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Come to the Table [Excerpt]

Come to the Table is a full-length dramatic presentation for Good Friday services. It considers the invitation of Jesus to three different tables in Scripture through narration, spoken word, Scripture reading and song. The downloadable version of this script includes the following components:

  • Master Script with production notes
  • Spoken Word Script
  • Narration Script
  • 15 Presentation Graphics (including PowerPoint slides, congregant response cards and print graphics)
  • Instructions for an optional closing devotional and time of congregational response

The full downloadable service can be purchased HERE. An excerpt of the service is included below for review. No part of this post may be copied, stored in a retrieval system or presented to any audience without the purchase of the full script.

Photo by Victor Monthly on Unsplash

Production Notes

Full production notes (including costume suggestions, music, technical needs, service order, prop lists, staging and congregational response notes) are included in the PDF download of this script. What follows is a brief excerpt to help provide clarity for the presentation.

Synopsis

Come to the Table can be performed with as few as two NARRATORS and one SPOKEN WORD ARTIST for the duration of the presentation or can be expanded to include up to six NARRATORS and two SPOKEN WORD ARTISTS that change from part to part.

A WORSHIP TEAM, comprised of both vocalists and instrumentalists, should be assigned to present songs as your ministry sees fit.

STAGE HANDS and a pastor or ministry leader are also needed.

  • Parts 1-4 run approximately 12-15 minutes each.
  • Part 5 concludes the service with an optional devotional, communion and time of congregational response.
  • The complete service as suggested in the Sample Service Order runs approximately 75-90 minutes.

Staging and Props

Anchoring a table to the center of the stage (around which action will occur) and vignettes to the floor will help facilitate sound and lighting as well as minimize the distraction of entrances and exits. A bench or chairs should be added to the upstage side of the table.

Specific prop lists are found at the beginning of each Part. A diagram for the Central Table follows below:

Devotional & Response

The conclusion of Come to the Table naturally segues into a short devotional, communion and time of congregational response. For your convenience, a devotional and response time have been included with this script in Part 5. This is an optional ending to the presentation.

Script Sample

Excerpt from Part 2 | The Passover Table

NARRATOR 1: In the final days of Jesus’ life, He invited the disciples to this table. 

NARRATOR 2: The one that held all the meaning of the history of God’s people and recounted the mighty works of the Lord on their behalf.

NARRATOR 1: The Passover table…

NARRATOR 2: …that for centuries had foreshadowed events they would not only witness…

NARRATOR 1: …but live.

NARRATOR 2: A lamb without blemish.

NARRATOR 1: Slaughtered at twilight.

NARRATOR 2: To provide shelter beneath its blood.

NARRATOR 1: What the disciples failed to realize at that pivotal moment in time was they were no longer celebrating God’s deliverance from a place of remembrance.

NARRATOR 2: When they saw that perfect lamb set out on their table they were, in fact, celebrating forward …

NARRATOR 1: Because the Lamb of God …

NARRATOR 2: …perfect and without blemish…

NARRATOR 1: …God’s only Son sent to save the world…

NARRATOR 2: …had come willingly to shed His blood…

NARRATOR 1: …so we could find shelter…

NARRATOR 2: …and live “passed over” from the punishment of our sin.

NARRATOR 1: The disciples could not understand the deliverance God was working for them as Jesus washed their feet.

NARRATOR 2: They could not see with physical eyes the spiritual forces at work as He led them into the garden to pray.

NARRATOR 1: They could not feel the reality of Jesus’ anguish from their deadened sleep.

(NARRATOR 2 reads from the Bible as Matthew 26:41 comes up on the screen.)

NARRATOR 2: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

NARRATOR 1: Again and again, Jesus found them unsuspecting and asleep until He finally roused them one last time…

(NARRATOR 2 reads from the Bible as Matthew 26:45b comes up on the screen.)

NARRATOR 2: “See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.”

Like what you see?

Check out the rest of the script in the online shop HERE.

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