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GOOD FRIDAY
THE SEVEN SAYINGS OF OUR LORD ON THE CROSS
MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME? (Matt. 27,
46 and Mark 15, 34)
FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.
(Luke 23, 34)
VERILY, I SAY UNTO THEE, TODAY SHALT THOU BE WITH ME
IN PARADISE. (Luke 23, 43)
FATHER, INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT. (Luke 23,
46)
WOMAN, BEHOLD THY SON, (then said He to the disciple)
BEHOLD THY MOTHER. (John 19, 26)
I
THIRST. (John 19, 28)
IT IS FINISHED! (John 19, 30)
AN ORDER OF SERVICE FOR GOOD FRIDAY
**The Minister will open the Service by saying:
And the second malefactor said unto Jesus: Lord, remember
me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom. And Jesus said
unto him: VERILY, I SAY UNTO THEE, TODAY SHALT THOU
BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.
HYMN
(The congregation standing)
**The congregation being seated, the Minister will
then read the following prophecies from Isaiah 52 and
53:
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him
that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace,
that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth
salvation, that saith unto Zion: Thy God reigneth!
Thy watchman shall lift up the voice; with the voice
together they sing, for they shall see eye to eye,
when the Lord shall bring again Zion.
Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm
of the Lord revealed? For He shall grow up before Him
a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground.
He hath no form nor comliness; and when we shall see
Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our
faces from Him.
** The Minister will then say:
LET US PRAY.
O
TENDER Father, we thank Thee for the gift of Thy Son
Jesus Christ, Who came to live on Earth as man, to
be our example in loving obedience to Thy Will. In
His great love He endured the agony of the Garden and
the Cross that He might bring all men into fellowship
with Thee. Grant us Thy Holy Spirit so that we may
have grace to follow in His footsteps, and work with
Him to establish Thy kingdom of peace on Earth, to
the glory of Thy Name. Amen
**All will say the Lord's Prayer together:
OUR FATHER, Who art in Heaven, all 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. When in temptation Thy love sustains us,
and deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom,
the Power and the Glory. For ever and for ever. Amen.
**After a brief pause the Minister will continue:
Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows;
yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised
for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was
upon Him; and with His stripes, we are healed.
All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned,
everyone to his own way.
He was afflicted; yet he opened not His mouth. He is
brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
before the shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His
mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgement; and He
made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in
His death, because He had done no violence; neither
was any deceit in His mouth.
Isaiah 53, 4
**Here follows a brief pause, followed by a Hymn.
HYMN
**After the Hymn, the Minister will continue:
When Pilate saw he could prevail nothing, but that rather
a tumult was made, he took water and washed his hands
before the multitude, saying: I am innocent of the
blood of this just person, see ye to it.
And they stripped Him, and put on Him a scarlet robe;
and platted a crown of thorns for His head. And when
they were come to a place called Golgotha, that is
to say, the place of a skull, they crucified Him.
Matthew 27, 24
Minister:
LORD Jesus, by Thy loneliness and suffering on the Cross,
draw near unto all who are desolate and in pain or
sorrow this day.
Heal the sick,
Comfort the bereaved,
Sustain the anxious.
Visit with Thy redeeming love all who are in trouble.
May Thy Presence transform their loneliness into comfort,
and their darkness into holy fellowship with Thee.
Amen.
**Then follows a moment's pause, after which the Minister
will say:
As Jesus was nailed to the Cross, with the two male-factors
that were with Him, He uttered this prayer:
FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud
voice, saying: MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST TH0U FORSAKEN
ME?
Minister:
O
SAVIOUR Christ, Whose love is without measure, grant
unto us a greater consciousness of our frailty and
our weakness. May we ever remember that Thy cry of
loneliness on the Cross was permitted so that in our
seeming desolation this link with Thee might bring
forth our courage, and raise our souls closer to God,
our Father, even as Thou didst in Thine hour of agony.
Amen.
**Here follows a moment's pause; after which the Minister
will say:
When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple standing
by, whom He loved, He said unto His mother: WOMAN,
BEHOLD THY SON. Then said He to the disciple: BEHOLD
THY MOTHER. And from that hour the disciple took her
unto his own home.
**The Minister will then say:
Let us remember the comforting and blessed words of
the promise of our Lord:
If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love,
even as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide
in His love. Ye are My friends if ye do whatsoever
I command you. These things I command you, that ye
love one another.
**Here follows a brief pause, after which the Minister
will say:
Jesus, knowing all things were accomplished that the
Scriptures might be fulfilled, saith: I THIRST.
**The following hymn may be said by the Minister alone
or sung by the congregation (Tune A. & M. 119):
His are the thousand sparkling rills,
That from a thousand fountains burst,
And fill with music all the hills,
And yet, He saith, "I thirst."
All fiery pangs on battlefields,
On fever beds, where sick men toss,
Are in that human cry He yields,
To anguish on the Cross.
But more than pains that racked Him then
Was the deep longing, thirst Divine,
That thirsted for the souls of men.
Dear Lord, and one was mine!
O Love most patient, give me grace,
Make all my soul athirst for Thee,
That parched dry lip, that fading face,
That thirst - were all for me.
(Mrs. C. F. Alexander)
**The Minister will then continue:
Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar, and they
filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop,
and put it to His mouth. When Jesus had received the
vinegar He said: IT IS FINISHED!
And Jesus said: FATHER, INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY
SPIRIT, and having said thus, He gave up the ghost.
And behold, the Veil of the Temple was rent in twain
from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake
and the rocks rent.
Matthew 27: 51
When the centurion, which stood against Him, saw that
He cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said: "Truly,
this man was the Son of God."
**Here follows a short silence, after which the Minister
will say:
LET US PRAY
ALMIGHTY FATHER, we humbly beseech Thee mercifully to
behold this, Thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ
was willing to be betrayed and delivered into the hands
of wicked men, and to suffer death upon the Cross.
GRANT that we may so accept the gift of His sacrifice
that we may glorify His Name by our living service
to all, and in company with saints, martyrs, prophets
and just men and women, be worthy to par-take also
of Thy blessing, through the love and power of Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
**Here follows a short pause, after which the Minister
will continue with a brief Address:
Dear Friends, in remembrance of our Saviour's love for
all mankind, shown at Calvary, we have tried to follow
Him in our hearts and minds along the road of His physical
and spiritual agony to the Cross, and the surrendering
of His earthly life for the help of mankind.
What is the lesson we learn from this? Is it not that
in degree we shall likewise be willing to suffer for
the sake of those we love? But ever we must remem-ber
that our first duty to those who are near and dear
to us is to try and influence them to face their troubles
with calmness, and to hold fast to faith in spite of
all that would assail.
As we go back over the past we read for our learning
of the many noble souls who suffered in order to raise
up humanity from the materialism and evil of the world.
And because these souls still live and work for Christ
in the World of Spirit, we can draw power from them,
and in the hour of test and trial show something of
endurance. In the degree that this is possible, so
will be our joy in the Life to come, where service
with perfect freedom is open to each and every one.
May the strength be given so that our courage may never
fail, and may the Holy Spirit guide us ever into the
way of spiritual peace.
Now unto Him Who loved us and gave Himself for us,
be praise and worship and glory, with the Father, for
ever. Amen.
HYMN
**The Minister will then let the people depart with
this blessing:
The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of
God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with
us all evermore. Amen.
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