. Once they had been oppressed slaves in a strange land, with no hope of finding freedom for themselves. But God had compassion on them. God came to their aid. God broke the power of Pharaoh, once and for all, and with a might arm, God set them free to be His people forever.

And this act of saving love transformed Israel’s story. God set them free, not so they could wander about aimlessly through life… but to be His beloved children. He set them free so that they could come to know His grace and His glory up close, and so start to live no longer for Pharaoh, or even for themselves, but for their merciful Creator and Saviour. Putting His holy ways into practice, as a light shining into a darkened world. 
​
But remembering this calling wasn’t always easy. They faced all sorts of distractions, and threats, and temptations that sought to take hold of their attention, and draw them away from their Saviour’s side. 

And so, to help them remember… to keep the story of God’s saving love alive throughout the centuries, God gave them the Passover meal as a perpetual sign… passed down for generations, to remind them not only of what the LORD has done for them… His might acts of salvation… but also to remind them of their new calling as His people in the world. 

This sacred meal became an ongoing invitation for His beloved children, to remember their place in the story of His saving love.

And many centuries after the Israelites were set free from slavery in Egypt, Jesus and His disciples celebrated the Passover meal together… remembering and celebrating what the Living God had done for their ancestors long ago. 

But rather than simply retelling the past, Jesus points His followers forward to the new and surprising act of God’s saving love that was about to happen through Him! God was again about to delivering His people, not just from a deadly plague, or the dominion of Pharaoh… but from the terrible powers of sin and death, and the forces of spiritual darkness at work, around and inside of us. And this victory would not be achieved through the sacrifice and shed blood of a lamb, spread across the doorframes of a house… but through the sacrifice of Christ’s own life… His own body broken, and His own blood shed upon the wooden beams of the cross. 

And so tonight, all these long centuries after the Last Supper, we are reminded that the saving love of the Living God leads us to the cross… to what Jesus Christ our Lord has done there to save us, and our darkened world.

And now every time that we gather around Christ’s table, not only in Holy Week, but Sunday after Sunday, we do so in remembrance of Him. We remember His faithfulness, when all of us had faltered. We remember His compassion and mercy, for sinners, when our own hearts had run cold. We remember that Jesus has given us the gift of Himself, His own life, once and for all… and as unworthy as we are, He still invites us to share in His new life, again and again.

But we must remember all this for a purpose: so that, with His help, we might truly live as Christ’s people today. That we might be set free to allow what He has done for us to actually begin to change us… so that His saving love will be free to do its good work in and through us.

So that we might be set free to live Jesus’ way in the world! When others are fighting over status and power, to lay down our selfishness and pride, and instead begin to practice faithfulness and service. 

To not only receive His gifts of forgiveness and grace, but to start to extend them as well… choosing to share these gifts with those in our own lives… even those who frustrate, and insult, and betray our trust. Not condoning evil, or allowing it to simply run amok and go unchecked… but choosing, as Christ Jesus our Lord did, to stand against it, and even suffer for righteousness, rather than to give in to hatred, cruelty, or the temptation to condemn our neighbours. 

And when those around us are driven by their fears, real or imagined, to fend for themselves, and only look out for their own interests… we are called to remember what Jesus our Lord has done for us all at the cross… so that we can be set free from fear to love one another as Christ Jesus first loved us. 

This is a high calling indeed. And like the Israelites before us, it can be easy for us to get distracted, or led astray, and so forget what this sacred night is all about: to forget what Jesus our Lord came to accomplish… not just for us, but for our world. 

To forget that, despite all the darkness at work… and there’s still a whole lot of darkness at work these days, to be sure… to forget that Jesus Christ gave His life at the cross to share God’s saving love with sinners like us… to set us all free from our slaveries to selfishness, and prejudice, and fear, and sin… to set us all free when we least deserved this precious gift… to set us all free to share in His holy love… to be a worldwide community marked by His life-changing mercy, His generosity, and His grace. 

And the way our darkened world will come to know of God’s saving love is through us. Through you and me. Through those who still believe the Good News of Jesus Christ… who have received His forgiveness and grace offered to all of us at the cross… those who are willing to be drawn into His story year after year, week after week, again and again… to allow our lives to be shaped and transformed by His faithful life, and death, and glorious resurrection. 

In a moment, I will invite anyone who is willing to come forward to have their feet symbolically washed, remembering the tender, merciful and faithful love that God has shared with us in Jesus Christ, and that He now calls us to share with one another. But whether we come forward, or remain seated tonight, may we all always remember what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us, and our world. And by the Holy Spirit’s help, may we faithfully respond to what He has done, by putting His saving love into practice. Amen.

