Good Friday Service 2020
Hymn Be Still for the presence of the Lord
Be still,
For the presence of the Lord,
The holy one, is here;
Come bow before him now
With reverence and fear:
In him no sin is found –
We stand on holy ground.
Be still,
For the presence of the Lord,
The holy one, is here.
Be still,
For the glory of the Lord
Is shining all around;
He burns with holy fire,
With splendour he is crowned:
How awesome is the sight –
Our radiant King of light!
Be still,
For the glory of the Lord
Is shining all around.
Be still,
For the power of the Lord
Is moving in this place:
He comes to cleanse and heal,
To minister his grace –
No work too hard for him,
In faith receive from him
Be still,
For the power of the Lord is moving in this place.
© David Evans used by permission CCL Licence 200505
Reflection A Story of Love
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son….” John 3:16
gather round
I have a story to tell
of one who reached inside himself
and took a handful of love
like a pile of stardust and said:
this is for you
it is all you need
it is all you will ever need
there is enough here to change the whole world
take it
many laughed at him
mocked him
and ignored the invitation
but some dared to take it
and those who did noticed something about this love
they found they could do what the gift-giver could do
they could stand with the lost
welcome the traveller
eat with the hungry
they found themselves doing what the man first did to them
give something of themselves to others
they became like the man offering themselves
and as they offered themselves
others took the invitation
and many still do
and many still trust it is enough to change the whole world
— from Roddy Hamilton at Listening to the stones.
Prayer
God of love, we remember today all that our blessed Lord endured for us. Let us remember how Jesus was betrayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men …
Lord Jesus, we remember today that it was one of Your own familiar friends who betrayed You, and we know that there is nothing that so breaks the heart as the disloyalty of one whom we call friend. Grant that we may not betray You.
Save us: From the cowardice that would disown You when it is hard to be true to You; From the disloyalty that betrays You in the hour when You need someone to stand by You; From the fickleness that blows hot and cold in its devotion; From the fair-weather friendship that, when things are difficult or dangerous, makes us ashamed to show whose we are and whom we serve. Let us remember how Jesus suffered death upon the Cross …
Lord Jesus, help us to remember the lengths to which Your love was ready to go; That having loved Your own You loved them to the very end; The love than which none can be greater, The love that lays down its life for its friends; That it was while people were yet enemies that You died for them.
Let us remember how Jesus now lives and reigns … Help us to remember, That the crucified Lord is the Risen Lord; That the cross has become the Crown. So grant unto us, to trust in His love and to live in His presence; that we may share in His glory. This we ask for Your love’s sake. Amen.
~ written by William Barclay, and posted on Will Humes’ WJH website. http://willhumes.net/category/liturgy/
Hymn My song is love unknown
My song is love unknown,
my Saviour’s love to me:
love to the loveless shown,
that they might lovely be.
O who am I,
that for my sake
my Lord should take
frail flesh, and die?
Sometimes they strew his way,
and his sweet praises sing;
resounding all the day
hosannas to their king.
Then ‘Crucify!’
is all their breath,
and for his death
they thirst and cry.
They rise and needs will have
my dear Lord made away.
A murderer they save,
the Prince of life they slay.
Yet patient he
to suffering goes,
that he his foes
from death might free.
Here might I stay and sing,
no story so divine;
never was love, dear King!
Never was grief like thine.
This is my friend
in whose glad praise
I all my days
could gladly spend. Samuel Crossman
Prayers of Intercession
We seek your saving grace, God of Christ Jesus, for all those who on this Good Friday are lost among their doubts, sins, griefs or fears.
For those who suffer gravely from the cruel abuse of their fellows, and all who suffer because of the apathy and neglect of respectable people.
For some who are suffering from disease or accident, and the many who suffer because of terrorism and war.
For people who bear their suffering alone and unaided, and others who though surrounded by medical personnel and equipment, still find their pain unbearable.
For those who suffer abuse at home or at work, and the many children who suffer from the bullying or rejection of their peers.
For any who suffer a painful, terminal illness, and those loved one whose spirits are this day torn by raw grief. For those who in their suffering have no faith to support them, and any who’s once-vibrant faith seems to be ebbing away under stress.
For all who in suffering still trust and praise their God, and those who while suffering themselves still give comfort to their distressed friends and loved one. O crucified Christ, have mercy on your sisters and brothers. O God of the Cross, deliver us from all evil.
Loving God, we commit into your hands our lives, that in sickness or in health, in joy or in sorrow, we may carry (without grumbling) whatever cross you give us, and always have time and love for those who are falling down under the weight of their hardship. This we ask through Christ Jesus our redeemer. Amen.
— written by Bruce Prewer, and posted on Bruce Prewer’s Homepage.
Reading John 19:14-30
It was then almost noon of the day before the Passover. Pilate said to the people, “Here is your king!” They shouted back, “Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to crucify your king?” The chief priests answered, “The only king we have is the Emperor!” Then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified. So they took charge of Jesus. He went out, carrying his cross, and came to “The Place of the Skull,” as it is called. (In Hebrew it is called “Golgotha.”) There they crucified him; and they also crucified two other men, one on each side, with Jesus between them. Pilate wrote a notice and had it put on the cross. “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews,” is what he wrote. Many people read it, because the place where Jesus was crucified was not far from the city. The notice was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. The chief priests said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am the King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written stays written.” After the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier. They also took the robe, which was made of one piece of woven cloth without any seams in it. The soldiers said to one another, “Let’s not tear it; let’s throw dice to see who will get it.” This happened in order to make the scripture come true: “They divided my clothes among themselves and gambled for my robe.” And this is what the soldiers did. Standing close to Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there; so he said to his mother, “He is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “She is your mother.” From that time the disciple took her to live in his home. Jesus knew that by now everything had been completed; and in order to make the scripture come true, he said, “I am thirsty.” A bowl was there, full of cheap wine; so a sponge was soaked in the wine, put on a stalk of hyssop, and lifted up to his lips. Jesus drank the wine and said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Song Were you there when they crucified my Lord
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 laid him in the tomb…
Reflection Wood and Nails
Lord Jesus
when you strip our faith down to the wood and nails
that’s all we have wood and nails
all the glamour of robes
all the wealth of the church
all the comfort of cathedrals is worth nothing
when you strip it all down to the wood and nails
that’s all we have wood and nails
and a story of love
all the great ministers of the church
the cascade of church history
and mighty holy empires
and reformations
when you strip it all down to the wood and nails
that’s all we have wood and nails
and a story of love
and the many theology books written
and the great universities of divinity
and the councils that fashioned creeds
and the world wide web of religion
when you strip it all down to the wood and nails
that’s all we have wood and nails
and a story of love
Here is our corrective our moment
to lay aside that which pads our faith
and affirm that which draws us here
for when you strip it all down to the wood and nails
that’s all we have wood and nails
and a story of love
May we let go
and be held instead.
— from Roddy Hamilton at Listening to the stones.
Hymn When I survey the wondrous cross
When I survey the wondrous cross
Where the young Prince of glory died
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God:
All the vain things that charm me most
I sacrifice them to his blood
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?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small,
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all