This year for Good Friday, I put together a worship service based on the Advent themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. In Advent, as we prepare to welcome Jesus—who is Emmanuel, God with us—into the world, we light one candle per week on the Advent wreath to mark these themes. In this Good Friday worship service, we extinguished each of those candles while reflecting on how the meaning of Jesus’ death connects to each of those themes.
I don’t have a sermon per se, but I did offer reflections throughout the service, so this post includes the entire service outline with Scripture readings, music selections, prayers, and my sermon reflection pieces. The musical selections intentionally include songs from both our Christ the King praise band and more traditional Lutheran Good Friday hymns accompanied by organ.
The first part immediately under the livestream recording is the introduction provided for the congregation in the bulletin. Here’s the livestream from this unique joint Good Friday service at Christ the King.
Welcome to Good Friday worship. In tonight’s service, we connect the good news of God’s entry into the world at Christmas to the sacrificial love shown on the cross by that same Jesus, the good news that makes this Friday “Good.”
Tonight, we reflect on the light Jesus brings into the world and the ways we through our sin extinguish that light. This service is shaped around the Advent themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, and as we worship, the sanctuary is progressively dimmed as we approach the darkness caused by our sin, a shadow which will be overcome on Sunday by the light of our risen Savior.
Call to Worship
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good.
What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
Gathering Hymn: #296 What Child is This (vv. 1-2)
Introduction to the Day
Pastor: In the beginning, God declared creation good. God made humanity to enjoy God’s good creation, placing us in the garden, providing everything we needed for life. And yet, in rebellion, we and our ancestors and all of humanity turned away from God. We sought life elsewhere, on our own terms. We sought to take the place of God.
Our sin separated us from God. Following our own path severed our communion with our divine Creator, our Heavenly Father. And yet God refused to remain separated from us. For thousands of years, God sent prophets to call God’s people back into right relationship with their Creator. Sacrifices expunged the guilt of the people, satisfying the law’s demands for justice.
Still, rebellion continued. Even as our ancestors have rebelled, we continue to seek our own path, curving in on ourselves, looking out our own self-benefit, rather than living the way God has called us.
We place our hope in things other than God, the source of life.
We seek peace on our own terms, instead of caring for the benefit of others.
We find joy in things that are temporary, lording our power over others rather than working for the good of all.
And we reject God’s love for us, trying to accept the gift of love only on our own terms.
But God was not willing to give up. God’s love for creation was so strong that when we refused to listen to the prophets, when exile and sacrifice and earthly rulers proved insufficient, God came in person.
Jesus Christ—the Son of God—entered the world to proclaim the nearness of God’s kingdom, to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed free. Jesus came to turn the world upside down, casting the mighty down from their thrones.
And the mighty responded by arresting and executing him. This is how we got here. This is the situation. This is the scandal of the cross. Rather than accepting love, we put the One who embodies infinite, eternal love to death.
Jesus’ entry into the human experience, begun at Christmas, culminates in his death on Good Friday as the consequence of our sinful rebellion.
Tonight, we remember. We repent. We sing, we pray, we reflect on the scandal of a God who has come to die. We celebrate a love great enough to experience death, great enough to put to death all that is in us that separates us from God, a love that endures death in order to bring us life.
Prayer of the Day
Let us pray…Holy and eternal God,
When we turned away from you, you refused to turn away from us. Tonight, we give you thanks for your love. We give you thanks for enduring the cross for our sake, for Jesus laying down his life so that we may live. Look with loving mercy on us tonight as we both repent of our sin and give thanks for your forgiveness, in Jesus’ name. Amen
Song: I Stand Amazed
Hope
Scripture: Matthew 6:19-21
A reading from Matthew 6.
[Jesus said,] “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Here ends the reading.
Pastor: As followers of Jesus, we ought to be the most hope-filled people on earth. We know the truth of God’s love; we know the goodness of the one we worship and serve. As Paul writes in Romans 8, “We know that in all things, God works for good for those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
And yet, tonight, we confess that too often, we put our hope in all the wrong places. We act as if our achievements, our earnings, and our earthly trophies are what give us worth. Please join me in the confessional litany.
We place our hope in temporary things; we are distracted by the shiny things of this world,
Yet Jesus calls us to store up treasures in heaven.
We place our hope in ourselves, in our own efforts,
Yet Jesus says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
We allow this world’s struggles to overwhelm us, worrying about a future we can’t control,
Yet Jesus promises to prepare a place for us in His Father’s house.
Forgive us, O God, for turning away from you as our source of hope.
Pastor: In the moment of Jesus’ death, it appeared hope was lost. As we extinguish the candle of hope, we contemplate the futility of life without God. If we are on our own, then the wages of sin is death. If death gets the last word, then God’s promises are false and our faith in vain. Yet this Friday is not the end of the story.
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:16-22
A reading from 1 Corinthians 15.
For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. Here ends the reading.
Hymn #666 What Wondrous Love Is This, vv. 1-2
Peace
Scripture: Isaiah 9:6-7
A reading from Isaiah 9.
For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. Here ends the reading.
