Bulletin – Friday, April 3, 2026 – Good Friday

Friday April 3, 2026
Good Friday

We Gather as People of Faith

Welcome

Call to Worship

What a gift that we gather at the Cross as community and as followers of the Jesus Way. When so many turn away, from the pain of the world, we are here. We are God’s faithful in Christ, our hope and our Salvation

Anthem – “We Remember”

As we gather here, we remember how you turned the water into wine;
How you fed the hungry crowd with five loaves of bread,
How you healed the sick and the blind.
As we gather here, we remember how you gave your life on the tree.
We remember, Lord, you sacrifice, we remember Calvary.

As we gather here, we remember how you freely gave to those in need,
How you shared your Father’s love, his undying care,
With each word, each thought, every deed.
As we gather here, we remember how you gave your life on the tree.
We remember, Lord, your sacrifice, we remember Calvary.

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.

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.
We remember, Lord, your sacrifice,
We remember Calvary.

Prayer of Approach and Confession

All:      Christ is the Free Man.
One:   Look at Him, my soul, at His nakedness, His Blood, His sweat. The Eternal Prisoner! The soldiers Beat Him, cursing and laughing drunkenly. In each blow there is contempt and greed. Are the Roman soldiers not masters of the world? Do we not suffer the same pride, and abuse of power at times?

All:      Christ is the Free man.
One:   Even in his anguish and shame he takes pity on the soldiers. He calls out to God to forgive them all. He has nothing but a body now and the soldiers abuse him. Look at Him, my soul.

All:      Christ is a Free Man; the only free one in Jerusalem.
One:   Pilates’ empire is a prison, Caiaphas’ religion is a prison. Judas’ dream is a prison. Peter’s confusion is a prison. Herod’s ambition is a prison.

All:      Christ alone is free.

(Adapted from EATA Readings; Celtic Daily Prayer: Book Two Farther Up and Farther Down)

Words of Assurance

My soul stands at the foot of the cross with the crucified one. There, by His side, under the last of soldiers, his hands wide. He offers forgiveness and reconciliation for a broken world

Jesus, who bore such pain upon the cross, and suffered the nails in His Feet and in His hands, turn to us we plead, and we will turn to You, and may we never turn from You Again. In You is our hope and salvation. Amen.

Sung Response – “I Come to the Cross”

I come to the cross seeking mercy and grace.
I come to the cross where You died in my place.
Out of my weakness and into Your strength,
Humbly, I come to the cross.

Your arms are open, You call me by name.
You welcome this child that was lost.
You paid the price for my guilt and my shame.
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come,
Jesus, I come to the cross. 

We Hear God’s Word

The Passion Story of Jesus the Christ

The Denial

A Reading from the Prophet Isaiah: 53:6

⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

A Reading from the Gospel of John: 18:15-26

¹⁵ Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, ¹⁶ but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in.

¹⁷ “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter.

He replied, “I am not.” ¹⁸ It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself. ¹⁹ Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.

²⁰ “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. ²¹ Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.” ²² When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded. ²³ “If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” ²⁴ Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

²⁵ Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. So they asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” He denied it, saying, “I am not.”

²⁶ One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” ²⁷ Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.

Reflection and Prayers

Response

One:   Why oh God have we denied your truth and justice?
All:      Lord have Mercy.

One:   Christ have Mercy
All:      Lord of Mercy

Sung Response: “Gentle Jesus, Mighty Spirit”

Gentle Jesus, mighty Spirit,
Come inflame our hearts anew,
We may all your joy inherit
If we bear the cross with you,
If we bear the cross with you.

The Trial

A Reading from the Prophet Isaiah: 53:7-8

⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. ⁸ By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people.

A Reading from the Gospel of John: 19:1-16

¹ Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. ² The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe ³ and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.

⁴ Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” ⁵ When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

⁶ As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.” ⁷ The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” ⁸ When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, ⁹ and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

¹¹ Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” ¹² From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” ¹³ When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). ¹⁴ It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. ¹⁵ But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

Reflections and Prayers

Response

One:   Why oh God have we cast judgement and condemnation?
All:      Christ have Mercy.

One:   Lord have Mercy.
All:      Christ Have Mercy.

