Worship on February 22, 2026

CLH #175 “Lamb of God”

Invocation

O almighty God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — we come into Your presence to seek Your mercy, to hear Your Word, and to offer up to You our prayers and praises. Hear us for the sake of the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and His atoning sacrifice on the cross for our sins. Amen.

Psalm 130 A Song of Ascents.

1 Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD; 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. 3 If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared. 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope. 6 My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning — yes, more than those who watch for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption. 8 And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Confession of Sins

P: Let us confess our sins unto the Lord our God and look to Him for mercy and forgiveness for the sake of the abundant redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ, who redeemed us from all our iniquities.

C: Almighty God, our Maker and Redeemer, we poor sinners confess to You that we are by nature sinful and unclean and that we have sinned against You in our thoughts, desires, words, and deeds. We, therefore, flee for refuge to Your infinite mercy, seeking and imploring Your grace for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.

P: For the sake of Jesus’ holy life and His atoning sacrifice on the cross, I announce unto you the grace and mercy of God and proclaim to you forgiveness for all your sins through faith in Jesus’ name. Amen.

CLH #329 “Let Thy Blood in Mercy Poured”

Scripture Lesson: Mark 14:12-26

12 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?”
13 And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. 14 Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’ 15 Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.”
16 So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.

17 In the evening, He came with the twelve. 18 Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me.”
19 And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, “Is it I?” And another said, “Is it I?”
20 He answered and said to them, “It is one of the twelve who dips with Me in the dish. 21 The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.”

22 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
23 Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. 25 Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

The Lamb and the Legacy: A Devotion on the New Covenant

The upper room was thick with history and heavy with the future. As Jesus sat with His disciples to celebrate the Passover, He wasn’t just observing a ritual; He was fulfilling a promise. To understand the weight of the Lord’s Supper, we must look at the shadows of the Old Covenant that were about to be stepped into by the Light of the World.

The Passover Connection

The Passover was the ultimate Jewish memorial of deliverance. It pointed back to the night in Egypt when the blood of a lamb, smeared on lintels and doorposts, caused the judgment of God to “pass over” the homes of the Israelites (Exodus 12:1ff.).

When Jesus sat at this table in Mark 14, He took the elements of this ancient meal — the bread of affliction and the cup of blessing — and infused them with a radical new meaning. He was showing them that the true “exodus” was not from Pharaoh, but from the bondage of sin.

Jesus: The Ultimate Lamb

In the Old Testament, the lamb sacrificed and eaten had to be “without blemish.” During the Passover meal, Jesus, the holy and unblemished Lamb of God, took the bread, broke it, and said:

“Take, eat; this is My body.” — Mark 14:22

By calling Himself the bread and later offering His life, Jesus identified Himself as “the Bread of Life” (John 6:35ff.) and “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Unlike the Old Covenant sacrifices offered again and again to cover sin, Jesus’ sacrifice was once and for all. He was the perfect, spotless Lamb whose death would satisfy the justice of God (Hebrews 9:23-28; 10:11-18). In the Lord’s Supper, we partake of His body given for us and receive through faith the benefits He won for us when He gave His body into death as the perfect sacrifice for our sins.

The New Covenant in Blood

The most striking moment occurred when Jesus took the cup. In the ancient world, covenants were sealed with blood. It was a visual and visceral sign of a binding agreement.

“Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, ‘This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.’ “ — Mark 14:23–24

This “New Covenant” was what the prophets had long foretold — a time when God would write His law on human hearts and remember their sins no more (Hebrews 8:10-12; Jeremiah 31:31-34). When we partake of the wine, we partake of Christ’s lifeblood, poured out on the cross to bridge the chasm between a holy God and a fallen humanity and establish a new covenant in which we have forgiveness for all our sins. Through faith in Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross, His blood cleanses us from all our sins and shields us from God’s judgment (1 John 1:5—2:2).

Reflection

Every time we partake in the Lord’s Supper, we aren’t just performing a religious duty. We are:
• Remembering the cost of our deliverance from sin and death (Christ’s broken body).
• Receiving the seal of our cleansing and forgiveness (Christ’s shed blood).
• Proclaiming His death until He comes again (1 Corinthians 11:26).
The Passover was a look back at a physical rescue; the Lord’s Supper is a look at a spiritual redemption that lasts for eternity. We no longer wait for the lamb — the Lamb has come, the price is paid, and the table is open.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we come before You with humble hearts, standing in awe of the divine mystery of the Upper Room. We thank You for the gift of Your Word in Mark 14, which reminds us that even in the shadow of the cross, Your love was preparing a table for us.

Lord Jesus, we recognize You as the true Lamb of God. Just as the Israelites were spared by the blood on their doorposts, we acknowledge that we are saved only by Your precious blood shed on Calvary. Thank You for being the perfect sacrifice, taking upon Yourself the “bread of affliction” so that we might feast on the bread of life. We are humbled that You, the King of Glory, would allow Your body to be broken to make us whole.

Holy Spirit, help us to grasp the depth of this New Covenant. Thank You that we no longer live under the weight of the law, but under the covering of Your grace. As we reflect on and partake of the cup of the New Covenant, wash away our guilt and renew our spirits. Let the reality of Your sacrifice change the way we live, the way we love, and the way we forgive others.
As we go forth, may we live as people of the Covenant — cleansed and marked by Your shed blood, fueled by Your life, and looking forward with hope to the day we feast with You in Your Kingdom.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb, sacrificed for us. Amen.

Lord’s Prayer

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matt. 6:9-13)

CLH #332 “According to Thy Gracious Word”

Lord’s Supper

“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner, He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” (1 Cor. 11:23-26)

Prayer of Thanksgiving

O LORD Jesus Christ, Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, we thank You for fulfilling all righteousness in our stead and then taking upon Yourself the guilt and punishment for all our sins and making full atonement for us by Your perfect sacrifice on the cross. And we thank and praise You for giving us to partake of Your holy sacrifice so that we might also partake of the blessings that You won for us by Your death and have made sure to us by Your glorious resurrection. Strengthen and keep us in the true and saving faith, and move us to live our lives for You while we await Your glorious return and the joys of Your everlasting kingdom. Amen.

Benediction (Num. 6:24-26)

“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” Amen.

CLH #379 “Children of the Heavenly Father”

[Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]