Good Friday Worship – Complete Script
Scripture Reader #1 – Matthew 27:54-56
The centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw all that had happened. They were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”¬? Many women were there watching from a distance.¬? They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs.¬? Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and John, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
Narrator / Stripping of the Altar – narrator speaks while altar elements are removed
The emblem of suffering and shame. If we ever need a reminder of our brokenness, we just have to look at the cross. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice. The cross Jesus wore is our altar to God. And it is finished.
On the altar we have some symbols of Jesus’ sacrifice and our inability to know God without it.
The candle is for Jesus, as the light of the world. On the cross, that light was extinguished. (blow out candle, remove, repeat with other symbols)
The communion vessels help us to remember his body broken for our brokenness, and his blood shed for our inadequacies.
The Bible, the written word of God, is taken away, just as Jesus, the living Word of God, was taken away on Good Friday.
Paraments are a part of the traditional sacrifice God’s people made at the altar to atone for their sins and shortcomings. On this day of Jesus’ sacrifice, we strip the paraments from the altar to remember that it is only by the cross we find reconciliation with God. Only Jesus can make right our wrongs.
As we take away the cross, let’s remember that the God who redeems even the most broken of things used this day -¬? humanity’s attempt to destroy all that is good¬? – as the very means by which we are saved.
Don’t shy from the cross; cherish it. Because God loves us so much that he sent his only Son to die for us. So that we may know God, and have life. Our sins nailed Jesus on this Good Friday, this very Good Friday. And Jesus took them on, and he died for us.
Hymn with Bells: Old Rugged Cross
(Give brief instructions for hammering of nails, inviting people to come forward, pick up a tool, and hammer a nail into the cross. )
Hammering of Nails
We expect it to be a powerful service.
Holy Week Worship Ideas and Images | Church Creativity Worship Media Design Art Team Training | Midnight Oil Productions said,
Wrote on April 6, 2009 @ 11:04 pm
[...] Len wrote a Good Friday script that focuses on the irony of the service’s title, and our common inability to be good. The human condition is that if we’re all honest with ourselves, we know we screw up, and that we’re broken. Here’s a link to the service. [...]
Diana Floress said,
Wrote on April 7, 2009 @ 8:34 am
Thanks for sharing the script! It makes me stop and think about the concept of denial – denying my thoughts and wants when I know they are not pure. I think in this day and age, denial is a hard lesson to learn – everything we crave is available 24/7. Good Friday gives me a chance to pause and think about that.
Diana
Pete from Michigan said,
Wrote on March 18, 2012 @ 12:30 pm
Thanks for making this available. I had been looking for something like this as I got closer to Good Friday. We have an ecumenical service at 1 p.m. with Nazarenes, Baptists, Church of God, Mennonite and United Methodists. This will work. Again I thank you, and may our Risen Lord bless your souls.