| Prelude
Greeting and Welcome
Lighting of the Candles
+ Preparation +
Confession and Absolution – Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9 P: 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. C: 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. P: 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.
Silence for reflection and personal confession.
P: Jesus, our High Priest, C: We humbly confess to You that we are weak. In our weakness, we sin against You and one another with our words and actions, and in our thoughts and the lack thereof. Our sins cut us off from You. We know that the wages of sin is death, and we keep on sinning. We deserve death. Have mercy on us. Forgive us. Change our hearts and lives and conform them to Yours, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways, to the glory of Your holy name. Amen. P: 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. Jesus freely gives us what we do not deserve: forgiveness, life, and salvation. 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.
Hymn – Come to Calvary’s Holy Mountain (LSB 435)
Come to Calv’ry’s holy mountain, Sinners, ruined by the fall; Here a pure and healing fountain Flows for you, for me, for all, In a full, perpetual tide, Opened when our Savior died.
Come in poverty and meanness, Come defiled, without, within; From infection and uncleanness, From the leprosy of sin, Wash your robes and make them white; Ye shall walk with God in light.
Come in sorrow and contrition, Wounded, impotent, and blind; Here the guilty, free remission, Here the troubled, peace may find. Health this fountain will restore; They that drink shall thirst no more.
They that drink shall live forever; ’Tis a soul-renewing flood. God is faithful; God will never Break His covenant of blood, Signed when our Redeemer died, Sealed when He was glorified.
+ Word +
Psalm – Psalm 38:1-4, 18, 22; antiphon: Isaiah 53:5 P: 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. C: O Lord, rebuke me not in Your anger, nor discipline me in Your wrath! P: For Your arrows have sunk into me, and Your hand has come down on me. C: There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. P: For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me. C: I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin. P: Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!
Kyrie – Hebrews 12:1-2 P: Jesus Christ, the light of the world, is about to be extinguished. C: O Lord, have mercy. P: Jesus Christ, the light of the world, is about to be extinguished. C: O Christ, have mercy. P: Jesus Christ, the light of the world, is about to be extinguished. C: O Lord, have mercy. P: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, C: let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, P: looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, C: who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Salutation and Prayer of the Day. P: The Lord be with you C: And also with you. 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….
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: Almighty God, You revealed Your glory to the world through Jesus Christ, the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us. Root us firmly in Your Word. Nourish us with Your Supper. Lead us to bear witness to the world of Your love through our good deeds. Lord, in Your mercy, C: hear our prayer. P: Heavenly Father, on this night we remember the sacrifice of Your Son for the sins of the world. We grieve His suffering and death. We feel shame for our sins. We are thankful we are forgiven. Lord, in Your mercy, C: hear our prayer. P: Gracious Father, we grieve the deaths of all the children who have died in the wombs of their mothers. We grieve with all the parents who have had to bury a child. Provide comfort and healing to all who mourn losses in this life. Give consolation and strength to all who experience suffering and sorrow in this world. Lord, in Your mercy, C: hear our prayer. P: Lord God, on this night, we remember how Your Son’s death was orchestrated by the religious and governing authorities. Lead and guide those who serve Your church on earth, that they may faithfully serve You and Your church. Lead and guide those who lead our nation, that they may serve our nation, state, and community for Your good. Lord, in Your mercy, C: hear our prayer. P: Almighty and everlasting God, You have commanded us to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, and to pray for those who persecute us. We pray that by Your gracious visitation all our enemies may be led to true repentance, that they may have the same love and be of one heart and mind with us and Your church. Lord, in Your mercy, C: hear our prayer.
Responsory 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: He was delivered up to death; He was delivered for the sins of the people. 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.
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 +
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
Blessing
Choir – O Sacred Head Now Wounded (LSB 450)
Reading – Mark 15:16-20 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.
Meditation on Crown of Thorns
Reading – Mark 15:21–25 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him.
Meditation on Walk to Calvary
Reading – 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.
Meditation on the Women Weeping
Reading – Mark 15:33–47 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus saw where he was laid.
Meditation on Jesus’ Burial
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.
Choir – Lay His Body Down
(Lyrics given for reflection)
Silently, so silently, His body hangs upon the cross. Come remove the nails, the nails, Which pierced His hands. Lower Him, now lower Him And lay His lifeless body down.
Strepitus
All leave in silence
+ WORSHIP LEADERS + Preacher – Seminarian Ryan Philpot Celebrant/Liturgist – Pastor Scott Organist/Pianist – Seth Carruthers Communion – Mike Toney & Seminary Student Sound/Video – Ken Clark | 
