Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the Saviour of the world.  Come, let us worship.

There is a green hill far away,

outside  a city wall,

where the dear Lord was crucified,

who died to save us all.

We may not know, we cannot tell,

what pains he had to bear,

but we believe that it was for us

he hung and suffered there.

 

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

Today, Good Friday is the most solemn day in the church year. Today we commemorate the death of Jesus, crucified on the cross at Golgotha outside the holy city of Jerusalem. We gather with Christians throughout the world at this perilous time to recall the sacrificial death of Jesus that sets us free.  Without his death there can be no resurrection.

WHAT TO DO

Don’t light your candle this day as darkness engulfed the world at Jesus’ death. Stand holding your cross as you read the Passion Narrative of St John.  St John’s Anglican Church Camberwell is offering the Liturgy for the Great Three Days of the Triduum on its website which you may find very helpful at this time. www.stjohnscamberwell.org.au  Follow the links to What’s on, then Coming events, then Online Services.

THE WORSHIP SERVICE

The Sentence

Christ became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and has given him the name above every other name.

The Prayer of the Day –  The Collect                                                                                                          Almighty God, look with mercy on this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed and to be given into the hands of sinners and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen

The First Reading:       The Prophet Isaiah:  Chapter 52 vs 13 to Chapter 53 vs 12

The Psalm: Psalm 22 The Second Reading:     The First Letter to the Corinthians:  Chapter 1 vs 18-31

The Gospel:           St John:   Chapter 18 from verse 1 to Chapter 19 vs 42

The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.

The Homily

For the homily today, I want to use the Liturgical Stations of the Cross. We have no pictures, no images and no physical figures of the Stations to be our focus. We need to use our imagination, our minds eye as it were. We are walking with Jesus -the Via Dolorosa, the Way of the Cross. We are in the crowds gathered in the streets of Jerusalem to witness this event which was insignificant to many. So, see yourself in the crowd but quietly following Jesus in his agony, grieving with him as he goes to his death.  Use each station as your guide, your focus and meditation until you have lovingly laid him in the tomb, then quietly await in prayer this day.

  • Station No 1 – Jesus is condemned to death
  • Station No 2 – Jesus accepts the cross
  • Station No 3 – Jesus falls the first time
  • Station No 4 – Jesus meets his mother
  • Station No 5 – Simon of Cyrene carries the cross
  • Station No 6 – Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
  • Station No 7 – Jesus falls a second time
  • Station No 8 – Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
  • Station No 9 – Jesus falls the third time
  • Station No 10 – Jesus is stripped of his garments
  • Station No 11 – Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross
  • Station No 12 – Jesus dies on the cross
  • Station No 13 – Jesus’ body is removed from the cross
  • Station No 14 – Jesus is laid in the tomb.

The Prayers –   with the Lord’s Prayer

The Grace