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FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

OF MONTCLAIR & VERONA

April 10, 2020 +++ Good Friday +++ 7:30 PM UMH - United Methodist Hymnal Bolded text - said in unison by all.

Prelude Were You There? – Arr: David Paxton

Call to Worship Pastor: Were you there when they crucified my Lord? All: We were the hollow echo of hosannas once spoken in love. Pastor: Were you in the garden when the disciples fell asleep? All: We were the betrayal in Judas’s kiss. Pastor: Were you in the courtyard when the cock crowed? All: We were the denial in Peter’s mouth. Pastor: Were you among the scoffers when Jesus was flogged? All: We were the whip in the soldier’s hand. Pastor: Were you in Pilate’s chamber when he washed his hands of Jesus’ fate?

2 All: We were the hatred of the crowd, the indifference in Pilate’s heart. Pastor: Were you there when the soldiers dressed Jesus as a king? All: We were the mockery in the crown of thorns. Pastor: Were you among the spectators at Golgatha? All: We were the nails that pierced Jesus’ hands and feet. Pastor: Were you there when they crucified my Lord? All: We were the silence when no bird sang.

Opening Hymn Were You There (vs.1-4) UMH 288 1. Were you there when they crucified my Lord?(were you there) Were you there when they crucified my Lord? (were you there) Oh! sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? (were you there)

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

3. Were you there when they pierced him in the side? (were you there) Were you there when they pierced him in the side? (were you there) Oh! sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they pierced him in the side? (were you there)

4. Were you there when the sun refused to shine? (were you there) Were you there when the sun refused to shine? ((were you there) Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when the sun refused to shine? (were you there)

Opening Prayer Pastor: Elusive One, O that our eyes were a fountain of tears to weep for ourselves and our world. Where do you go when all hope fades and when we cry out with the psalmist, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” In the midst of our pain and despair, we strain to see you charging to our rescue. Yet, in our disbelief and dismay, we face the emptiness of your absence. Your ways are beyond us, Holy One, shrouding us in mystery. Be with us in our hour of greatest need, and do not abandon us when we deny you.

The Passion Story of the Tenebrae (John 18:1-19:42) i. Christopher Sterling

What Wondrous Love Is This (v.1) UMH 292 What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul, what wondrous love is this, O my soul! What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss

3 to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul, to bear the dreadful curse for my soul.

ii. Ariana Padilla

Ah, Holy Jesus (v. 1) UMH 289 Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended, that we to judge thee have in hate pretended? By foes derided, by thine own rejected, O most afflicted!

iii. Destiny Nwafor Ah, Holy Jesus (v. 2) UMH 289

Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee? Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee! 'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee; I crucified thee.

iv. Nicole Peaks Ah, Holy Jesus (v. 3) UMH 289

Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered; the slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered. For our atonement, while we nothing heeded, God interceded.

v. Eliza Lopez O Sacred Head, Now Wounded (v. 1) UMH 286

O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down, now scornfully surrounded with thorns, thine only crown: how pale thou art with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn! How does that visage languish which once was bright as morn!

vi. Avrille Nicholls O Sacred Head, Now Wounded (v. 2) UMH 286

What thou, my Lord, hast suffered was all for sinners' gain; mine, mine was the transgression, but thine the deadly pain. Lo, here I fall, my Savior! 'Tis I deserve thy place; look on me with thy favor, vouchsafe to me thy grace.

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vii. Jee Hei Park O Sacred Head, Now Wounded (v. 3) UMH 286

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.

viii. Earl Kim

Meditation “The Cross” Rev. Earl Kim Sermon script can be found on the last page.

Prayer of Confession (Isaiah 53) Pastor: Christ Jesus was despised and rejected. All: We thought nothing of him. Pastor: He was oppressed and afflicted. All: We hid our faces from him. Pastor: He bore our sickness and sin. All: We believed God was punishing him. Pastor: We, like sheep, have gone astray. All: Yet he, like a lamb, was led to the slaughter. Pastor: Lamb of God, have mercy on us. All: Lamb of God, grant us peace. Amen.

All are invited to take a moment of confession in silence, and if possible, to write sins on a piece of paper.

Invitation to the cross

Responsive Hymn When I Survey the Wondrous Cross UMH 298 1. When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.

2. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ, my God; all the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood.

3. See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?

4. Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small; love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all

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Assurance of Pardon (Hebrews 10:16-25) Pastor: “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” All: He also adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Pastor: Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. All: Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Closing Hymn Beneath the Cross of Jesus UMH 297 1. Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand, the shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land; a home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way, from the burning of the noontide heat, and the burden of the day.

2. Upon that cross of Jesus mine eye at times can see the very dying form of One who suffered there for me;

and from my stricken heart with tears two wonders I confess: the wonders of redeeming love and my unworthiness.

3. I take, O cross, thy shadow for my abiding place; I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of his face; content to let the world go by, to know no gain nor loss, my sinful self my only shame, my glory all the cross.

Dismissal

Postlude Ah, Holy Jesus – Arr: Lani Smith

6 Meditation: “The Cross”

On the cross, tonight, we see the face of Jesus, the face of the suffering God who truly

bears our sin and dies our death. In this compassion of our Lord, we find the heart of God, the

cruciform love, the love made flesh and the love incarnated in our suffering presence to

embrace and redeem our weakness and frailty.

On the cross, tonight, we also see the face of ourselves, the face of sinners. For us, the

cross of Jesus stands like a mirror where our true selves are clearly reflected. Barbara Brown

Taylor tells us, “[Jesus] was the truth, a perfect mirror in which people saw themselves in

God’s own light. In the presence of his integrity, our own pretense is exposed. In the presence

of his constancy, our cowardice is brought to light. In the presence of his fierce love for God

and for us, our own hardness of heart is revealed.” Before this cross, there is no room for us to

hide ourselves. Jesus is the light of the world and his cross sheds that light on us to see our

bare selves. In his presence, we only have two choices. We may fall down to repent our sins

before his light. Or we may break away from his mirroring presence to hide ourselves from his

light. So the question comes to us, “Which way should I choose?”

Tonight, Jesus calls us to his cross, calls us to see ourselves in his light, bow down before

him, give up ourselves on the cross, and leave unto the cross our irreconcilable past, our

hurtful feelings, our wounds, our hatred and anger, our fear and despair, and every part of

ourselves that is still bound to sin and death. Tonight, let us leave all of them unto the cross.

Paul testifies, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ

who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved

me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Faithful friends in Christ, tonight, Jesus calls us to his cross, to the everlasting light, and

asks us to look at ourselves clearly, and asks us to die to ourselves and live only for Christ. May

we all respond to his call with our humble hearts. May we all reflect ourselves in front of him

and start walking our own ways of the cross once again from tonight on. Amen.