RIVERSIDE HOME WORSHIP
Good Friday, April 10th
A selection of readings, prayer, and hymns for Good Friday worship at home.
CALL TO WORSHIP
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
OPENING PRAYER
Heavenly Father.
In this evening hour today:
We come to remember the Carpenter’s hands nailed to a cross.
The King of kings crowned with thorns.
The Lord of lords adorned in a purple robe of mockery.
Your Son, our Savior, crucified.
And we come to remember that He did it for us.
To set us free from sin by His blood.
To bring us peace with You through His Sacrifice.
To heal us and make us new in Him.
Bless us in this time, we pray.
That as we remember the cross tonight,
You might teach us its meaning once again
and help us to take up our cross and follow Him.
We ask this, in Jesus’ Name, on this, Your Good Friday.
Amen.
OPENING SONG
“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”
O When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride
Forbid me Lord that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ, my God
All the vain things that charm me most
I sacrifice them to His blood
See, from His head, His hands, His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did e’er such love and Sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown
Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were an offering far too small
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
CHILDREN’S LESSON
“Our Debt Paid”
In home church tonight, Paul is going to teach us about Jesus our Savior.
Just like last Sunday, today is a really important day for our faith. It’s the day we remember what Jesus did for us on the cross to save us from our sins.
Let’s think about it like this:
I have a one dollar bill…and you can have it. I also have a ten dollar bill…and you can have it too. And, I have a twenty dollar bill…and you can have that one too.
That’s thirty-one dollars! And it’s all yours!
Unless you’ve ever done anything wrong (like disobeying your parents, or hurting your brother, or sister, or friend, or hurting God’s heart by doing something He doesn’t want you to). If you’ve done something wrong, you have to give back the dollar. And if you’ve ever hurt someone else or made them sad, then you have to give back the ten. And if you’ve ever done something that makes God’s heart sad, which is both of the first two, then you have to give me the twenty…
Uh oh.
But it get’s worse.
See, I also need a dollar for every single time you’ve done something wrong. And I need a ten for every single time you’ve ever hurt someone. And I need a twenty for every single time you’ve hurt God’s heart. And…… I’m going to need one of those for every single time you will do any of that, ever, in your whole life.
“But you already took all my money Pastor Ben! I’m broke! How can I pay you if I don’t have any more money?!”
Well, you can’t, right?
And that’s what sin is like. Every single time we do something wrong, hurt someone else, and make God’s heart sad — we build up a debt (that means we owe God something for disobeying Him and how He wants us to live). And what’s even worse, we’re spiritually broke. We have nothing to pay God with!
What could we ever do?
Well, says Paul in Colossians, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, [that means spiritually broke, without one penny and with no hope] God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.”
Did you hear that?
God, in Jesus, took it all away!
You see, when Jesus went to the Cross, and gave His life in our place, He paid it all! Your debt, my debt, your mom and dad — for every single person who believes in Jesus, the debt is gone — we’re forgiven and free!
Oh, what a Good Friday indeed!
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for loving us.
And thank You for sending Jesus to save us and pay the debt for all our sins.
Please help us to be thankful forever and ever.
Amen.
Jesus Loves Me, This I Know
Jesus loves me, this I know,
for the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong;
they are weak, but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus love me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.
A PRAYER FOR GOOD FRIDAY
Almighty God — God of Love, Mercy, and Grace.
As we now gather our hearts in prayer on the evening of this Friday called ‘Good’ — we come, O God — as those once again cut to the heart and with hearts that find the deepest depth of Joy.
For, O God, how could we—as we turn our gaze to the violence of planks and nails atop that hill of Golgotha—not find our hearts cut to the very core as we remember what was necessary for our Salvation?
How could we not find them contrite on account of our Savior’s suffering in our place?
How could we not find them shamed in knowing that our sin made it necessary?
How could we not find them repentant at the blood shed and life given to extend complete forgiveness?
How could we not, in this day, find ourselves cut to the heart?
And yet, O God, how could we—as we find our gaze then filled with the Love, Mercy, and Grace displayed in the Sacrificial Lamb upon the Cross—not find our hearts to overflow with Joy in what was done for our Salvation?
How could we not find them to marvel at such self-giving Love?
How could we not stand in awe of such lavished Mercy?
How could we not revel in the wonder of this unmerited favor we call Grace?
How could we not, in this day, well up in Joy at the glory of the Cross of Christ Jesus?
And so, O God, in these we pray:
For our hearts — that You would use this evening remembrance to continue to cut away any stone of rebellion and inspire us, by the working of Your Spirit, to continue to put to death the old self for the new heart of flesh like Jesus.
And, for any heart that finds itself in defeat because of denial of sin or in fear because of condemnation — that both might be freed — in being laid bare at the foot of the Cross and assured by the Love and Mercy which eternally flow mingled down from upon it.
For this Body of Christ — that You would use this evening hour to continue to instill in us the selfless sacrifice of our Savior and inspire us, by the working of Your Spirit, into unity of faith and fellowship of Christlike love.
And, though we are apart in body — that our congregational heart might be strengthened in the bond of the Spirit — in being reminded that our Savior’s grand victory over sin came through such seeming defeat.
And lastly Father, we pray for our world in this challenging time.
For all those who have fallen victim to this virus – all those who seek to care for them and find the cure – all those in governance who search for the best measures by which to combat its spread – a world, national, and local economy that is to find painful affects for many days to come – and for all of us amidst this time.
Of difficulty and frustration.
Of loneliness in isolation or stressful-busyness in a perpetually-packed home.
Of economic loss or loss of employment.
Of missing-out on milestones of young life or missing-deeply friends and family.
Of uncertainty, of concern, of wondering, and of even fear.
Father, be near to us all — to remind us that Your heart is not absent. That Your Spirit is still mightily at work in Your world. And that Christ has suffered for its sin, its death, and its disease that we might – by grace through faith in Him – one day know the victory over it all.
Because of this day’s Cross and the Sunday morning soon to come.
We raise our prayer in Jesus’ precious Name.
Amen.
Resolved – Savior (Good Friday)
A selection of readings, prayer, and hymns for Good Friday worship at home – video is without narration.
A SCRIPTURE READING FOR GOOD FRIDAY
Psalms 22:1-2
‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.’
and Colossians 2:13-14
‘When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.’
CLOSING SONG
“Were You There”
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
