As with the other video sermons, you may also read the prepared sermon below the video.
GOOD FRIDAY (GOD’S
FRIDAY)
Friday April 10, 2020.
Opening Prayer
On this Good Friday, we are remembering what Jesus has done for us at the cross. We choose to come near to the cross to meet Jesus here. Whenever we consider what Jesus was willing to do when he gave Himself for us on the cross, we are compelled by His miraculous love for us. We are keenly aware of how much we need Jesus in these uncertain times in which we are living. Jesus already knows our worries and our fears and out of His deep love and compassion, He is willing to carry those burdens for us. We need to meet Jesus at this place of loving sacrifice. When we come near to Jesus, here at the cross, we are reminded that He will stop at nothing to demonstrate His infinite love for us. We come to the cross knowing that Jesus wants us near and He will remain near with each of us as we face the days ahead, whatever may come.
Together: JESUS, WE NEED TO BE NEAR YOU AT THE CROSS.
Scripture: Luke 23:26,27; 32-34a26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him…32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Hymn: Jesus Keep Me Near The Cross (vs. 1)
Jesus,
keep me near the cross,
There a precious fountain;
Free to all,
a healing stream,
Flows from Calvary’s mountain.
Chorus:
In the cross, in the cross
Be my glory ever,
Till my raptured
soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.
Together: JESUS, WE NEED TO BE NEAR YOU AT THE CROSS.
Scripture: Luke 23:39-43 39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Hymn: Jesus Keep
Me Near the Cross (vs. 2)
Near
the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me;
There the
Bright and Morning Star
Shed His beams around me.
Chorus:
In the cross, in the cross
Be my glory ever,
Till my raptured
soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.
Together: JESUS, WE NEED TO BE NEAR YOU AT THE CROSS.
Scripture: Luke 23:44-46 44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When He had said this, He breathed his last.
Hymn: Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross (vs.3)
Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day
With its shadow o’er me.
Chorus: In the cross, in the cross
Be my glory ever,
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.
Together: JESUS, WE NEED TO BE NEAR YOU AT THE CROSS.
Scripture: Luke 23:47-49 47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their chests and went away. 49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
REFLECTION: NEAR TO JESUS (see below)
COMMUNION: THE
BREAD “This is my body given for
you; do this in remembrance of me.”
THE
CUP “This cup is the new covenant in
my blood , which is poured out for you.”
Closing Hymn:
Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross (vs. 4)
Near
the cross! I’ll watch and wait,
Hoping, trusting ever;
Till I
reach the golden strand,
Just beyond the river.
Chorus:
In the cross, in the cross
Be my glory ever,
Till my raptured
soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.
Closing Prayer
Luke 23:44-49
NEAR TO JESUS
Springford Baptist Church
Good
Friday: April, 10, 2020.
vs. 49 But all those who knew Him, including the women who had followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.”
On this Good Friday, we have reason to be keenly aware of standing “at a distance.” The worldwide pandemic caused by the corona virus has propelled everyone into a consciousness of needing to keep our distance in order to keep safe and to keep others safe.
Why did those who knew Jesus and were in close relationship with Him, stand at a distance from the cross on the day of His crucifixion?
We can understand that they would have been afraid. If they came too close, their own lives were in danger. Also, it would have been excruciating for them to love Jesus so much and to witness Him suffering so much.
They were afraid, but they would not abandon Jesus all together. Everything in them longed to be near to Jesus. They had grown to trust Him in the times they had spent together and in hearing His teaching and seeing the miracles He performed and receiving His love and compassion for them.
Yet on this Friday, this dark day of His death, they could only stand at a distance and desperately wish that things were different.
We too are living in dark times and while we long for the dawning of hope that comes with Easter Sunday morning, there is hope to be found in the darkness of Good Friday.
The hope comes in knowing that Jesus invites us, not to keep our distance, but rather to come near. He wants us to come near to the cross to remember together how much He loves us. He wants us to come near to find our place of safety with Him. We can be safe forever with Jesus, God’s Son.
Jesus had prayed in the
Garden of Gethsemane. “My Father, if it is possible, remove this
cup from me.” He knew the horror of what was ahead. Still, His
prayer of agony and of love continued, “Yet, not my will but Yours
be done.” (Matthew 26:39)
If the cross was the only way for us
to be set free from the grip of sin and to be saved, then Jesus was
willing to go to the cross for us.
When we come near to Jesus, and near to the cross, we can witness that Jesus was given strength by the Father for what He had to face.
When we come near to Jesus and near to the cross, we cannot escape the gaze of Jesus as He looks directly into our eyes and declares how much He loves us.
When we are in times of
great uncertainty; when we feel afraid for ourselves and people we
love; when we wonder how we will ever get through this pandemic, this
current crisis; when we feel the anxiety of the personal burdens that
each of us are carrying, we can come near to the cross and know that
Jesus understands and He will be enough for us. He wants to keep us
safe.
Near the cross is near to Jesus!
Communion is a way of coming near to Jesus and near to the cross. It is the way Jesus has asked us to remember Him and His sacrificial love for us. Communion is our way of regularly coming near to Jesus.
As we take the bread
and remember Jesus’ body given for us,
we come near to Jesus.
As
we take the cup and remember Jesus’ blood shed for us,
we come
near to Jesus.
Will we choose this Good Friday, God’s Friday, not to keep our distance, but rather to come near to Jesus, once again, as we participate in Communion, the Lord’s Supper? Although separated by distance, we are together near the cross, NEAR TO JESUS!