Jewish people gather at Passover to remember how God was faithful to save and bring freedom to their ancestors when they were enslaved in Egypt

• They remembered the pain of bondage, of loss, of death
• They remembered the fear of stepping forward with God, even when they had to leave their homes quickly
• They remembered that God miraculously SAVED them!

Read the following text from Exodus that describes how God instructed the Israelites to remember the Passover.

Exodus 12:14-16, 24-28 
(Message Translation)

As a group, begin your meal with the appetizer. Jesus would have been eating something like matzah crackers. This was because God instructed the Israelites to be ready to go quickly- they didn’t have time to let leavened bread rise! If you don’t have matzah, have something you eat for a quick snack on the go, like a granola bar, a cheese stick, or a piece of fruit! As you eat, share the following:

• Where you have seen God moving in your own life or in your community, maybe inviting you/you all into something new?
• Share a word or phrase that describes a loss or grief you have gone through this year. Have you stepped forward with God, even if in fear?

As you bring out the items for the next course, listen to this song (Passover Song by Urban Doxology) or look at this picture (Exodus by Yoram Raanan) to help focus your attention if it’s helpful.

As Jesus and his friends gathered, they remembered God’s faithfulness, and what God was promising to do - bring about a new Kingdom. God’s Kingdom would be a place of plenty, peace, joy, and healing. The thing was, they had been walking with Jesus for three years now, and he had been living this Kingdom. He had already brought an overflow of food and peace to people’s homes. He brought joy and healing to broken bodies and relationships. He even gave new life to people that had been dead! Everything the disciples had been told about what God would do was coming true. So they gathered and remembered what God had done in saving their people from the Egyptians long ago, and what God was doing now, and they gave thanks.

Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19 (New Living Translation)

Over the main course, share your answers to the following questions:

• What is a food that brings you joy? Why?
• Where has God given you new life? Healing? Joy? Peace? Provision? New hope? A new dream?
• Have you experienced God saving you?
• What are practices of Gratitude or Thanksgiving that help you name God’s greatness?
• Listen to this song (How Can I Keep from Singing by Audrey Assad), if it’s helpful!

In this next part of the meal, we will take communion together. Let’s begin by reading the part of the Gospel of John that describes how Jesus understood his coming betrayal and death in light of God’s purpose for the world. This is also the part of the story that gives Maundy Thursday its name. Maundy comes from the Latin word for command and it is during this portion of the Passover meal when Jesus tells his friends, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.” From the very beginning, Jesus loved the world and everyone in it, and this love changes everything. As you read or listen, note the different ways that Jesus’ love comes across.

John 13:1-17, 31b-35 
(Message Translation)

Next, by participating in communion we remember how Jesus offered up his own body sacrificially. Remembering the completeness of Christ’s death emphasizes the triumph of Jesus rising on Easter. Through eating and drinking we recognize how God is at work in us- a visible sign of an invisible grace. Communion as a practice is also a way of remembering that as Christians we are connected to God and each other. We will now serve the communion elements to one another. 


During this same meal that we just read about, Jesus took bread, and broke it saying,

“This is my body, which is given for you. Take and eat this, and remember me.”

In the same way, after supper he took one of the cups that the Israelites drank at Passover to remember God’s promise of salvation and said,

“This is the new covenant in my blood. Take this, drink it, and remember me.”

Friends, we take the bread and the cup to remember how much God loves us, and invites us to participate in God’s work in the world. It is a gift, given freely through Christ. This is beautiful, love-driven work that makes strangers part of God’s family.

Now that we have participated in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection through the remembrance of communion, we go from our meal to share this good news with the world. It is in the world where we experience God at work in us and in community. In light of Jesus’ call for the disciples (and us) to love one another, let’s read one more passage encouraging us in this work.

1 Corinthians 10:21-24, 31-33
 (New Living Translation
)

There are many ways to show love and be loving towards one another. Now, we will practically do this together by offering thanks and words of gratitude to those who have offered love, and then practice offering love to others through service. While you eat dessert together, take time to recall someone who made a sacrifice for you. It can be big or small!

• Take a few minutes to write a note of gratitude to them, and share it with the table. If you’d like to mail your notes, make a plan to send them this week.
• As a whole group, take time to clean up together, sharing in the work of service as a community. Serving like Jesus can feel a lot like our dessert- parts of it are unpleasant, or bitter, but when we serve together, we enjoy the sweetness of fellowship and love!
• Pro-tip: If you are gathering with folks virtually, move your devices with you while you clean, so that you are still doing work together!