Sung Response: “Gentle Jesus, Mighty Spirit”

Gentle Jesus, mighty Spirit,
Come inflame our hearts anew,
We may all your joy inherit
If we bear the cross with you,
If we bear the cross with you.

The Crucifixion

A Reading from the Prophet Isaiah 53:12a.

¹² Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

A Reading from the Gospel of John 19:17-27

¹⁶ So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. ¹⁷ Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). ¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

¹⁹ Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. ²¹ The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

²² Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

²³ When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

²⁴ “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said, “They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”

So this is what the soldiers did.

²⁵ Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,”  ²⁷ and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

Reflection and Prayers

Response

One:   Why oh God have we abandoned you?
All:      Christ have Mercy.

One:   Lord have Mercy.
All:      Christ Have Mercy.

Sung Response: “Gentle Jesus, Mighty Spirit”

Gentle Jesus, mighty Spirit,
Come inflame our hearts anew,
We may all your joy inherit
If we bear the cross with you,
If we bear the cross with you.

The Death and Burial of Jesus

A Reading from the Prophet Isaiah 53:11-12

¹¹ After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. ¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

A Reading from the Gospel of John 19:28-42

²⁸ Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” ²⁹ 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. ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

³¹ Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. ³² The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. ³⁵ The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. ³⁶ These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” ³⁷ and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”

³⁸ Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. ³⁹ He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. ⁴⁰ Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. ⁴¹ At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. ⁴² Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Reflection and Prayers

Response

One:   Why oh God have we abandoned you?
All:      Christ have Mercy.

One:   Lord have Mercy.
All:      Christ Have Mercy.

Sung Response: “Gentle Jesus, Mighty Spirit”

Gentle Jesus, mighty Spirit,
Come inflame our hearts anew,
We may all your joy inherit
If we bear the cross with you,
If we bear the cross with you.

May God speak to us through these readings of scripture.
Thanks be to God!

Please join in the singing of the hymn – “Beneath the Cross of Jesus” (Voices United #135)

Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand:
The shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land,
A home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noon-tide heat and the burden of the day.

Upon the cross of Jesus my eyes at times can see
The very dying form of one who suffered there for me;
And from my smitten heart, with tears, two wonders I confess,
The wonder of his glorious love, and my unworthiness.

I take, O cross, your shadow for my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of his face,
Content to let the world go by, to know no gain nor loss,
My sinful self my only shame, my glory all, the cross.

We Respond to God’s Word

The Prayer that Jesus Taught:

One:   Please join me in praying the prayer Jesus taught us to pray: Our Creator who is like…
All:      Our Mother and Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil; for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

We Go Into God’s World

Candle Liturgy

One:   Never doubt the meaning of Lent and the centrality of Good Friday in the Way of Jesus.  It happened a long time ago, but it happened. Jesus walked on this earth. He practiced a ministry of radical inclusivity, drawing to himself all the despised and rejected members of society. He lived a life acceptable to you, O God. His death terrifies us, because it reveals how committed the world is to its own way, and the price the world exacts from those whose commitment is to you.

(Silent Time)

One:   As we extinguish this light, we acknowledge the darkness that we have spoken out loud today. Staying ever so near to the cross, we lay the suffering of the world at your feet O one of courage. That you might give us the same tenacity of spirit to follow your loving way even to the cross. We live in hope of the empty tomb. But today we lament our complicity and our shame that we abandoned you then and abandon you now in all the suffering in our midst.

(A candle is extinguished)

One:   Let us pray:
All:      What we contemplate today is beyond words, beyond understanding. May the Holy Spirit intercede for us and give voice to what, for us, is inexpressible. Amen.

Commissioning

The Broken body of Jesus is laid to rest. His Spirit crushed with the weight of the suffering of the world. And the denial of truth by those in power. Clothed in the shame of those who abandon him. In humble prayer we lament

Benediction

May we sit with the pain of those around us. That suffer too often in silence. May we embrace the pain of our own hearts. That feels too much to bear. Knowing that the death of Jesus is not the final word. As we leave our hearts are heavy. We live in hope and await the rising of the eternal spirit of Christ

Leaving In Silence