​And our Songs can be found here:

​In addition, here is a link to our Stations of the Cross video, featuring the paintings of Fr. Sieger Köder:

Scripture Readings: Exodus 12:1–14 | Psalm 116:1–2, 12–19 | 1 Corinthians 11:23–26 | John 13:1–17, 31b–35

​“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.” (John 13:34-35).
 
This is the commandment of our Lord, and it is exactly what our world needs right now: a community of people who love one another the way that Jesus loves.
 
Of course this sounds great at first glance… but time and again we tend to shrink back when it comes down to putting His kind of love into practice. Then suddenly, love doesn’t seem quite so easy… or so appealing.
 
That’s because, as we know, love is messy. Love is challenging. Love is vulnerable. Love means getting close to folks, not just when they’re at they’re best… but even when it’s incredibly uncomfortable.
 
And love means letting others get close to us as well… and not just when we’re at our best… it means taking the risk that our masks might slip… that they might see through our careful defenses… a whole other level of discomfort!
This kind of love looks a lot like faith… taking the risk to entrust ourselves… our real selves, warts and all, to each other. Taking the risk to try our best to be trustworthy too… to do what we can to be there for one another… to have grace and patience with one another… to challenge and forgive one another… to offer to each other all that Christ Jesus our Lord has offered to us.
 
Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.
 
Love is exactly what we need. What our neighbours need. What the world around us needs. But will we be willing to share it?
 
Our Lord pulls no punches in His high expectations for His people. And to make it clear what this love looks like, He humbly assumes the role of a servant… a slave… and one-by-one, the High King of Heaven stoops down to clean His disciple’s disgusting feet.
 
Imagine their discomfort… their confusion, their dismay… as their Master, the One they thought was about to bring God’s Good Kingdom to earth in triumphant glory, kneels down in front of them… wiping away the grit and grime from their road-weary toes… and arches, and heels… not just as a symbolic gesture, but as an act of deep compassion… of kindness… of attentiveness… of willingness to deal with they’re mess, right up close… reaching out in love to make them clean.
 
This is an almost unthinkable level of care and intimacy… inviting us to let down our guards… to allow ourselves to be exposed, cared for, and cleansed… first of all, by our Lord Jesus Christ, through the cross He endured to deal with all our messes… cleansing us by His precious blood. But then Jesus empowers us to share His love with one another… to put it into action in our lives. To let His love lead the way.  
 
Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. This is what we need… as messy, and as uncomfortable, and as strange as it feels… this is what we all need: to share with one another what Jesus Christ our Lord first shared with us: God’s love.
 
And this is exactly what our world needs today… in the face of the ongoing devastation from the brutal conflicts in Gaza… Ukraine… Haiti… Myanmar… Sudan… and more… where armies not only destroy another other, but the lives of so many civilians… regular people, all made in God’s image, swept away by waves of violence.
 
And in the face of all the social divisions and hatred that keeps tearing our communities apart… fueling mistrust… fear… prejudice… and turning our human family against one another.
 
In the face of our world’s indifference to the poor… to the sick… to the elderly, the vulnerable… the environment… turning our backs on our responsibility to care for one another, and all of God’s creation… content to leave it to others to do the hard work of cleaning up the messes we have all made.
 
Our world needs us to be a people… a community who are willing to do the uncomfortable work of sharing God’s love with His messed up world.
 
Tonight we remember that Christ Jesus our Lord stepped into the mess we have made of God’s world… and stooped down to cleans it, one foot… one life at a time… and now He calls us to follow His example.
 
Tonight we remember that His life was broken and His blood shed to put our world back together… bound together by the forgiveness, mercy, and grace of the Living God, offered to us all in Jesus’ name.
 
Tonight we remember His commandment: to love one another as He has first loved us. And that this is how the world will come to know God’s rescuing love… when we His people take the first step of faith, and strive to love one another.
 
In a moment, I will offer us all an invitation in Jesus’ name to come forward and have our foot washed… as an uncomfortable, but powerful way to say yes to Christ’s gift of compassionate, cleansing love… and as a commitment to obey His command to share this love with one another… and with God’s world.
 
Whether we come forward, or stay in our seats tonight, may the Holy Spirit of God graciously work in all our hearts and minds to cleanse us from everything that keeps us from loving one another as Christ Himself loves us. Amen.

​And our Songs can be found here:

The Crucifixion accounts are central to each of the four Gospels, as the Apostles see the cross as key to understanding the Good News of what Jesus Christ has done for us all. 

