And so, we wait

 

What are we celebrating this week?

“Good Friday is not the dark that must unconditionally give way to light. It is not hibernation that carries within itself the seeds of life. It is the day when the God-become-human, the Love-become-person, is killed by humans who want to become gods -- when the Holy One of God, i.e., God himself, dies, really dies–by his own will and yet by the sin of humankind—without a seed of life staying in him. 

Good Friday is not like winter –a state of transition, no, it really is the end. Not about immortality does Easter speak, but of resurrection, resurrection from the death that really is death with all its terrors and monstrosities, a death of body and SOUL, of the whole human being. And here only one thing alone can help—God’s act of power out of his eternity. Resurrection comes by God’s act of power alone. That’s the Easter message!”

--Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Where did Good Friday get its name?

Our name for the Friday before Easter, "Good Friday," is most likely related to the English and the Dutch, the only two languages that use this term, which etymologists say is likely an alteration of the Germanic word, "Goddes," meaning "God's" or "Holy." That term does not mean "good." The day is called Holy Friday in nearly all other languages in the world.  

A similar process happened with the English word "goodbye," which was formed over time as a contraction of "God be with ye." English speakers are no more saying that "it's good to see you go" when they say goodbye than they are calling the day of Christ's crucifixion good when they call it Good Friday. Holy, yes. Good? Not so much.    

Good Friday, or Holy Friday as most of the rest of the world calls it in their languages, proclaims God's purpose of loving and redeeming the world even in the face of human rejection and cruelty through the cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is a day that is holy and makes us holy because God was drawing the world to God's self in Christ. 

This content was produced by Ask The UMC, a ministry of United Methodist Communications.

A blessed Holy Thursday

The fellowship was wonderful

Plenty to go around

Shelley G. reads from Mark 14

Pastor Charles & Joyce S. celebrate communion

It's Friday, but Sunday's coming

Our church family gathered on a rainy evening to break bread and to worship together as we recalled the institution of the Lord's Supper and hear the Passion Narrative in Mark's account of the gospel.

The scripture reading, Mark 14:1 - 15:47, was read in segments by Kraig S., Shelly G., Gloria S., Belinda A., Roy B., Sandy D., Korla S., Bob S., and Ed S.

Thanks also to Renea H. for offering the music tonight.

Bulletin for Holy Thursday/Tenebrae worship

"Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you broadcast the death of the Lord until He comes.”  – 1 Corinthians 11:26 CEB)

Greeting                                                                    
Come, you with dirty feet, aching backs, and weary souls. We come bearing a heavy load of worry, frustration, and isolation. Come, you are hungry, thirsty, longing to meet the One who will feed you, body and soul. We come with emptiness in our stomachs and our hearts, desperate to be filled. Come to meet Jesus who kneels to wash our dirt and grime, who feeds us with bread and with love that never ends. We come to receive the balm for our anxiety, the provision for our hunger, the antidote for our loneliness. Come to receive a new commandment: love one another as Christ has loved you. We come to embrace this new commandment so that everyone will know we are disciples of Jesus Christ, God Incarnate who came to live and love among us. Amen.                                                                                                   

Hymn: “When I Survey the WondrousCross,” #298  

The Apostles’ Creed, #881

Gloria Patri: #70 

Confession and Pardon

Let us pray. Merciful God, we confess that we have failed to love as You teach us to love. We ignore the needs of our neighbors. We shy away from those   who are hurting. We meet the suffering of others   with trite answers to distance ourselves from their pain. We neglect creation, taking advantage of the earth’s resources without caring for it in return. We fail to love ourselves as You love us, tending to our own pain and distress by numbing our feelings instead of drawing close to You, the source of our well-being. Forgive us we pray. Free us to joyfully follow You into a life of love and service, building a world in which all creation can flourish. Amen. Receive this good news: Jesus, who comes to us, washes our feet, and invites us to sit at the table, is   the source of our salvation, saving us from our sins   and reconciling us to God. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven! Thanks be to God.                                          

The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise.

(The pastor gives thanks and remembers God’s acts     of salvation and concludes) … and so, with Your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise Your name and join their unending hymn: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of Your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the One who come in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

(The institution of the Lord’s supper is recalled. The pastor concludes) … and so, in remembrance of these Your mighty acts in Christ Jesus, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.  

(The pastor invokes the present work of the Holy Spirit and then praises the Trinity, concluding): … all honor and glory is Yours, almighty God, now and forever. Amen.  

Lord’s Prayer

Sharing the Bread and Cup

"My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?" - Psalm 22:1 (NKJV)

The Passion of Jesus Christ: Mark 14:1 – 15:47

Hymn: “Were You There,” #288

Wednesday with the Wesleys

“And first let us inquire, what is salvation? The salvation which is here spoken of is not what is frequently understood by that word, the going to heaven, eternal happiness. It is not the soul’s going to paradise, termed by our Lord, ‘Abraham’s bosom.’ It is not a blessing which lies on the other side death, or (as we usually speak) in the other world. The very words of the text itself put this beyond all question. ‘Ye are saved.’ It is not something at a distance: it is a present thing, a blessing which, through the free mercy of God, ye are now in possession of. Nay, the words may be rendered, and that with equal propriety, ‘Ye have been saved.’ So that the salvation which is here spoken of might be extended to the entire work of God, from the first dawning of grace in the soul till it is consummated in glory.”

- John Wesley (The Scripture Way of Salvation)

Scripture lessons for Easter Sunday

Next Sunday, we come to that most festive of days on the Christian calendar: Easter!   Scripture lessons will come from Matthew 28:1-10 and John 20:1-18.

Pictured: The Resurrection (11th century mosaic), Hosios Loukas monastery, Church of the Katholikon (in the narthex), Distomo, Greece.