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Good Friday, April 10
To access our worship service online, please visit our website at www.umcw.org/sermons
(The service has been pre-recorded.)
Seven Last Words of Jesus
A series of reflections are offered on each word. It will be very effective in moving the worshipers into a deeper appreciation of the passion of Christ. Each word or phrase will be read, applied to our life experience, and followed by silence where we enter the void of all being.
Order of Worship
Good Friday
April 10, 2020
           
Gathering as the Body of Christ (Pastor Seok-Hwan Hong)

Welcome
 
Call to Worship (Bev and Dave Welsh)
Liturgist:  A cradle and a cross and between these—a life.
People:     Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
Liturgist:  A birth and a death.  
People:     One “of sorrows” who often wept,
Liturgist:  One of joy who also kept   
People:   Sensitivity and compassions, Alive and real. 
Liturgist:  Today let us feel
People:   The surge of that life.
Liturgist:  The beauty of that love,  
People:   The power of that cross.
 
Opening Prayer (Nancy Burns)
Almighty God, your Son Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross so that he might draw the whole world to himself. Grant that we, who glory in this death for our salvation, may also glory in his call to take up our cross and follow him; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
Opening Hymn Were You There ? arr Barbara Kinyon
Performed by the UMCW Bell Choir, March 29, 2013
In Memory of Marcia Chamberlain
 
The Words of Jesus on the CROSS
(Pastor)
 Christ Jesus died on the Cross to redeem mankind, to save us from our sins, because He loves us. As recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the Holy Bible, Jesus Christ was mocked, scorned, and tortured in the praetorium; carried his cross up the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem to Calvary, nailed to the Cross, hung between two common criminals, and suffered an indescribable end. One may meditate on the Passion of Christ by reflecting on his Seven Words, the last seven expressions of Jesus Christ on the Cross recorded in Scripture.
 
THE FIRST WORD
Luke 23:32-34 - “A WORD OF FORGIVENESS”
(Nancy Burns)
Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
[20 SECOND MEDITATION]
 
(Pastor)
Lord Jesus Christ, forgive us for our ignorance. We too, at times, like the soldiers who pierced your hands and feet, who crucified you on a piece of wood, do not know what we are doing when we blindly follow the ways of the world. Your law reveals our sin but your death on the cross paid for our sin. By faith we trust in you for your complete forgiveness. Amen.
 
CONGREGATIONAL HYMN - UMH #286
"O Sacred Head, Now Wounded"  (vs 1)
 
THE SECOND WORD  
Luke 23:38-43 - “A WORD OF PROMISE”
(Preeti Wesley)
There was a written notice above him, which read:
THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don't you fear God,” he said,
“since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
[20 SECOND MEDITATION]
 
(Pastor)
Lord Jesus Christ, look on us with the same compassionate eyes with which you looked upon the thief on the cross so that as we confess our sins and as we humbly ask as he did, “Lord remember us when you come into your kingdom,” we may be assured that we, too, one day, will be with you in paradise. Amen.
 
CONGREGATIONAL HYMN - UMH #286
"O Sacred Head, Now Wounded"  (vs 2)

THE THIRD WORD
John 19:25-27 - “A WORD OF CARE”
(Jill Lohmeier)
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home." 
[20 SECOND MEDITATION]
 
(Pastor)
Lord Jesus Christ, you were the perfect Son – obedient, caring, thoughtful and full of love. Even as you suffered hell on the cross you obeyed the fourth commandment as you made provisions for the mother you would leave behind. Fill us with the same obedience, care, thoughtfulness, and love as we fill our earthly roles as both parents and children. Amen.
 
CONGREGATIONAL HYMN - UMH #286
"O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" (vs 3)

THE FOURTH WORD
Matthew 27:45-49 - “A WORD OF ABANDONMENT”
(Doug Keele)
Scripture quotation from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press
 
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. he rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.
[20 SECOND MEDITATION] 
 
(Pastor)
Lord Jesus Christ, your love and determination cannot be expressed by human words. You were willing to be forsaken by your heavenly Father – you were forsaken by your heavenly Father – to spare us the agony of being eternally forsaken by him. Human words cannot express our gratitude. Accept our humble thanks for what you willingly did for us on the cross. Amen.
 
CONGREGATIONAL HYMN - UMH #294  
"Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed"  (vs 1)
 
THE FIFTH WORD
 John 19:28-29 - “A WORD OF FULFILLMENT”
(Pete Seymour)
Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.
[20 SECOND MEDITATION]
 
(Pastor)
Lord Jesus Christ, we see your thirst as a reminder that you became one of us so that you could take our place and suffer what we would not have been able to endure. Because you thirsted on the cross, because you suffered there, we have the privilege to drink from the wells of salvation and never thirst again. Amen.
 
CONGREGATIONAL HYMN - UMH #294  
"Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed"  (vs 2)
 
THE SIXTH WORD   
John 19:30 - “A WORD OF ASSURANCE”
(Jill Lohmeier)
When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished"; and he bowed his head and handed over the spirit. Gospel of John 19:30
[20 SEC MEDITATION]
 
(Pastor)
Lord Jesus Christ, when you said, “it is finished,” when you said, “paid in full,” you assured us that our sin had been completely paid for and that there is nothing we need to do – nothing we can do – to earn that forgiveness for ourselves. How amazing that you grant us our forgiveness free of charge. May all we do in life show our gratitude for this indescribable gift! Amen.
 
CONGREGATIONAL HYMN - UMH #294
"Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed"  (vs 3)
 
THE SEVENTH WORD
Luke 23:44-46 - “A WORD OF TRUST”
(Preeti Wesley)
It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
[20 SEC MEDITATION]

(Pastor)
Lord Jesus Christ, you placed your trust in your heavenly Father as you died on the cross. As we face death all day long, as we carry our cross for you, give to us that same level of trust that you displayed in your dying breath. Give to us a trust that does not question the will of God, so that whatever may happen to us, we will know that it is according to your plan for our lives. Amen.
 
Blessings

Copyright Information
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
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