Good Friday Worship Service for March 29, 2024 at 7 PM

About the Service

Tenebrae

Tenebrae is the Latin word for “darkness.” The Officium Tenebrae, the Service of Darkness, is a devotional and meditative service held on Good Friday to commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus. The Service of Darkness is not a funeral service for Jesus but a time for repentance and reflection on his sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. The darkness in the church symbolizes the miraculous Tenebrae, the darkness which surrounded the cross and darkened the earth from noon until three o’clock on the day Jesus died.

Seven Candles

There are seven candles and the Christ candle in the front of the church. Throughout the service the candles are extinguished and the lights are dimmed representing the extinguishing of the life of Jesus. The Christ candle is not extinguished but it is removed from the chancel. Just as Christ’s body was hidden in the grave until the third day so also is the Christ candle removed from sight for a short time. We then hear the loud sound of the Bible closing representing the stone being set in place in front of the tomb. The Christ candle is returned to its place at the end of the service foreshadowing Christ’s return from death to life.

Silence

In keeping with the solemnity of the day, there is no pre-service or post-service music. The service begins in silence and ends in silence. Worshipers are invited to remain after the service for as long as they wish for prayer and meditation. All are asked to leave the sanctuary, the courtyard and the parking lot in silence. The stillness and darkness of tonight are intended to contrast with the bright and glorious celebration of Easter morning.

 

Preservice: Silence for Meditation 

Welcome

Opening Song: O Sacred Head Now Wounded (vs 1-3)

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.

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, vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

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 to Thee.             ©Public Domain

Invocation

Responsive Reading – Romans 3:10-18, 23 (The Darkness of Sin)

P: As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
C: No one understands; no one seeks for God.

P: All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
C: No one does good, not even one.”

P: “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.”
C: “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

P: “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery,
C: And the way of peace they have not known.”

All: “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

P: There is no distinction
C: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

P: We take a moment of silence to reflect on our lives and privately confess our sins.

The 1st Candle is Extinguished

Confession and Forgiveness:

C: Heavenly Father, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart and have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ and His suffering and death on the cross, 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

P: The Lord our God is merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.  Therefore I announce unto you the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  In His stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen.

Children’s Message

Song – Chief Of Sinners Though I Be

Chief of sinners though I be, Jesus shed His blood for me.
Died that I might live on high, lived that I might never die.
As the branch is to the vine, I am His and He is mine.

Oh, the height of Jesus; love, higher than the heav’ns above,
Deeper than the depths of sea, lasting as eternity!
Love that found me wondrous thought!
Found me when I sought Him not.

Only Jesus can impart, balm to heal the wounded heart,
Peace that flows from sin forgiv’n, joy that lifts the soul to heav’n.
Faith and hope to walk with God, in the way that Enoch trod.

                                                                                                                                                     © Public Domain

Second Reading – Luke 22:47-53 (The Darkness of Betrayal)

While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs?

When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

Reader: Be gracious to me, O God, according to Thy loving kindness
C: According to the greatness of Thy compassion blot out my transgressions.

The 2nd Candle is Extinguished 

Song – Not All The Blood of Beasts

Not all the blood of beasts on Jewish altars slain,
Could give the guilty conscience peace or wash away the stain.

But Christ, the heav’nly Lamb, takes all our sins away.
A sacrifice of nobler name and richer blood than they.

My soul looks back to see the burden Thou didst bear,
When hanging on the cursed tree, I know my guilt was there.

Believing, we rejoice to see the curse remove;
We bless the Lamb with cheerful voice, and sing His bleeding love.

                                                                                                                                                    © Public Domain

Third Reading – Luke 22:54-62 (The Darkness of Denial)

Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.

And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Reader: Jesus said, “Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.
C: But whoever shall deny Me before men I will also deny him before My father who is in heaven.

Song – Go to Dark Gethsemane (vs 1 and 2)

“Go to dark Gethsemane, ye that feel the tempter’s power.
Your Redeemer’s conflict see; watch with Him one bitter hour.
Turn not from His griefs away. Learn from Him to watch and pray.

See Him at the judgment-hall, beaten, bound, reviled, arraign’d.
See Him meekly bearing all! Love to man His soul sustain’d!
Shun not suffering, shame or loss; learn of Christ to bear the cross.                                                                                        

                                                                                          © Public Domain 

Fourth Reading – John 19:1-16 (The Darkness of Suffering)

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me?

Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus,

Reader: Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities.
C: The chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.

The 4th Candle is Extinguished

Song – Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted (vs 1, 3, and 4)

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted, see him dying on the tree!
‘Tis the Christ by man rejected; yes, my soul, ‘Tis he, ‘Tis he!
‘Tis the long-expected Prophet, David’s Son, yet David’s Lord;
by his Son God now has spoken: ‘Tis the true and faithful Word.

Ye who think of sin but lightly nor suppose the evil great
here may view its nature rightly, here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed, see who bears the awful load;
‘tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed, Son of Man and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation, here the refuge of the lost;
Christ’s the Rock of our salvation, is the name of which we boast.
Lamb of God, for sinners wounded, sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded who on him their hope have built.

                                                                                                                                                     © Public Domain

Fifth Reading – Matthew 27:33-46 (The Darkness of the Cross)

And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

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?”

Reader: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us, for it is written:
C: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.

Song – When I Survey (vs 1 and 3)

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.

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.                                   © Public Domain

The 5th Candle is Extinguished 

Sixth Reading – Luke 23:44-49 (The Darkness of Death)

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. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.

Reader: Jesus humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death.
C: Even death upon a cross.

Song – Were You There (vs 1 and 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?        © Public Domain

The 6th Candle is Extinguished

Sermon – “Behold, The Lamb Who was Slain”

Sermon Reading – John 1:29 and Revelation 5:12
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

Seventh Reading – John 19:38-42 (The Darkness of the Tomb)

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. 

Song – Were You There (vs 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?           © Public Domain

The 7th Candle is Extinguished

Conclusion of Service
The Lord’s Prayer (Spoken softly by the congregation)

The Christ Candle is Removed and Extinguished

THE CLOSING OF THE BIBLE AND THE “STREPITUS” (a loud noise symbolizing the closing of our Savior’s tomb and the earthquake which occurred when Jesus died.)

The Christ Candle is Returned (Unlit)

The Service Ends and the People Exit in Silence

Offering – If you wish to give, the offering plate is in the back of the sanctuary.