Call to Worship

Followers of Jesus, today we arrive at Pilate’s palace, hearing the cries of “Crucify! Crucify” from the crowds outside.
We come to witness Jesus, sentenced to death by religious leaders, government officials, and the crowd.

Today, we arrive at Golgotha, at the foot of the cross where only a few of Jesus’ followers dared to gather to bear witness.
We come to witness Jesus, crucified for teaching love, speaking truth, and forgiving sins.

Today, we arrive at the tomb where Jesus’ friends laid his body, a final act of love.
We come to witness Jesus, his death a testament to all that sin and evil will do to resist the power of Love to transform the world.

Today, we arrive at Good Friday to remember, once again, the story of Jesus crucified.
We come to witness Jesus, who, even in death, shows us the magnitude of God’s steadfast love that never fails.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, September 2025.

Prayer for the Day

Gracious God, we remember with love and tears the torture and death of your Son, Jesus. We believe that he was the rejected One, the despised One, the Man of sorrows bearing our griefs and wounded for the brokenness in humanity. We come to worship in deep personal repentance and recommit ourselves to recognize all crosses, ease all suffering and pain, and speak out against injustice in every time and place. Amen.

Written by Maren C. Tirabassi in Touch Holiness: Resources for Worship, Updated, ed. Ruth C. Duck and Maren C. Tirabassi (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2012), 58-59.

For use in worship services, include the following permissions statement: Reprinted by permission of the publisher from Touch Holiness, ed. Ruth C. Duck and Maren C. Tirabassi. Copyright © 1990 by The Pilgrim Press.

Prayer of Supplication

O Holy God,
the hosannas have died away,
the palm branches have turned brittle.
Now, today, there is only this –
each of us,
all of us,
sitting in the darkness,
the hymns of lament in the air,
the mumblings of our own feeble confession,
on this Friday
which we tremble to call Good.

What is good about Good Friday?
What is good about the innocent one nailed to a cross?
What is good about the darkness of war that persists today?
What is good about our devastation of the planet?
… about people living in poverty?
… about the fog of addiction, depression, disease, and despair?
What is good about the crushing weight of hunger, racism, scapegoating, apathy?

No, there is nothing good and desirable in these things.
Yet you, O God, are Good.

When suffering reigns, yours is the first heart to break.
When despair lurks about, we remember that you were there first,
peering into the abyss and crying out, incredibly:
“Father, forgive them.”

When we feel forsaken, we remember that in your last moments,
you cared for your mother and your beloved disciple,
binding them to one another as a new family.

When we feel overcome by guilt, we remember that you spoke grace to a thief:
“Today you will be with me in paradise.”

Your love for us is just that boundless,
and ever-present,
and Good.
Thank you.
What else can we say here, in the dimness,
in the darkness,
but thank you.
Amen.

Written by MaryAnn McKibben Dana, Posted on LiturgyLink, https://www.liturgylink.net/2012/04/04/good-friday-prayer-the-hosannas-have-died-away/. Re-posted on the re:Worship blog at https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-prayer-for-good-friday.html.

Benediction

May God bless you as you go from this place to reflect on the quiet of the tomb, the apparent end of the journey, as we wait and watch for God to do a new thing among us. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, September 2025.