WESTPORT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH WORSHIP SERVICE
GOOD FRIDAY (with TENEBRAE ELEMENTS)
April 18, 2025, 7PM
(Video will be posted LIVE on the church’s FB page at 7pm and then cross-posted here shortly afterwards. If the video doesn’t load properly here, you should be able to click on the Watch on Facebook link and watch as a guest, even if you don’t have Facebook)
All gather in silence. Ten candles are lit.
GATHERING
CALL TO WORSHIP: (Luke 9:23-24)
One: Jesus said: If any of you want to be my disciples, Take up the cross and follow me.
All: Those who seek to save their lives will lose them, But those who give their lives for Christ’s sake will be saved.
PRAYER OF THE DAY:
One: Loving God, you sent Jesus Christ to save us. We have betrayed him. We have denied him. We have abandoned, mocked, and crucified him.
All: Have mercy, O God, have mercy on us; through Jesus Christ, our only hope. Amen.
SOLO: I Wonder as I Wander Nico Caruso
THE WORD
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
One: Holy God, our hope and strength, we give thanks for your Word made flesh— for the life that death cannot destroy, and for the light that darkness cannot overcome.
All: Enlighten our minds and enliven our hearts by the power of your Holy Spirit, so that we may testify to your light and share the life of Christ with a hurting world; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
FIRST READING: Isaiah 52:13-53:12
PSALM READING: Psalm 22
SECOND READING: Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9
GOSPEL READING: John 18:1-19:42
CONGREGATIONAL HYMN: Ah, Holy Jesus GTG#218
THE SOLEMN INTERCESSION
The “orans” posture for prayer—arms outstretched at shoulder level and palms up and open— is a particularly appropriate gesture for prayer in the Good Friday service.
THE LORD’S PRAYER:
Our Mother and 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 debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.
SOLEMN REPROACHES OF THE CROSS: (from Psalm 78)
One: O my people, O my church, what have I done to you, or in what have I offended you? Answer me. I led you forth from the land of Egypt and delivered you by the waters of baptism, but you have prepared a cross for your Savior.
All: Lord, have mercy upon us. (Candle is extinguished)
One: I led you through the desert forty years, and fed you with manna. I brought you through tribulation and penitence, and gave you my body, the bread of heaven, but you have prepared a cross for your Savior.
All: Lord, have mercy upon us. (Candle is extinguished)
One: What more could I have done for you that I have not done? I planted you, my chosen and fairest vineyard, I made you the branches of my vine; but when I was thirsty, you gave me vinegar to drink and pierced with a spear the side of your Savior, and you have prepared a cross for your Savior.
All: Lord, have mercy upon us. (Candle is extinguished)
One: I went before you in a pillar of cloud, And you have led me to the judgement hall of Pilate. I scourged your enemies and brought you to a land of freedom, But you have scourged, mocked, and beaten me. I gave you the water of salvation from the rock, But you have given me gall and left me to thirst, And you have prepared a cross for your Savior.
All: Lord, have mercy upon us. (Candle is extinguished)
One: I gave you a royal scepter, and bestowed the keys of the kingdom, but you have given me a crown of thorns. I raised you on high with great power, but you have prepared a cross for your Savior.
All: Lord, have mercy upon us. (Candle is extinguished)
One: My peace I gave, which the world cannot give, and washed your feet as a sign of my love, but you draw the sword to strike in my name and seek high places in my kingdom. I offered you my body and blood, but you scatter and deny and abandon me, and you have prepared a cross for your Savior.
All: Lord, have mercy upon us. (Candle is extinguished)
One: I sent the Spirit of truth to guide you, and you close your hearts to the Counselor. I pray that all may be one in the Father and me, but you continue to quarrel and divide. I call you to go and bring forth fruit, but you cast lots for my clothing, and you have prepared a cross for your Savior.
All: Lord, have mercy upon us. (Candle is extinguished)
One: I grafted you into the tree of my chosen Israel, and you turned on them with persecution and mass murder. I made you joint heirs with them of my covenants, but you made them scapegoats for your own guilt, and you have prepared a cross for your Savior.
All: Lord, have mercy upon us. (Candle is extinguished)
One: I came to you as the least of your brothers and sisters; I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me, and you have prepared a cross for your Savior.
All: Lord, have mercy upon us. (Candle is extinguished)
SOLO: Calvary Joshua Stark
Final candle is extinguished. Abrupt noise of closure. Worshipers depart the sanctuary in silence.
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