Click or touch the hyperlink for a printable version of the Order of Worship
Dear Church Family,
We want to share with you the Order of Worship that we will use
for Good Friday on the evening of April 18, 2025.
We will start the service at 7pm. We are happy to welcome those who
are here in person, as well as those joining us from a distance.
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An Order of Service for Good Friday Evening
Prelude
Welcome
*Call to Worship:
L: There is no greater love than this:
A: that a man lay down his life for his friends.
L: The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
A: When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to myself.
L: He was despised and rejected by others,
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity.
A: Surely he has borne our grief and carried our iniquity.
L: He was afflicted for our transgressions and crushed for our offenses.
A: Upon him was laid the punishment that makes us whole,
and by his wounds we are healed.
*Opening Hymn: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross UMH 298
*Opening Prayer (in unison):
Almighty and eternal God,
you raise us up and save us through the suffering and death of Christ.
As we commemorate this marvelous work of redemption,
finish in us the work you have begun,
and plant new zeal in our hearts,
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
A reading from the Hebrew Scriptures: Isaiah 53:1-12
The Word of the Lord. THANKS BE TO GOD.
*Congregational Response: O Sacred Head Surrounded UMH 286
A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 5:7-9)
The Word of the Lord. THANKS BE TO GOD.
*Congregational Response:
Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious Battle UMH 296
Choral Presentation: Not My Will, But Yours —Lloyd Larson
Chorus 1: The Night Before the Savior Died
On the night before the Savior died, Jesus gathered the chosen few.
“I have yearned to share the sacred feast, this holy hour with you.
Drink from the cup I offer now,” the Teacher gently said.
“With broken bread, remember me and the sacrifice I’ve made.”
On the night before the Savior died, Jesus left the upper room.
To Gethsemane he went to pray, his heart was filled with gloom.
Remove this cup, my God, I pray.” The tears of anguish fell.
“Yet not my will, but yours be done,” as he sought the Father’s will.
Ah holy Jesus, how have you offended,
that mortal judgement has on you descended?
By foes derided, by your own rejected,
O most afflicted!
On the night before the Savior died, Jesus sought his Father’s will:
He embraced his Father’s will.
Chorus 2: Betrayed, Rejected, Condemned
Christ was betrayed, rejected, condemned by his very own,
yet he chose to bear sin’s heavy load.
He was denied, abandoned by those he came to save,
and alone he walked Calvary’s road.
Betrayed by Judas for thirty silver coins,
and a gentle kiss in the garden where he prayed.
Denied by Peter, his faithful loyal friend,
the ‘Rock’ who said he’d love him to the end!
Christ was betrayed, rejected, condemned by his very own,
yet he chose to bear sin’s heavy load.
He was denied, abandoned by those he came to save,
and alone he walked Calvary’s road.
Rejected by those who had hailed him as the king!
“Free Barabbas!” they loudly proclaim.
Condemned, convicted in a trial of deceit,
our Savior bore the cross of shame.
Christ was betrayed, rejected, condemned by his very own,
yet he chose to bear sin’s heavy load.
He was denied, abandoned by those he came to save,
and alone he walked Calvary’s road.
Chorus 3: Truly This Was God’s Son
The soldiers gathered round this man who was sentenced to die:
“Hail to the King!” they jeered at him with a shout of “Crucify!”
A crown of thorns placed on his head, they mocked his deity.
They placed a cross upon his back as he walked to Calvary.
Truly this was God’s holy Son, convicted and sentenced to be crucified.
Truly this was God’s chosen One, teacher, redeemer, servant and friend.
Truly this was God’s Son.
They nailed him to a wooden cross to die a criminal’s death.
They scorned him in his final hours as he labored for each breath.
“My God, have you forsaken me?” he cried in agony,
and then he breathed a final breath and died upon that tree.
Truly this was God’s holy Son, convicted and sentenced to be crucified.
Truly this was God’s chosen One, teacher, redeemer, servant and friend.
Truly this was God’s Son.
The wind grew chill upon that hill, the sky turned dark as night.
God’s plan revealed, salvation sealed by Christ the crucified.
Truly this was God’s holy Son, convicted and sentenced to be crucified.
Truly this was God’s chosen One, teacher, redeemer, servant and friend.
Truly this was God’s Son.
The Litany
L: Let us pray for the churches of God throughout the world.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Let us pray for people of other faiths.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Let us pray for those who cannot believe.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Let us pray for God’s creation and our care for the world.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Let us pray for the leaders and people of all nations.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Let us pray for all those who suffer or are in need in any way.
A: Lord, have mercy.
Choral Anthem: Arise, My Soul, Arise —Dan Forrest
Arise, my soul, arise, shake off thy guilty fears:
The bleeding Sacrifice in my behalf appears:
Before the throne, my surety stands:
My name is written on his hands.
Five bleeding wounds he bears, received on Calvary,
They pour effectual prayers, they strongly plead for me:
“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,
“Nor let that ransomed sinner die.”
My God is reconciled, his pardoning voice I hear;
He owns his child: I can no longer fear;
With confidence I now draw nigh,
And “Father, Abba, Father” cry.
Arise, my soul, arise!
And “Father, Abba, Father” cry.
Arise, my soul, arise!
L: As our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to pray:
A: 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 those who 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. Amen.
Anthem: Lord, We Praise Your Glory —Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672)
Lord, we praise your glory, as you give your life
on the cross, in sorrow, for us, in bitter pain.
You reign with God the Father in eternity:
grant us help, O Savior, as we praise your name.
Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison.
*Closing Prayer (in unison):
Almighty and ever-living God,
you have restored us to life
through the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus.
Preserve us in the work of your mercy,
let your pardon and peace come upon all the world,
and let your salvation be made known through all creation.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
*Closing Hymn: What Wondrous Love Is This UMH 292
*Benediction: UMBoW 364
L: May Jesus Christ
who for our sake became obedient unto death,
even death on the cross,
keep us all and strengthen us now and forevermore.
A: Amen.
All depart in silence.
A Note about this Evening’s Cantata
Not My will, but Yours.
These solemn words have echoed through the ages as Jesus embraced the will of the Almighty God on the night before his crucifixion. I’ve sometimes wondered if Jesus, having taken on the cloak of humanity along with his divine nature, could have rejected the will of God in his final hours. It seems that he, like all of us, was given the option of choice; of accepting or rejecting God’s call upon his life in that poignant moment. But Jesus chose the cross. He chose to walk the painful path of a criminal’s execution for our redemption.
As the apostle Paul says, it was Christ’s willingness to “humble himself and to become obedient to death — even death on a cross” that serves as the foundation stone to our faith. Without the crucifixion there is no resurrection. Without the resurrection there is no assurance of eternal life. Without Jesus embracing God’s will, there is no promise of a hopeful tomorrow.
This brief Holy Week work starts shortly after the ‘hosannas’ of Palm Sunday and concludes just before the ‘alleluias’ of Easter Sunday. The upper room, Gethsemane, the home of the High Priest, Pilate’s courtyard, the road to Calvary, a barren cross on Golgotha’s hill…all are present in this retelling of the last hours of our Lord’s earthly journey.
I pray that it reminds us that Jesus chose to embrace the will of God for the sake of each of us.
—Lloyd Larson, 2025
Special thanks to:
Becky Roper and Chrisria Lightfoot-Taylor for reading, and
Betsy Lord and Chris Bayes for sharing their musical talent with us.