Here is an excellent video from the Bible Project exploring the Gospel of Mark as a whole, which will help us understand the context for our Gospel readings this week:

​Today we rejoice and celebrate the Good News that God’s New Life has overthrown once and for all the powers of darkness, sin, and the grave.
 
Today we raise our voices to proclaim that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, who was crucified and died for us all, lives again! And His New Life will never end.
 
Today we gather to pray and to praise… to sing and to hear again the Holy Scriptures… to draw near to our Risen Lord in faith, and receive from Him the gift of New Life. 

Our Easter Sunday Service of Lessons & Hymns and Bulletin can be found here:

Here are some links to the Hymns listed in our service, found on YouTube: ​

Scripture Readings: Exodus 12:1–14 | Psalm 116:1–2, 12–19 | 1 Corinthians 11:23–26 | John 13:1–17, 31b–35

​“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.” (John 13:8, 34-35).
 
On this night, Jesus our Saviour shared a sacred meal with His disciples… inviting them not simply into His friendship, but into His own blessed life… the life He shared with His heavenly Father from before the beginning of time.
 
On this night, Jesus our Master washed the feet of His servants… showing them up close what His new life looks like: humility… vulnerability… kindness… love.
 
On this night, Jesus our King gave us a new commandment: that we should love one another just as He loved us… spelling out for us once and for all the core of what it means to share in His Kingdom.
 
“Just as I have loved you” Christ says, “so you should love one another.”
 
Not just try to play nice… but strive to put His own love for us all into practice.
 
Tragically, many today seem not too concerned with keeping this ‘new’ commandment.
 
Instead, caught up in our own concerns, we avoid and ignore one another…
 
Instead, in fear, and envy, and prejudice, we turn on one another…
 
Instead, we search for all sorts of ways to excuse our unwillingness to serve and be served… to care and be cared for… to forgive and to be forgiven… to love and to be loved.
 
And yet Christ’s commandment still stands:
 
“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.” (John 13:34-35).
 
How are you and I today to obey our Lord’s commandment?
 
Well, we can only share the love of Jesus if we have received the love of Jesus.
 
Christ is not asking us to bring something to the table… but first to be fed by Him… answering our Lord’s invitation to come and share in what He alone can give.
 
The holy love of God is not something we can simply conjure up within ourselves… it is His gift to us. A gift that grows in us.
 
And we can only continue to share the love of Jesus if we continue to receive the love of Jesus… like a branch can only bear fruit when it remains united to the vine.
 
Ongoing communion with God in Jesus Christ is the fount from which all of our life must flow.
 
What happened in us yesterday, a year… ten years… thirty years… fifty years ago has brought us to this present moment hear and now: to Christ’s Table where He offers His life and His love… to you, and to us all… again and again and again.
 
We must keep coming to Him together if we are to have any hope of sharing His love together.
 
And this is the only hope Christ Jesus our Lord gives to us that the rest of the world will come to see us as His own… and so come to know the love of Jesus: if His disciples will continue receiving and sharing His love with one another.
 
There are so many factors behind the current challenges that the Church and Christians are facing today. And there are many choices ahead of us as a community: many possibilities, which we might find humbling… and hard… exposing our own vulnerabilities… and fears… and calling us to walk uncomfortable and unfamiliar roads.
 
What Jesus our Lord gives to us today is not a silver bullet to avoid suffering, but this commandment… the way forward we must take up and practice if we are to follow Him:
 
We must receive His love… as undeserving of it as we may be… not just once, but again and again… His love sustains our life.
 
And we must offer this love to one another… again and again and again… as undeserving as we may feel they may be… His love shared through us sustains their life as well.
 
And we know this “one another” means more than just those of us sitting here in this room… those we find easy to love… those we already know… those we trust will love us in return.
 
Our Master Jesus calls us to love all of those who have been given a place at His table… who, like us, only have a place at His table because of what He has done for us all… NOT because we are good. Or interesting. Or healthy. Or friendly. Or wise. Or anything other than loved by Jesus.
 
We must love one another freely, just as Jesus our Saviour has first loved us.
 
That’s when, He tells us, the world will come to know that we share in His blessed life.
 
That’s when we will be more than a religious people, but the new family of God.
 
When through His Holy Spirit at work in us we receive and share His love… again and again and again…
 
When we allow ourselves to be cared for by our sisters and brothers, and care for them as well…
 
When we lay down our lives for one another, as He first laid down His own life for us…
 
That’s when we and the world will know that we are Christ’s own… when His love is growing deeper and wider and stronger in and between us.
 
On this night, Jesus Christ calls us to love one another just as He first loved us.
 
Let us receive and share together His life and holy love. Amen.

And our Songs can be found here:

​And our Songs this week can be found here: