Good Friday

Friday, April 15, 2022
7:00 PM 8:00 PM 19:00 20:00

Union Presbyterian Church 200 E Main St Endicott, NY, 13760 United States (map)

Google Calendar ICS

We mark Good Friday with a Tenebrae service, a service of growing shadows. We tell the story of Jesus’ arrest and passion, and with each portion, extinguish a light, until only the light of Christ is left.

You are invited to join us for worship in our sanctuary, or to attend by live-stream. The season of grace poured out abundantly has led us to this moment, and we dearly hope you will join us.

Full to the Brim: Good Friday Tenebrae Service

The Empty Cup

Selected Passages from the Four Gospels

April 15, 2022

Union Presbyterian Church, Endicott, NY

Liturgist: Rev. Pat Raube

(Handbells in organ loft.)

Prelude Colin DeLap, piano

“O Sacred Head Now Wounded,” Jim Brickman

Used by permission, CCLI License #CSPL068847

Call to Worship

Let us remember

how the sky went dark.

Let us remember

how his mother was there.

Let us remember

how people mocked him.

Let us remember

how his friends fled.

Let us remember,

how in the midst of all that, Jesus still chose love.

Let us worship holy God.

Hymn #100 PH

“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”

(Public Domain)

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.

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.

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?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were a present far too small;

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Call to New Life

Prayer for Wholeness and Peace

God of unfathomable mercy, if we were there,

we’d like to think that we would have defended you.

We’d like to think that we would have stopped the guards

and silenced the mockery,

protected your body and defended your name.

However, if we’re honest with ourselves,

we probably would have been at the edge of

the crowd—silent and afraid.

How often are we silent and afraid?

How often do we wait for the stones to cry out for us?

Forgive us. Please forgive us. Amen.

Assurance of God’s Love

Even from his place on the cross,

even while being met with cruelty and violence,

Jesus overflows with truth and grace.

He sees those around him.

He speaks connection and belonging into existence.

He offers forgiveness.

Friends, if this is true from the cross, it is certainly true here.

We are surrounded by grace.

We are held in love.

We are forgiven—over and over again.

That truth never changes. Thanks be to God.

Prayer of the Day

Hymn #283 W & R

“Were You There?”

(Public Domain)

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?

Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.

Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?

Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?

First Reading Matthew 26:20-25 Arianna Neal

Shadow of Betrayal

When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; and while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.” Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” He replied, “You have said so.”

Candle one is extinguished; the reader may leave the sanctuary.

Second Reading Luke 22:39-44 Laura Keibel

Shadow of Desertion

After supper Jesus came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him. When he reached the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not come into the time of trial.” Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.

Candle two is extinguished; the reader may leave the sanctuary.

Hymn #286 W & R (4 times through: mp, mf, f, mp)

“Stay With Me,” Jacques Berthier

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.    

(Sing 4 times:)

Stay with me, remain here with me.

Watch and pray, watch and pray.

Third Reading Mark 14:32-41 Doug Moore

Lonely Vigil

They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. And he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.” And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to say to him. He came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Candle three is extinguished; the reader may leave the room.

Fourth Reading John 17:1-6 Cathie Makowka

The Hour

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.”

Candle four is extinguished; the reader may leave the room.

Fifth Reading John 17:15-23 Rich Kastl

Prayer for Unity

Jesus prayed, “I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Candle five is extinguished; the reader may leave the room.

Anthem (#279 W&R)

“A Purple Robe”

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.    

A purple robe, a crown of thorn,

A reed in his right hand;

Before the soldiers’ spite and scorn

I see my Savior stand.

He bears between the Roman guard

The weight of all our woe;

A stumbling figure, bowed and scarred,

I see my Savior go.

He hangs, by whom the world was made,

Beneath the darkened sky;

The everlasting ransom paid,

I see my savior die.

He shares on high his Father’s throne,

Who once in mercy came;

For all his love to sinners shown

I sing my Savior’s name.

Sixth Reading Luke 22:47-53 Jane Park

The Arrest

While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him; but Jesus said to him, “Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?” When those who were around him saw what was coming, they asked, “Lord, should we strike with the sword?” Then one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple police, and the elders who had come for him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a bandit? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness!”

Candle six is extinguished; the reader may leave the room.

Handbell Anthem Tower Ringers

“What Wondrous Love,” Martha Lynn Thompson

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.    

Seventh Reading Mark 15:16-20, 25-37 Brian Moore

Shadow of the Cross

Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort. And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. And they began saluting him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!”  In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.

When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.” And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.

Candle seven is extinguished; the reader may leave the room.

Tolling of the Bell

The Lord’s Prayer

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 debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.

Charge: Go in peace. As Christ has loved you, love one another.

Depart in silence.