Good Friday 08

This morning we will be meditative before God, and we will minister to Him through prayers, and glorify Him by remembering the death He died for us.

Every time Jesus told the disciples He was about to die, they selfishly asked that Jesus would bless them.

So often Church is about us, about us having our itches scratched. This morning is about Him, remembering Jesus sacrifice and taking time to meet with Jesus. When we raise Jesus up, He draws us to Himself.

Today is Good Friday – Why is it Good?

Opening Prayer

Almighty Father, hear our heartfelt prayer and look with mercy on this world, for which the Lord Jesus Christ was ready to be betrayed into the hands of sinners and to suffer death on the cross. Jesus we wait on you as the women who waited on death’s hill 2000 years ago. Lord we share in Your agony, that we may share in Your resurrection. Jesus we pray through You, the living Lamb of God. Bless You Holy Three in One.

Amen

!! Isaiah 52 v 13 – 53 v 12

13     See, my servant will act wisely;

he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.

14     Just as there were many who were appalled at him —

his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man

and his form marred beyond human likeness—

15     so will he sprinkle many nations,

and kings will shut their mouths because of him.

For what they were not told, they will see,

and what they have not heard, they will understand.

53     Who has believed our message

and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2     He grew up before him like a tender shoot,

and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,

nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3     He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.

Like one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4     Surely he took up our infirmities

and carried our sorrows,

yet we considered him stricken by God,

smitten by him, and afflicted.

5     But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,

and by his wounds we are healed.

6     We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

7     He was oppressed and afflicted,

yet he did not open his mouth;

he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.

8     By oppression and judgment he was taken away.

And who can speak of his descendants?

For he was cut off from the land of the living;

for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

9     He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

and with the rich in his death,

though he had done no violence,

nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10     Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,

and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering,

he will see his offspring and prolong his days,

and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

11     After the suffering of his soul,

he will see the light of life and be satisfied;

by his knowledge my righteous

servant will justify many,

and he will bear their iniquities.

12     Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,

and he will divide the spoils with the strong,

because he poured out his life unto death,

and was numbered with the transgressors.

For he bore the sin of many,

and made intercession for the transgressors.

Let us Pray...

O dear Lord, what can I say to you on this holy day? Is there any words that could come from my mouth, any thought, any sentence? You died for me, you gave all for my sins, you not only became man for me but also suffered the must cruel death for me. Is there any response? I wish that I could find a fitting response, but in contemplating your Holy Passion and Death I can only confess humbly to you that the immensity of your divine love makes any response seem totally inadequate.

Let me just stand and look at you. Your body is broken. Your head is wounded, your hands and feet are split open by nails, your side is pierced. Your dead body now rests in the arms of your Mother. It is all over now.

It is finished. It is fulfilled. It is accomplished.

Sweet Lord, gracious Lord, generous Lord, forgiving Lord, I adore you, I praise you, I thank you. You have made all things new through your passion and death. Your cross has been planted in this world as the new sign of hope.

Let me always live under your cross, O Lord, and proclaim the hope of your cross unceasingly. Amen

Psalm 22

1     My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

2     O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,

by night, and am not silent.

3     Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.

4     In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.

5     They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

6     But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.

7     All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

8     “He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

9     Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast.

10     From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

11     Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.

14     I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.

15     My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.

16     Dogs have surrounded me;

a band of evil men has encircled me,

they have pierced my hands and my feet.

17     I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.

18     They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

19     But you, O Lord, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

20     Deliver my life from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs.

21     Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22     I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.

Let us Pray

Lord today we remember the day that You offered Your life to the Father for the salvation of humankind, for the salvation of Your creation. Lord we remember that the Father so loved the world, that He was prepared for His only beloved Son to be crushed by the weight of our sin. Lord today we join with those You have bought back from hell to pray that all would receive the grace You offer because of Your unselfish love.

Lord we pray for Your holy Church throughout the world. Timeless Father, may You guide her by Your Spirit and gather us together as a mother hen gathers her chicks. Lord do not forsake us. Lord may we worship You in unity, sacrificing to share Your peace.

Lord as Church leaders navigate Your Church through the straits of history, may You have your hand on their shoulder. Lord guide the work of Your Church that we would be a broadcaster of Good News to a Bad News world.

Lord bless all who serve in Your Church, with hands and hearts.

Lord may Your bride be beautiful in Your sight.

Amen

Hebrews 10 16

“This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”

17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”

18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

!! Let us pray. . .

Soul of Christ, sanctify me

Body of Christ, save me

Blood of Christ, inebriate me

Water from the side of Christ, wash me

Passion of Christ, strengthen me

O Good Jesus, hear me

Within thy wounds, hide me

Permit me not to be separated from Thee

From the wicked foe defend me

At the hour of my death call me

And bid me to come to Thee

That with Thy saints I may praise Thee

For ever and ever. Amen. - Ignatius of Loyola

Matthew DVD    1: 26 to 1: 37: 42

Today is Good Friday, because Jesus bore the punishment that bought us peace.

Each of us today have a small pew slip with the start of 3 statements on. Please take a moment to search your heart before God this morning. Because He was forsaken, you can be forgiven.

Lord forgive me for

Lord set me free from

Lord I choose to forgive           Leave when nailed to cross

The Two Basins

At the front of the Church this morning I placed two basins of water and two towels.

Two basins of water are mentioned in the Easter story - one used by Jesus on the night before his death to wash the feet of his disciples, and one used by Pontius Pilate as a way of absolving himself of any responsibility for the death of Jesus. Two basins of water - two very ordinary things - but they stand for two totally different attitudes to life.

The first basin is symbolic of the attitude of Jesus throughout his whole life - the servant of all who was prepared to become the household slave. Imagine God washing your feet.

Jesus said that since He washed feet, we also should wash each others feet.

To take up our cross and follow Christ is to disrobe from our ridiculous public images and become a servant - not seeking status or power, not seeing ourselves as being in any way superior to other people, but being willing to serve in whatever way we can and finding our greatest joy in losing ourselves in that service. That’s the choice of Jesus’ foot basin.

The second basin stands for the one used by Pontius Pilate. Even though he says Jesus is innocent, he wasn't going to risk his own position to set Jesus free. Pilate washed his hands of the whole matter.

And so this second basin of water stands for all who refuse to become involved in the hurts, the suffering, the injustices of this world - unlike the servant who takes the risk of being abused, looked down upon, treated as being an inferior person, given no status and little reward - those who wash their hands seek to avoid all such risks. This basin stands for ears and eyes closed to human need and mouths that refuse to speak the word of love, compassion and accepting understanding.

This morning Jesus is offering you a foot scrub.

Jesus had died for your sin, but maybe you are holding back a little on asking Him to wash it away.