Considering the fact that most churches won’t have their services posted online in time for those who are away to worship with them, I’m posting here what Dave, Mary and I used in India.
This service works well for families or small groups. Let one man read the Pastoral lines marked with a P:. If there is no one appropriately suited for communion distribution simply skip from the section marked “service of the sacrament” to the “closing prayer”. If you prefer not to sing, you can listen to hymns from your favorite CD in place of the hymns indicated, or you can simply read through the hymns out loud.
Good Friday
OPENING HYMN
#166 – Savior, When in dust to Thee
1. Savior, when in dust to Thee
Low we bow the adoring knee,
When, repentant, to the skies
Scarce we lift our weeping eyes,
Oh, by all Thy pains and woe
Suffered once for man below,
Bending from Thy throne on high,
Hear our solemn litany!
2. By Thy helpless infant years,
By Thy life of want and tears,
By Thy days of sore distress
In the savage wilderness,
By the dread, mysterious hour
Of the insulting Tempter’s power,
Turn, O turn, a favoring eye,
Hear our solemn litany!
3.By Thine hour of dire despair,
By Thine agony of prayer,
By the cross, the nail, the thorn,
By the gloom that veiled the skies
O’er the dreadful sacrifice,
Listen to our humble cry,
Hear our solemn litany!
4. By Thy deep expiring groan,
By the sad sepulchral stone,
By the vault whose dark abode
Held in vain the rising God,
Oh, from earth to heaven restored,
Mighty, reascended Lord,
Listen, listen, to the cry
Of our solemn litany!
OPENING PRAYER
P: Almighty God, graciously behold this Your family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed and delivered into the hands of sinful men and to suffer death on the cross; through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT READING
P: The Old Testament Reading for Good Friday is from Isaiah, chapters fifty-two and fifty-three.
Is. 52:I3—53:I2
After the reading:
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
P: Merciful and everlasting God, You did not spare Your only Son but delivered Him up for us all to bear our sins on the cross. Grant that our hearts may he so fixed with steadfast faith in Him that we fear not the power of sin, death, and the devil; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
C: Amen.
EPISTLE READING
P:
The Epistle is from Hebrews, chapter four and five.
Heb. 4:14—16; 5:7—9
After the reading:
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
CONFESSION OF FAITH
The Second Article, Luther’s Catechism (Sydow, p. 87)
A: “I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descded into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the virgin Mary is my Lord.
He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.
He did this that I should be His very own, live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in eternal righteousness, innocence, and joy; just as He is risen from death, lives and reigns in eternity.
This is most certainly true!”
THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
Hymn: 140 “Jesus, I Will Ponder Now,” st. I, 4-6
1. Jesus, I will ponder now On Thy holy Passion;
With Thy Spirit me endow
For such meditation.
Grant that I in love and faith
May the image cherish
Of Thy suffering, pain, and death, That I may not perish.
4. Grant that I Thy Passion view
With repentant grieving
Nor Thee crucify anew
By unholy living.
How could I refuse to shun
Every sinful pleasure
Since for me God’s only Son
Suffered without measure?
5. If my sins give me alarm
And my conscience grieve me,
Let Thy cross my fear disarm,
Peace of conscience give me.
Grant that I may trust in Thee
And Thy holy Passion.
If His Son so loveth me,
God must have compassion.
6. Grant that I may willingly
Bear with Thee my crosses,
Learning humbleness of Thee,
Peace mid pain and losses.
May I give Thee love for love!
Hear me, O my Savior,
That I may in heaven above
Sing Thy praise forever.
The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. John.
Reading: John 18:1-11 (Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus)
Hymn: “0 Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” st. 1 (TLH #172)
Reading: John 18:12-27 (Jesus before the High Priest and the Denial of Peter)
Hymn: “0 Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” st. 2
Reading: John 18:28-40 (Jesus before Pilate)
Hymn: “0 Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” st. 3
Reading: John 19:1-16a (Jesus Prepared for Crucifixion)
Hymn: “0 Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” st. 4
Reading: John 19:16b-24 (The Crucifixion of Jesus)
Hymn: “0 Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” st. 5
Reading: John 19:25-30 (Jesus’ Mother and His Death)
Hymn: “0 Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” st. 6
Reading: John 19:31-37 (Jesus’ Side Is Pierced)
Hymn: “0 Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” st. 9
Reading: John 19:38-42
Hymn: “0 Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” st. 10
The following REPROACHES are the words of the Lord against His people, the Church, to which the congregation replies with a plea
for mercy. The reproaches are actual scripture passages rewritten to apply to the New Testament church.
