April 15th, 2022              

Good Friday

Find this service at www.graceunitedthornbury.ca/live

Leading us today in Worship:
Minister: Rev. Christine Smaller
Music Director: Dr. Christopher Burton   

~ Leader: regular font ~ All: bold font ~ Sung words: bold italics  

You are welcome to respond in prayers and to sing the hymns throughout the service while wearing a mask at all                                             times.  

A Service of Reflection on the First Good Friday 

PRELUDE: 
Go to Dark Gethsemane ~ arr. C Burton 

CALL TO WORSHIP: (Isaiah 53:4-6) 
He was despised and rejected by others;
    a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him of no account.
Surely he has borne our infirmities
    and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
    struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
    crushed for our iniquities;
All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have all turned to our own way. 

Hymn: VU 148 Jesus, Remember Me  (x3)
Jesus, remember me
when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember me 
when you come into your kingdom. 

PRAYER OF CONFESSION: 
God of unfathomable mercy, if we were there,
we’d like to think that we would have defended you.
We’d like to think that we would have stopped the guards
and silenced the mockery, protected your body
and defended your name.
However, if we’re honest with ourselves, we probably would have been at the edge of the crowd—silent and afraid.
How often are we silent and afraid?
How often do we wait for the stones to cry out for us?
Forgive us. Please forgive us. Amen. 

WORDS OF FORGIVENESS: 
Even from his place on the cross, even while being met with cruelty and violence, Jesus overflows with truth and grace. He sees those around him.
He speaks connection and belonging into existence.
He offers forgiveness.
Friends, if this is true from the cross, it is certainly true here.
We are surrounded by grace.
We are held in love.
We are forgiven over and over again.
That truth never changes. Thanks be to God. 

HYMN: VU 144 Were You There (Verses 1 and 2)
1. Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh. Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord? 

2. Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? 

Seven Moments on the Cross

THE FIRST MOMENT: Luke 23: 33-36
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” 

When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!”  The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine. 

HYMN:  VU 144 Were You There (Verses 3 & 4)
3. Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when the sun refused to shine? 

4. Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they pierced him in the side? 

THE SECOND MOMENT: Luke 23: 39-43
“Today You Shall Be with Me in Paradise."  

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.”  Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” 

HYMN: VU149 When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (Verses 1 & 4)
1. When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride. 

4. Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far to small;
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all. 

THIRD MOMENT: John 19:25-27
“Behold your son." and "behold your mother."   

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. 

HYMN:  VU 147 What Wondrous Love is This (Verses 1 & 2)
1. What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul,
what wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
to bear the dreadful curse for my soul. 

2. What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul,
what wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, that caused the Lord of life
to lay aside his crown for my soul, for my soul,
to lay aside his crown for my soul. 

THE FOURTH MOMENT: Matthew 27:45-46
"My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?" 

From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 

ANTHEM:
I Wonder as I Wander ~ arr. J. Rutter. Adapted by. C. Burton 

THE FIFTH MOMENT:  John 19: 28-29
"I Thirst" 

After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.”  A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. 

HYMN: VU 132 Bitter Was the Night (Verses: 1, 2, 6 & 7)
1. Bitter was the night,
thought the cock would crow forever.
Bitter was the night before the break of day. 

2. Saw you passing by,
told them all I didn't know you.
Bitter was the night before the break of day. 

6. Bitter was the night,
though there'd  never be a morning.
Bitter was the night before the break of day. 

7. Bitter was the night,
thought the cock would crow forever
Bitter was the night before the break of day. 

THE SIXTH MOMENT: John 19: 30
"It is Finished" 

When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Hymn: VU 148 Jesus, Remember Me  (x3)
Jesus, remember me
when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember me 
when you come into your kingdom. 

THE SEVENTH MOMENT:   John 19: 38-42
Jesus is Buried

After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body.  Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.  They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews.  Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid.  And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. 

Service ends in silence 

*****

RESOURCES USED

LITURGY SOURCES: The following are used with permission:
Call to Worship, Prayer of Confession, Words of Forgiveness: Sanctified Art Lent 2022 

HYMNS and SUNG VERSES
 -“Jesus, Remember Me:” Words: Luke 23:42. Music: Jacques Berthier 1978Music copyright © 1978, 1980, 1981 Les Presses de Taizé.. G.I.A. Publications, Inc.One License #608577
- “Were You There:” Words: African-American spiritual. Music: African-American spiritual, arr. Melva Wilson Costen 1987
- “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross:” Words: Isaac Watts 1707. Music: Second supplement to Psalmody in Miniature ca. 1780,. adapt. Edward Miller 1790; harm. Samuel Webbe. desc. John Wilson. Descant copyright ©  Hope Publishing Company
- “What Wonderous Love is This:” Words: American folk hymn ca. 1811. Music: American folk hymn 1840, harm. Paul J. Christiansen 1955. Harmony copyright © 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship. Reprinted by permission of Augsburg Fortress.. One License #608577
- ”Bitter Was the Night:” Words: Sydney Carter 1964. Music: Sydney carter 1964. Words copyright © 1964, 1969 Stainer & Bell. Used by permission of Hope Publishing Company. One License #608577
- Anthem:“I Wonder as I Wander” arr. J. Rutter. Adapted by. C. Burton. J. Rutter: Oxford University Press. One License #608577 

SCRIPTURE PASSAGES:
Scripture Passage from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.  

Prelude: Go to Dark Gethsemane ~ arr. C Burton