Order of Worship
April 7th 2023 ~ Good Friday

 

Welcome, Announcements, and Peace

 

Hymn of Praise

What Wondrous Love Is This (Wondrous Love)

Verse 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

Verse 2
When I was sinking down
Sinking down sinking down
When I was sinking down sinking down
When I was sinking down
Beneath God’s righteous frown
Christ laid aside His crown
For my soul for my soul
Christ laid aside
His crown for my soul

Verse 3
To God and to the Lamb
I will sing I will sing
To God and to the Lamb I will sing
To God and to the Lamb
Who is the Great I Am
While millions join the theme
I will sing I will sing
While millions join the theme
I will sing

Verse 4
And when from death I’m free
I’ll sing on I’ll sing on
And when from death I’m free I’ll sing on
And when from death I’m free
I’ll sing and joyful be
And through eternity
I’ll sing on I’ll sing on
And thro’ eternity I’ll sing on

CCLI Song # 197297
Alexander Means | William Walker
© Words: Public Domain
Music: Public Domain
For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com
CCLI License # 3154366

Call to Worship

Bless the Lord who forgives all of our sins.
His mercy endures forever.
Almighty God, to You all hearts are open, all desires known, and from
You no secrets are hidden. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the
inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love You and
worthily magnify Your Holy Name; through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Blessed be our God.
For ever and ever, Amen.
Let us together pray.
 


Opening Prayer

By Your wounded hands: 
teach us diligence and generosity. 
By your wounded feet: 
teach us steadfastness and perseverance. 
By Your wounded and insulted head: 
teach us patience, clarity and self-mastery. 
By Your wounded heart: 
teach us love, teach us love, teach us love, 
O Master and SaviorAmen.

– Daphne Fraser

 

Scripture Reading

John 19: 1-37
NRSV

19 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. 3 They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”
8 Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. 9 He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 Pilate therefore said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” 12 From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.”
13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.” 16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

So they took Jesus; 17 and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” 23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 24 So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says,
“They divided my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”
25 And that is what the soldiers did.
Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” 29 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. 30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Jesus’ Side Is Pierced

31 Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. 35 (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows[g] that he tells the truth.) 36 These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” 37 And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”

 

 Sermon

Senior Pastor, The Rev. Dr. Robert de Wetter

 

Music for Reflection

 

Prayer of Confession

Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name.
Amen

 

Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

 

 

Closing Prayer

We wait, and we watch for the hope that defies despair,
the life that defies death,
the beginning that defies the end.
We wait, while darkness covers the land of faith,
Yet we remember that no matter how abandoned we may feel
we are not alone.
God has not and will not abandon us.
Thanks be to God
 Amen. 

 

Closing Hymn

Lead me to Calvary

Verse 1
King of my life I crown Thee now
Thine shall the glory be
Lest I forget Thy thorn crowned brow
Lead me to Calvary

Chorus
Lest I forget Gethsemane
Lest I forget Thine agony
Lest I forget Thy love for me
Lead me to Calvary

Verse 2
Show me the tomb where Thou wast laid
Tenderly mourned and wept
Angels in robes of light arrayed
Guarded Thee whilst Thou slept

Chorus
Lest I forget Gethsemane
Lest I forget Thine agony
Lest I forget Thy love for me
Lead me to Calvary

Verse 3
Let me like Mary through the gloom
Come with a gift to Thee
Show to me now the empty tomb
Lead me to Calvary

Chorus
Lest I forget Gethsemane
Lest I forget Thine agony
Lest I forget Thy love for me
Lead me to Calvary

Verse 4
May I be willing Lord to bear
Daily my cross for Thee
Even Thy cup of grief to share
Thou hast borne all for me

CCLI Song # 7060987
Jennie Evelyn Hussey | Marty Parks
© Words: Public Domain
Music: 2016 The Lorenz Corporation (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)
For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com
CCLI License # 3154366

 

Blessing

 

We invite you to leave the Chapel in silence, as we wait upon the Lord.

This service’s music is brought to you by
Micha Schoepe & Paul Dankers.

Thank you to all of this week’s volunteers!

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