P: Thus says the Lord: What have I done to you, 0 My people, and where in have I offended You? Answer Me. For I have raised you up out of the prison house of sin and death, and you have delivered up your Redeemer to be scourged. For I have redeemed you from the house of bondage, and you have nailed your Savior to the cross. 0 My people. ~ Micah 6:3-4 .
C: Holy Lord God, holy and mighty God, holy and most merciful Redeemer; God eternal, leave us not to bitter death. 0 Lord, have mercy.
P: Thus says the Lord: What have I done to you, 0 My people, and where in have I offended You? Answer Me. For I have conquered all your foes,
and you have given Me over and delivered Me to those who persecute Me. For I have fed you with My Word and refreshed you with living water, and you have given Me gall and vinegar to drink. 0 My people. ~ Jet: 2:6-7
C: Holy Lord God, holy and mighty God, holy and most merciful Redeemer; God eternal, allow us not to lose hope in the face of death and hell. 0 Lord, have mercy.
P:Thus says the Lord: What have I done to you, 0 My people, and where in have I offended You? Answer Me. What more could I have done for My vineyard that I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? My people, is this how you thank your God? 0 My people. ~ Is. 5:2-4
C: Holy Lord God, holy and mighty God, holy and most merciful Redeemer; God eternal, keep us steadfast in the true faith. 0 Lord, have mercy.
C: We adore You, 0 Lord,
and we praise and glorify Your holy resurrection.
For behold, by the wood of Your
joy has come into all the world.
God be merciful to us and bless us.
and cause His face to shine upon us, and have mercy upon us.
We adore You, 0 Lord,
and we praise and glorify Your holy resurrection.
For behold, by the wood of Your cross
joy has come into I all the world.
We adore You, 0 Christ, and we I bless You.
By Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.
SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT
PREFACE
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Lift up your hearts.
C: We lift them to the Lord.
P: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
C: It is right to give Him thanks and praise.
P: It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, holy Father, everlasting God. On the tree of the cross You gave salvation to mankind that, whence death arose, thence life also might rise again and that He who by a tree once overcame likewise by a tree might be overcome, through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Hear us as we pray in His name and as He has taught us:
LORD’S PRAYER
A: Our Father, who art in heaven.
hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven;
give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever Amen.
THE WORDS OF OUR LORD
P: Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and give it to the disciples and said: Take eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.
In the same way also He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying: Drink of it, all of you; this is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.
PEACE OF THE LORD
P: The peace of the Lord be with you always. •
C: Amen.
DISTRIBUTION
Take eat; this is the true body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, given into death for your sins.
Take drink; this is the true blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, shed for the forgiveness of your sins.
May this true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen and preserve you in the one true faith unto life everlasting. Depart in peace and joy. Amen
CONCLUDING PRAYER
P: We implore You, O Lord, that Your abundant blessing may be upon Your people, who have had the passion and death of Your Son in devout remembrance that we may receive Your pardon and the gift of Your comfort, and may increase in faith and take hold of eternal salvation; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever.
C: Amen
CLOSING HYMN
151 – Christ the Life of all the Living
1. Christ, the Life of all the living,
Christ, the Death of death, our foe,
Who, Thyself for me once giving
To the darkest depths of woe,–
Through thy sufferings, death, and merit
I eternal life inherit:
Thousand, thousand thanks shall be,
Dearest Jesus, unto Thee.
2. Thou, ah! Thou, hast taken on Thee
Bonds and stripes, a cruel rod;
Pain and scorn were heaped upon Thee,
0 Thou sinless Son of God!
Thus didst Thou my soul deliver
From the bonds of sin forever.
Thousand, thousand thanks shall be,
Dearest Jesus, unto Thee.
6. Thou hast suffered great affliction
And hast borne it patiently,
Even death by crucifixion,
Fully to atone for me;
Thou didst choose to be tormented
That my doom should be prevented.
Thousand, thousand thanks shall be,
Dearest Jesus, unto Thee.
7. Then, for all that wrought my pardon,
For Thy sorrows deep and sore,
For Thine anguish in the Garden,
I will thank Thee evermore,
Thank Thee for Thy groaning, sighing,
For Thy bleeding and Thy dying,
For that last triumphant cry,
And shall praise Thee, Lord, on high.