Good Friday
6:30pm
Prelude
Greeting and Welcome
Lighting of the Candles
+ Preparation +
Invocation
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Opening Sentences
P: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
C: He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
P: We have an advocate with the Father; Jesus is the propitiation for our sins.
C: He was delivered up to death; He was delivered for the sins of the people.
P: Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is put away.
C: Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
Hymn – The Old Rugged Cross
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain. Refrain
Refrain: So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
‘Til my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.
O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
To pardon and sanctify me. Refrain
In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see;
For ‘twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died
To pardon and sanctify me. Refrain
To the old rugged cross I will ever be true,
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away
Where His glory forever I’ll share. Refrain
Psalm – Psalm 38:1-4, 18, 22; antiphon: Isaiah 53:5
P: He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities;
C: upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.
P: O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,
C: nor discipline me in your wrath!
P: For your arrows have sunk into me,
C: and your hand has come down on me.
P: There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation;
C: there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
P: For my iniquities have gone over my head;
C: like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
P: I confess my iniquity;
C: I am sorry for my sin.
P: Make haste to help me,
C: O Lord, my salvation!
P: He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities;
C: upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.
Silence for reflection on the Word of God and our sins carried by Christ to the cross.
Confession and Absolution
P: Jesus, our Savior and Lord, lead us to behold the evil of a fallen creation, the agony of Your rejection, the pain of Your condemnation, and the horror of Your crucifixion.
C: As we approach the cross on Calvary, let us become mindful of our sins and of our willful rebellion against Your will and ways.
P: Eternal God, we confess that we have turned away from you in our thinking, speaking, and doing.
C: We have lived for ourselves and have refused to bear the burdens of others.
P: We have not loved You with our whole heart,
C: and have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
P: We often fail to see the good You work at Your time and in Your way, even amid the evil around us.
C: Our faith suffers in doubt, and we lose our trust in You.
P: We can only say:
C: Lord, have mercy! Christ, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
P: Even on a somber night with broken and contrite hearts and evil actions recalled, know and hear the Good News! Foreshadowed by Joseph and saints of old, Jesus is the fulfillment of all that was promised and written since the fall into sin. By His miraculous birth, perfect life, suffering, and sacrificial death, He has taken every sin upon Himself and brought them to the cross for you. For His sake, God forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
+ Word +
Kyrie
P: Lord, have mercy.
C: Lord, have mercy.
P: Christ, have mercy.
C: Christ, have mercy.
P: Lord, have mercy.
C: Lord, have mercy.
Salutation
P: The Lord be with you
C: And also with you.
Prayer of the Day
P: Let us pray. Almighty God, graciously behold this Your family for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed and delivered into the hands of sinful men to suffer death upon the cross; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
Old Testament Reading – Isaiah 52:13—53:12
Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you—his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.
Who has believed what they heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Epistle – Hebrews 4:14–16; 5:7–9
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him….
Hymn – There Is a Green Hill Far Away (AGPS 235)
There is a green hill far away,
Outside a city wall,
Where the dear Lord was crucified,
Who died to save us all.
We may not know, we cannot tell
What pains He had to bear,
But we believe it was for us
He hung and suffered there.
He died that we might be forgiv’n,
He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to heav’n,
Saved by His precious blood.
There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin,
He only could unlock the gate
Of heav’n and let us in.
Oh, dearly, dearly has He loved!
And we must love Him too
And trust in His redeeming blood
And try His works to do.
Sermon
Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life + of the world to come. Amen.
Prayer of the Church
P: Heavenly Father, we are torn by so many conflicting thoughts and feelings on this holy night. We grieve our Savior’s suffering and death and feel shame in the knowledge that our sin made His death necessary. We repent, Father, of our sin. Ease our grief and remove our shame. What was meant for evil, You made good. We are forgiven.
C: It is finished.
P: Amid sadness, Father, You bring us infinite joy and gladness. Though He could have called down a legion of angels to rescue, it is because of Jesus’ complete and all-surpassing sacrifice that we can be forgiven. It was because of His love that we can be restored to Your good plans. It was because of His suffering and death that we have Your mercy. Lord, what we can understand of Jesus’ sacrifice overwhelms us with amazement. Yet we cannot begin to grasp the extent of the ordeal He endured when the world’s sin separated Him from You. Instill in us awe and wonder at His incredible love for us. What was meant for evil, You made good. We are forgiven.
C: It is finished.
P: Father, teach us to hear well the clear message of Your love for us that we may live as Your people every day. Through Jesus’ separation from You on the cross, we have been restored. Through His shame, our shame is removed. Through His condemnation as the wages of sin, we have been freed. What was meant for evil, You made good. We are forgiven.
C: It is finished.
P: Father, while we delight in the wonder and mystery of this holy night and rejoice in the grace won for us on the cross, the world continues in its futile and empty course, ignorant of what You have done. Give us courage and boldness to speak the truth of Your story to those around us. Keep us in Your care during these lonely hours and return us soon to this place to celebrate the completion of the story of Your great love manifest in our Savior, Jesus. What was meant for evil, You made good. We are forgiven.
C: It is finished.
P: We pray all these things in His holy name.
C: 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;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
+ Sacrament +
Preface
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Lift up your hearts.
