Good Friday: Order of Worship Tenebrae Service April 10, 2020

First Presbyterian Church

April 10, 2019

Worship Service

 Good Friday Tenebrae Service

CALL TO WORSHIP

And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and we loved darkness rather than light.

God is light, in whom there is no darkness.

For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

Everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light.  But all who do what is true come to the light.

Let us worship the Living God!

*OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray:

Most precious God, look with mercy upon your family gathered here for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was betrayed, given into sinful hands, and suffered death upon the cross.  Strengthen our faith and forgive our betrayals as we enter the way of his passion; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever.  Amen.

DESCENT INTO SHADOWS

Luke 22: 24-38

First candle is extinguished

Luke 22: 39-53

Second candle is extinguished

Luke 22: 54-62

Third candle is extinguished

Luke 22: 63-71

Fourth candle is extinguished

Luke 23: 1-12

Fifth candle is extinguished

Luke 23: 13-25

Sixth candle is extinguished

Luke 23: 26-43

Seventh candle is extinguished

Luke 23: 44-56

Christ candle is hidden

Luke 24: 1-12

Christ candle is returned

HYMN OF RESPONSE: #98

“O Sacred Head, Now Wounded”

O sacred Head, now wounded,
with grief and shame weighed down;
now scornfully surrounded
with thorns, thine only crown;
O sacred Head, what glory,
what bliss 'til now was thine!
Yet, though despised and gory,
I joy to call thee mine.

 3 What language shall I borrow
to thank thee, dearest Friend,
for this, thy dying sorrow,
thy pity without end?
O make me thine forever;
and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
outlive my love to thee.

OFFERING

OFFERTORY PRAYER

*         SONG OF THE SUFFERING SERVANT

Surely he has borne our griefs

And carried our sorrows;

Yet we esteemed him stricken,

Smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

Upon him was the chastisement that made us whole,

And with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned everyone to their own way;

And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

Yet he opened not his mouth;

Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

And like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

And as for his generation, who considered

That he was cut off out of the land of the living,

Stricken for the transgression of my people?

And they made his grave with the wicked

And with a rich man in his death,

Although he had done no violence,

And there was no deceit in him mouth.

*CLOSING HYMN: #102          “Were You There?”

1 Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

2 Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?

3 Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?

4 Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?
Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?

DISMISSAL

Go in peace.  May Jesus Christ, who for our sake became obedient unto death, even death on the cross, keep you and strengthen you this night and forever more.

Amen

Tenebrae Service

The service of worship tonight is taken from an early Christian service called Tenebrae. The name Tenebrae is the Latin word for "darkness" or "shadows." Tonight we will experience only a small portion of Christ’s pain and suffering the day of His crucifixion. One of the most conspicuous features of the service is the gradual extinguishing of candles until only a single candle, considered a symbol of our Lord, remains. As it gets darker and darker we can reflect on the great emotional and physical pain that was very real for Jesus that evening. Toward the end of the service, the Christ candle is hidden, typifying the apparent victory of the forces of evil over good. At the very end, a loud noise is made, symbolizing the earthquake at the time of his death (Matthew 27) and his resurrection (Matthew 28:2). At the moment of the earthquake, the temple veil was torn apart, making the Holy of Holies exposed to public view. This is understood to represent God's change toward us with direct access to him, no longer requiring the ceremonial acts of the priests for our forgiveness of sin.  The hidden candle is then restored to its place, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil. By this single light we all depart this service in silence.