Pastor: On that night in which he was betrayed, when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and his disciples tried to defend him, he commanded Peter to put his sword away. Rather than fight, Jesus willingly gave his life away. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
When many in the crowds looked for a conquering hero, a violent revolutionary to rescue them from the physical enemies who oppressed them, Jesus preached a way of peace. The Prince of Peace called his followers to turn the other cheek to those who would strike it, to love even their enemies. When the way of the world demands an eye for an eye, Jesus calls his followers to a way of love.
Let us pray…God our Redeemer,
For our sake, you suffered death on the cross. It was not nails that held you there, but love for your children. Tonight, we confess our participation in strife and our love for violence and power. We ask for your forgiveness, that you would bless our world with your peace which surpasses all understanding, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Pastor: The story of Good Friday is a story of violence, a story of soldiers and crucifixion, a story of the powerful maintaining their rule by force. Peace seems like an impossible dream. As we extinguish the candle of peace, we consider the ways violence is still present in our world today.
And yet, even through these instruments of violence, precisely through the brutality of the cross, God was at work reconciling the world. In God’s reign, swords are beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.
Scripture: Colossians 1:15-20
A reading from Colossians 1.
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Here ends the reading.
Song: You Gave Your Life Away
Joy
Scripture: Psalm 13
Please join me in responsively reading Psalm 13.
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God! Give light to my eyes,
Or I will sleep the sleep of death, and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”; my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Pastor: As followers of Jesus, we know that lasting joy comes from knowing God. Paul tells the early Christians in Philippi to “Rejoice in the Lord always.”
He says it again, “Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident otherwise all. The Lord is near.” Psalm 16 says, “In God’s presence, there is fullness of joy; in the Lord’s right hand are pleasures forevermore.” And yet, so often it is hard to feel God’s presence. We wander astray like sheep without a shepherd, our sins building up barriers between us and God. Even when we repent and seek God, God’s presence can feel distant.
On Good Friday, Scripture tells us, Jesus himself bore our sins in his body on the cross. Carrying the weight of our sins, he felt separated from God. Listen to the words of Psalm 22, which Jesus cried out from the cross. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry day by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.”
As we extinguish the candle of joy, I wonder: Have you ever felt God’s absence? Have you ever wondered if perhaps God has abandoned you? But it was in this moment when Jesus felt most alone, that he was accomplishing God’s work. Here, on the cross—this is the moment of salvation, the moment when Jesus put to death all those things that separated us from God. I invite you into a moment of silence to reflect on both the abandonment Jesus felt, and on the work he accomplished for us on the cross.
[moment of silence]
As difficult and painful as it is for us to feel separated from God, God feels that same pain. And God is not willing to leave us in that condition.
No matter what we’ve done or left undone, no matter what sins separate us from God, Jesus loves us anyway. Our greatest source of joy is found in what Jesus has done for us on the cross. And as we’ll hear on Sunday morning, God transforms the cross—this symbol of death—into the symbol of life.
Song: At the Cross
Love
Scripture: John 15:8-16
A reading from John.
[Jesus said,] “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” Here ends the reading.
Pastor: As followers of Jesus, our primary call is to love. The first commandment, Jesus says, is to love God with all that we are, and the second is like it: To love our neighbors as ourselves. Following Jesus means living in love. Good Friday is both the ultimate example of God’s love for us, and the supreme failure of humanity’s love for one another. Crucifixion is the exact opposite of love.
As we extinguish the candle of love, I invite you to rise and join me in confession, first spoken, and then by singing verses 1-3 of our confessional hymn #349, Ah, Holy Jesus.
Most holy and merciful God,
we confess to you and to one another,
and before the whole company of heaven,
that we have sinned by our fault,
by our own fault,
by our own most grievous fault,
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done and by what we have left undone.
We pray to God Almighty to have mercy on us,
forgive us all our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen
(This Prayer of Confession is from the ELW Ash Wednesday service)
Hymn: #349, Ah, Holy Jesus, vv. 1-3
Scripture: 1 John 4:7-12
A reading from First John.
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us. Here ends the reading.
Pastor: The scandal of the cross is that the One without sin takes our sin. The One who is eternal takes the place of all of us and dies.
When our love fails, God’s love continues. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we are forgiven; we are restored; and we are given new life.
Song: Beautiful Scandalous Night
Light of the World
Scripture: John 1:1-10
A reading from John.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. Here ends the reading.
Scripture: Luke 23:44-49
A reading from Luke.
It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last. When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.” And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. Here ends the reading.
Pastor: Jesus testified, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Jesus came into this world to reveal to us who God is. He came to be the lamp for our feet and the light unto our path that the Psalmist spoke of.
Good Friday shows the worst of humanity, the worst we are capable of, because on the cross, we did our best to extinguish that light. We smothered the light of the world. For hours, as the light of the world hung on a cross, the world was darkened.
As we extinguish the final candle, the Christ candle, we sing one final song, #353 Were You There verses 1, 4, and 5.
Hymn: ELW #353, Were You There, vv. 1, 4, 5
Pastor: At the end of that day, it looked like evil had won. It looked like the end of the story. As the sun set, a man named Joseph of Arimathea offered space for a burial. Jesus’ body was laid in a tomb, and a stone was rolled in front of it. The Son of God was dead. Truly, that was the darkest night in all of history.
And yet, the story wasn’t over. In this ultimate moment of defeat, God was still at work. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
[Light Christ Candle]
Lord’s Prayer (whispered)