C: We lift them to the Lord.
P: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
C: It is right to give Him thanks and praise.
Proper Preface
P: It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, Lord, our God; for You have had mercy on us and sent Your only-begotten Son to be our Savior. Grant us the gift of Your Spirit that we may receive Your blessings with thankfulness for the forgiveness purchased for us by our Savior on the cross of Calvary. Grant that we receive the body and blood of our Lord as the guarantee of our salvation and as a foretaste of the feast to come in Your eternal kingdom. To You alone, O Father, be all glory, honor, and praise, together with the Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever.
C: Amen.
The Words of Our Lord
P: Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said: “Take, eat; this is My + body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.”
In the same way also He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying: “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My + blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
Distribution
Distribution Hymn – Jesus, I Will Ponder Now (LSB 440)
Jesus, I will ponder now
On Your holy passion;
With Your Spirit me endow
For such meditation.
Grant that I in love and faith
May the image cherish
Of Your suff’ring, pain, and death
That I may not perish.
Make me see Your great distress,
Anguish, and affliction,
Bonds and stripes and wretchedness
And Your crucifixion;
Make me see how scourge and rod,
Spear and nails did wound You,
How for them You died, O God,
Who with thorns had crowned You.
Yet, O Lord, not thus alone
Make me see Your passion,
But its cause to me make known
And its termination.
Ah! I also and my sin
Wrought Your deep affliction;
This indeed the cause has been
Of Your crucifixion.
Grant that I Your passion view
With repentant grieving.
Let me not bring shame to You
By unholy living.
How could I refuse to shun
Ev’ry sinful pleasure
Since for me God’s only Son
Suffered without measure?
If my sins give me alarm
And my conscience grieve me,
Let Your cross my fear disarm;
Peace of conscience give me.
Help me see forgiveness won
By Your holy passion.
If for me He slays His Son,
God must have compassion!
Graciously my faith renew;
Help me bear my crosses,
Learning humbleness from You,
Peace mid pain and losses.
May I give You love for love!
Hear me, O my Savior,
That I may in heav’n above
Sing Your praise forever.
Blessing
+ Service of Darkness +
First Word – Luke 23:32-34a
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Hymn – O Sacred Head, Now Wounded (LSB 450, verse 1)
O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, Thine only crown.
O sacred Head, what glory,
What bliss, till now was Thine!
Yet, though despised and gory,
I joy to call Thee mine.
Second Word – Luke 23:35-43
And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? 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 justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Hymn – O Sacred Head, Now Wounded (LSB 450, verse 2)
How pale Thou art with anguish,
With sore abuse and scorn!
How doth Thy face now languish
That once was bright as morn!
Grim death, with cruel rigor,
Hath robbed Thee of Thy life;
Thus Thou hast lost Thy vigor,
Thy strength, in this sad strife.
Third Word – John 19:25-27
…but standing by 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 nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
Hymn – O Sacred Head, Now Wounded (LSB 450, verse 3)
What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered
Was all for sinners’ gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression,
But Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
’Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor,
And grant to me Thy grace.
Fourth Word – Matthew 27:45-47
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.”
Hymn – O Sacred Head, Now Wounded (LSB 450, verse 4)
My Shepherd, now receive me;
My Guardian, own me Thine.
Great blessings Thou didst give me,
O Source of gifts divine.
Thy lips have often fed me
With words of truth and love;
Thy Spirit oft hath led me
To heav’nly joys above.
Fifth Word – John 19:28-29
After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.
Hymn – O Sacred Head, Now Wounded (LSB 450, verse 5)
What language shall I borrow
To thank Thee, dearest Friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever!
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never,
Outlive my love for Thee.
Sixth Word – John 19:29-30
A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Hymn – O Sacred Head, Now Wounded (LSB 450, verse 6)
My Savior, be Thou near me
When death is at my door;
Then let Thy presence cheer me,
Forsake me nevermore!
When soul and body languish,
O leave me not alone,
But take away mine anguish
By virtue of Thine own!
Seventh Word – Luke 23:44-46; Matthew 27:54
It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
Hymn – O Sacred Head, Now Wounded (LSB 450, verse 7)
Be Thou my consolation,
My shield, when I must die;
Remind me of Thy passion
When my last hour draws nigh.
Mine eyes shall then behold Thee,
Upon Thy cross shall dwell,
My heart by faith enfold Thee.
Who dieth thus dies well.
Closing
P: What was meant for evil,
C: God meant for good.
P: He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities;
C: upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.
P: It is finished.
C: In Christ, we are forgiven.
P: The God of all grace, who gave His Son for us, facing the death we deserved and laid in the tomb, has done this for us. Even and especially on Good Friday with sadness and sorrow, be thankful—this is Jesus Christ, our Savior.
C: Thanks be to God.
Hymn – Were You There (LSB 456, verses 1-2)
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?
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?
Reading – John 19:38-42
After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.
Hymn – Were You There (LSB 456, verse 3)
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Strepitus
All leave in silence
+ WORSHIP LEADERS +
Preacher/Celebrant/Liturgist – Pastor Scott
Organist/Pianist – Jim Thielker
Communion – Steve Phelps
Sound/Video – Paul Barbercheck
