Join us for a 'virtual' Tenebrae Service that pairs readings, hymns, and prayers that guide us as we meditate on our Lord's suffering and death and prepare to celebrate his resurrection on Sunday. Please use the written prayers to guide your own prayer.
Prayer
Almighty God, we ask you graciously to look on us as your people, whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed and 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.
First Reading: Genesis 22:1-18
Hymn: O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down;
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, thine only crown;
O sacred Head, what glory, what bliss till now was thine!
Yet, though despised and gory, I joy to call thee mine.
What thou, my Lord, has 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, vouch-safe to me thy grace.
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.
Second Reading: Psalm 22:1-11
Third Reading: Hebrews 10:1-25
Prayer
Blessed Lord Jesus, before your cross I kneel and see the heinousness of my sin, my iniquity that caused thee to be "made a curse," the evil that deserves divine wrath. Show me the enormity of my guilt by the crown of thorns, the pierced hands and feet, the bruised body, the dying cries. Your blood is the blood of God incarnate, its worth infinite, its value beyond all thought. Great must be the guilt that demands such a price. Sin is my malady, my monster, my foe, born in my birth, alive in my life, strong in my character, dominating my faculties, following me as a shadow, intermingling with my every thought, my chain that holds me captive in the empire of my soul. Yet your compassions yearn over me, your heart hastens to my rescue, your love endured my curse, your mercy bore my deserved stripes. Let me walk humbly, bathed in your blood, tender of conscience, triumphing gloriously as an heir of salvation. Amen.
Hymn: Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed
Alas! and did my Savior bleed, and did my Sovereign die!
Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I!
Was it for crimes that I had done he groaned upon the tree!
Amazing pity! Grace unknown! And love beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker, died for man the creature's sin.
Thus might I hide my blushing face while his dear cross appears;
Dissolves my heart in thankfulness, and melt mine eyes in tears.
But drops of grief can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give my self away, 'tis all that I can do.
Fourth Reading: John 18:1-11
Fifth Reading: John 19:1-37
Hymn: Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted
Stricken, smitten, and afflicted, see him dying on the tree!
'Tis the Christ by man rejected; yes, my soul, 'tis he, 'tis he!
'Tis the long-expected Prophet, David's Son, yet David's Lord;
By his Son God now has spoken: 'tis the true and faithful Word.
Tell me, ye who hear him groaning, was there ever grief like his?
Friends thro' fear his cause disowning, foes insulting his distress;
Many hands were raised to wound him, none would interpose to save;
But the deepest stroke that pierced was the stroke that Justice gave.
Ye who think of sin but lightly nor suppose the evil great
Here may view its nature rightly, here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed, see who bears the awful load;
'Tis the Word, the Lord's Anointed, Son of Man and Son of God.
Here we have a firm foundation, here the refuge of the lost;
Christ's the Rock of our salvation, his the name of which we boast.
Lamb of God, for sinners wounded, sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded who on him their hope have built.
Homily: Mark 10:32-45
Prayer Guide
Our heavenly Father sent His Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved; that all who believe in him might be delivered from the power of sin and death, and become heirs with him of everlasting life. We pray, therefore, for people everywhere according to their needs:
Hymn: Were You There?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
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?
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 pierced him in the side?
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
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?
Were you there when he rose up from the dead?
Were you there when he rose up from the dead?
Oh! Sometimes I feel like shouting glory, glory, glory!
Were you there when he rose up from the dead?
Musicians & Singers: Austin Miedema, Gabe Drury, Hans, Jesse, and Merry Tamminga, Kelsey Chambers, and Noa Lovegren
Readers: Bert Hitchcock, Katlyn & David Heck, Jordan & April Levien, Tate Garrett, and the Lovegrens
Prayers adapted from ACNA Book of Common Prayer and The Valley of Vision
"Good Friday Day of Prayer and Fasting Suggested Prayers" from www.byfaithonline.com
