WEEKEND REVIEW #17: GOOD FRIDAY

Another Easter has come and gone ... it is finished ... He is risen! And now I can exhale, breathe a sigh of relief, and praise God for all He did in and through our Holy Week services this year. For our Good Friday service this year, we did a Tenebrae service that has been practiced by the church for centuries. Tenebrae means "darkness" or "shadows", and it consists of several readings from the gospels that lead up to the death of Christ on the cross. After each reading, there is a congregational response, and then a candle is extinguished. The responses we used consisted of songs, congregational readings, and taking communion. After each candle is extinguished, the lighting in the room gets progressively darker until the last candle is blown out, and then the room is complete darkness. After sitting in silence and darkness for a minute or two, the people are dismissed in silence. We used a simplified band (acoustic guitar, piano, bass, and two vocalists), and had two readers (Karah and Mike) who alternated readings back and forth. Here's what our service looked like:

Piano Prelude
Greeting: Leader: "The light has come into the world, and the world loved darkness rather than light."
Congregation: “God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”
Leader: “Lift up your hearts.”
Congregation: “We lift them up to the Lord.”
Here I Am To Worship (E)
Tenebrae Introduction / Explanation (Dave)
Reading 1: Luke 22:1-6 (Karah)
Response: Jesus Paid It All - w/o bridge (B)
Reading 2: Mark 14:12-25 (Mike)
Response: Communion
Reading 3: Mark 14:43-49 (Karah)
Response: Nothing But the Blood (D)
Reading 4: Mark 14:50, 66-72 (Mike)
Response: Reader: "You also were with that Nazarene Jesus."
Congregation: "I never knew Him."
Reading 5: Matthew 27:11-18, 21-26 (Karah)
Response: By His Wounds (G)
Reading 6: Matthew 27:27-37 (Mike)
Response: How Deep the Father's Love For Us (E)
Reading 7: Mark 15:33-34, 37-39 (Karah)
Response: Darkness and leave in silence

It was a powerful service where we remembered the death of Christ on the cross and the anguish He experienced on the cross. Mike and Karah did outstanding with the readings, as did our musicians (Jim, Elissa, and Karen) - I am so blessed to work with a great team of creative, artistic, talented, people!

Easter Sunday review coming next...