C: Surely He Has Borne Our Infirmitiesand Carried Our Diseases;

GOOD FRIDAY

April 22, 2011

SALEM CHURCH

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

*OPENING HYMN # 153

*SOLEMN DECLARATION

*CHORAL AMEN

*CALL TO WORSHIP

P: Who has believed what we have heard?And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

C: Surely he has borne our infirmitiesand carried our diseases;

yet we account him stricken,struck down by God and afflicted.

P: But he was wounded for our transgressions,crushed for our iniquities;upon him was the punishment that made us whole,

C: and by his bruises we are healed.

—from Isaiah 53:1, 4-5, NRSV

*CALL TO CONFESSION

*CONFESSION OF SINS

P: Merciful God,we meet each other today at the foot of the cross,

as inhabitants of one world.We wait with each other as those who inflict wounds on one another:

C: be merciful to us.

P: As those who deny justice to others:

C: be merciful to us.

P: As those who put our trust in power:

C: be merciful to us.

P: As those who are greedy:

C: be merciful to us.

P: As those who put others on trial:

C: be merciful to us.

P: As those who refuse to receive:

C: be merciful to us.

P: As those who are afraid of the world’s torment:

C: be merciful to us. Amen.

*ASSURANCE OF PARDON

P: Jesus himself bore our sins in his body on the cross,so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness;by his wounds you have been healed. —from 1 Peter 2:24, NRSV

READINGS OF SCRIPTURE: Psalm 22:1-23; Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Pew Bible--pages 505 & 699 OT.

OFFERING

SPECIAL MUSIC: SALEM CHURCH CHOIR

*OFFERATORY RESPONSE AND PRAYER OF DEDICATION

*PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

P: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

C: Loving Father, to whom your crucified Son prayedfor the forgiveness of those who did not know what they were doing,

grant that we too may be included in that prayer.Whether we sin out of ignorance or intention,be merciful to us and grant us your acceptance and peacein the name of Jesus Christ, our suffering Savior. Amen.

P: “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

C: O Lord Jesus Christ, who promisedto the repentant the joy of paradise,enable us by the Holy Spirit to repent and to receive

your grace in this world and in the world to come. Amen.

P: “Woman, behold your son. . . . Behold your mother.”

C: O blessed Savior, in your hour of greatest sufferingyou expressed compassion for your motherand made arrangements for her care;grant that we who seek to follow your examplemay show our concern for the needs of others,reaching out to provide for those who suffer in our human family.Hear this our prayer for your mercy’s sake. Amen.

P: “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)

C: O Lord, I call for help by day,and in the night I still must cry.Regard me, listen to my prayer.My soul is troubled; I am weak,cut off as one whom you forsake,forgotten near the pit of death.Your wrath weighs heavy on me here.Your angry waves upon me break.Friends watch in horror from afar.I am shut in without escape.My eyes are dim because I weep.My hands are lifted up to you.Do you work wonders for the dead?Can graves tell out your mighty deeds?There, who can know that you can save?Lord, do not hide your face from me.You have afflicted me from youth.Your anger is destroying me.Your flood of anger closes in.The darkness is my closest friend—shunned and forsaken, all alone. Amen.

P: “I thirst.”

C: O blessed Savior, whose lips were dryand whose throat was parched,grant us the water of life,that we who thirst after righteousnessmay find it quenched by your love and mercy,

leading us to bring this same relief to others. Amen.

P: “It is finished.”

C: O Lord Jesus Christ, you finishedthe work that you were sent to do;enable us by your Holy Spirit to be faithful to our call.Grant us strength to bear our crossesand endure our sufferings, even unto death.Enable us to live and love so faithfullythat we also become good news to the world, joining your witness,O Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

P: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

C: Father, into whose hands your Son, Jesus Christ,commended his spirit,grant that we too, following his example,may in all of life and at the moment of our deathentrust our lives into your faithful hands of love.In the name of Jesus, who gave his life for us all. Amen.

—based on Psalm 88; Mark 15:34; Luke 23:34, 43, 46; John 19:26-30

*SERMON HYMN # 158

GOSPEL READING: John 19:1-30; Pew Bible--page 107.

SERMON: GOLGOTHA

*LORD’S PRAYER

*CLOSING HYMN # 161

*DEPART IN SILENCE

*Congregation, please stand, if you are able.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: The offering tonight is for the ministry of the Tri-Valley Ministerium. Thanks for your generosity!

Please join your local church this Sunday, Easter, to celebrate our Lord’s Resurrection!