Mitchells Presbyterian Church
Audio/Video Service April 2, 2021
Good Friday Service
Welcome and Announcements:
Welcome everyone to Mitchells Presbyterian Church for our Good Friday Service. I’m Reverend Michael Clang, Covenant Pastor here at Mitchells and I am so glad that you all have tuned in to our YouTube channel for this special service. It’s my hope and prayer that this time spent together will be a blessing to you.
One of the challenges of Holy Week is that it has Palm Sunday with its Hosanna’s on one end and Easter with its Halleluiah’s on the other. If you skip through Holy Week, jumping straight from Palm Sunday to Easter, then you miss the cross. We miss how those shouts of joy and jubilation from the crowd turn to cries of “crucify”.
For today’s service, Becky and I will read the passion of Jesus, as given to us in the Gospel of John. After the reading, I will share the Solemn Reproaches. The Solemn Reproaches have been prayed on Good Friday since the middle age so they feel appropriate for this day. After each reproach, I will extinguish one of our candles, ending with the Christ Candle.
There are several ways that you can approach this at home.
*You can just listen and watch as the service unfolds.
*You can dim the lights in the room where you are and maybe even light a candle that you too can extinguish at the end when I extinguish my last candle.
*You can follow along with the text in your own Bible; imagining that you are one of the participants in the crowd.
However, you chose to watch is fine. There is not a right or wrong way. But I would encourage you to ask yourself, “how are I feeling as the events of this night unfold”? There won’t be a blessing at the end, rather, I will cover the cross and table in black and then close with a verse from Psalm 22.
Let us begin our time together by focusing our minds and hearts on God’s presence with us. I invite you to relax into a comfortable position and close your eyes as you take a few deep breaths. Let us call ourselves to worship:
Call to Worship:
L: God is light, in whom there is no darkness at all.
P: Jesus Christ is the light of the world.
L: And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world,
P: And we loved the darkness rather than light.
Opening Prayer:
O God, by the example of your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, you taught us the greatness of true humility, and call us to watch with him in his passion. Give us grace to serve one another in all lowliness, and to enter into the fellowship of his suffering; in his name and for his sake. Amen.
Prayer for Illumination:
In the darkness of this hour, Lord, be our light. By the breath of your Spirit, whisper the Word of life that death cannot destroy: Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
The Proclamation of the Passion Story: John 18:1-19:42
[During this reading, feel free to follow along in your Bible; meditate on the cross; or simply close your eyes and let the words wash over you]
Hymn: “Where You There” (Organ Solo)
Solemn Reproaches of the Cross:
This is the cross that held the Savior of the world.
Holy God, have mercy on us.
This is the cross that held the Savior of the world.
Holy God, have mercy on us.
This is the cross that held the Savior of the world.
Holy God, have mercy on us.
O my people, O my church, what more could I have done for you? Answer me!
I led you out of slavery into freedom, and delivered you through the waters of rebirth, but you have made a cross for your Savior. Holy God, have mercy on us. [Extinguish a candle].
Forty years I led you through the desert, feeding you with manna on the way; I saved you from the time of trial and gave you my body, the bread of heaven, but you have made a cross for your Savior. Holy God, have mercy on us. [Extinguish a candle].
I led you on your way in a pillar of cloud and fire, but you led me to the judgment hall of Pilate; I guided you by the light of the Holy Spirit, but you have made a cross for your Savior. Holy God, have mercy on us. [Extinguish a candle].
I planted you as my fairest vineyard, but you brought forth bitter fruit; I made you branches of the vine and never left your side, but you have made a cross for your Savior. Holy God, have mercy on us. [Extinguish a candle].
I poured out saving water from the rock, but you gave me vinegar to drink; I poured out my life and gave you the new covenant in my blood, but you have made a cross for your Savior. Holy God, have mercy on us. [Extinguish a candle].
I gave you a royal scepter, but you have me a crown of thorns; I gave you the kingdom and crowned you with eternal life, but you have made a cross for your Savior. Holy God, have mercy on us. [Extinguish a candle].
I struck down your enemies, but you struck my head with a reed; I gave you my peace, but you draw the sword in my name, and you have made a cross for your Savior. Holy God, have mercy on us. [Extinguish a candle].
I opened the waters to lead you to the promised land, but you opened my side with a spear; I washed your feet as a sign of my love, but you have made a cross for your Savior. Holy God, have mercy on us. [Extinguish a candle].
I lifted you up to the heights, but you lifted me high on the cross; I raised you from death and prepared for you the tree of life, but you have made a cross for your Savior. Holy God, have mercy on us. [Extinguish a candle].
I grafted you into my people Israel, but you made them scapegoats from your own guilt, and you have made a cross for your Savior. Holy God, have mercy on us. [Extinguish a candle].
I was hungry and you gave me no food, thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me, and you have made a cross for your Savior. Holy God, have mercy on us. [Extinguish the Christ candle].
Stripping the Church and Closing Words from Psalm 22:
[The cross and the table will now be covered in black cloth]
“My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?”