Order of Service – 10 April 2020 – GOOD FRIDAY
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Order of Service 10 April 2020
CALL TO WORSHIP
For us and for our salvation, Jesus Christ humbled Himself, and became obedient to the point of death – even on a cross. (Philippians 2:8)
OPENING PRAYER
Holy God, who has opened our ears to hear Your word and our lips to proclaim Your truth, open our eyes this day to see in the cross the revelation of Your love; through Jesus the Crucified, to whom with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, be honour and praise, now and forever.
Crucified Saviour, Servant Lord, on the cross we see Your love and our shame; here You bear the world’s sorrows and sin, here You share the fate of the godforsaken. Open our ears to hear Your word of grace, our eyes to see Your thorn-crowned brow, and our hearts to know You in the least of our sisters and brothers. Amen.
HYMN: 350 “There is a Green Hill Far Away”
RESPONSIVE READING
Lord, we will lift Your name on high.
And praise You before all people.
Jesus, for us and for our salvation, You were despised and rejected.
May Your passion turn our faltering hearts to the depth and breadth and height of Your love.
Jesus, for us and for our salvation, You were crushed by a perversion of justice. Be with the oppressed and those rightly convicted
Turn our hearts in penitence for the sins that separate us from one another and from you.
Jesus, for us and for our salvation, You became a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity.
As You take our pains and diseases upon Yourself, so may we know Your power to bring us to wholeness and peace.
Jesus, for us and for our salvation, You were laid in a borrowed tomb and dwelt in the place of silence.
Lamb of God, gather to Yourself all who have died.
In Your cross, O Lord, we glory, and we enthrone You in our praises.
For You are the Holy One and in You alone we place our trust and hope.
PRAYER
O mighty God, in whom we know the power of redemption, You stand among us in the shadows of our time. As we move through every sorrow and trial of this life, uphold us with knowledge of the final morning when, in the glorious presence of Your risen Son, we will share in His resurrection, redeemed and restored to the fullness of life and forever freed to be your people. Amen.
HYMN: 342 “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”
A LITANY FOR GOOD FRIDAY
Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Look around and see. Is any suffering like my suffering? (Lam. 1:12)
The Lord says:
My people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you? Answer me!
I led you from slavery to freedom, but you led your Saviour to the cross.
I brought you out of Egypt, but you handed me over to the high priests.
Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal One, have mercy on us.
My people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you? Answer me!
I led you on your way in a pillar of cloud, but you led me to Pilate’s court. I bore you up with manna in the desert, but you struck me down and scourged me.
Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal One, have mercy on us.
My people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you? Answer me!
I gave you a royal sceptre, but you gave me a crown of thorns. I raised you to the height of majesty, but you have raised me high on a cross.
Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal One, have mercy on us.
My people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you? Answer me!
I gave you saving water from the rock, but you gave me gall and vinegar to drink. For you I struck down the kings of Canaan, but you pierced your Saviour with a lance.
Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal One, have mercy on us.
We adore You, O Christ, and bless You.
By Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.
If we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him.
If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You.
By Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.
HYMN: 345 “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?”
SILENT MEDITATION
Bow our heads and envisage the cross of Calvary upon which our Lord and Saviour gave His life to save us with the promise of eternal life. Meditate and feel the pain and the suffering, which He bore for our sins. Seeing the cross let us open our hearts and accept His forgiveness.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
HYMN: 339 “O Sacred Head Sore Wounded”
BIBLE READINGS –
Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12 (Pages 731-732) John 19:1-42 (Pages 1073-1074)
PRAYER
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen. (Psalm 19:14)
MESSAGE: “It is Finished” Krikor Youmshajekian
HYMN: 233 “I Will Sing the Wondrous Story”
CLOSING PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, the story of Your suffering is written on our hearts, and the salvation of the world is in Your outstretched hands. Keep Your victor always before our eyes, Your praise on our lips, Your peace in our lives. Amen.
BLESSING
May you find in the Cross a sure ground for faith, a firm support for hope, and the assurance of sins forgiven. Amen.