Good Friday Worship –  April 2 at 10:00 am
Zoom – https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7538449219

Again and again, an empty space.

Again Good Friday.

Greetings – we hope that you are well as these COVID days continue.  These words are for worship at home, they are in addition to the ZOOM gathering on Friday at 10:00.  All are welcome.

ZOOM link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7538449219

If you prefer to join us by being on a ‘Party-line’/’Conference Call’ style of phone call, the number to dial is: 204-272-7920
You will be asked if you want to ‘join a meeting’, (say yes), and then enter the meeting ID number: 753 844 9219

Good Friday is a day when grief intrudes upon hope.

If we were gathering in the sanctuary this Good Friday, we would be gathering in a place that would seem barren. The walls would be bare. The banners removed. The communion table would be draped in a black cloth.  The cross would seem to be all that remains.

But something else remains…
God’s love…
God’s love experienced by those who were Jesus’ friends,
God’s love remained in the love they shared with Jesus.

You call us, O God, to be your people.
Again and again you invite us to journey with Jesus.
We come to worship today that we might be with you.
Open our ears to hear your Word.
Open our eyes to see your presence.
Open our minds to your truth.
Open our hearts to your justice.
Open our lives to your life.
We worship today in Jesus’ name.

The hymn “Said Judas to Mary”, speaks of that love that remains:

During Lent, we have been following a theme of ‘again and again…’

This Good Friday’s theme is ‘again and again we find ourselves here!”

Again and again, we find ourselves confronted by the cross. Our scripture reading brings us to that cross.

SCRIPTURE:  John 19 (selected verses)

Then he (Pilate) handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them.

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top.

So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says, “They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to his disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.”

A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews.

Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.”

Jeff reflects on Good Friday with “A Sermon from an Empty Space?”

Printable Version:
Good Friday Reflection

In this Good Friday space, music speaks of the depths of our faith.

“My Song is Love Unknown”

Let us pray:

God, be with us in the empty spaces of this Good Friday experience.

Be with us as our faith is confronted with the cross
Be with us as the light of the world is extinguished
Be with us as violence has its day
Be with us as Jesus is crucified

Be with us as lives continue to be ended by violence
Be with us as people die from cancer, COVID, illnesses, injuries and injustices
Be with us in times of isolation and loneliness,
Be with us in our struggles with despair and depression
Be with us in our struggles with addictions
Be with us in our poverty,
in our homelessness
in our unemployment
in our fears and in our failures.

God, be with us in the empty spaces …that we may rediscover that no space is emptied of Your amazing grace…

that we may be an Easter People even in our Good Friday spaces…

and that we may discover the crucified Christ who says…’to be continued…’

In Christ’s name we pray. AMEN

Our closing hymn is “O Sacred Head”

May God bless you and keep you.
May God’s face shine upon you.
May God grant you peace and joy.
Be in the peace of Christ, this day and always. Amen

We keep you in our prayers,
Carol and Jeff