Seder Meal (An Adaptation)

For the first time since 2018, Advent will host an adaptation of the Passover Seder on Maundy Thursday. What is a Passover Seder? The Seder is a Jewish ritual feast that commemorates the wonderful deeds of God as He lead the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt, and into the wilderness. During the first part of the evening, the ceremonial meal, participants will use a book called the Haggadah to lead the service. Haggadah is the word for “the telling”, in Hebrew and contains instructions for the Seder (which means the order), blessings, and the Passover story. It will be placed at everyone’s seat, as part of the prepared Passover Seder plate.

This comes from the Torah, Exodus 13:8, “And you shall tell your child on that day, It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt. It shall serve for you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead, so that the teachings of the Lord may be on your lips, for with a strong hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. You shall keep this as an ordinance at its proper time from year to year”.

At Advent, we will do an adaptation of the Jewish Passover Seder meal. It will be in three parts. First we will partake in the ritual Seder meal. Every person will arrive with a place set for them with the ceremonial portion already on each plate. After the ritual portion we will break for the festival dinner. The back table will be filled with additional kosher foods, some of which will be more Seder foods, and then also many other delicious items, including an abundance of desserts. After the congregation finishes the festival portion, the pastors will gather your attention to the third and final portion of the evening which will serve as the Maundy Thursday Liturgy for Holy Communion. As Jesus was enjoying the Passover meal with His disciples in the upper room, he took a piece of bread, gave thanks, broke it and instituted the sacrament of Holy Communion. The Passover Lamb, whose blood on the door post, saved the Hebrews from death, becomes Jesus, the true Passover Lamb who by pouring out his blood on the cross has saved us from the slavery of sin and death!

This is such a fun, educational, worshipful, meaningful, and delicious event! We pray you make plans to attend! There will be a sign-up sheet in the Narthex to sign up for this special event!

In Christ's love,

Pastor Jason and Pastor Andrea