Worship is at 10:30. Follow this link to view it.
Swagatam, Tansi, Welcome:
As we join together in worship we acknowledge that we live on Turtle Island, land that creator brought out of the waters so all could have life. Turtle island is the traditional territory of Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, and Dakota peoples, and the homeland of the Metis Nation.
Gathering Together in Song: VU 144 Were You There
- Were you there when they crucified my Lord? (x2)
Oh, Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
- Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? (x2)
Oh, Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
- Were you there when the sun refused to shine? (x2)
Oh, Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
- Were you there when they pierced him in the side? (x2)
Oh, Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
- Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? (x2)
Oh, Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Greeting and Introduction
Call to Worship:
One: The love of Jesus refused to compromise with the powerful.
All: Love calls us here, the love of the Crucified One.
One: The love of Jesus took the tough but faithful road.
All: Love calls us here, the love of the crucified One.
One: The love of Jesus struggled with the easy way out.
All: Love calls us here, the love of the Crucified One
One: The love of Jesus endured the fear, the denial, the rejection of his friends.
All: It is the love of Jesus that calls us here.
OPENING PRAYER ***
Song: VU 614 In Suffering Love vs.1,2,3
- In suffering love the thread of life
Is woven through our care,
for God is with us, not alone
our pain and toil we bear.
- There is a rock, a place secure
Within the storm’s cold blast;
concealed within the suffering night
God’s covenant stands fast.
- In love’s deep womb our fears are held;
there God’s rich tears are sown
and bring to birth, in hope newborn,
the strength to journey on.
OPENING THE STORY
Song: VU #135 Beneath the Cross of Jesus
- Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand:
the shadow of a mighty rock
within a weary land,
a home within the wilderness,
a rest upon the way,
from the burning of the noontide heat
and the burden of the day.
- Upon the cross of Jesus
my eyes at times can see
the very dying form of one
who suffered there from me;
and from my smitten heart, with tears,
two wonders I confess,
the wonder of his glorious love,
and my unworthiness.
- I take, O cross, your shadow
for my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than
the sunshine of his face,
content to let the world go by,
to know no gain nor loss,
my sinful self my only shame,
my glory all, the cross.
THE STORY … begins in the garden…
In the Garden Jesus Prays in Gethsemane
1st Candle is extinguished
Response: MV #70 Kyrie Eleison
Greek: Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison.
English: Lord, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
French: O Seigneur, prends pitie de nous. O Seigneur, prends pitie de nous.
O Seigneur, prends pitie de nous. O Seigneur, prends pitie de nous.
Silence
BETRAYAL AND ARREST
2nd Candle is extinguished
RESPONSE: Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison.
Silence
CONDEMNATION AND DENIAL
3rd Candle is Extinguished
RESPONSE: Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison.
Silence
JESUS BEFORE PILATE
4th Candle is Extinguished
RESPONSE: Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison.
Silence
CROWN OF THORNS
5th Candle is Extinguished
RESPONSE: Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison.
Music Ministry: “Above All” – Dana Miranda
CRUCIFIED
6th Candle is Extinguished
RESPONSE: Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison.
Silence
Song : VU #149 When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
- 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.
- Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
save in the death of Christ, my God:
all the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.
- See from his head, his hands, his feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
- Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small:
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.
THE LAST
THE CHRIST CANDLE Extinguished
At that moment the Temple curtain ripped right down the middle.
39 Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he[j]breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”[k]
40-41 There were women watching from a distance, among them Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and Joses, and Salome. When Jesus was in Galilee, these women followed and served him, and had come up with him to Jerusalem.
Silence
Song: MV #78 God Weeps
God weeps at love withheld, at strength misused
at children’s innocence abused
and till we change the way we love, God weeps
God bleeds at anger’s fist, at trust betrayed
At women battered and afraid
And till we change the way we win, God bleeds
God cries at hungry mouths, at running sores,
At creatures dying without cause
And till we change the way we care, God cries.
God waits for stones to melt, for peace to seed
for hearts to hold each other’s need
and till we understand the Christ, God waits.
PRAYER
We come to the cross…
for those caught by the fear and anxiety of this time.
We pray for the broken.
We come to the cross..
put dreams or hopes to one side.
We pray for the suffering.
We come to the cross…
relationships that are not loving
We pray for those abandoned.
We come to the cross…
We hand onto a relentless faith that seeks nothing but God
And we wait…
Silence
THE BURIAL
RESPONSE: Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison.
Silence
FINAL WORDS
We leave with all the emotions the story of this day brings, yet with the assurance and knowledge that death is not the final word. Go in peace.
Leave in silence.
Please return to join in our Easter celebration Sunday morning at 10:30 at : http://bit.ly/2UGG3Av
* David Sparks, found in “Draw the Circle Wide” A Good Friday Service Gathering Lent/Easter 2015 Year B p.69 Used with permission.
**Barbara Brown Taylor, 2006
*** Ted Dodd, 2020