Good Friday Service April 7, 2023

Fruitland United Methodist Church
April 7, 2023
Good Friday

Opening Prayer – Pastor (Responsive)
In the name of Christ we gather on this day of Good Friday to remember anew the struggle of the cross and the final victory.
With you, Lord, we wish to remain.
Let us walk together to the cross, see our Lord’s suffering, hear his voice pleading for drink, and asking for pardon for those who tortured him mercilessly.
O, how to hold back the tears in the midst of so much pain? And even then, you taught us how to love.
When the day darkened and it seemed to envelop the whole earth, we thought all was lost. 
But amid the darkness, we saw your light.
It was there when the sun darkened and the temple veil tore in half that we heard your voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Then there was peace.
In the midst of life’s darkness, peace also comes when, with complete confidence, we offer ourselves
to you, beloved Lord.
Because in that hour of darkness and pain your light shone brightly when the centurion exclaimed,
“Truly this man is the Son of God.”
With you, Lord, we wish to remain.

John 18: 1 – 18 – Liturgist Pew Bible Page 1681-2

Prayer – Pastor
Merciful God, we gather to recount and recall the injustice, pain, and suffering your Son endured on
the cross at the hands of sinful humanity. Grant us awareness as we enter the story of Christ’s Passion,
that in not shirking away from Christ’s suffering, we would be surprised by grace, because even in
humiliating and shameful death, your love never failed. Train our hearts on the Light that is the life of
all people, that as the darkness encroaches, we might remain tenacious in hope and persistent in
love. Amen.

John 18: 19-40 – Liturgist Pew Bible Page 1682-3

Special Poem – The Crucifixion by James Weldon Johnson

Prayer of Confession – Pastor
Faithful God, we stand in the dim shadows of a cross, longing for Resurrection. But today we pause to
remember the pain of the cross and the pain of the crosses we’ve faced. As the disciples wept on
that fateful day so long ago, we weep for the Savior and for the tree, and all the trees that one
represented, from which he hung. As those first disciples wondered whether that fateful day was the
end of their dreams, we admit we are afraid that our dream of a just, nonviolent world is fleeting and
in peril of death. Help us, God, as we live in the tension between death and your seeming silence,
the time after the crucifixion and before the Resurrection—in the name and pain of the Crucified
One, Amen.

John 19: 1-27 – Liturgist Pew Bible Page 1683-5

*”Were You There” UMH# 288

John 19: 28-42 – Liturgist Pew Bible Page 1685

Benediction – Pastor
As you go, carry with you the tears of sorrow, the humility of questioning, and the silence of waiting as
we sit at the tomb of Jesus, our Savior. May your tears, humility, and silence be blessed and bound
together with hope that cannot be extinguished. Amen.